Hartmut’s Marriage Partner

Hartmut’s Marriage Partner

Hartmut’s Marriage Partner

No sooner had Ferdinand and I arrived at our seats than attendants began busily moving around us, preparing to resume socializing. Hartmut arrived a moment later.

“Lady Rozemyne,” he said, “I would like to introduce you to the woman I’m escorting. Do you have a moment?”

“Ottilie made it seem like you were courting quite a number of girls,” I replied. “Have you managed to narrow it down to one? I am glad you were not violently stabbed in the process.”

Hartmut met my response with wide eyes, then put on a bright smile and placed his right hand on his chest. “Please do not frame it like that, Lady Rozemyne. My name is with you. To me, my life is yours, always.”

“Don’t steal Roderick’s emotional lines.”

“Enough,” Ferdinand said to us both, waving his hand dismissively. “Hartmut would not have you meet just anyone. I imagine that he intends to marry this woman.” By formally introducing her to me, his boss, he was proving that their connection was for more than just the escort; his aim was for their parents to meet so that they could discuss progressing things toward marriage. “I, too, wish to know what manner of woman the ever-loyal Hartmut has chosen. Bring her here.”

“Understood.”

Hartmut went to where the other scholars were gathered and returned with a girl wearing a Dunkelfelger cape. I couldn’t help but think that she looked somewhat familiar, and as it turned out, she had been one of the apprentice scholars in attendance at Hannelore’s tea party. She had scorched-brown hair that was done in a long braid behind her head and eyes that were the same blue color as her cape. She was almost Hartmut’s height, which meant she was rather tall, and her face was flushed red with embarrassment as she walked a half step behind him. Overall, she radiated a lovely sense of innocence.

“Dunkelfelger...” Ferdinand spat under his breath, drawing my attention to him. “Its women tend to be highly calculating—it is impossible to say how much intelligence she will attempt to wring out of us. The question is, can Hartmut contain her?”

“Ferdinand... Did a girl from Dunkelfelger hurt you in the past or something?”

“...No. Such is merely the prevailing opinion.”

It was said that everyone who interacted with Dunkelfelger came away thinking it was a duchy of very manipulative women. I couldn’t quite understand it, though; Hannelore was the only girl from Dunkelfelger whom I really knew, and she had never given me reason to think she was conniving.

“I am Clarissa, a fifth-year apprentice archscholar from Dunkelfelger,” she said. In a shocking twist, Hartmut’s partner was the very same woman who had given me her duchy’s stories. My opinion of her immediately shot up when I realized that I had already read some of her writing.

Clarissa and I exchanged greetings, after which she said, with a face full of emotion, “At last. At last, I’ve finally been introduced to you, Lady Rozemyne. I’m overjoyed.”

“Does your coming here mean you’ve settled on marrying Hartmut, Clarissa?” I asked. “How did you come to such a decision? Um, simply out of curiosity, of course.” I couldn’t outright say that I thought he was a total weirdo and that her interest in him seemed strange, so I resorted to more indirect means.

“Do you remember the game of ditter you played with Dunkelfelger last year, Lady Rozemyne?” Clarissa asked.

“Yes, of course.” Perhaps they had gotten close while sharing information over ditter. It was strange but absolutely feasible.

“I was moved beyond words when I saw the fight,” she said, now blushing heavily.

Much to my surprise, what followed wasn’t a conversation about meeting Hartmut; rather, it was an impassioned speech about how splendid and magnificent she had found me. I, the tiniest girl in the Royal Academy, had used devious plots to toy with Dunkelfelger’s apprentice knights—she recounted this fact with sparkling blue eyes.

“Lady Rozemyne, after that fateful encounter, I resolved to marry an Ehrenfest man so that I might one day serve you,” she concluded.

Um, what? So it has nothing to do with Hartmut?!

Clarissa had then begun gathering intelligence in her search for a man who met her criteria. It would take too much time for her to marry someone younger, meaning they needed to be her age or older, and since she wanted to serve me after marriage, he would ideally need to be my retainer. He also needed to be someone her parents would approve of; considering Ehrenfest’s rank, it wasn’t uncommon for even fellow archnobles to have wide gaps in their mana capacities.

The only two men who suited her needs were Cornelius and Hartmut, both archnoble honor students. Cornelius had turned her down, since he already had someone else, but Hartmut was a free man who spent his time getting friendly with girls from other duchies to collect intelligence of his own.

“I asked Hartmut to date me with the expectation of marriage,” Clarissa continued. I nodded in response, listening attentively, only to be taken by surprise when Elvira suddenly spoke from behind me.

“Yes? And then?”

I turned around and saw her taking notes with a businesslike expression, much like one of my scholars.

“How did you convey your feelings to Hartmut?” Elvira asked. Hartmut was the one who replied, and his eyes grew somewhat distant as he spoke.

“Clarissa was more intense than any woman I’ve ever met. She suddenly kicked my feet out from under me, pinned me to the ground, and thrust a knife against my throat.”

“What...?” I asked.

“For a moment, I didn’t know what had happened,” he continued. Clarissa had apparently held him down with her body weight and, while holding a blade to his throat, demanded that he give her missions to complete to earn his hand in marriage. Hartmut, feeling that his life was in danger, had no choice but to comply. In the end, not only had Clarissa completed every challenge she was assigned, but she had also eliminated the other girls Hartmut was friendly with one by one, thereby removing all rivals for his affection. It seemed that to Clarissa, love was something won through intensity and guts, not displays of romance.

So, in Dunkelfelger, girls can be the dominant ones when it comes to starting romances... That’s news to me, but also not something I really wanted to know. Clarissa looked like such a normal girl at first too.

“I completed his missions and could finally date him with marriage in mind. And now, he is introducing me to you at the Interduchy Tournament, Lady Rozemyne...” Clarissa said shyly, as if embarrassed to talk about her own romance like this—not that I found what she was saying even the slightest bit romantic.

Mm... I just can’t believe their relationship started with cutthroat bloodshed.

I looked at Hartmut, who was standing next to Clarissa. He seemed so at ease, but was he really fine marrying a girl who had shoved a knife in his face?