The Villainess Proposed a Contractual Marriage

Chapter 66: Harte's Sincerity

Ibria listened intently as Harte described the woman he'd encountered.

Auburn hair and red eyes. A woman in an elegant yet understated dress with a modest hem. Likely a high-ranking noble with exceptional athletic ability.

Few people fit that description. Ibria's answer came quickly.

"That sounds like... Duchess Luminel, doesn't it?"

"Duchess Luminel... You mean Elphisia Luminel you mentioned before?"

"Yes, good memory. But why her?"

"... I think I may have made a terrible mistake. No, I definitely did."

"What?"

Ibria's face contorted with displeasure for the first time in a while.

Rather than disappointment in Harte, she was curious how he'd managed to offend someone they shouldn't even cross paths with. The very idea of Harte inconveniencing anyone was unimaginable.

"Harte, what did you do to the Duchess?"

"That's..."

Harte couldn't bring himself to tell the truth. But since lying would be a sin, his only remaining option was silence.

"... I can't say."

"Come on... How am I supposed to help if you don't tell me?"

"It's... it's fine. This is a problem I have to deal with alone..."

"What could it possibly be..."

For a moment, Ibria wondered if Harte had done something to Elphisia. If so, it would certainly be an impossible dilemma to seek help for.

But Harte would never do such a thing.

True to his vow of chastity, he'd always viewed women as if they were statues. Ibria liked that about Harte.

'Come to think of it... He doesn't react much to me either. Even if I danced naked, he'd probably just frown.'

Blessed with extraordinary beauty, Ibria had become aware of her own allure. Whenever she ventured outside for national events, she felt piercing gazes of reverence all over her body. At this point, pretending not to notice would be a sin.

Harte, who'd always been by her side yet maintained a friendly distance, was the abnormal one. Ibria firmly believed this.

"Ah, that reminds me!"

This had brought a memory bubbling to the surface of her mind. Ibria sat across from Harte and began to complain.

"Harte! Listen to this. You know, after I sent you away that time, I kind of regretted it? The Emperor kept subtly trying to seduce me! Even with the Empress right there. There's a limit to chasing after women, how could he do this to me?"

"..."

"Haah! If only the missing Third Prince had become Emperor instead. Why did we establish the separation of church and state? If not for that, I would've appointed the Third Prince as Emperor in an instant."

"..."

"Ah, would I get scolded if His Holiness the Pope were here for saying that? Anyway, that day I was so..."

As Ibria vented her frustrations, Harte quietly nodded along.

The problem was that he was letting her words go in one ear and out the other.

Normally, Harte always listened attentively to others, simply because it was the right thing to do. So for Harte to disregard this virtue was clearly unusual.

Neither of them noticed this oddity when the bell rang.

It signaled the end of the Holy Knight Order's service.

At the clear sound reaching their ears, the two parted ways.

Each to their own path.

---

---

Harte was indeed diligent. No matter how urgent his business, he always completed his duties as the Holy Knight Commander.

As a result, it was already six in the evening when Harte left the temple.

The sky was still blue, as the temperature would soon start rising. As Harte shaded his eyes to look up, a guard at the temple's main gate gasped.

"Huh... Commander Harte?!"

"Guard? Is something the matter?"

Harte asked casually. The guard quickly shook his head and explained.

"N-no, nothing's wrong. I just... It's the first time I've seen you leave without the Holy Maiden..."

In other words, he was surprised to see Harte, who never left the temple except for national events, out in the world.

Finding the opinion reasonable, Harte readily accepted it.

"I plan to come out more often from now on."

"Oh, I see..."

Harte bowed politely after speaking, and the guard returned the gesture as he sent off his superior.

The guard who'd conversed with Harte was an older man in his prime. This meant he'd been working at the temple since Harte and Ibria were young.

This man spoke in a low voice to a younger, newly recruited guard.

"My goodness... I thought I was seeing things in my old age."

"What's the big deal about him going outside? Anyone would want some fresh air if they felt cooped up."

"You'd be right in most cases."

The man shared a fact the new recruit would come to understand in time.

"If they were human, that is."

---

---

It took Harte less than an hour to reach the Luminel mansion from the temple. With his superhuman leg strength, he was three times faster than a horse at full gallop even at a moderate pace.

As soon as the Luminel mansion came into view, he gradually slowed down and walked to the main gate.

Just as the temple had guards, the Luminel ducal house also had gatekeepers. The Luminel family had martial roots, so the gatekeepers' gazes were particularly sharp.

Of course, to the worldly inexperienced Harte, a house was just a house.

In other words, he thought they'd welcome him with open arms if he just visited and asked for permission. That is, until the gatekeeper made an exasperating request.

"Please show your invitation."

"... Pardon?"

"If you don't have an invitation, a letter permitting your visit will suffice."

"Um... Huh?"

Harte was quite confused.

To think one needed a prior appointment to be a guest at a mansion. He felt dizzy from this newly learned social norm.

Meanwhile, the gatekeepers facing Harte were equally bewildered.

They'd simply asked for something completely normal and logical, yet their counterpart was genuinely breaking out in a cold sweat. Even street ruffians and peddlers didn't react like this.

It was as if a clueless child had received a shock.

'Judging by his attire, he's neither a ruffian nor a peddler... Isn't that the uniform of the Holy Knights?'

'There's no way he doesn't know this is a ducal residence... right?'

As the two gatekeepers stared at the dazed Harte, a knight patrolling inside the mansion noticed them.

The knight waved cheerfully as he approached the gate.

"Ah! You must be the Holy Knight who was scheduled to visit today?"

"Pardon? I did come to visit, but..."

"I heard about it. Come in quickly. Gatekeepers, he's not a suspicious person, so you can let him through."

The gatekeepers exchanged blank stares.

They soon concluded that since the knight worked here, his words must be true.

"If the Sword King Unit says so..."

"Yes, let's go then."

Harte was practically dragged into the mansion by the knight's hand. He was too confused by this turn of events to speak.

'W-what's going on...? Did Ibria hear about this and make arrangements in advance? If so, I owe her one...'

He'd somehow stumbled into a peculiar situation.

Before he knew it, Harte was guided to a reception room and found himself facing a steaming cup of tea. Judging by how kindly he was being treated, it seemed Ibria must have put in a good word for him.

"The Duchess will be down soon. Remember to be on your best behavior, alright?"

"Of course. That's how everyone should act."

"Wow, you're really well-disciplined! Though we've just met, I like you. So, I wish you the best of luck."

"...? I understand."

The man patted Harte's shoulder encouragingly before leaving the room.

Now he was alone in the quiet reception room.

In this environment, Harte was shocked by the incredibly soft chair he encountered for the first time.

'This is... amazingly comfortable.'

Looking around, the interior was dazzling enough to make his head spin. The walls seemed gilded with gold leaf, and unlike the temple's reliance on oil lamps, intricate glass chandeliers emitted strong light.

He thought such luxury was exclusive to the Imperial Palace.

The fact that a mere noble's mansion flaunted such wealth was almost a culture shock.

That's when it happened.

Click, click.

The sound of heels striking the floor grew closer. Soon, the mansion's owner approached the reception room and flung the door open without hesitation.

Simultaneously, Harte snapped to attention.

'Ah...'

He barely managed to suppress a sigh.

Elphisia Luminel was exactly the same as that night at the Imperial Palace.

Her glossy auburn hair flowed down her back, and her red eyes burned with passionate color like raging flames. The slender dress that hugged her waist and hips, its hem just where his hand had touched...

...

......

Harte banished the thought and shouted thunderously.

"G-good day, Your Grace!!!"

"... What."

Elphisia uttered a brief question as she stumbled to a stop.

For reference, the person accompanying her was the mansion's head butler, who involuntarily trembled.

'The Duchess... is flustered?'

Elphisia always restrained her emotions and displayed an inhuman demeanor. In this respect, she was no different from the previous Emperor, who was likened to a machine ruling the country.

For someone who'd long served the Luminel mansion, this was astonishing.

Meanwhile, Elphisia had valid reasons for her cracked expression.

'... The Holy Knight Commander is conducting the final interview for a new Sword King Unit knight?'

That's right.

Today's meeting was the final interview for a Holy Knight's transfer to the Sword King Unit.

Elphisia's involvement in recruitment was limited to this final interview. Thus, she'd arrived without even reviewing the relevant documents.

As long as they were a Holy Knight, their background would be certain, and prior documentation could create bias.

... But the man before her was not only certain in his identity, but his very existence created prejudice.

Hence, even the sharp-minded Elphisia found her brain melting, unable to gather her thoughts.

"...... What is your motivation for applying?"

She asked this purely innocent question before even taking her seat, to the point of appearing dumbfounded.

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