9. Corydalis Clears the Decks

I recalled an episode from a few months back.

“Are you suuure you’re not interested in men?”

My eldest brother had been the first one to start grilling me.

That day, all the members of the Pulcherrima family were gathered in our manor’s parlor for an emergency meeting. Seated there were Marquis and Marquise Pulcherrima; the eldest son and his wife; the second son and his wife; and finally, me.

After my father had demanded that I “drop by the manor for once,” I’d dragged my butt over, only to find that my parents were concerned about the rumors circulating around the royal palace (the whole “men-only” incident) and had called a meeting to get to the bottom of the matter.

“I’m positive! That was a lie Duke Fisalis spread around!” I explained to my older brother as he continued to stare straight through my skull, his arms folded.

“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” asserted my brainy, bespectacled middle brother, pushing his glasses up with his middle finger.

“There’s not even a spark, I swear! Argh, I’m gonna kill that bastard!”

Some brothers you are, believing a rumor over the words of your precious little sibling!

I raked my hands through my hair, languishing under the suspicious gazes of my two brothers.

That was one hell of a rumor my stupid boss started about me! And the worst part of all this is that the girl I like won’t even look me in the eye anymore!

I let out a frustrated cry, at which point my father slumped his shoulders and mumbled, “I wanted a girl for a daughter-in-law...”

“Yeah, I know! You don’t have to be so dramatic about it!” I shouted back, shooting him a glare.

Beside him, my mother put a hand to her cheek. “I do my best to keep an open mind...but this is a bit too much for me,” she said, her tone full of dismay.

Hold on, you guys! You’re just running with the assumption that I’m gay, aren’t you?!

Everything was pure chaos.

“Not you too, Mother!”

I let my head sag forward, a broken man.

When he saw how frazzled my parents were, my oldest brother gave a wry shake of his head.

I’m telling you, this is all a big misunderstanding! Won’t somebody believe me?

“Just so we’re clear, nobody’s going to take your word on this until you bring a decent girl home.”

“I’m going to! And when I do, you’d better believe me!” I blustered.

“Oh, we will!” my father replied. “At this point, we won’t make a fuss over her status—or anything else, for that matter. Just make sure it’s a girl you bring us.”

My mother, brothers, and their wives all nodded vigorously.

“Bring home a cute bride, Uncle Cory,” my nephew pleaded, tugging on the hem of my jacket.

“I will—just you wait!”

In retrospect, maybe the whole fiasco had actually played out in my favor.

* * *

Fast forward to a few days ago.

I’d finally told Stellaria how I felt, and she had agreed to enter a courtship with an eye toward marriage.

She’d had her concerns about the difference in our social standing, but that wasn’t going to be a problem. After all, my whole family had given me their word that “anything goes, as long as you bring home a girl.”

As soon as I’d gotten a “yes” from Stellaria, I’d headed straight to the family manor. Best to strike while the iron’s hot, after all.

“Oh? What’s the occasion, Corydalis? I can’t remember the last time you came home without a summons.”

Given that I was usually too busy with work to visit, my father looked shocked to see me swing by of my own volition. My visits were so few and far between that I’d sometimes get called home just to “prove that I was still alive.” Considering I was a full-grown adult, it was a little patronizing, if you asked me.

“I have an announcement to make.”

“What is it? Did you get engaged? Did you find yourself a fiancée?!”

The look on my father’s face held a mix of hope and trepidation. Grr... He still doesn’t believe what I said, does he?

“That’s right. The two of us just agreed to get married, so I came by to let you know.”

“Your bride-to-be...is a girl, right?” he asked, obviously dreading my answer.

“I can’t believe you’re still going on about that!” I shouted back, indignant. “Yes, she’s a respectable young woman!”

“Oho! That’s wonderful news! Did you hear that, honey? Corydalis found himself a girl to marry!”

He was practically leaping for joy as he called my mother over. Jeez, does it really mean that much to you?

“Don’t you want to hear anything about her?! What if she’s some good-for-nothing floozy?”

“Oh, I’m not worried. If you picked her out, I’m sure she’s a fine young lady. That said, I do want to know more about my future daughter-in-law, so why don’t you tell us over supper?”

And thus, it was decided on the spot that I would eat dinner with the family before heading back to the dorms.

“Her name is Stellaria. She worked as a lady-in-waiting at the royal palace for a long time, but she left that job a little while back. Now she’s serving as the personal maid to Duchess Fisalis.”

“She’s worked at the royal palace and the Fisalis manor? My word!”

“Plus, her parents are the head chef and head maid of that same duke’s manor.”

“Those credentials are about as good as it gets!”

“Yeah. I mean, she’s technically a commoner, but that’s no big deal, right?” I asked just to be extra sure. Don’t forget—you guys are the ones who said “any girl will do.”

“Of course it’s no big deal! Commoner or not, if she’s held positions that prestigious, you’ll hear no complaints from us.”

My father didn’t hesitate to nod in agreement. Good, I thought.

“She’s a great girl—both hard-working and considerate. I’m sure you guys are going to love her.”

“Glad to hear it, son. So, when are you planning to bring her around?”

“She has her own job to worry about, so I’ll have to check when would work best for her. Once I find out, I’ll let you know.”

“We’ll be waiting with bated breath!”

I’d gotten my father’s blessing.

That took care of getting permission on my side. Now all that was left was bringing Stellaria to the manor and introducing her to my parents.

Gotta respect tradition, after all.

* * *

“My mother and father both gave us their blessing.” I told Stellaria the results of the family meeting the other day.

“Even knowing that I’m a servant?”

“Yeah.”

“And that both of my parents are servants?”

“If anything, that only improved their view of your background.”

“I see... Your parents must be quite the open-minded sort.”

“To be fair, I count as more of a knight than a nobleman.”

“Well, that explains it! Hee hee.”

Married couples consisting of a knight and a lady-in-waiting were far from a rare sight around the royal palace. I figured framing it that way might take some of the weight off Stellaria’s mind.

“Anyway, Father was pestering me to bring you over, so why don’t we drop by to say hi at some point? I’m serious about the ‘dropping by’ part—we can just duck in and out!”

Just, y’know, go prove to them that you’re actually a girl! Okay, maybe I’m focusing on the wrong thing here.

“Don’t be silly. I’ll be sure to make a proper introduction.”

That was conscientious old Stellaria for you. She even had her dignified work mode face on.

My father may have been a marquis, but considering Stellaria had dealt with the duke, queen, and king on a regular basis, she wasn’t about to get cold feet now. She’d learned how to conduct herself in the royal palace of all places, and she knew how to handle just about anyone—be they an old geezer or a little ankle-biter. Her social skills were downright flawless.

* * *

A few days later, I visited the Pulcherrima manor with Stellaria in tow.

“Do you think I’m dressed appropriately?”

“For sure! You look damn cute, if I do say so myself.”

“Oh, stop that!”

She was dressed in navy blue yet again, but this time she was wearing a chic, elegant dress with a white lace trim along the collar and hem. It was a good match for a refined young lady like her. I was willing to bet that just about anyone would take one look at her and assume she was a bona fide noblewoman.

“Oho! Is this my future daughter-in-law?” my father called out the moment we entered the room, getting up from his chair.

“Hold your horses, would you?” I made an attempt at reining him in as he all but sprinted over to us.

Beside me, Stellaria only said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir. My name is Stellaria.”

She bowed her head gracefully. Her manner was just as polished as you’d expect, given her training at the royal palace.

“Come now, raise your head,” my mother urged. “I’d like to get a proper look at your pretty little face.”

“Very well.”

Stellaria lifted her face and flashed my parents a dazzling smile. It looked like she’d made a good first impression. Though my parents had approved of me marrying a commoner, I’d still been stressed over whether or not they would actually like her, so I was secretly feeling a little relieved.

Too bad my father had to go and cheer, “Well done, Corydalis! I’d been agonizing over what I’d do if you brought home a man, but I see you actually managed to nab yourself a woman!”

You still doubted me?! And after how hard I denied it too! You’ve gotta be kidding me!

“Of course I did! How many times did I tell you I would?!”

Give me back all the time I spent worrying! You not liking Stellaria should have been the least of my concerns!

“What can I say? I couldn’t stop worrying until I met her in person. Well then...Stellaria. I heard you’re employed as a servant of the Fisalis manor.”

“That’s right. I wait on Duchess Fisalis.”

“And prior to that, you worked as a lady-in-waiting at the royal palace, correct?”

“Yes. I served the first princess, Her Highness Artemisia.”

My father and mother gleefully chattered away, and Stellaria answered all their questions without the slightest hint of shyness. All her experience dealing with bigwigs in the royal palace was really paying off.

Considering how charmed my parents seemed to be, they weren’t about to cease their endless barrage of questions without an intervention. Poor Stellaria was bound to get tuckered out at the rate this was going, so I figured I’d better step in.

“So as you can both see, she’s a real, live woman. I can go ahead and marry her now, right?” I asked my father. It couldn’t hurt to check one last time.

“Of course, son!” he replied without hesitation.

Now all that was left was to get the blessing of Stellaria’s parents.

While I was striking a victory pose in my head, my mother giggled and said, “Not that we were ever going to object to whomever your heart settled on, anyway.”

“Thanks, Mother and Father!”

As a wave of relief washed over me, a smile naturally spread across everyone’s faces.

“What name do you like to go by, Stellaria?” my mother asked, beckoning her closer.

“My friends call me Ria.”

“My, how adorable! We’re happy to have you, Ria. You can feel free to call me ‘Mother.’ Oh, by the way, Corydalis has two older brothers, and their wives are both lovely young ladies. I’m sure you’ll all get along just swimmingly.”

“So I’ve heard. I’ve only ever had a younger brother myself, so I’m excited to add a few older siblings to my family.”

While Stellaria chatted bashfully but merrily with my mother, I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. “I can’t wait to meet your parents too.”

“Hm? Corydalis? Surely you aren’t suggesting that you haven’t told her parents yet?” My mother’s attitude abruptly took a turn for the critical.

“Uh, well, you guys insisted on meeting Stellaria as soon as possible, so...”

I wanted to assuage her concerns about rank or whatever, so I thought bringing her home to my family was top priority!

Of course, that didn’t change the fact that I hadn’t introduced myself to her parents yet, so I just floundered uselessly until my mother barked, “Get your butt over there, young man!”

Sorry.

“I know! I’ll make plans to meet her parents ASAP!”

I was immediately treated to another tongue-lashing. “You’d better. Oh, and I expect you to be on your best behavior when you do.”

“I will, I will! Ria, could you find out what day works best for your parents? Oh, and by the way, the chivalric order will be holding a party sometime soon, so we should go to that together. It’ll be a good chance to introduce you to everyone.”

“What?!”

As I laid down one plan after another—meeting her parents, then announcing our engagement to my co-workers—Stellaria’s eyes nearly popped out with surprise.

Whoops, am I taking things too fast? With some of this stuff, though, it’s now or never.

“Don’t worry! Since the chivalric order will be hosting it, the vice captain and his wife will be there too. You’ll be in good company. Besides, knowing Mrs. Fisalis, I bet she’ll give you the heartiest congratulations you’ve ever seen.”

In contrast to my determination to clear the decks, Stellaria didn’t seem to be emotionally prepared for all of this just yet. I figured she’d get there eventually, though.

And with that, Stellaria was officially accepted into the Pulcherrima family.