Edward, who had a history of refusing Yelodia before the Emperor's very eyes, bowed his head with a heart of deep reflection.
"If you must scold the young lady of Sabie for this matter, please scold me instead."
"Hah, really……."
Duke Sabie clicked his tongue as if dumbfounded.
The behavior of his prospective son-in-law already defending his betrothed was quite unsightly.
Moreover, Yelodia did not even show any sign of remorse.
He had raised his only daughter as delicately as a flower, yet who would have thought she still couldn't tell front from back even at a moment like this?
"Yelodia, you go to your room at once and reflect upon yourself. Know that if you do not show signs of repentance, you will not be allowed to go out until the engagement ceremony."
"Father……."
"Ahem! Did I not tell you to stop with such childish speech?"
Duke Sabie raised his voice in a fluster. He seemed deeply embarrassed that she was shaming him in front of Edward.
"Father, that is not the case……."
"Your excuses are long."
Yelodia gauged her father's mood and then sullenly bent her knee in a bow. The steps she took turning around were noticeably brusque.
Yelodia threw a resentful glance at the Duke for the last time before whisking out the door. Her gleaming eyes suggested she would not be reflecting at all even after returning to her room.
Edward nearly burst into laughter. Though his betrothed's utterly absurd manner was endearing, the relationship between father and daughter in this storied household was quite amusing.
There were likely only two people in the entire empire who could fluster Duke Sabie with a single word. Emperor Laodin and Yelodia.
For some reason, Edward was seized by the premonition that he too would be placed in the same position as the Duke.
"Ahem, sit down now."
"Thank you for your kindness."
As Edward sat, the butler personally served him tea. Duke Sabie furrowed his brow as if he had a headache, then lifted his teacup.
"Her health was poor since she was young, so we only ever coddled her; she's developed some bad habits. When she becomes a baron's wife, you will have to discipline her."
"I do not mind in the slightest, Your Grace. Please see to it that the young lady does not take this matter to heart."
"If you insist that far, I have nothing more to say. After all, once married, she will be your wife."
Having spoken thus, Duke Sabie narrowed his eyes and regarded Edward.
As the Duke who had deliberately spoken roughly to cut Yelodia down, he could not help but take a liking to a man who defended the woman who would become his future wife.
He had secretly worried that his daughter might be mistreated by her husband after marriage, but thinking he could let out a sigh of relief, Duke Sabie set down his teacup.
"I believe it would be best to move the engagement date up a bit."
"Has His Majesty given a separate hint?"
"There has been no separate hint, but His Majesty would hardly wish for you to have no influence whatsoever at Naval Headquarters. At the very least, place five of your subordinates in key posts at Naval Headquarters."
At Duke Sabie's pressure, Edward's face faintly hardened.
"The armistice treaty between the two nations has not even been finalized yet."
"That is precisely why I am saying this. It is difficult to cleanly conclude the war immediately. When nobles are blinded by vested interests, we must place His Majesty's people in the right positions."
True to a man who had gripped power all his life, Duke Sabie read the Emperor's intentions with sharp eyes.
Edward easily understood that the Emperor's will to seize control of the naval forces was hidden behind this engagement ceremony.
The Emperor's will was one and the same as Duke Sabie's will.
In other words, it meant that it was to Edward's advantage to become engaged a day sooner, even before the armistice treaty was concluded.
Only then could Edward solidify his position at Naval Headquarters with the power of the duke's house and seat important figures in key posts.
"The Navy in particular has been a place beyond His Majesty's reach until now. I don't care if you take the pillars from my mansion—somehow establish your own forces."
"I will do my best."
That was all he could say anyway.
Satisfied with Edward's answer, Duke Sabie nodded and took out a cigarette from a small case.
Then a waiting servant lit the end of the cigarette with a match.
"Would you care for one?"
"I'm fine."
Duke Sabie took a long breath in and exhaled. The pale smoke bursting from his mouth half-covered his face.
'For all his grumbling, he cherishes Yedi.'
The Emperor had likely paired Edward with Yelodia after considering everything.
Though it breached noble etiquette, Duke Sabie had taken a liking to Edward from the moment he asked the Emperor to postpone the wedding.
Edward had cast aside the opportunity to simultaneously become the son-in-law of a grand duke and the Emperor's nephew-in-law.
Even if one harbored such thoughts in their heart, very few could actually speak of it to the Emperor.
The more he looked, the more he saw a man of deep thought whose every word and deed rang true. Was he not even blessed with outstanding looks?
'If not for the war, he would have already been snatched away by someone else.'
Tapping the cigarette ash into the ashtray, the Duke finished his composed assessment of his prospective son-in-law and continued with a languid expression.
"We shall set the engagement ceremony for April 30th. I shall inform His Majesty myself, so be aware of that. The wedding will take time, as all the retainers of the house as well as relatives must attend. Still, prepare so that it may be held immediately after Yedi's coming-of-age ceremony."
"But no matter how near the young lady's coming of age may be, is there truly a need to rush the wedding as well, now that we are engaged?"
Duke Sabie wore an expression of having heard something unexpected.
"Well now, it seems I, the bride's father, am more worn out than you. However, there will surely be those who deem an engagement alone insufficient for His Majesty's will. There may even be ill-mannered interlopers before the wedding."
"Is that so."
Edward's complexion faintly clouded. As one who understood only a fraction of the Empire's noble society, it was a point he could not readily comprehend.
He also found it difficult to understand, deep down, the Duke's composed attitude in sending off his precious daughter—raised as dearly as his own life—to a man he had never met.
But Edward, true to a soldier who would lay down his life for His Majesty the Emperor, thought it right to obey the Duke's words.
"Understood. I shall prepare as you have said."
"Is there nothing else to relay? If you need funds, I shall write you a check in advance."
"That will not be necessary, but there is a tradition of soldiers standing ceremonial guard at the weddings of high-ranking naval officers. I wished to ask for Your Grace's esteemed opinion on this."
"Ceremonial guard……?"
A thread of doubt settled in Duke Sabie's gaze. Having never held a wedding with a military house before, he had not thought that far.
"If you mean ceremonial guard, do you mean soldiers in uniform holding long swords at the ceremony?"
"That is correct. I wished to ask if that tradition might give offense to Your Grace."
Duke Sabie exhaled pale cigarette smoke.
"We shall have to coordinate that matter as quickly as possible. The ducal family has traditionally held ceremonies with archbishops or higher-ranking priests bestowing blessings. It depends on the priest presiding over the marriage sacrament; it should not be overly complicated."
Duke Sabie answered indifferently.
No matter how influential the temple was across the continent with its dioceses, it would not dare oppose the House of Duke Sabie, which carried the southern nobility on its back.
Separate from that, the priests of Raihel, who valued submission and temperance above all, did not seem likely to reject the Navy's tradition of serving His Majesty the Emperor.
After mulling it over briefly, the Duke stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and continued.
"Hmm, I shall handle that matter, so you prepare the ceremonial guard as you see fit, Baron. If it is a naval tradition, failing to follow it may also invite gossip. It would be best to avoid anything that might become an obstacle to your seizing control of the naval forces."
"Yes, I shall prepare accordingly."
"If there is nothing more, I shall take my leave now. From here on, I shall be too busy to even lift my head, so if you have something to convey, please contact me through the butler."
"Understood."
Duke Sabie sprang to his feet and hurriedly left the drawing room. His words about being too busy to lift his head were likely close to the truth.
Edward took his leave of the ducal mansion with the butler seeing him off.
Until he boarded his carriage, he could not shake the feeling that his life was being tossed about by stormy waves.
'In the end, I shall be marrying that girl.'
Peeking out between the servants, the seventeen-year-old girl was gazing at him with eyes sparkling like a bird's.
Rather than a haughty noble young lady, she seemed closer to a curious cat.
A smile suddenly loosened at Edward's lips. Yelodia would become a baroness receiving boundless respect and love from the retainers and the people of the fief.
Perhaps she would even receive the salute of all the naval soldiers.
'It is a union bestowed by His Majesty the Emperor.'
Edward watched the receding ducal mansion with a peculiar expression.
* * *
"Good heavens, a naval officer! Just what spite does my brother harbor to push Yelodia off a cliff? This is an absurd outrage!"
Isabel had clearly rushed into the ducal mansion immediately after breakfast.
Her dark blue hair, elegantly pinned with an emerald pin, did not waver in the slightest despite Isabel's fierce anger.
"Even if it is a political marriage, there are clearly more suitable matches for a ducal house. I simply cannot fathom what the Duke is thinking."
Isabel continued, huffing. For a moment she seemed overcome with emotion; the corners of her eyes turned red and veins bulged on her forehead.
"Baron Adrian! Did he truly expect a man without even roots to dare enter high society?"
Yelodia silently listened to the grievances of Isabel, a distant relative on her father's side.
Though a relative, she was the child of the cousin of her father's great-aunt, making her no different from a stranger to Yelodia. Yet because she was not a complete outsider, Yelodia felt uncomfortable ignoring her.
She knew too little about her betrothed to offer any rebuttal, and above all, she was terribly sleepy.
'Haah, I'm tired…….'
As Yelodia maintained her silence, fighting her drooping eyes, Isabel's daughter Clara now spouted grating meddling.
"Moreover, there is a six-year age gap. One wrong step and she would have ended up marrying someone the same age as Brother Kias, would she not?"
"I must see my brother at once. No matter how I think about it, this marriage makes no sense."
As Isabel suddenly rose from her seat, Yelodia barely stifled a yawn and opened her mouth.