10. Matchmaking Party?

10. Matchmaking Party?

Our carriage swayed back and forth as we rode to the palace.

“Tonight’s party is being held so the crown prince can pick a queen from the candidates who’ve been invited, right?”

“Yes. And not only the crown prince, but the princess as well. That’s why the guest list is quite small. There’ll be even fewer people than last time.

“Ah, I see.”

Since they’re choosing Aurantia’s next queen, they can’t have anyone with too low a rank. But they’re looking for someone to marry THAT prince, so I don’t think it’s the time to be too picky. ...Ahem... Oh my, I let my true thoughts slip~ Ohohoho~!

While I played straight man to my own jokes and tried to laugh it off in my head, Mr. Fisalis gave me a puzzled look.

“Just saying, but... while all of the dukes and marquises will of course be there, the only other ones invited are the children of nobles with the rank of earl or higher. It is a crown prince looking for a queen and a princess looking for a family to marry into, after all. Can’t have anyone too lowborn, after all,” he explained.

My thoughts were right on!

“Is Miss Verbena the top candidate for the crown prince’s wife?”

She was the daughter of a prestigious family ranked only just after the Fisalises and was just the right age. I couldn’t think of anyone who would be a better candidate.

“She was, but both she and Celosia did everything they could to get out of it! She even blurted out that she already had someone her heart was set on! Aha ha ha!” Mr. Fisalis replied, laughing as if this was all hilarious.

So the sister did the same thing as her brother! Isn’t that abusing your authority a bit too much, Argenteia family~?! But what Miss Verbena said kind of made me worried.

“Someone she has her heart set on...” I said, staring directly at Mr. Fisalis. The person she had previously had feelings for was...

“No, no! It’s not me! I heard from Celosia, but yesterday Verbena and Duke Argenteia were talking...”

According to Mr. Fisalis (or Celosia?), after the party at the Argenteia estate a while ago (which was a matchmaking party for Miss Verbena too, now that I think about it☆) there’d been mountains of marriage proposals pouring in for her, but Miss Verbena hadn’t looked at a single one. This seemed to be how it went down.

Duke Argenteia: “If you don’t want to marry anyone in Flür, why not become the queen of Aurantia instead?”

Miss Verbena: “Huh?!”

Duke Argenteia: “They’re choosing candidates for the crown prince’s wife, and you’re the top of the list.”

Miss Verbena: “Don’t even joke about that! Why should I marry him?!”

Duke Argenteia: “You’re the daughter of a prominent family just like the Fisalises, about the right age, and you have no fiancé. You might as well have been begging to be a candidate.”

Miss Verbena: “Don’t decide that for me! I...I already have my heart set on someone!”

Duke Argenteia: “You’re still on about that? Cercis is married and very, very happy with his wife. Didn’t seeing that make you give up?”

Miss Verbena: “It isn’t Cercis! It’s someone else!”

Duke Argenteia: “Then introduce him to me!”

Miss Verbena: “I’ll start looking for him now!”

Duke Argenteia: “Huh?! Well, with that personality of yours, I can’t even imagine you being a match for that crown prince, in any case...

And so, the duke had sighed and agreed to tell the king to give up having his daughter as a candidate for the match.

Whoa. Go Miss Verbena. But...

“That means...” She doesn’t...actually have someone she likes?

Knowing how I was going to finish that sentence, Mr. Fisalis grinned. “Even Duke Argenteia saw what the crown prince did and how he acted at the last party, and then considered Verbena’s personality. He put it all together and decided that they wouldn’t work, even as a political marriage, so she was taken off the list.”

“So in the end, the person Miss Verbena has her heart set on...”

“Is that special someone she’ll find someday.”

What the heck is that all about?

“...So who ended up being chosen as candidates?”

“One daughter of a duke and two daughters of marquis, making three total.”

Three! So someone got the short end of the stick... Or maybe it’d be more accurate to say they pulled the joker!

By the way, out of the usual four party-going girls, both Miss Iris and Miss Nastersham could potentially be among the candidates, just going by their rank. It wouldn’t be surprising, but I have mixed feelings about it. While I was wondering who the candidates might be, though, Mr. Fisalis continued.

“Ah, that’s right. Your friend Lady Sanguinneah is one of the candidates,” Mr. Fisalis said after pondering for a bit.

I’d just been thinking the same thing, so I was really surprised! Did he read my mind?! But I guess I was right then and Miss Iris was a candidate, huh?

“You mean Miss Iris?” I asked, just in case she had any sisters I didn’t know about.

“Yes. Celosia mentioned it.”

So it really was Miss Iris. He nodded when he heard her name.

“Wow... I hope he doesn’t pick her.”

“Since she’s your friend, I agree.”

For a while after that, an indescribable silence descended upon our carriage.

Just as Mr. Fisalis had said, the palace’s hall was much less busy than last time due to the limited guest list. It was a cozy little gathering that felt almost home-like.

Though they had picked out several official candidates for the crown prince’s bride, apparently it was okay if he took a shine to any of the guests, so ladies in his age range who were the daughters of earls or higher had been invited. The same was true for the princess, so men close to her age (and with parents of the appropriate rank) were also invited. Really, why didn’t they just straight up call it a matchmaking party?

As always, Mr. Fisalis and I held hands as we headed over to greet the king. This would all be pretty normal, but of course Aurantia’s crown prince—the star of tonight’s party—was sitting right beside His Majesty! I really didn’t want to deal with him, though. I was absolutely done with his piercing gaze and how aggressively he went after me.

Though I was already dead set on avoiding the prince as much as possible, it seemed as if the same couldn’t be said for Mr. Fisalis.

“Your Majesty, thank you so very much for your invitation tonight. Your Royal Highness, a fine evening to you, as well.” He must’ve been used to it, because he just flowed into a perfect knight’s salute. B-Beautiful. I rushed to follow his example (without looking like I was rushing, of course!) and lowered my head.

“How wonderful of you to attend tonight, Duke Fisalis, Duchess Fisalis.”

“Good evening, Duke and Duchess Fisalis. I’m glad to see you both again.”

“Good evening.”

The king returned our greeting with a big smile, but the crown prince and Princess Orangé gave absolutely normal greetings. It was kind of anticlimactic. The crown prince wasn’t giving me that same laser-beam stare he did at the last party, but instead was just... normal. Had he really changed his tune like Mr. Fisalis said? For now, I just bowed deeply to him.

And now, the evening party had officially begun.