Despite his sloppy appearance, her father was still a noble.

Thus, he bowed his head to Hadith and politely led him into the mansion. Along the way, speculations such as, “Did the young lady take the Dragon Emperor hostage?” and “Is he really the Dragon Emperor, though?” rose.

“He’s definitely the Dragon Emperor.”

Her father soon admonished them. After all, during Geraldo’s birthday party, her father had seen Hadith.

…However, even though they managed to establish his identity as the Dragon Emperor, the people of the fief were still convinced that Jill had kidnapped him.

“—Surely, as an emperor, he isn’t lacking in women. Why would he choose such a little girl as his wife?”

“—It may be a good learning experience for the young lady.”

“…Marriage fraud?”

“No way, did Lady Jill—”

—Until the end, their rude gazes didn’t change.

Even though when it came to His Highness Geraldo, they praised my tastes! What’s the difference!? So what if I decided to bring this guy instead!?

…As frustrating as it was to admit, it was probably due to Geraldo’s good reputation.

After his successful attempt at coaxing Jill, Hadith had been acknowledged as a good person and received cabbage as a symbol of apology. She wasn’t really sure, but perhaps it was a good trend for her people to give gifts to the enemy emperor…

Yep, let’s leave it at that.

“I apologize for the late greeting. Once again, I’m Hadith Theos Rave. I’ve come here to ask for permission to marry your daughter.”

Hadith—who had taken a bath and changed his garments—put his hand on his chest and greeted her parents. By any means, he was a fine man.

Be it his lustrous black hair, golden eyes framed by long eyelashes, refreshing facial features, slender figure, or elegant gestures—everything about him was mesmerizing.

Her father—Billy—who sat across from him, widened his eyes. While her mother—Charlotte Saber, also went agape. All the female servants in the drawing room were either flustered or swooning…

Jill triumphantly raised her face.

“We also completed the path of trials together! We entered through the port town in the South and made our way from there!”

“The path of trials? From the South… Oh my, what should we do, Dear?”

“What’s more, we got here in four days! This is a new record, isn’t it!? With this, you have no choice but to acknowledge my marriage with His Majesty!”

“…Jill, unfortunately, you took the wrong path.”

“Eh?”

To the shocked Jill, Billy—who was properly dressed, answered with a conflicted look on his face.

“To prevent information leakage, there’s a rule that dictates couples need to alternate paths. Last time, your parents entered from the South. Therefore, as per the rule, the following couple has to challenge it from the North…”

“I-I never heard of that! I only heard that others entered from the southern entrance… Why didn’t any of you tell me!?”

“Well, after all, we always thought that your older sister and brother would challenge it first… Besides, it isn’t like I can predict the path you’d need to take…”

“—Then, what about my marriage to His Majesty!?”

Billy and Charlotte stared at each other in dilemma.

Somehow, she could already guess the answer…

“M-my-my shortest record, which I’d achieved alongside His Majesty—…”

“That’s because you didn’t check properly beforehand, Jill. Even in your letters, delicious food was all you ever talk about…”

“T-that’s because there are many things I can’t divulge about…”

“You’re lying. You only ever wrote about delicious meals. Every time we read them, your mother got hungry.”

“…You even roped His Majesty the Emperor into this.”

Jill’s shoulders fell at her parents’ words.

…She couldn’t argue at all.

In fact, she couldn’t even bear to look at the face of Hadith who was sitting beside her.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty… Even though we did our best…”

“D-don’t worry about it, Jill. It’s alright. I mean, it’s quite shocking… Yes, in fact, I’m so shocked, I don’t think anything else could startle me at this point.”

“We’re truly sorry, Your Majesty. To begin with, to welcome you to such a secluded mansion is uncouth…”

The sight of her father and mother bowing instilled even more guilt in Jill. After all, she was the one who forced Hadith to come.

“Please raise your head. I’m sorry for suddenly intruding without any notification.”

“No, no, Jill must’ve said something unreasonable. If I’m not mistaken, my eldest daughter—this girl’s older sister—should’ve gone to meet you at the South port. Why didn’t you wait for her?”

“…B-because Abby will just get angry.”

The eldest daughter of the Saber family married a merchant in the South port town. Even after giving birth to a child, she was a merchant and a soldier who personally went around cracking down on pirates, to the point that she was rumored to be a pirate herself.

If Abby knew that the emperor of the Rave empire was coming to visit the Saber family, she’d surely go meet him herself. Perhaps out of concern towards how laidback her parents were, Abby was very strict—especially when it came to politics. Upon being told of Jill’s marriage, Abby gave her a sermon, before then telling her to write a report on the political benefits.

As her parents let out a sigh, the oblivious Hadith made a sincere remark.

“I didn’t know your sister would be coming… I’d like to meet her.”

“You can’t! Sister Abby is a sucker for good-looking men! Besides, Your Majesty is more handsome than her husband!”

“Eh, but, if possible, I’d like to greet all your family members…”

“Come to think of it, how is Brother Chris doing? Is Sister Matilda still missing?”

“—Missing!?”

Leaving aside the astonished Hadith, her father nodded.

“Chris is in charge of the territory and the mansion in the North. Nevertheless, he’s still a shut-in. I told him to come to the mansion at the foot of the mansion, but he said that if he met the Dragon Emperor, he’d kill him. I’m at a loss…”

“Eh? Wait, what…”

“Oh, is that so? I’m glad. As always, Brother Chris still can’t express himself well!”

Hadith’s smile froze as he fell silent. Her father looked up towards the ceiling with his arms crossed.

“As for Matilda, I can’t get through her at all. I don’t know where she is… She’s my second daughter and all, but she only contacts me when necessary. She’s a good sniper and a talented assassin.”

“…Assassin.” Hadith murmured with concern.

In front of the conflicted Hadith, her mother smiled.

“There’s a chance she’s on a mission in the Rave Empire, Dear.”

“I see, that’s good.”

“Then, what about Rick, Andy, and Catherine?”

After Jill mentioned her twin brothers and sister, her father nodded.

“Before we knew it, Catherine was already 6-years-old. She’s undergoing special training with her master. I think she’s somewhere in the Rakia Mountains.”

“As in, we can’t get in touch with her? What about Rick and Andy?”

“It looks like they went to play somewhere, but they should be back soon. They’ve just returned from their warrior training around the Kingdom of Kratos.”

“Warrior training…”

Jill proceeded to explain to Hadith, who was merely parroting them.

“When a child of the Saber family turns 8-years-old, they go on a trip around the Kingdom of Kratos! Then, they’d work as a mercenary! I’ve also done the same! How nostalgic!”

“T-that’s… That’s really, uh, amazing…?”

“We’re unordinary.”

Jill was aware of that.

“Then, only Rick and the others are available?”

“That’s right. Although, we can also call Chris if you want.”

“No, it’s alright. I’m the one who visited suddenly, so there’s no need to go to such trouble.”

Hadith immediately shook his head. In response, her father bowed his head.

“I’m sorry. In truth, we are also currently preparing to descend to the mansion at the foot of the mountain the day after tomorrow. However, you caught us in a state where we can’t even afford to show you some hospitability.”

“Not to mention, with Jill’s appearance, we might experience a food shortage…”

Jill panicked when her laid-back mother said something outrageous.

“Mother! I don’t eat that much!”

“I apologize for our lack of preparation. But the day after tomorrow, we’re planning to move to the mansion at the foot of the mountain. What do you think? If you agree to move to that mansion ahead of time, we can make the preparations right away.”

“…What should we do, Your Majesty?”

Since Jill had winged almost the entire operation, she had no choice but to entrust the decision-making to Hadith.

—Then, Hadith straightened his back.

---

***T/N: Nooooo alll that for nothingggg

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