After registering with the Guild, Novem and I checked into a reasonably priced inn in Darion.
In the room, we both read through the booklet Hawkins had given us.
The contents were simple.
【Don’t be a nuisance to others.】
Plus Guild rules and basic manners.
”…Reads like it’s for children.”
I said it bluntly. Novem agreed.
“True. But these things matter.”
From the Jewel, the Second strongly agreed.
“YES! Exactly! You wouldn’t believe how many people break basic rules!”
(Sounds like personal experience.)
I closed the booklet and stuffed it in my bag. Novem had finished too.
I asked what had been on my mind.
“Novem, the money—”
The Second cut in.
“Lyle, wait! Don’t ask! Or — I don’t want to hear it!”
The First, curious, pressed for it.
“Why? Ask her. House Fuchs is a baron family now, right? Got rich. Means we paid them back a little, doesn’t it?”
He sounded smug. The Second shouted, draining my mana.
“Idiot! Even in a baron house, Novem-chan is the second daughter! That sum had to have been a real strain — figure that out!”
(…Eh? Really?)
I hadn’t grasped it. Ten gold still didn’t feel like real money to me.
Novem’s face was a little troubled. Then she smiled.
“It’s fine, Lord Lyle. It was a large sum, but I still have some left.”
So ten gold really was a lot.
To me, who barely had any money — that was enviable.
“You had that much on you. From your parents?”
“N-no, well — that is — um…”
“Not them? Then how?”
The Second yelled — only I could hear.
“I told you to stop, didn’t I?!”
Novem looked down. I started panicking — had I crossed a line?
“S-sorry, I was just curious…”
I tried to drop it, but she spoke first.
“My parents did set aside money for my travel. But — this trip was my own selfishness, so I couldn’t really take much. So…”
She continued, reluctantly. Then dropped a bomb.
“I sold the household goods and clothes prepared for my marriage to you, Lord Lyle. I’m sorry.”
Her face was sad. I realized I’d messed up. More than that — the ancestors started.
“Wait — household goods—?”
The First, flustered.
“I TOLD you to stop! …The guilt…”
The Third spoke up.
“In my era, the household goods a girl brings to her marriage were a real personal fortune for her. Is that still the case now?”
The Seventh answered.
“Yes, still a fortune. Goods she’s allowed to bring with her, that she retains the right to use freely at her marriage home. …Considering House Walt’s rank, House Fuchs probably overextended.”
The First through Fourth screamed.
“NOOOO!”
“That’s why I told you not to ask! When a girl has that much money there’s always a reason!”
“Sister… I’m sorry our descendants are still causing you trouble…”
“What do we DO?! Descendants still putting House Fuchs through hell?! How do we repay them?!”
The First wailed. The Second seemed to have already half-suspected. The Third recalled the people of House Fuchs and began apologizing. The Fourth, from the sound of it, was actually crying.
(My mana is evaporating… and how much did you guys impose on them.)
The Fuchs had supported House Walt across the ages, suspiciously merciful. And the current daughter was doing the same for me.
(…The guilt is overwhelming.)
When a girl married out, even commoner families prepared household goods for her. With proper families. The girl chose her own dowry — furnishings, clothes — without compromise.
Sometimes including heirloom-quality pieces.
For a girl, those were her treasures. She’d sold them. For me.
(Wait — I was thrown out and she got money together within days, which means—)
She’d dumped her dowry at fire-sale prices.
My face went pale. Novem tried to comfort me.
“It’s fine. Technically still my parents’ property, but I had their permission. And we needed money for you to become a successful adventurer. I’m glad I used it.”
Household goods, once bought, become “secondhand.” And rushed liquidation gets ruthless prices. The merchants probably came under pressure too.
Way less than the original price.
The shouting stopped — or my mana ran out. I was genuinely drained.
”…Why.”
“Yes?”
“Why go that far? Your dowry — you’d put that together for yourself! Even if it wasn’t me, you could’ve found another husband immediately. So why — why sell off everything for me!”
“Lord Lyle…”
I was taking it out on her.
I’d lost the heir’s position, was disowned, was a man of zero status. World-stupid, embarrassed by the ancestors at every turn. Nothing left I’d built. No rank, no money. Why would she serve someone like me?
I’d seen the people around me drift away after I turned ten. Somehow, Novem had always stayed near. Whispers in the manor said she was “betting on a thin chance” — that I might still become lord.
Maybe that was it. But now I had no chance at all. Why would she stay?
“There’s no value to serving! I lost to my little sister — Ceres! I was thrown out! That’s the fool I am! I — I have no value!”
”…”
She looked at me, serious. I turned away from her purple eyes. I was afraid of seeing contempt.
Since age ten, I’d been driven by fear. Driven to work harder so my parents wouldn’t abandon me. Whatever I built, my sister leapt over it without effort. Each time, I redoubled.
— Even knowing it would never pay off.
Alone.
Novem spoke.
”…I’ve always been watching.”
“Eh?”
“When we were small, you could do anything, Lord Lyle. And you were kind. Do you remember? I was always alone as a child. When I was invited to the Count’s manor, I could never fit in with the other kids.”
A good memory of childhood, mostly forgotten under the terror of the years from ten onward.
“Yeah — that’s right. You’d be alone, and the boys would tease you to get your attention, which only isolated you more.”
I’d intervened, as the heir. Childhood memory.
(That might’ve been my happiest time.)
“You worked so hard, and you never gave up, even when your parents grew cold… watching you, I decided to work hard too.”
After ten, everyone drifted. I lived nearly alone. Novem had been nearby, but I’d kept her at arm’s length because of the gossip.
“When I was thirteen, my parents told me my engagement to you was decided. I was happy. I could be at your side, supporting you.”
”…It was all wasted. My effort, in front of her, was all worthless.”
My mana was collapsing fast. My thoughts wouldn’t hold together. I told myself this was why I couldn’t self-regulate.
Tears came.
“Nobody… nobody ever looks at me…”
“I was always watching. You worked so hard.”
“But I was thrown out. I lost everything.”
She put her arms around my shoulders, gently.
“I’m here. I’m with you.”
“My parents didn’t want me. I just wanted them to look. I just wanted to be praised.”
The tears spilled. The wall I’d been holding broke. The feeling of release was — almost a relief.
“I was watching. You were splendid, Lord Lyle. You never gave up. You faced what frightened you. You’re admirable.”
The truth — I’d been scared.
Of my sister. Of that perfect being, Ceres. So scared. But I couldn’t run. Even knowing I’d lose, I wanted to challenge her.
And I lost everything.
It had stopped mattering. I’d assumed something would work out. The world was less kind than I’d thought. Without Novem, who knew what state I’d be in by now.
“You have value, Lord Lyle. I can say that with confidence. So — let’s work hard.”
”…Yeah.”
That night, I fell asleep with my arms around her…
“Nobody looks at me”
“I lost everything”
“But Novem-chan stays with me”
“That’s a NET WIN! Don’t whine!”
The First, Fourth, Third sang. The Second yelled.
Day two in Darion. Beginner orientation at the Guild. Buying gear. Sleep for tomorrow.
But the ancestors called an emergency meeting and dragged me to the council room.
Around the circular table, four of them stood on top of it, singing and teasing.
“You — you saw all of that…”
Embarrassing. Painfully embarrassing. I hadn’t been able to look Novem in the face at breakfast. And now the ancestors were ribbing me about it.
“More like I was embarrassed!”
The First, from sing-song to roaring instantly.
“I was embarrassed too! But my mana was out and I was crashing emotionally, it couldn’t be helped!”
Cold looks all around. The Seventh —
“W-well… fifteen and disowned. He’s still a kid. …Y-you were lonely, weren’t you, Lyle?”
“Stop! Don’t sympathize! It just makes it worse!”
I hid my face. My face was hot. Definitely red.
The Fifth, irritated:
“Enough. Get to the topic.”
The four sat down.
“Yeah. We’ve teased enough. We’ve got our material now.”
The First, smug.
(They are absolutely going to bring this up forever.)
“What’s the emergency meeting about?”
The Fourth retook the chair.
“Lyle… marry Novem-chan.”
“Haa, marriage — right — … WHAT? MARRIAGE?!”
I looked at the Fifth and onward. Usually they didn’t favor Novem.
“Marry her. Finding anyone else will be hard. You know the House Walt family precept?”
The House Walt precept: requirements for the wife. Established by the First. Still in force.
“I — I know. And Novem matches them. But—”
The House Walt precept:
【The wife must be, first, of excellent appearance.】
【Second, healthy.】
【Third, of strong constitution.】
【Fourth, intelligent.】
【Fifth, of beautiful complexion.】
Five. Once we became counts, a sixth was added:
【Sixth, skilled in magic.】
Added by the Fifth.
The Second pushed hard:
“House Walt threw Lyle out, but Lyle’s the true line, right? The precept still applies, and as someone who really struggled with this — let Novem-chan go and you’ll get nothing else. After what she’s done, refusing the marriage will literally curse you.”
The Sixth jumped in.
“Setting the cursing aside — she meets the bar. Lyle, marry now.”
“I — I do like Novem. But suddenly — I have no capacity to support a wife —”
The Third:
“You’ll build it up. If you were properly educated, you can do something. Couldn’t tell you — I didn’t struggle with finding a wife — but apparently it’s hard.”
The Second exploded.
“I’m the one who FOUND your wife! Do you know how hard I worked so YOU wouldn’t have to suffer like me?!”
Then the First, with a problematic question:
“Hey… what’s this ‘precept’?”
Genuinely puzzled, looking around at the others.
“Huh?”
“…you.”
“Whoa.”
“What.”
“I had a feeling.”
“How does the First not know?”
“Hold on. Isn’t this the House Walt precept from the FIRST?”
Everyone stared. The Second trembled with imminent rage. The First didn’t get it.
“Novem-chan’s a good kid, sure, marry her. But what’s this ‘precept’? Is there a rule for marrying? Who’s the idiot who made that?”
The Second stood, pointed.
“YOU did, you bastard!”
“Wha— really?”
The First had no memory of the precept at all.