The best course was to be honest about the situation in advance and call off the promise.

It would work out. Jade Camelot was not someone who was impossible to reason with. If anything, he was far easier to talk to than Anton or Piar.

“Have our written oath ready, Rose.”

Besides, they had only exchanged a verbal promise. They hadn’t yet signed anything.

The one who stood to gain from the arrangement had been Rose, not Jade. He had simply mentioned offhandedly that he had no intention of marrying, then somehow found himself pushed into making a vow. He had nothing to lose by backing out.

“Well, he’ll grumble at you a bit and that’ll be the end of it. He’s a Camelot, they’re all foul-mouthed. They’d curse at you for no reason anyway, so nothing changes.”

Terra summed it up cheerfully and laughed.

“In the end, Miss Rose wins. Ha ha.”

Wins…… I never had any interest in competing over who gets married first.

Rose thought of the person she owed a somewhat awkward obligation to and turned her gaze to the window.

The sky was a thick, churning grey, threatening to open up at any moment.

They had agreed to exchange written oaths the next time they met, but no specific date had been set.

“I’ll have to go over soon.”

What would Jade say? Would he mock her for breaking the promise? Would he be angry?

She had never seen him angry.

At least, he had never been angry with Rose. He had been cold with her at times, but……

“Let’s go now while we’re at it, Terra.”

Rose mounted her horse and rode to Hilude that same day. It was a stretch to call it compensation for breaking a verbal promise, but she packed a generous supply of Karshi candy to give him, just in case he had dutifully prepared his copy of the written oath.

She waited until nearly sunset.

But Jade did not come to Hilude hot springs that day.

“I’ll try again tomorrow.”

Rose returned the next day.

He didn’t appear that day either.

A vague puzzlement began to take hold. Hilude was the closest healing spring to Camelot’s territory, and it had been Jade’s preferred spot since long ago, at least among the options that weren’t crowded public baths.

“What’s this. He’s not coming. Does he not bathe anymore? Disgusting.”

The day after, and the day after that.

Jade did not appear.

“Strange……”

Whenever Rose came to Hilude, she ran into him two times out of three.

“Did the deputy gorilla wander off somewhere far to look for bananas……”

“Maybe that Camelot lackey got restless again and crossed the sea?”

“I doubt it. There would have been a special edition by now. His fans keep a close watch.”

Several days passed with Rose doing nothing but staring at the hot spring water before heading home.

And then, finally.

[The Original Holy Knight’s Latest Schedule: Sparring with the Young Princes and Displaying His Brilliant Swordsmanship!]

An article along those lines appeared in a special edition of Monthly Cultured Citizen, and Rose learned what Jade had been up to during his absence from Camelot. The very next day, it happened.

“Congratulations, Miss Rosemaria!”

“Miss Rosemaria!”

An unexpected crowd of visitors descended on Philiverden Castle all at once.

Young nobles in elaborate dancing attire, carrying armfuls of gifts, poured into the banquet hall and embraced Rose as she was shown in, pressing kisses to her cheeks.

“Congratulations on your engagement!”

“We’ve all been waiting so long for this news and you’ve finally given it to us! Goodness, I’m so excited!”

“The most devoted man of the century, Sir Benyamin’s seven-year unrequited love, they say? Oh, I can’t stand it!”

“I beg your……?”

Rose was swept up in the arms of the young noblewomen and jostled about in a daze.

Engagement? The devoted Sir Benyamin? Seven years of unrequited love……?

“Oh, what a moving romance! If only the Lady Bonbon Comedy Troupe would turn the two of you into a love play!”

“A younger man! A younger man!”

“And so House Ordo and House Basil are reunited by fate!”

“Frankly, I was surprised. Our Monthly Tarte predicted Miss Rosemaria’s match would be Prince Julius, and we were wrong, which is a shame, but we sincerely pray for your happiness with Sir Benyamin. Might we ask for a brief interview today as well?”

“I beg your……?”

What interview?

“Good day! I am Alber, deputy editor of Monthly Cultured Citizen! We met at Princess Helen’s birthday celebration as well, do you remember? You are as gracious as ever, Miss Rosemaria!”

Nobles numbering easily two hundred, including newspaper and gossip publication reporters, surrounded Rose and showered her with congratulations.

“……Who exactly is getting engaged?”

Rose took stock of the situation and looked around the banquet hall.

The culprit was easy to identify. A banquet this lavishly spread with desserts and drinks could not have been thrown together on the spot.

“There, Mother?”

Rose called out quietly, and Anne, who had been personally carrying a tray among the attendants, startled and smiled brightly.

“Oh, goodness, dear! You see, I went to the Biella lady’s gathering the other day, and when everyone asked after you, I didn’t say anything loudly, I just leaned in and whispered, ‘I think my daughter might finally be getting engaged.’ Just that one little thing, and look at how everyone has shown such interest and come all this way to celebrate! I’m so overwhelmed I don’t know what to do with myself. What a happy mother I am, to have a daughter loved by citizens across the Empire! Ho ho ho!”

“Let’s have a little chat, Mother. Just the two of us, a cozy mother-daughter moment.”

Rose gathered her trailing skirts and advanced, but Anne backed away steadily, putting more and more distance between them.

“More importantly, isn’t it getting warm with so many guests? Ice! Someone bring plenty of ice! Our guests are thirsty!”

Anne clapped her hands for the signal, and the attendants surged forward like a herd of water buffalo, blocking Rose’s view entirely.

At the same moment, an orchestra that had somehow already taken its position launched into a lively performance.

A tarantella, fierce and driving. The rapid rhythm and passionate melody set every dancer’s blood racing and lifted the mood of the hall in an instant.

“In honor of today’s guest of honor, Miss Rosemaria!”

“Let’s dance!”

Anne had made her escape, but Rose had nowhere to run.

Neither her position nor her character allowed her to slip away irresponsibly from a gathering like this.

She chose instead to engage the guests as actively as possible and try to clear up the misunderstanding as smoothly as she could.

“Congratulations on your engagement, Miss Rosemaria.”

“Thank you. Though I will be getting engaged to someone eventually, it isn’t happening just yet. I think the rumor has been somewhat distorted.”

“How have your dates with Sir Benyamin been going? Long-distance courtship must be difficult?”

“Of course I had been thinking of meeting him at least once, since he is such a fine person, but it hasn’t happened yet. I think the rumor has been somewhat distorted.”

“Oh, young people work these things out! What’s a little distance? Burning love burns every obstacle right down!”

“What I’m trying to say is that the rumor has been distorted……”

“Ha ha ha! Love only burns hotter the more you try to hold it back! We all know that!”

“The rumor has been distorted……”

“What? How hot did it get? Is our lord of Melos getting a grandchild?”

“What?! Good heavens, Miss Rosemaria! Please don’t dance too vigorously, you ought to sit and rest!”

“Put down the strong champagne and have some juice, juice! My goodness!”

Rose stood apart from the people spinning and conspiring together and watched them as though looking at a scene from another world, drinking steadily and saying nothing. Anne, who had claimed to go fetch ice, had apparently fled clear out of the banquet hall and was nowhere to be seen.

The guests gave interviews to reporters and offered testimony along the lines of, I do think Sir Benyamin had been staring at Miss Rosemaria in a complete daze ever since his sister’s wedding.

“You can’t let a first love who’s younger than you slip away! Just go ahead and get married!”

“We support this couple!”

“Send it to the Senate! Ha ha!”

Flower petals and champagne bubbles and laughter drifted through the air inside, in sharp contrast to the thick, grey, brooding sky outside.

It went without saying which of the two scenes better matched the feelings of Rose, who could not escape and had been left to entertain the guests in place of Anne, the one who had started all of this and then run away.

“This feels like a bad omen……”

She looked up at the sky filling with dark clouds and emptied her glass again and again.

“It feels like lightning is about to strike……”

Was it a warning of divine punishment about to fall on her for becoming an unwitting traitor?

Rose watched the sky with uneasy, restless eyes.