A Tipsy Marriage Proposal for the Emperor

Chapter 2

“Are you awake, Miss Elliere?”

“Ugh, my head hurts.”

I held my head, which felt like it was shaking, as if someone were banging on it with a hammer.

Even after drinking the honey water that Jeri had been waiting to give to me for my hangover, the headache didn’t go away easily. That initial feeling of horrendous shaking now felt like a small bird pecking at my head, so now it was a shallow and frequent pain that tormented me.

“Just how much did you drink?”

When I saw Jeri—who had been my maid since I was younger—putting her hands on her waist as if about to scold me, I waved my hands and apologized.

“Not much, just a little. Maybe five glasses?”

Because Jeri knew how much I could drink, she looked at me with suspicion as if that couldn’t possibly be true, but couldn’t press me further as she had no proof.

“Really?”

“Of course. It’s just because I hadn’t had a drink in such a long time.”

Jeri sighed and said, “I’d have to look at the bill to tell if you’re lying or not, but since I can’t do that...”

“There was no bill?”

I had in fact drank more than three times as much as what I had told Jeri, so in this current situation, it was fortunate that there was no evidence. However, no matter how much I searched my memory, I couldn’t recall paying the bill.

Had I suffered some kind of head injury? It really felt like my memories suddenly faded at some point because I couldn’t even remember how I had gotten back to the mansion.

“Jeri, how did I come back here?”

“Do you really not remember? Last night, one of the pub employees brought you here in a carriage. It was fortunate that he came through the back door. Otherwise, you would’ve been in big trouble.”

I thought it had been strange that the pub had people write down their names when entering, but it seemed that it was a kind of know-how after experiencing a situation like this many times. They must have had to take blacked-out customers like me home often.

I could see why this pub was so famous among nobles, as they were even meticulous enough to come to the back door. Since I had arrived safely back home, I would be sure to leave a large tip the next time I went.

“And my parents didn’t find out?”

“Since you had even said goodnight to them last night, it doesn’t seem like they caught on to the fact that their daughter went out while wearing a wig.”

“Well, that’s a relief.”

My engagement had already been broken off, so if they had found out that I had snuck out to drink and had to be carried home in an unconscious state, the punishment wouldn’t have just ended with confinement.

I hope I hadn’t made some kind of mistake?

I worried if I had engaged in some kind of drunken behavior, such as grabbing anyone and venting my frustrations or throwing the glasses. In a previous instance where I couldn’t remember how I acted after getting drunk, I did have a testimony from a classmate who said that I acted as usual and then fell asleep at some point.

So while I didn’t think I had done anything serious, it was hard to calm my worries.

“Would you like another glass of honey water?”

“Sure, thanks.”

Jeri prepared honey water by pouring lukewarm water into the ice she had prepared next to her. The glass cup she held out on the tray was filled to the brim with cold honey water.

“There’s nothing planned for today, right?”

“Yes, for the time being...”

Since all the upcoming plans with my fiancé had been canceled one after the other, all I had left was time.

As Jeri trailed off her words, I said, as if relieved, “Good! I can just stay home and rest for a few days then. By the way, when is Lorraine’s garden party?”

“In a week on the fourteenth.”

In my small network of acquaintances, Lorraine was the rare friend that I had maintained a relationship with for a long time. Since becoming an adult, I had heard that she was slowly starting to host her own parties, and I had promised to attend one when I returned to the capital.

At the same time, the bad thing about the party also came to mind.

I was supposed to go with that bastard.

I thought about the now ex-fiancé that I hadn’t seen in ten years. As it hadn’t even been a marriage proposal that was done face to face, I had had no expectations and had no excitement. But to think he would be that terrible...

Unfortunately, the bastard that I didn’t want to think about had also received an invitation to the party as he had business connections with Lorraine’s family.

Originally, the plan was for the two of us to attend together and announce that we were getting married, but yesterday’s meeting completely ruined everything.

Should I just not go?

I deliberated for a while, but the answer didn’t come easily. After all, Lorraine was one of my few precious friends. It would be unfair if I couldn’t go to a garden party she was hosting because of an idiot like that. It wasn’t like I had done anything wrong either.

I decided to just go early, watch Lorraine host for a little bit, and then leave.

***

“Welcome Elle!”

I gave a light hug to my friend who greeted me by calling me by my old nickname.

While we had had a few personal meetings since I had returned to the capital, it had been a long time since we had met up in a formal setting like this.

“Thanks for inviting me, Lorraine.”

“Of course. Oh my, you really went all out today. You look so pretty.”

“Obviously, since it’s your party.”

I had worn a porcelain dress that I usually didn’t wear because it was uncomfortable, and my hair had been meticulously set.

When I shook my head in a haughty manner, Lorraine laughed and applauded my actions. She then guided me to the prepared seats.

Perhaps because she was about to get married, she wore a dress that was in a more mature style than before and had her hair in an updo. My friend was already pretty, but she looked so perfect now, as if she had stepped out of a painting.

After spending some time talking about what had changed about the capital streets since I had last been there and all the glamorous stories that had happened in high society, Lorraine cautiously looked around and whispered, “By the way, what happened between you and Count Feccida?”

“What? Oh, we broke up.”

As expected, the topic that I couldn’t avoid came up. I had been prepared, but in my bitterness, I took it out on the innocent teacup as I aggressively stirred it with the teaspoon.

Lorraine didn’t seem satisfied with my answer as she pressed, “That’s it? There’s nothing else?”

“It’s someone I met after ten years, so what else would it be? It just ended because we didn’t get along when we had our first meal together. He was also the one who called off the engagement first.”

Lorraine had been tilting her head as if she found my words strange, but now her expression darkened. She became like that when she was about to say something that was difficult to bring up.

“By any chance, is Count Feccida telling strange stories?”

At Lorraine’s reaction, I got an ominous feeling.

“Not strange, but they aren’t good stories...”

“What is he saying?”

“Did you perhaps know that the count has an insecurity about knowledge?”

“Is that so?”

As it had been ten years since I had returned to the capital, there was no way I could’ve known that.

“Count Feccida’s family is originally in the trade business. Everyone in the family knows at least three languages, but he failed the foreign language proficiency test three times. That’s why his younger cousin is still the head of the merchant group.”

Merchant groups in the trade business needed a certificate of qualification for each of the foreign countries with which they were trading. It was a test to check basic language and etiquette between the countries as well as vocabulary essential for trade.

“Actually, there were rumors going around that his family wanted this engagement because you were smart, and that their grandchildren would at least be smart because of their daughter-in-law.”

“I didn’t know about that.”

I really hadn’t. I just thought it had been strange that the Feccida County, which was famous for their merchant group, had proposed to my family, who had long since moved away from being the center of nobility—and had only maintained its name.

“Isn’t it just a guess that he proposed to me because I’m smart? I may have been a good student, but that wouldn’t matter if the child resembled the count. And I was only ten years old at the time.”

“They were probably hoping for at least a fifty percent chance. And you were already famous for being a genius at that age. You were in the papers for being the youngest person to enter Bermanger at the top of your class.”

The Bermanger Academy, which held a neutral position on the continent, was a place where education was based on smarts alone, regardless of nationality, gender, or status. Admission was easy, but graduation was notorious for being extremely difficult.

I held out as long as I could because I didn’t want to return to the empire, and somehow I had ended up graduating with a doctorate.

“You said that when you graduated, the dean promised you a professorship and begged you to stay?”

It was because he didn’t want to lose a capable slave. After all, I had researched and transcribed 80% of that dean’s research report. In all honesty, there were many things that appeared as simple facts on the surface that were difficult to tell others.

It was a complicated matter to explain, so I just picked up my teacup. If Lorraine’s guess was correct, then there were parts that I didn’t understand.

“If that’s really the reason, then there’s no reason for him to break off the engagement just because I’m smart, right?”

“Ah, that’s true! What on earth were you talking about when he brought up the topic of breaking the engagement?”

“When he said that the sunrise seen from the west of Anderre was so spectacular, I just said, ‘The sun rises from the east.’”

“The sunrise to the west of Anderre?”

“Yes, at dawn!”

At my words, Lorraine gently pressed her forehead as if she sympathized with what I had dealt with.

“You were really patient with him, weren’t you.”

“Yes! And even though he mentioned all these theories that were all wrong, I just stayed quiet.”

After listening to me until the end, Lorraine thought carefully and asked one question:

“While you were talking, did you ever compliment the count by saying that he’s amazing or smart?”

“How can you praise someone as amazing if they’re saying the wrong things? It’s not like I was trying to make fun of him.”

“Ah.”

As if she had realized something in my answer, Lorraine nodded and then shrugged her shoulders. I understood her reaction. Normally if your fiancé said something like that, you were expected to react to it with a look of respect.

But how could I react to something that was incorrect! It had been difficult for me to even just nod.

“I don’t know. If you want to hear praise, maybe you shouldn’t marry someone smarter than you?” I offered.

“Perhaps the count wanted a woman who was both smart and listened to him well?”

“Where can he find a person like that? If he had been looking for a smart person in the first place, he should have listened to what the other person said.”

“That’s true.”

“Yeah.”

While I found this whole thing ridiculous, I sighed when I realized that there were quite a few people who actually did want their future wife to be like what Lorraine had mentioned.

“So what is he going around saying about me?”

“Isn’t it obvious? An educated woman is useless. She had the gall to try and teach a man. She’s too strong-willed. Things like that.”

“So typical.”

It wasn’t surprising because they were things that I had totally expected him to say. My body had been so tense up to this point, but after hearing that he hadn’t been saying anything surprising, it relaxed a little bit. They were statements that were appropriate for his level.

“He also said that he should get engaged to a younger woman rather than an older one...”

“What?”

That made me sit straight up. The earlier statements were ones that I had heard countless times in the empire, so they made me snort instead of mad. But this was truly unfair.

“What on earth is he saying? I’m twenty-one and that bastard, I mean, the count is thirty!”

“They say that women over twenty are impure because they are covered with the filth of the world.”

“That seems like a story from the Old Testament’s book of Genesis from thousands of years ago!”

“Seriously.”

“Ugh, I really should just leave this country.”

If I had a younger brother or older brother, or even a collateral relative, I would have changed my nationality. At times like this, I felt a little resentful toward my honorable ancestors.

“I guess it turned out for the best. You also know that he comes from a good family, but...”

“He himself is trash?”

While trying to suppress the laughter that was about to burst out, Lorraine said, “Well, maybe not quite to that extent, but close.”

She nodded in agreement. I then changed the subject. “Anyway, is there anything else going on in the capital?”

“Anything else? Ah!” Lorraine’s eyes sparkled. “It was in the paper a few days ago. Wedding news.”

“Whose wedding?”

“Do you really not know? It’s all anyone can talk about outside.”

A person who hadn’t stepped outside in a few days of course wouldn’t know.

Before I could get frustrated and ask who she was talking about, Lorraine said with a flushed expression, “His Majesty the Emperor is finally getting married!”