And that extremely rare opportunity was no other but me so no wonder Ortzen indulged me so much. Even if I make any problems in the future, he won't say anything.
"How about Captain Jullius? Do you want to become a Count?"
He seemed hesistated a bit before finally replied to my question.
"…, not really."
"Are you not interested in becoming a noble?"
"I just like things as it is."
I sat next to him and nodded.
"I also think that kind of thing is bothersome."
The more authorities you had, then there would also be as much duties that followed. Luckily it's my husband's tasks, not mine, then does it mean that Captain Jullius will do the tasks as a Count? He would have a hard time then.
"You don't have to do it if you don't want to!"
No need to bother about trivial things like that. Somehow my words made him more depressed instead.
"I'm not interested with the Count title… but I hate being seperated from Miss Epheria."
"What? Why would we seperate– uh, it's not like that!"
Come to think of it, did Captain Jullius think that if he didn't become the Count, it also meant that we wouldn't get married? I was flustered and waving my hands in denial.
"I don't mean to say that I'm going to marry another man, ermm, how about we return the title and keep it as a secret from Ortzen?"
"Return the title?"
"That's right. The title can be returned to the Imperial Family if there's no one to inherit it. We'll just take the properties and discard the title away."
Ortzen would definitely be furious if he came to know about it, but Captain Jullius said that he didn't like it. If I return the title there will be a compensation for it so in the end I'll get more money.
"…, even so, I think Ortzen shouldn't have prevented those who wished to meet you like this. Perhaps there might be someone you will like amongst them."
"Ei, they are just some flies who are after my title and wealth anyway."
I don't think there will be any decent man amongst them.
Captain Jullius slightly tilted his head and looked at me then asked.
"What kind of man do you like?"
"Emm… I'm not sure either."
What I see in a man is… First of all, my look was the best so leaving the matter of appearance aside, I wish he could accompany me to train my swordmanship for more than half an hour every day. I don't care about his wealth because I have a lot of money and I hope his personality match with mine. And also… emm…
"A man who I can rely on in the battlefield!"
Yup, that's it. My ideal type is a man who has a good skills, nice personality, and trustworthy.
"I'll try my best."
"If it's Captain Jullius, I think you're already good as of now."
"Is that so?"
"Yup."
I think I can do anything I want and believe in him that he will protect me. Not bad. I reached out my hand and carressing his black hair then calmly said,
"That's why you don't have to concern yourself too much about Ortzen's scheme. If I feel displeased by it, I can just run away on my own. I'm confident that whatever that man schemed against me, I get away from it. If my ability isn't enough to face him, then Captain Jullius will certainly lend me a hand right?"
"Yes."
"Then it's all good. Don't think too much about it."
Although I've said so, I still felt that it'd be better to have a talk with Ortzen. Most of all, I doubted that he propelled me to marry Captain Jullius just to get the Count title. I'm not sure if I could properly pry into his motives but at least I should try asking him.
***
Ortzen stayed in his office room. When I knocked on the door and went inside, Ortzen was rummaging through a drawer in the middle of the bookself then he turned his body around right away and saw me.
"Earlier, the thing is–"
"It's fine. More importantly, have you placated him?"
"Yes."
"Thank you. From now on, I'll also depend on you a lot to take care of him."
He asked me to sit while maintaining a mild smile. This was unexpected because I initially thought he would at least nagging a bit because we left him in the middle of the conversation before. Did he want the Count title so bad? As soon as I sat down on the sofa, Ortzen took out a box of chocolates from the cabinet and served it whole for me.
"Can I eat all of these?"
"As much as you want."
I was still uncomfortable for his over indulgence on me, but he gave me this box of chocolates so of course I would take it. I knew this chocolatier trademark. It's very expensive.
"What if…"
I took a piece of wave-shaped chocolate into my mouth then said,
"Oh, delicious–no, I mean, if I return the title to the Imperial Family, will you still wish for me to marry Captain Jullius?"
"Yes."
Ortzen firmly replied right away without any hesitation.
"How come?"
"I think that both of you suit each other very well."
"I-is that so…?"
"Yes. That's why I still hope you two will get married even if without the Count title."
…, do I really make a good couple with Captain Jullius? Well, Captain Jullius and I both have similar way of thinking though.
"But of course I would like you to keep the title as it is. It's not just for Captain but also for your own good."
"For me too?"
"The disparity between having a noble title and without a noble title is vast. First of all, the law discriminates the commoners and the nobles."
"That's right. But, Captain Jullius is a semi noble. There isn't much difference except the rights to own a land and the rights to inherit a title, though?"
Although those two things were utmost importance but that's for other people, Captain Jullius wouldn't want any of it. Rather than that, the responsibilities that followed were just as troublesome as it could get.
"I mean, for now it's still fine. But a knight won't be a semi-noble anymore upon retirement."
"…, ah."
I never thought that far. A holy knight would devote all his life to serve the church as long as one didn't commit severe mistake, but it's different with ordinary knight. If he suffered serious injuries until he wasn't able to continue his job or if he's already old, it's common to resign from his post.
"Hence I hope both of you will keep the title and it might come handy in the future. Maybe you can call it as a retirement plan of sorts? A noble title will be a good shield in many ways."
It would be easy to manipulate Captain Jullius who wasn't a member of Special Task Squad anymore in the future.
"Besides, the interference from the upper echelons would be less than now if Captain Jullius became a Count. As of now, many people looked down on Captain Jullius. Even the vice-captain of Special Task Squad doesn't respect Captain Jullius at all. It's all because Captain Jullius is just a semi-noble. In fact, amongst all the captains of any Imperial Knight Squads, Captain Jullius is the only one who doesn't have noble title other than his knighthood. Even His Majesty is pretending to be ignorant because Captain Jullius who doesn't have any noble title can be assigned with any tasks without those nobles who wary about Special Task Squad noticing his moves."
"His Majesty?"
"Yes."
What, that's outrageous. I never thought His Majesty was someone like that, I'm very disappointed in Him.
"Then we have to get married."
"That's good. It's not a bad thing for you. As a woman, Miss has to get married to secure the noble title. Based on your personality, if you're to become a wife of ordinary noble gentleman, it's obvious that Miss will feel frustated."
"Hmm."
He's right. I could avoid any nagging that required me to act as how a Countess supposed to be if I married Captain Jullius. Was there no other way besides marrying Captain Jullius if I didn't return to the church as a clergy and wished to have a leisure life while keeping the noble title?
"Coincidentally, Captain Jullius and I also have come into an agreement to get married if we have to do a political marriage."
"That's right."
"Right?"
"Of course."
"We will just get married then."
"If you're all set, I'll have it prepared as soon as possible."
As I listened to Ortzen's words, the thoughts about I had to get married increased and I became more convinced to get married, but… I was still caught in the 'love' matter. I felt like somehow I was being rash for getting married without any love.
"There's still plenty of time so I would like to think about it some more."
"Actually we don't have much time left."
"Huh? Why?"
"A title can't be left vacant for more than half a year of time."
"R-really?"
I was completely clueless about that. So it's half a year.
"If the suspension period is over, the title will naturally return to the Imperial Family or owned by the husband of Miss Roanne Epheria."
"…, Roanne?"
After some thoughts, she's also the Count's daughter. Unlike her younger brother Vires, she's probably the daughter of the late Count. Perhaps.
"If that being the case, I'll marry Captain Jullius if in the half a year timeframe I don't find any other suitable suitor."
"Can you promise, Miss?"
"I promise."
It's such a waste to miss the Count title, so I'll just get married then. After I made that simple promise, I left the room while bringing the box of chocolate with me.