“Father.”

I opened my mouth without realizing it.

“There are… many things to learn from Brother.”

It was a truly strange feeling. My mouth opened before my brain could process it, as soon as I saw Erhan’s expression.

Of course, as soon as I blurted out the words, I felt a sense of ‘oops’. I had no intention of ever getting involved between Erhan and the Duke, but somehow it felt like I was interjecting between the two.

At the same time, my eyes met the Duke’s, who was holding a knife. There was a hint of puzzlement in his eyes. I forced a smile.

“So I will continue to learn well from him in the future.”

The Duke alternated his gaze between Erhan and me for a moment, then asked in a displeased voice.

“…Is that so?”

“Yes.”

The milk has already been spilled. Let’s salvage the situation.

I smiled brightly like a naive second son who hadn’t sensed the heavy atmosphere. The Duke stared at me intently as if trying to discern the sincerity of my words, then lightly nodded his head.

“I see.”

He, too, didn’t speak any further about Erhan. I could feel Erhan’s gaze sticking to my cheek, but I tried hard not to look at him. It was embarrassing.

‘Ah, I didn’t really need to do that.’

Regardless of the relationship between the Duke and Erhan, it was none of my business. But the moment I saw the Duke speaking as if Erhan was useless, I unknowingly got upset and answered like that.

Of course, it wasn’t a complete lie. The books Erhan had brought me contained new knowledge and information that I, who had been trapped in the mansion, couldn’t even imagine.

Erhan didn’t share any particular philosophical views or teach me anything separately. But I was grateful just for him bringing me the books.

‘Did I do it for nothing?’

So when the Duke spoke disparagingly of Erhan, I wanted to deny it and say it wasn’t true. I didn’t regret the words I had already spoken, but I was so embarrassed that I hung my head low, as if burying my nose in the plate.

My neck and ears were burning up. They must have turned red from the shame I couldn’t hide.

“It seems you two have really become close.”

Mother finally opened her mouth.

As if her anger had subsided, she spoke in a friendly tone no different from before. The moment I felt relieved and raised my head, I flinched. Mother was smiling, but it was a bit different from the smile I usually knew. I thought she was still angry, and just then…

“Then, Oscar, you can surely grant my request since we’re even closer, right?”

Mother held something out to me.

I have a bad feeling about this.

But I couldn’t refuse a request from an angry Mother, so I accepted what she was handing me without thinking.

It was a bundle of envelopes that Mother had handed to her servant in the hallway earlier.

“But what is this?”

Then Mother smiled very brightly and said.

“It’s a list of young ladies who have lined up to be engaged to you.”

For a moment, I thought I had misheard. I slowly opened my mouth, unable to say anything, and alternated my gaze between the envelopes in my hand and Mother.

“…Pardon?”

I couldn’t quite adapt to the sudden situation. If this was really a list of people who had lined up to get engaged to me, it seemed too thick and numerous.

As I looked at it with a displeased expression, Erhan and the Duke’s attention had also turned to me at some point.

“Well… since we’re still in the middle of a meal, I’ll open this later.”

“It seems like we’re all done.”

Erhan answered immediately.

Wasn’t Erhan eating something just a moment ago?

“I’m finished as well.”

The Duke was the same. He seemed quite interested in this situation as he looked at me.

As everyone announced that they had finished their meal and removed their hands from the table, that seemed to be the signal, and the servants immediately began to move.

“The conversation seems like it will be long, so bring us some tea.”

Mother added with a smile. As the servants set the table to prepare refreshments, I awkwardly looked at a random corner, not knowing where to set my eyes.

‘Why is he… acting like that…?’

I saw Zachary. While the other servants were busy moving plates and preparing to bring out tea, Zachary was the only one standing still. Zachary, who already stood out due to his height being taller than the other servants, was standing alone in the corner, looking this way.

‘Is he determined to get caught that the curse has been lifted?’

As I looked at him in dismay, I felt like Zachary was also somehow looking at me.

Of course, I couldn’t be sure since his face was covered with a cloth. But even if it was an illusion, I felt like Zachary was glaring at me.

“Why aren’t you looking?”

Just then, Erhan, who was sitting right next to me, asked while staring intently at the envelopes in my hand. Although we had a fight that wasn’t quite a fight earlier, Erhan acted as if nothing had happened, probably because our parents were present.

I had a feeling that not only Mother but also Erhan and the Duke had read all the contents inside these envelopes.

“Among them, this mother has specially marked the young ladies she likes. Just keep that in mind. All the choices are yours, so I have no intention of interfering.”

As expected. As I pulled out one envelope, Mother smiled brightly.

I fiddled with the surface of the envelope and carefully opened it.

Is this real? I thought it might be Mother’s mischievous prank, but in the end, unable to contain my curiosity, I unfolded the paper at the very top. And as soon as I opened it, I was startled by the small picture I saw.

‘There’s a portrait.’

It was a small portrait depicting a woman’s upper body. It was a young lady I had never seen before, and behind it was a letter.

When I unfolded it and read it, the gist was that they wanted to develop a good relationship with our family. To do that, they suggested getting their family’s daughter and me engaged to form a relationship.

“She’s quite nice.”

While I was staring intently at the letter, Mother spoke with a smile.

“Not only is her family good, but she’s also known for her virtuousness. She has a good reputation among our circles.”

“Ah…”

Since Mother, who dominated high society, had said it, the owner of this portrait must be impeccable as a prospective fiancée. But the fact that she was a woman I had never met before remained unchanged. So I couldn’t completely hide my displeased expression. Pretending not to see Mother’s beaming face, I returned the portrait to its original state and took out the next envelope.

The next envelope was not much different. It contained a portrait of a woman along with a letter expressing their desire to form a connection with our family.

‘So this is how matchmaking is done in this era.’

It was a bit startling, but it wasn’t incomprehensible.

I sneaked a glance at Mother. She was just quietly looking this way with an unreadable expression.

“Isn’t there a lady you want to get to know more?”

It sounded as if there were even more prospects than that, and if I wanted, she would find them for me.

I glanced at the Duke, and he had an expressionless face as if he had no thoughts. As for Erhan…

‘Why is he looking at me like that?’

He was just staring intently at the bundle of envelopes. When our eyes met, he made an indecipherable expression and then abruptly turned his head away.

Mother, with a serious gaze, still seemed to be waiting for my answer.

What would be a good way to start? She had always told me that I must get married. So if I refused this bundle of envelopes she had handed me…

“Mother, I don’t… want something like this.”

Still, being honest is the best.

Of course, it was a refusal. I had only looked at the two on top, but just from the portraits, they all seemed young. And I didn’t have the capacity for it right now.

I know that as someone born into nobility, I too will have to enter into a political marriage someday. But at the moment, when I still have many things to resolve, it was impossible for me to have someone by my side.

“Even if you don’t want to, you have to. That’s the virtue of a nobleman.”

She must be properly upset.

She wasn’t originally the type to openly express her displeasure like that, but it seems she got very angry after seeing me injured a little while ago.

“…I’ll take a closer look.”

As I pondered how to appease her, I thought that if I showed her that I was sincerely examining what she had prepared, it might soothe her anger a little, so I started opening the next envelope. This time, it was a bit daunting as it was a pitch-black envelope with no seal, but I finished opening it without showing any hesitation.

‘It’s the Raven family. For now, this is an invitation.’

Unlike the blatant contents I had seen before, it was a letter stating that they were holding a celebration to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the family’s establishment.

It was almost on the scale of a festival rather than a simple celebratory banquet. The banquet would last for a whole week, and there would even be a hunting competition.

And at the end of the letter, there was a mention of considering an engagement.

‘This must be a picture of the Raven family’s eldest daughter.’

She was a very beautiful lady.

At first, they talked as if the purpose was simply to foster friendship, but when they mentioned the engagement, the tone changed a bit more blatantly. It suggested that it would be nice for me to have a conversation and get close to their eldest daughter, who was around my age.

However, there was a passage that caught my attention even more. It was the location where the hunting competition of the celebratory banquet would be held.

‘It’s at the border between the Empire and the Kingdom.’

The place bordering the Holy Empire, Zachary’s homeland—that’s where the hunting competition will be held.