The Story of a Middle-Aged Knight Who Tried to Live a Relaxed Slow Life in the Countryside, Only for a Duke's Daughter Whose Engagement Was Broken Off to Move in With Him

The Duke's Daughter's Circumstances

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*****

I laid the soaked young lady down on a bed lined with towels.

Then I ran over to the house of an old woman who occasionally helped out with chores around the manor, asking her to come back with me.

「She showed up out of nowhere. Looks like she has a fever. She needs a change of clothes, but if a middle-aged guy like me saw a duke's daughter naked, all hell would break loose. I'm sorry to ask, but could you handle it?」

「Ho-ho-ho. You're quite the sly one, Lord Magistrate. Leave this to this old woman, and why don't you go boil some hot water?」

「Got it.」

Escaping the old woman's inquisitive eyes, I went to the kitchen to boil water.

I wondered if drawing a hot bath would be better, but since she seemed to have caught a cold, for now I'd have her warmed up with hot towels soaked in water. That was likely what the old woman had in mind when asking, too.

I actually quite liked her lack of hesitation—she didn't hold back at all, even when giving orders to a magistrate.

「Granny, I'm leaving the hot water right here.」

「Ah, thank you very much.」

I set a washbasin and a kettle filled with boiling water outside the room where I had carried the young lady.

「Let's see, maybe I'll make some soup.」

The young lady was probably hungry. It would be good for warming her up, too.

I started whipping up a soup—the kind taught in the knights order, which basically declared 'as long as it's edible, it's fine.'

At first, it tasted terrible, but thanks to the old woman's guidance, it had recently gotten remarkably delicious.

(Cooking might not be a bad hobby to take up.)

Entertainment was scarce in a peaceful mountain village.

To make up for that, the village housewives poured their hearts into cooking delicious meals.

Learning a thing or two from them wouldn't be half bad.

Just then, the old woman came into the kitchen.

「She's all changed now. The young lady is awake.」

「I see. Sorry to trouble you at an hour like this.」

「Oh, think nothing of it. Still, having no woman around the house is a problem, isn't it? Why not just take that young lady as your wife?」

「What, did she whisper something in your ear?」

「That's a secret between us girls, Lord Magistrate.」

The old woman said with a laugh.

「That's one heavily wrinkled girl. Besides, I would think she's at an age where she ought to have better sense.」

Highborn young ladies usually had their marriages arranged before reaching her age. It wouldn't be unusual if she were already a mother raising children.

「No matter how old a woman gets, she never forgets how it felt to be a young girl, Lord Magistrate.」

「Guess you've been through a lot yourself, Granny.」

「You bet. In my younger days, I was quite the catch, you know.」

「Anyone can claim anything once they're old. There aren't any living witnesses left anyway.」

「Don't you think you ought to treat your elders with a bit more respect, Lord Magistrate?」

「You're plenty energetic. Doesn't look like you're dying anytime during my term.」

「Fua-ha-ha. Well, I'll do my best. More importantly, go on and see that young girl. Before that lovely soup gets cold.」

「Oops, right.」

Carrying a tray with the food on it, I left the kitchen and knocked on the guest room door.

「It's me. May I come in?」

「Y-Yes. Please do.」

I opened the door and entered the guest room.

The young lady was sitting on the bed.

She had changed into a simple, villager-style tunic, yet there was an undeniable elegance to her bearing that couldn't be hidden.

The sight of her nervously stroking her damp blonde hair looked like a scene straight out of a painting.

「You must be hungry. Here's some food.」

「T-That... T-Thank you very much.」

The young lady hesitated, but it seemed she couldn't win against her growling stomach.

When I set the soup and bread on the table in the room, she obediently sat on the chair before it.

I pulled out the chair opposite her and sat down at an angle so as not to seem intimidating.

「I don't know if it'll be to your taste, but eat it while it's warm.」

「Y-Yes. Thank you for the meal.」

The young lady scooped up some soup with a wooden spoon and brought it to her mouth.

If she had dared to say it tasted terrible right then and there, I would have kicked her out, but—

「...It's delicious.」

「Really?」

「Yes. The mushrooms and these root vegetables in particular.」

「Those are local specialties around here. They're fresh.」

For a while, the young lady drank her soup in silence.

Even though she was using a wooden spoon, it looked as if she were invited to court, eating soup with silverware.

It wasn't that she was tense because she was in front of me; good manners were simply ingrained in her body.

Setting her wooden spoon down inside the empty wooden bowl, the young lady placed it on her lap, pressed her hands together, and bowed politely.

「Thank you for the meal.」

「You're welcome.」

Having finished her meal, the young lady's complexion looked somewhat better.

「Feeling more calm now?」

「Y-Yes.」

「Then... let's see. May I ask your name? My name is Leonardo Bacchus. Just a humble retired knight. I serve as the magistrate of this village.」

「Of course I know... I am Cistilia fin Eldryuse.」

「Eldryuse... as in *that* Eldryuse? One of the Three Great Ducal Houses?」

「Yes. I am the third daughter of the main house.」

「And why would a young lady from that ducal house propose to me of all people?」

「...My engagement was... broken off.」

Cistilia murmured quietly.

「Why?」

She was a lady of House Eldryuse, the most influential family in the kingdom, and as anyone could see, a beauty.

Normally, men lined up to marry her would be endless.

「'I cannot forget the knight who was always kind to me, so I simply cannot marry you after all'—I ended up confessing my anxiety like that.」

「To your fiancé?」

「Yes.」

「Hmm... Well, a proud nobleman would certainly be furious at that.」

At my words, Cistilia shook her head.

「No, he didn't get angry. He only gently admonished me, saying that as a noble, I should learn to accept reality. Besides, he was much older than me.」

「Hmm. Gentlemanly... or was he?」

「He was simply indifferent. To him, my affection was entirely unnecessary. In the worst-case scenario, even if my feelings belonged to another man, as long as I behaved quietly, that was all that mattered. I believe that was what he meant.」

「I see.」

Noble marriages aren't done out of affection alone.

That man, too, was probably marrying into House Eldryuse far more than he was marrying Cistilia as a woman.

(Though I can't wrap my head around it.)

The woman who would become his wife loved another man.

I could never bear such a situation.

Maybe holding views like that was why I was still single at my age, though.

「So, what happened next?」

「Well, in front of everyone, I said that I couldn't marry him...」

「You publicly announced it?」

「Yes...」

「And so the other party couldn't just stand by, leading to the broken engagement?」

「My father gave me a severe scolding.」

「Hardly surprising.」

「Father told me that he could no longer indulge my childish fantasies and that he would find someone else for me to marry immediately.」

I felt sorry for Cistilia, but it was by no means an unusual story.

The head of the family was the one who decided whom a noble daughter married.

A daughter dreaming foolish dreams would surely settle down once she was married off—he had undoubtedly thought along those lines.

「I made up my mind. Packing only a few hand belongings, I mounted Aisha and headed for Ascot Village, where Baronet Leonardo Bacchus was stationed.」

「Why on earth did you resolve yourself in *that* direction...?」

Normally, one would steel their resolve toward accepting the marriage.

「How on earth did you manage to get here safely?」

「I am skilled at horseback riding. Though it took two full days of riding through the night.」

Cistilia said with a mischievous smile.

「Public order around here is good, so bandits don't show up. Monsters rarely appear either, from what I hear, but...」

「I did encounter goblins on the way. When I fled on Aisha, they couldn't keep up and fell over. However, it started raining halfway through. When I tried to look for an inn, there were only tiny villages, so I bypassed them to avoid leaving a trail...」

「So you forced your way through a march in the rain... No wonder you caught a fever. By the way, how are you feeling?」

「I still feel dizzy, but having the soup made me feel better.」

「In your condition, I can hardly send you packing.」

Not that I could just throw out a duke's daughter even if she were in perfect health, though.

「...Until someone comes for you. I'll take care of you here until then.」

「How could you!」

Cistilia raised her voice, filled with despair.

「At your age, you need to learn to accept reality too. Nobles and commoners live in completely different worlds. Both have their own hardships.」

I said it in a tone as cold as I could muster.

「In this village, a magistrate's wife is hardly any different from a farmer's wife. She manages the household, tills the fields, bears many children, and looks after the elderly. I don't think a noble lady could handle it. In the first place, there's no reason for you to even try. A noble young lady has her own obligations as a noble young lady—in exchange for the privilege of living a wealthy life. That's all there is to it.」

Cistilia hung her head in silence.

「Sort out your feelings before someone comes for you. For a short while, I'll hold off on contacting House Eldryuse. Though I can't play dumb forever.」

The more time passed, the worse both my position and Cistilia's would become.

An unmarried young lady running off to the place of a commoner-born retired knight.

That alone was bad enough for public reputation, but the longer her stay dragged on, the more her value as a marriageable daughter would be damaged.

No matter how influential Duke Eldryuse's house was, they wouldn't be able to completely suppress the gossip of malicious tongues.

My heart ached for Cistilia as she sat there, hanging her head in silence.

But...

(If I show her kindness now, she'll cling to hope. A hope that doesn't exist.)

That would be far more cruel.

(What would my former boss do?)

He'd probably do this:

Dodge Cistilia's proposal with vague deflective answers to buy time, while secretly contacting her family as quickly as possible. Of course, without letting her know. She would then be taken back home by emissaries from her family appearing out of nowhere...

(That's the safest path. For me, at least.)

Looking at the big picture, that might even be best for her as well.

Even if she plunged into the depths of despair temporarily, time would heal those wounds.

When that time came, living a comfortable life as a noble would surely serve as a consolation to her.

Unlike Cistilia, who was barely twenty, forty-year-old me knew the power of time's passage.

But...

(If I dodge her questions and send her back home through a dirty trick... what will she think then?)

This young girl didn't yet know that time washes away all kinds of pain.

When someone so desperate as to run away from home realizes she's been betrayed by me, what will she do?

It was only a moment ago that she had held a knife to her fair throat.

「Get some rest tonight. I won't contact your family without telling you.」

Mumbling something that was far from a correct answer, I closed the guest room door softly without even looking at her face.

*****

Having a reasonable mc who actually acts his age is refreshing.

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