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Chapter 240

Wasn’t he tired?

Though I had the means to return to the Temple, it was already very late—too late to sleep—so I saw no harm in walking a while longer.

“Reinhart, what do you think of Arnaria?”

The Grand Duke was no more than a friend’s father to me, but he was behaving like a father-in-law of sorts, with his hands clasped behind his back and a tone that implied a relational superiority rather than a social one.

‘What is this? We don’t have any sort of actual relationship yet. Why does it feel like there’s something there?’

Setting that aside, and about the Grand Duke’s question... What did I think of Arnaria?

“I think it’s remarkable. Not the kind of place someone like me is accustomed to... I’m unlearned, so I can’t describe it well. I apologize for my underwhelming answer.”

“Ah. So you know words of flattery.”

It was exceedingly obvious that I had said that out of formality.

The Grand Duke looked at the gardens of Arnaria.

“It’s a lonely place.”

Even the Grand Duke, who had almost fully automated the entire palace, recognized the loneliness in the stark and desolate confines of Arnaria.

Most of the gardeners, guards, and servants were golems. While some human servants existed, Arnaria seemed to run on minimal personnel.

It was probably for security reasons, and it was indeed safer this way. As a result, though, Arnaria was beautiful and secure, but devoid of connection.

The master of the White Palace had described it as a lonely place, and I was unsure how to respond.

“Harriet spent a lot of time here,” he continued.

“Yes, I can imagine.”

A rude child who looked down on those beneath her in station or skill, refusing even to acknowledge them—that was the kind of person Harriet had been.

Harriet had been raised in such an environment, treated like royalty, and shielded from every harm by a doting family that gave in to her every whim.

“Do you know why I sent Harriet to the Temple?” the Grand Duke asked.

That was a question that had lingered in my mind.

Harriet could have learned magic in Arnaria. It was in the Grand Duchy of Saint-Ouen, and her father was a grand mage, so there was no need for her to go to the Temple to study magic.

“Hailing from a nation where magic was highly developed, Princess Harriet de Saint-Ouen was admitted to the Temple’s Royal Class.”

That was a part of the setting I’d created.

But there was no need for Harriet to go to the Temple to learn magic. So there had to be another reason.

Harriet had been raised in a lonely palace. She was an arrogant daughter who knew nothing of dealing with people, and grew up in an environment in which throwing a tantrum solved everything. A daughter who treated the occasional commoners and retainers she met as if they were bugs.

And then, there was a father who watched his daughter grow up.

“Was it because you wanted her... to gain some experience with people?”

“Yes.”

In the Temple, social status was meaningless. No one could lord it over others based on status alone.

The Grand Duke wanted Harriet, who had grown up in a sheltered place, to grow in a different environment. He wanted her to understand that the world she knew wasn’t all there was.

So, the Grand Duke sent Harriet to the Temple.

In the original story, she never changed. But this time she had changed, because of me.

The Grand Duke had probably hoped she would encounter someone like me, if not me specifically.

“Harriet seems to have made many friends. Her personality has also changed a lot.”

“...”

“I can’t say it’s all thanks to you, but I also can’t say it’s not thanks to you.”

The Grand Duke wanted Harriet to change, and she had indeed changed. She seemed to be more agreeable. Although he opposed the Magic Research Club, it showed that Harriet had strong and harmonious relationships within the Temple.

He couldn’t possibly dislike that.

It felt odd to hear him talk about it.

The Grand Duke and his family... They didn’t seem to cling rigidly to social status.

In reality, I was a commoner from the streets, someone even commoners might look down upon. In fact, Harriet had called me a beggar for some time.

But the Grand Duke’s family showed no prejudice against my background. Not just a mere acceptance of a commoner because I was their daughter’s friend, but a complete indifference to it.

The Grand Duke had said something along the lines of, “My daughter wouldn’t seek the opinion of someone of your lowly background” previously, but that was him speaking from his daughter’s perspective, not his own.

He never said he could never accept someone like me.

“What do you think of my background?” I asked him openly.

The Grand Duke looked at me, pondering my question for a while, then replied with an unexpected question of his own.

“Do you know the history of the Saint-Ouen family?”

“I don’t.”

“The ancestor of the Saint-Ouen family was a tanner.”

“...”

“Executioners, tanners, and butchers... These jobs were traditionally held by the lowliest people. Back then, they couldn’t even live near the village.”

Among the commoners, the lowest are the ones who are despised and ignored even by the lowliest of people.

“A tanner was required to have tubs of urine on his property for curing hides. Because of the stench, they couldn’t own homes within the village. I’ve smelled it myself; calling it foul doesn’t even begin to describe it.”

“...”

“Working as a tanner was often enough grounds for divorce. If their spouse claimed they couldn’t endure it any longer, that was reason enough to split up. The Saint-Ouenfamily line began with such a tanner.”

The Grand Duke was speaking of a long-forgotten past, a history he still remembered, even though it could have easily been forgotten.

“And how do you think the Saint-Ouen family, which began from such humble origins, made it to where it is today?”

The chasm between the urine-soaked shack of a tanner and the White Palace Arnaria was unimaginable.

Yet the Saint-Ouen family ruled the Grand Duchy.

Their humble origins had been forgotten by everyone but the master of the White Palace.

“... Was it through capability?”

“Exactly.”

It took nothing but capability for a lowly person to become a noble. That was how it was transcended.

“The Saint-Ouen bloodline has always possessed a strong talent for magic. For a tanner, magic was out of reach. However, as soon as that talent was awakened, from one generation to the next, we finally reached this place.

“Birthright—it is meaningless. The world needs those who are necessary. Being born noble might make someone noble for a time, but that does not guarantee their future. Likewise, being born lowly might make one lowly for a time, but it does not define their future.

“Ability, talent, power—these are the only things that transcend everything.”

The Grand Duke looked at me. He believed, almost coldly, in meritocracy.

“Your humble origins are meaningless. You’ve already been admitted to the Royal Class,” he said.

“...”

“Status? The moment you graduate, any kingdom, any duchy, even the empire, would grant you a title to keep you. No, they wouldn’t just grant it—they would bestow it upon you.”

I was a commoner, but there was no reason for me to remain one.

It was because of my abilities. I was a superhuman, and if I continued to grow safely until graduation, I would be far stronger than any ordinary knight.

My abilities, and my power... They practically made me a noble.

The Grand Duke did not consider me a commoner because he saw a future where I would be elevated by my capabilities.

His values were based on the belief that status naturally followed talent.

The Grand Duke’s family treated me normally because they knew that one’s status at birth was meaningless.

Only my capability mattered. That was why they accepted me.

The Grand Duke and his family believed in meritocracy. Therefore, they weren’t hung up on social status.

If I were incompetent, I would be despised. Since I was capable, I was respected.

And there I was, being shown respect.

“So don’t concern yourself with social status. Don’t let it burden you,” the Grand Duke said while looking at me, which made me feel a little odd.

I had just asked this out of curiosity, but they seemed to believe I was troubled by my status. What kind of concern did they think I had?

“You are more than qualified to marry Harriet.”

“...?!”

‘What is this man saying?’

“It means you don’t need to worry about being from a humble background when it comes to Harriet.”

‘No. No way!’

“You didn’t come here in the middle of the night to ask about that?”

It seemed like the Grand Duke’s entire family had misunderstood this in a massive way, and the Grand Duke most of all.

He thought I was already dating Harriet and had shown up at midnight to discuss the next step: marriage.

‘No wonder they opened the door for me so readily...’

He didn’t believe that I’d just happened to be in Arnaria. He thought I was so deeply in love with Harriet that I’d come to Arnaria at night to seek permission to marry his daughter.

“But know your boundaries.”

His stern expression gave me the impression that, if I touched his daughter before marriage, I’d be dead.

Standing before this intimidating figure, I couldn’t possibly explain that I had come to the duchy of Saint-Owen to meet an older female senior, and that it had nothing to do with Harriet. If I did, I’d be killed on the spot.

It was a complete misunderstanding. However, clearing up the misunderstanding might lead to unimaginable consequences.

I had come to get priority access to the Warp Gate but ended up, out of the blue, getting permission for marriage.

Despite my humble origins, I had the ability to become a noble if I wanted to.

The duke believed I was more than qualified to marry Harriet, and I could date her without having to worry, as long as I knew my boundaries.

After hearing all that from the Grand Duke, I couldn’t just tell him that I wasn’t involved with his daughter at all. He might go berserk that I wasn’t dating her, and without Harriet here to calm him down, it might be the worst thing to happen.

So, I left the White Palace Arnaria with the bizarre circumstances of being an officially-recognized fiancé whilst in reality having nothing to do with Harriet.

I felt like my soul had been sucked out.

‘What is this? If I don’t marry Harriet later on, I’ll be killed. They’ll definitely accuse me of playing with her emotions, and even if Harriet denies it, they won’t believe her.

‘I... I’m doomed now. Do I have to marry Harriet?’

Of course, all this could only happen after the Gate Incident was resolved, so if it came to that, it would mean that I was okay. It would mean that I would survive until then.

Anyway, this escapade that had begun with Adriana’s withdrawal from the Temple was all rather eventful..

I somehow managed to visit the Grand Duchy of Saint-Ouen and return within a day.

Though I did not succeed in convincing Adriana to return, it felt like I had somehow caused an even bigger mess...

What was this feeling?

***

[Event Completed - Return]

[You have received 200 Achievement Points.]

I returned to the imperial capital Gradium in the early morning hours.

‘At least I won’t be facing Ellen’s wrath now. I just hope she doesn’t beat me up and demand to know where I sneaked off to during the night!’

Though, come to think of it, she’d never actually beaten me up outside of sparring practice.

Why was I so worried about getting hit? She wasn’t even that sort of person.

‘Maybe I’ve just been conditioned by all the beatings I’ve endured in practice...’

Adriana was no longer at the Temple, and for some reason, just knowing that fact made the place feel a little more lonely.

Anyway...

While some might know that I had gone on a nocturnal adventure, no one knew that I had gone all the way to the Grand Duchy of Saint-Ouen.

I was exhausted, since there had been no chance at all to rest.

It was breakfast time, and Ellen noticed my fatigue-ridden face.

“Did you stay up all night?” she asked.

“Yeah... I had some work to do.”

Five of us were gathered at the breakfast table—the four female students and myself.

“Where did you wander off to? Causing trouble again?” Harriet asked me as she wrinkled her nose.

‘Yeah. Trouble, indeed. But this trouble doesn’t involve me alone, but you as well, Harriet.’

Though she looked like she was thinking of something to mock me with, I didn’t say anything to her.

Seeing Harriet like this made me feel... I felt like I had treated her too harshly. Even if she wasn’t on the same level as Charlotte, seeing the White Palace Arnaria reminded me that she was indeed a princess.

I had called her all sorts of names and bullied her relentlessly.

Sure, she had been antagonistic at first, but I had to have caused her a lot of emotional harm merely because I found it amusing.

Her personality had changed drastically, but thinking about her in her palace gown, being treated the way a noble would...

A previously non-existent sense of guilt began to creep in.

“Hey, I’m sorry.”

“... Huh? Wh-What for?”

Harriet was visibly taken aback by my sudden apology.

“You’re a princess. I may not have treated you like one, but I went way overboard, didn’t I?”

“Wh-What on earth... What are you suddenly... What are you talking about? Why... Why now? And what... What do you want from me?”

Harriet seemed to suspect that I had some nefarious plan hidden behind my sudden apology.

Her expression was one of confusion, as if she was trying to calculate what mischievous plot I might be hatching that made me suddenly call her a princess and apologize.

It wasn’t just her. Riana and Adelia were also shocked by my sudden behavior.

However, all this stemmed from me genuinely reflecting on my actions the previous night. Setting the Grand Duke’s words aside, I realized that I had indeed treated her too harshly.

The grandeur and splendor of Arnaria... I had treated someone raised in such luxury too harshly.

I couldn’t treat her exactly like a princess, but I could treat her better.

‘Harriet is a princess... I should treat her with care... I shouldn’t call her Thick-Skull anymore.’

“From now on, I’ll call you princess, not Thick-Skull.”

“Wh-What?! What... What are you talking about? What’s wrong with you?! Why are you suddenly acting like this towards me?”

“Eat up, princess.”

Harriet looked utterly confused, her lips trembling slightly.

‘Why is she so startled? I’m just trying to be nice.’

“You seem out of it. Why don’t you get some sleep?” Riana said, patting my shoulder, her face slightly pale.

‘What’s with her now?’

“... What? Why?”

“You’re really creeping me out right now.”

She must have thought I was talking nonsense because I was tired.

To be honest, I was really exhausted.