The moment the doors opened, my tension reached its absolute limit.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, Viscount Baum, and Lady Melissa of House Baum have arrived.”

The voice belonged to a man who appeared to be a chamberlain.

Hearing my name announced in such a clear, commanding voice, I could feel my heart rate spike.

An unpleasant sweat trickled down my back.

What is this?

This is the first time I’ve ever had my name announced just to enter a room!

Though I suppose it’s unavoidable when meeting the most exalted people in the kingdom.

And the third most exalted person is currently escorting me!

What even is this situation?

I want to go home!

Please let me go home!

Why am I in this situation?

I still don’t understand why I need to meet His Majesty and Her Majesty.

I’m definitely leaving the nobility within a few years.

There should be no reason for me to meet either of them.

So I think it’s only natural that I’m becoming suspicious.

Even in this situation, Father remained one with the background.

He’s amazing.

I truly respect him.

Beyond the doors was a luxurious room.

Well, the corridors we had walked through were luxurious too.

I couldn’t help drawing in a breath.

Even a humble viscount’s daughter like me could tell that every furnishing here was expensive.

I couldn’t exactly stare at everything.

If I forgot my manners, things could get very troublesome.

The world of nobility was complicated.

You never knew who might pull the rug out from under you.

It shouldn’t matter to me.

Or so I had thought.

But I couldn’t cause trouble for the family members who would continue living as nobles after this.

Even now, Father remained perfectly inconspicuous.

Amazing.

He had reduced his presence to the absolute minimum.

The room was enormous.

Around a large round table in the center sat roughly twenty people.

Even without being told, I could tell they were all people of high status.

This feels far more serious than I expected.

I’m so out of place it’s ridiculous!

And along the walls stood twice that number of attendants in silence.

For the record, I would very much like to stand with them!

I screamed internally.

I’m the youngest child of a viscount’s family, you know?

And the daughter of a poor viscount’s family at that!

The people seated around the table were all looking at me.

Their gazes hurt.

But I could tell there were many different emotions behind them.

Some were irritated.

Some were intensely curious.

Some looked down on me.

Some seemed to regard me with respect.

What exactly have I done?

Can somebody please explain?

And seated at the far end of the table were His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen.

Their presence was simply on a different level.

Their faces matched the portraits exactly.

So those really are the King and Queen.

Seated beside His Majesty was a woman who looked almost identical to Prince Laurel.

Beautiful.

Prince Laurel seemed to have inherited only the best features of both his parents.

Lucky him.

“Thank you for coming.”

“Pedanius, it has been a long time.”

“I am honored by your remembrance, Your Majesty.”

“Pedanius Baum, head of House Baum, humbly presents himself before you.”

Father answered with a respectful bow.

I was genuinely surprised that His Majesty addressed Father by name.

To think the King remembered the name of my inconspicuous father.

Perhaps Father wasn’t merely a man with a weak presence after all.

Come to think of it, this might be the first time I’ve actually seen Father acting as the head of the viscount’s house.

And he was still suppressing his presence to the extreme.

Nicely done, Father.

Persistence really is important.

I’ve decided to follow Father’s example from now on.

“This is my daughter, Melissa.”

Yes!

Now I can finally separate from Prince Laurel!

I’m not used to being escorted, and it was exhausting both physically and mentally.

I carefully stepped away so as not to be disrespectful.

“My name is Melissa Baum.”

I spoke while performing a proper curtsy.

I had always been annoyed at being forced to learn such pointless etiquette.

Yet here it was actually proving useful.

Life truly was unpredictable.

I said nothing unnecessary.

People say there’s no smoke without fire, but House Baum makes sure there is neither fire nor smoke.

This audience is over now, right?

I can go home, right?

“Please relax.”

When I raised my head, I noticed three empty seats at the large round table.

His Majesty gestured toward them.

Three seats.

One of those isn’t for me, is it?

Please tell me I’m wrong.

“Lady Melissa, over here.”

Prince Laurel smoothly pulled out the chair in the middle.

I somehow managed to stop my face from twitching.

This means I’m supposed to sit there, doesn’t it?

Fine.

I’ll sit.

After Prince Laurel has gone this far, I can’t exactly refuse.

“Thank you, Prince Laurel.”

I maintained a smile, but internally I was shaking like a leaf!

Wait.

Is this going to take a while?

Long enough that I need to sit down?

Thinking that, I sat as gracefully as possible.

Prince Laurel naturally took the seat on my right.

Father sat on my left.

I’m counting on you, Father.

Seriously, I’m counting on you!

Please be dependable!

At least while we’re in this room!

Please!

I silently screamed at him.

Father didn’t even look at me.

My desperate plea would never reach him.

The Baum family believed in giving children freedom.

Come to think of it, I couldn’t remember ever being scolded simply because I was a child.

My parents always listened to me.

They always let me pursue what I wanted.

They even approved of my decision to leave the nobility.

Suddenly, I remembered a girl from yesterday’s graduation ceremony who had been crying her eyes out.

I wasn’t close to her.

We were in different classes and had never really interacted.

She hadn’t been crying because she was moved by graduation.

Nor because she would no longer see her friends as often.

Apparently, her parents had arranged for her to marry a nobleman more than twice her age.

As a noble, perhaps that was unavoidable.

Perhaps it was only natural.

For the sake of the family.

For the sake of relatives.

For the sake of the territory’s people.

She would marry a man she had never met.

A noble’s duty.

If I had been born into a different family, that might have been me.

Watching her cry had made my chest ache.

Perhaps that could have been my future.

The thought alone sent a chill through me.

I was fortunate to have been born into House Baum.

That realization struck me deeply.

I was grateful to have been born to parents who listened to me.

Parents who faced me honestly.

Yesterday, I graduated from the Magic Academy.

In this world, I was no longer a child.

I couldn’t cause trouble for my family.

Quietly taking a deep breath, I raised my head once more.

The King of this nation sat before me.

I needed to remain composed.

His Majesty gave an instruction to a chamberlain.

The chamberlain then placed a single sheet of paper on the table in front of me.

“Lady Melissa, please sign that document.”

“Huh?”

The sound escaped my mouth before I could stop it.

I looked down at the document again.

Written on it were the words:

Marriage Certificate.