Chapter 375: Ask Your Young Fiancée
Did she resent being put in the position of making such a decision? She still feared me. But it didn’t take her long to harden her resolve.
"If I recognize that child as a member of the Elsheimer family, can the Streit family truly lend ours its full support?"
"I swear it on the honor of Streit."
"...I will recognize Bodo Werner as a member of Elsheimer."
"A wise decision, Fräulein Elsheimer."
A family head’s recognition doesn’t take legal effect immediately. There were many procedures still to go through, but with the head of the house behind it, the rest was only a matter of time. Bodo would now leave my side and become one of Elsheimer’s own.
"Sir Streit, I’d like to settle my brother’s betrothal as quickly as possible."
"A betrothal? You mean to guard against something happening to your precious heir?"
"Haah, our family has already paid far too high a price."
The death of Viscount Elsheimer, who left behind only young daughters, and the death of Amalia, so blinded by jealousy that she schemed to push out her own husband, had between them devastated the main line.
If not for Ariel, the entire inheritance would have passed to a cadet branch of nobles who had nothing but a name and almost no influence. They are no doubt praying for Ariel’s death, hoping to claim the main line’s place for themselves.
I’d heard that Adelbert, fearing assassination, had increased her guard. The push to settle Bodo’s betrothal quickly came from the same fear. The problem is that Bodo is only eleven.
Far too young to marry.
What mattered was binding him first in the form of a betrothal. Plenty of factions would be eyeing the seat of Viscount Elsheimer’s heir. Not that any of them stood a chance—I knew a better bride than that riffraff could ever offer.
"One young lady comes to mind."
"If you don’t mind, Baron, may I ask who?"
"A young lady of the Euznirk family. A fine match, wouldn’t you say?"
"Surely you don’t mean the ruling family of Euz?"
Ariel’s eyes went wide.
Through this whole affair, she had witnessed the power of a lord’s family.
If the boy she had just recognized as her brother took his bride from another ruling family, Elsheimer’s precarious position would change beyond recognition. With Streit and Euznirk behind them, no one would dare look down on the house.
Flustered, Adelbert asked,
"For a court noble family, there could be no finer bride, but is that even possible?"
"Count Euz has long had an interest in the capital. The Elsheimer viscounty may be beneath his rank, but as the house that oversees the tax collectors, it has a usefulness he will recognize."
"Even so, a marriage with a ruling family is no simple matter."
"I have also been told to choose Fräulein Euznirk’s marriage partner myself. Whether he meant it as a joke or in earnest, I can’t say, but it’s proof of how much he trusts me."
Angela is currently in Feuzen, attending to Lily. From what Oscar tells me, Lily is being run ragged by her, but in any case, the fact remains that Count Euz entrusted his daughter to me.
Setting aside Bodo’s lowly origins, the conditions are more than enough to draw interest. And even if Count Euz declines, it makes little difference. If it means a match with a viscount, young ladies will come flocking.
Ariel sighed and said,
"If anything, the Euznirk family is far too good for us."
"That depends on Count Euz’s wishes, so there’s no need to feel pressured. And Fräulein Euznirk (Angela) is also a handmaid to Crown Princess Rudelich (Lily)."
"I-I’m not sure our family could bear such an honor..."
"She is the finest bride I can think of."
Objectively, Angela was a bride without equal. Offers of arranged marriage had once swirled around her in every shape and size, but since she came to me they had all but vanished. Her elevation to handmaid of the crown princess had played its part as well.
To Ariel the match seemed overwhelming, but to Adelbert, listening beside her, it was a highly attractive political marriage—one that could be of considerable help even to the Reinfeldt family.
Nothing binds two houses tighter than blood.
"Give us time to think it over, Baron. I’ll persuade Ariel to accept."
"Very well. As for the matter between the two of you, that’s yours to settle now."
Adelbert’s and Ariel’s eyes met tenderly. Knowing that the tragedy of Mort and the viscountess had sprung from the love between these two was enough to leave a man speechless, but such is life.
Daunted as she was by the proposed match, Ariel was satisfied at least that she could now be formally joined with Adelbert. As I wrapped up the negotiation and made to return to Rosengarden, Adelbert stopped me.
"What happens to Mort now? I want to see that bastard’s head roll in the new year."
"My authority extends only to his arrest. The final verdict will be handed down by His Highness the grand duke. We’ll have to wait at least until next spring, I’d think."
"I can never forgive the man who killed Amalia..."
"The viscountess loved you, Count. Did you know that?"
Time seemed to stop. Adelbert stared at me in stunned confusion, his eyes demanding to know what on earth I meant. He had never known Amalia’s heart, and so he had failed to stop her before she fell.
"The viscountess tried to murder the Fräulein you love."
"Wh-What are you saying?! Why would Amalia hurt Ariel?"
"According to Mort’s testimony, the viscountess, jealous of you and her younger sister, laid a trap to kill Ariel. When Mort learned of it, he set a trap of his own and killed the viscountess instead. He erased every trace of what he had done, but when Viscount Neunil kidnapped Bodo, the affair rose to the surface all the same. What became of Mort is not unrelated to you, Count."
"Don’t tell me Mort also loved Ariel..."
Muttering hollowly, he barely managed to prop himself against the wall. It was a private conversation, so there was no attendant nearby to hold him up. He refused to believe that Amalia had tried to kill Ariel.
"That’s impossible! Amalia and Ariel were the closest of sisters!"
"I believe Mort’s testimony. What he told me was the truth."
"On what grounds do you believe the word of a traitor?"
"Ask your young fiancée, Count. She may know more of the truth than you think."
Leaving the stunned Adelbert behind, I returned to Rosengarden. Waiting for me there were Viola and Bodo, the new heir of Elsheimer.
Bodo came charging over, so frantic that I couldn’t help snorting a laugh.
"Master! How did the negotiation go? Did it go well?"
"Congratulations on becoming the rightful heir of Elsheimer."
"R-Really? I’ve really been recognized?"
Bodo’s eyes went as round as a full moon. The retainers came pouring out and mobbed him with congratulations until he was nearly squashed flat, but he didn’t seem the least bit troubled by his unbelievable rise in status.
He did, however, point an accusing finger at Ted, who had been the roughest of them all.
"Ted Meyer! From now on, you call me Lord Elsheimer!"
"Don’t make me laugh! You’ll always be Bodo! Rye-bread Bodo! Pumpkin-faced Bodo!"
"Wow, is this how a commoner treats a noble?"
Bodo tried to throw his weight around with the older boys, but it didn’t land at all; they only laughed and teased him about his new nobility. Anton, for his part, seemed bittersweet, remarking that Bodo had finally outgrown being a child who needed protecting.
"Now that Bodo can stand on his own, the only child left for me to look after is Maria."
"Maria has a long way to go before she’s grown, so you won’t be lonely for a while yet."
Anton was the retainer closest to Bodo. Brimming with fatherly love, he had never once found it a chore to care for Maria, the orphaned daughter of a friend, or for Bodo, left alone after losing his mother.
That’s why the children adore him. He’s a genuinely good man, though his one flaw, shared with Winter the ranch manager, is that he has absolutely no intention of marrying. A stark contrast to Ted, who never stops singing about wanting a wife.
"Huh? An arranged marriage?! Me? For real?"
"That’s right. It’s already been agreed with Fräulein Elsheimer."
"Bodo, married? This little squirt? Oh, Lord!"
Ted’s eyes looked ready to pop out.
Anton calmly asked,
"Who is the bride?"
"Nothing’s confirmed yet, but Angela is the leading candidate."
"...Lady Angela?"
Anton’s expression turned odd, and Bodo’s face, which had been flushed with excitement a moment ago, went pale.
Hmm? Hold on, kid, did you do something you shouldn’t have?