Volume 1 Chapter 26 Mean Villainess： Considering Marriage
Sir Lorentz's fiancée has been officially decided.
Of course, it's the daughter of that wealthy Margrave.
The news spread throughout the Royal Capital in no time.
It's rumored that the wealthy Margrave used his money to knock down the daughter of the Alfano family, who was the strongest candidate.
From the perspective of the knocked-down side, I wasn't particularly hurt or offended, but somehow I got a bit of a label as a poor thing.
However, the engagement with Sir Lorentz seemed to be my death flag anyway, so being thought of as a poor thing isn't much of a big deal.
Besides, that daughter of the wealthy Margrave is quite intense, so the rumors about me will probably die down quickly.
"The next Marquis' fiancée isn't Elena... or rather, who is it...?"
The problem is my mother's reaction after reading this story in the newspaper.
It seems my mother, who thought I was going down the Lorentz route when the topic of Sir Lorentz's brides came up, had almost decided that I would be his fiancée.
I mean, since my death flag as her daughter has been lifted, it would be nice if she could be a little happy about it, right?
"Should I have tried harder to become Sir Lorentz's fiancée?"
When I asked this, my mother looked at me with wide eyes and then smiled.
"You don't have to worry about that. The phrase 'trying hard for marriage' doesn't suit you at all."
I'm relieved she didn't say I should have tried just a bit harder.
And I felt just a little bit of relief.
'But seriously, who is she?'
Looks like the daughter of a rich Margrave isn't even a mob character.
It's very funny to see the mother's confusion in japanese.
It's funny, but I have to change the subject so I don't look too closely and accidentally laugh.
"When I heard that she was a potential bride, I thought it was too early for me to get engaged, so to be honest, I felt a little relieved."
Hehe, while casually laughing and mumbling that, my mother looked at me with a bewildered expression.
"Well, that's true. I'm sure your Father would say it's still too early for Elena to get married."
He probably said that when we went out to eat the other day.
He was really shaken up.
It was the kind of panic you have when you're genuinely worried about what will happen if I actually do get married.
"I wonder what kind of person Father would try to marry me off to?"
"I think he has a hidden option of not allowing it at all."
Saying that, we laughed together.
It felt somewhat serious and not really a laughing matter, though.
"...By the way, Elena, did you know you might become a candidate for Sir Lorentz's bride? Did I tell you?"
Now that I think about it, I feel like my mother only alluded to it without saying it directly.
"Ms. Natalia told me."
"For free?"
"...Huh?"
"Ah, no, no, right, Ms. Natalia told you."
For free?
What does that mean?
As I started to think maybe I misheard something, my mother suddenly diverted her gaze from me.
'Surely, she hasn't been a broker since she was a child... Though in the game, I ended up losing a considerable amount in the end because of her...'
Seriously, who is Ms. Natalia?
I'm disappointed that I can't add a comment.
I wonder if it's a paid feature, Ms. Natalia.
"Even so, it seems that his fiance has a very bad reputation. The neighborhood rumor has it that she was brought up to be very spoiled."
"That's right"
I don't hear much about this topic because it's been avoided, but it seems that her reputation within the school isn't very good.
"I wonder if she's okay as the next Marchioness. But it's been officially decided, so it must have been Lord Marquis who decided it."
I guess so,' I replied, and my mother began to groan and tilt her head.
"Sir Lorentz, the only son of the Marquis family, was probably raised to be selfish, so I wonder if he will rebel against her because of his selfishness."
I felt like, "What are you talking about?"
"Sir Lorentz isn't selfish, you know?"
I couldn't help but argue back with a hint of anger, thinking how could she makes such assumptions without knowing anything.
But my mother knows, she knows about Sir Lorentz in the game.
"Oh, isn't that child selfish?"
"Uh, yes, he's a very kind person."
I was nervously wondering if my argument was a mistake, but my mother was simply tilting her head as if lost in thought.
"He helped me when my magical power was depleted, and besides, Mother met Sir Lorentz back then, didn't she?"
"I see... Well, at that time, it was more like I just saw him, and I didn't know what kind of person he was..."
The fact that she was thinking this hard means that Sir Lorentz in the game must have been selfish.
That's why my mother would conclude he was selfish.
Just as I had that thought, I suddenly recalled the day I first met Sir Lorentz.
On that day during the counseling session, Sir Lorentz had a somewhat high-handed tone, I thought.
I assumed he was feeling prickly due to struggling with his magical power, and when I met him next, he had a bright expression, as if his worries had cleared up and he was at ease.
So, if I had just walked past him without counseling that day, would he have grown up still high-handed...?
And then, still high-handed, he would have brushed off the wealthy Margrave's daughter and become engaged to me, leading to my death flag?
Could this be my divine intervention?
'When I think about it, the arrogant Lorentz helping a villainess is unlikely. His fiance was also set up to be the villainess by a process of elimination. Hmm... I don't get it...'
I caught the mother's little monologue.
Sir Lorentz in the game was an egoistic character.
I see.
I thought so.
Egotistical characters often appear in girls' manga.
I don't really like him, but he's a selfish character.
"Mother, what are you thinking about so much?"
I asked this question because I couldn't stand the thought of my mother being so lost in thought and talking to herself for so long.
It's quite difficult to let a long monologue flow without making it seem unnatural or pretending not to hear.
Then she chuckles softly with an ambiguous expression.
"I was a bit impressed that they can raise their only son without letting him become spoiled."
"But you are raising him too, aren't you, Elder Brother?"
"That kid was quite spoiled before Elena was born. If it weren't for Elena, he would have been completely spoiled by now."
The mother's gaze became intense.
"Oh, Elder Brother is..."
"Well, he's still in a state where I have no idea where he is and doesn't contact us much, so you could say he might be spoiled."
"No, but Elder Brother is studying, right?"
"We can't really know if he's actually studying, can we? We can't see it."
That's true, I guess.
"Does Mother not trust Elder Brother?"
"Hehe, I'm just joking. I do trust him. I just wish he would contact us a bit more."
I had no choice but to agree with my mother's words.
I sometimes think the same thing.
Elder Brother's frequency of contact is very inconsistent.
Despite rarely contacting us, it seems he's been moving all over the place, making it impossible to grasp his current location.
"I think so too. Since I haven't seen his face in so long, I feel like I'm going to forget it."
"That's right. Next time I hear from him, I'll have to tell him that Elena might have forgotten his face. He'll be nervous, I'm sure."
"I'm a little happy when he get anxious"
"Instead of panicking, he might come flying back."
My mother and I both chuckled.
Without knowing that it would become no laughing matter later.
* * *
"Yes, Mother, can I revisit that topic a bit?"
When I asked her, my mother said, "Please go ahead." with a friendly look on her face.
I usually talk to her expecting her to talk about games, so I wanted to talk about something unrelated for once.
"You said earlier that the phrase 'trying hard to get married' doesn't suit me, but didn't Mother try hard to marry Father?"
I've only seen the unfortunate side of my father being overly doting on me, but I can't believe that a man with a good face, a good family background, and decent magical power wouldn't have been popular.
It seems to me that around popular men, there are troublesome women──like that wealthy Margrave's daughter──who are very likely to be present.
"But I didn't try hard, did I? I mean, I married by luck."
Purely by luck.
"Luck, you say?"
"Yes, luck. Lord Oscar..., there were so many women who were pursuing my father. ...I wasn't very eager about marriage, but I couldn't avoid it, and I was mingling in with those women who were pursuing him."
In other words, because she was a loner, she blended into the noisy crowd to make herself inconspicuous.
I see.
"The women pursuing him all insisted that they weren't after his looks, family background, or money, and your father seemed quite exhausted."
Poor father.
I feel sympathy for him in my heart.
"That exhausted father came to me and asked, 'What are you after, my dear?' Since I was just there without any particular thoughts, I cheerfully answered, 'Your face!'"
"How honest."
"I still think that back then, your father must have lost his normal judgment due to fatigue. He heard my 'face!' comment and burst into laughter, eventually deciding to marry me."
My mother says that while laughing.
Well, in noble marriages, it's often about winning through strategy, since they are generally decided by families, so my mother probably achieved victory with an honest heart.
Isn't she somewhat of a master schemer?
'Well, I thought Oscar Alfano was the same name as the villainess's father, and my name was the same as the villainess's mother, and I had seen familiar names here and there, so I approached him, thinking maybe it was him.'
Huh.
She's a real strategist.
Or at that point, did she realize that this world was a game world?
"Normal judgement... but, Mother and Father get along well, don't they?"
"Now, yes. I think it's all thanks to Elena. When we first got married, it was written on my face that I married out of obligation. I had a blank look on my face."
I can't believe that father's expression was so lacking in affection.
He usually has this grin... no, it's more like a smile all the time.
"Ever since Hans was born, the number of women pursuing him has decreased, and gradually his expressions started to show more."
So, since Elder Brother was born, that means there were plenty of girl trying to get close just because there wasn't an heir.
That's a bit much.
"After Elena was born, you know the father who's all lovey-dovey. He would bury his face in baby Elena's tummy while saying thank you for giving birth to you."
That's a bit much.
"...Mother, is marriage a good thing?"
My mother looked at me in surprise and then smiled gently in the next moment.
"I can't say it's all good, but I can definitely say it's very happy."
"Is that so?"
I died in my previous life without getting married, so I can't really relate, but I wonder if I'll get married in this life someday.
"Elena, do you have someone you want to marry?"
"No, I don't."
"You don't have to feel pressured just because you're a noble. ...If it would cause you discomfort, neither your father nor I will insist that you marry."
The look on my mother's face as she said this was somewhat pained.
She probably had been told by her relatives that she absolutely had to get married.
Not marrying would have been bad for her reputation.
But if she were so worried about that, she could have been more worried about me when I was on the verge of death.
Also, shouldn't she have been more happy when the death flag disappeared?
It was the first time I had had a thorough conversation with my mother, but the mystery surrounding her only deepened.
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