“Since we’re at war, it’s best to prepare for contingencies. Even if the north surrenders, we can’t let our guard down for a while, and there’s no harm in preparing extra troops. It won’t be too late to disband some of them after watching how things develop.”

When he gave this clever answer, Volker smiled crookedly. An attitude that agreed with both brothers would satisfy neither, but Reingart had no intention of choosing a side. Honestly, what did it matter to him which of them became the next lord?

“Sir Rein considers training new recruits a sacred mission. He said he couldn’t marry right away because of that duty.”

The Count at the head of the table spoke up suddenly. At those words tinged with amusement, the atmosphere at the table shifted. At the same time, Reingart became acutely aware of the woman on his left. 

Marriage. Had she understood that word?

“How about it, Rein? See any promising ones among the recruits?”

“Only some of the personnel have arrived. It’s too early to say.”

“Give it your best shot. Leave behind a great achievement before you leave Rothe.”

“I’ll do my utmost, my lord.”

He answered with excessive loyalty to hurry this conversation to an end. If “marriage” or “engagement” kept coming up, Annette might catch on.

He hadn’t told her about the marriage talks with Viscount Eben’s family precisely because they were just “talks.” The other side might refuse, so it seemed ridiculous to use it as an excuse beforehand.

I may be getting engaged soon. Even if he’d said that seriously, Annette wouldn’t have batted an eye.

I still like you. He could imagine her retorting with wide eyes.

A woman who didn’t care that he was her husband’s son—she’d hardly back down.

Smiling bitterly, Reingart turned his attention left again. The clinking of cutlery against plates continued steadily.

Since he’d pointed out her eating less than a cat, Annette had been eating quite diligently—for afive days straight until today, she’d left almost nothing.

Though that only meant barely finishing the first plate the servant had served her, Reingart smiled every time. 

She was clearly eating hard on purpose to show him, so when Annette set down her utensils with an audible clink, he’d shove a large chunk of meat in his mouth to hide his smile.

“Still nothing from the Eben side, Father?”

Volker smiled playfully and egged on the Count. He seemed determined to keep the engagement talk going. Reingart lowered his eyes to hide his irritation, but marriage and engagement were the most exciting topics. Bored nobles wouldn’t pass up that entertainment.

“I thought the Viscount would accept like he’d been waiting for it. Still no word.”

“How long has it been since we sent the proposal? Once the rain stops, he’ll send someone soon enough.”

“Surely he won’t refuse? The Marquis who arranged it has his reputation to consider.”

“Even without Liebhaven, the Viscount would welcome it. Unless he’s confident he can take a second wife and have a son at this point.”

“You’re right, Father. Actually, my husband already had me start preparing a celebration banquet. We’re planning a magnificent banquet once the engagement is finalized. You can look forward to it, Sir.”

Bertha jumped in to wrap up the conversation. Her role was to step in appropriately whenever her husband Volker acted tactlessly. Having added her words skillfully, Bertha smiled toward him, and Reingart returned eye contact and a slight smile as courtesy to the noblewoman.

All the while, he was conscious of Annette on his left again. He felt uncomfortable wondering if she’d caught on to this conversation. It wasn’t strange for an unmarried man to get married, yet somehow he felt like he was doing something wrong.

He kept glancing at her like he was doing something shameful. When she was the one already married with a husband.

“I’ll stay in this castle. Because you’re here.”

She must know full well I can’t stay here forever.

“I like you.”

Why bewitch someone with such lies? Whatever her scheme, I have nothing to give. At most, a few secret conversations.

“I like you.”

Even if that were true, nothing would change.

Reingart once again pulled tight the reins on his rampaging thoughts. He felt like an idiot agonizing over such thoughts. Yet he couldn’t stop thinking about the meeting now just a couple hours away, about the time he’d waited five days for.

Annette smiling before him, chattering, whispering in a lowered voice.

“A celebration banquet—what a fine idea. I look forward to it.”

Count Rothe smiled contentedly at his eldest daughter-in-law. Volker laughed with satisfaction and Dietrich smiled with feigned magnanimity. Reingart scanned those tiresome faces and thought.

When you got down to it, it wasn’t such a great sin. Just talking briefly in a public space, wasn’t it? 

At most sharing eye contact, conversation, and laughter, wasn’t it? Couldn’t he have that level of interaction with the lord’s wife?

That much is allowed.

Muttering inwardly, he lifted his chin slightly. Pretending confidence, he reached out to grasp his water glass, and after taking a sip and setting it down, he paid attention to his left. 

Annette was steadily clinking her utensils as she ate. She cut things so small before putting them in her mouth, it was similar to a bird pecking at feed.

Such a delicate appetite. Chewing back a foolish smile as he gripped his fork, he suddenly thought about Annette being from the north. Does the food here not suit her taste? What kind of food did they eat in Kingsburg? What food would she like best?

Should I ask later?

Thinking it wouldn’t be difficult, Reingart looked down at the plate the servant had just filled. The heaping pile of food seemed like too much. Though he hadn’t eaten even half his usual amount, his hunger seemed satisfied early.

When the Count finishes eating, I’ll get up with him. Go back to my room, wash up, change into clean clothes, and get to the library early. Will she come in quietly without saying anything today?

“You got here first.”

He recalled that excited voice. Annette’s joy had struck him harder than the danger of that ridiculous mistake.

Her face purely delighted that he’d kept his promise, that he’d come first and was waiting. That innocent look and smile had made him smile too.

“I like you.”

Like that woman had truly fallen for him.

With the engagement banquet plans concluded, the dinner table conversation moved on. 

Reingart slowly ate the food on his second plate while glancing left. He saw peas remaining on the woman’s nearly empty plate and wondered if Annette disliked peas.

I should ask later.

He conspicuously speared the peas on his plate with his fork and brought them to his mouth. 

Then he began thinking about the fact that roughly an hour and a half remained until their meeting time.

***

Annette knew nothing about how to seduce a man. The people the princess encountered in Kingsburg were thoroughly vetted, and her fellow maids of similar age were just as ignorant in that area as the princess, befitting noble young ladies.

The married maids were one of two types—either they smiled meaningfully saying you’d naturally learn once you had a husband, or they’d look stern and say seducing men was something only pr*stitutes did.

So methods of seducing men could be learned from married women or pr*stitutes, and fortunately Annette had encountered the latter.

She just had to do what the maid who’d received the Count’s seed in her belly had done. 

Strip off his clothes and put his limp member in her mouth. After that, undress and climb on top of him. Just thinking about it turned her stomach, but to get pregnant, she had to do that thing.

But how?

“Do the things men and women do.”

Would that man let her do such things?

“The things done in bedrooms—I want to do them.”

Judging by his shocked reaction then, absolutely not.

Thinking about it made Annette feel helpless again. She freshly realized what tremendous humiliation and sacrifice this plan required, and everything felt so absurd she wanted to give it all up. At such times, she’d go before the mirror and stare at her face for a long while.

She’d look at her father’s eyes and mother’s golden hair, the features resembling her brothers, and think of them. The swollen cheeks and torn lips had healed, but the wound in her heart remained. Because Annette slashed that place with a knife every single day.

I can’t live like this. Do what you can do. You must show them how much you hate them.

So let’s get it done right away without waiting any longer. When I meet that man in the library, let’s strip his clothes. Strip off his pants first and put his member in my mouth. S*ck it like the maid did, then lay him on the floor and climb on top.

That man is sturdy, so he’ll be fine lying on the bare floor. I don’t even know how long he’ll keep meeting me secretly—there’s no time to wait until we can go somewhere with a bed.

She’d repeated such resolutions and come to the library, but upon actually facing the man, she completely forgot her determination. Far from desperately seducing him, she was just rambling about useless things.

“I hate peas. I’ve hated them since I was little.”

“Why?”

“They don’t taste good. The color is weird too.”

“They’re just ordinary green.”

“They look like undercooked beans. Red or yellow ones like kidney beans or chickpeas are fine.”

The conversation didn’t stop, but it kept drifting in strange directions. She couldn’t seduce a man by talking about foods she disliked.

Was that why this man asked about such things? To not give her a chance to seduce him? 

Annette felt newly suspicious, but she didn’t dislike his face as he seriously listened to her food preferences.