CH 94

Words : 958 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

I asked him why he kept bringing marriage proposals It was only natural for Mr. Ekenhart to feel troubled. Some strange man was suddenly close to his daughter, and that man had a Silver Fenrir, a monster that wasn’t supposed to obey anyone. Not only that, but there was even a fenrir, and they were also feared as vicious monsters. But his daughter claimed that it was now her familiar. This would give anyone a headache. Still, he kept calm and sipped the tea that Ms. Lyra had poured, and we continued to talk. Of course, I had said everything that was important, so it was more of a casual chat that included Ms. Claire, Tilura, and Sebastian. Though, it also seemed that he was using this idle chatter to hide his unease with the situation. Well, at the very least, Mr. Ekenhart seemed to like me well enough. So I was relieved. It made me feel even more foolish for having worried so much about manners and formal clothes. Though, I’m sure Leo’s presence had a lot to do with his trust in me. “…Now, I must change the subject…” The time had passed peacefully for a while, but then Mr. Ekenhart suddenly changed the subject. Immediately, Ms. Claire, Tilura, and Sebastian went rigid, and I could tell that they were bracing themselves. “Claire, Tilura. I think it’s about time to make a decision. And so I brought you some offers.” “…Father…” To no one’s surprise, Mr. Ekenhart brought up the matter of marriage. Ms. Claire and Tilura sighed audibly. Even Sebastian was sighing. Though, he did it subtly, so that his master wouldn’t hear. But I didn’t miss it. They had told me about how he would bring so many offers, and that it was always difficult to refuse every single one. So it was understandable. “Father…about these offers…” “You will not be able to reject these ones. After all, I’ve brought you the best of the best this time. Besides, I need you to decide soon. For your own benefit, and for mine.” It seemed that Mr. Ekenhart was especially confident this time. And so even though Ms. Claire had discussed this in advance, she was overwhelmed by his fervor, and became speechless. Even Tilura had an expression of resignation. However, I still did not understand why Mr. Ekenhart felt so strongly about it. It looked to me that he loved his daughters deeply. …Maybe even too much, as he became emotional quickly. But perhaps most fathers were like that. I wouldn’t know. But would a loving father be so eager to have his daughters go out and get married? Usually a doting father would want to keep his daughters for as long as possible… “Duke Ekenhart.” “Just call me Mr. I’m sure that’s much easier for you? Besides, since you have a Silver Wolf with you, your position could be seen as being above a duke.” Sebastian had said something like that before. Because I had a Silver Fenrir, I ranked higher than a duke. Well, that wasn’t important right now. “Uh, Mr. Ekenhart. Why are you so insistent on having Ms. Claire and Tilura get married?” “Hmm? Have they not told you the reason?” “I’ve only heard that you bring numerous offers, but not the reason…” “I see… I thought that Claire would have told you.” “No, father. In fact, you haven’t even told me why you are so insistent.” Apparently, Ms. Claire didn’t know the reason for it either. “What are you saying, Claire? If anything, it all started because of what you said.” “Me? I don’t remember…” Oh? This was going in an odd direction…? None of them had ever said anything outside of the fact that he pestered them with talk of marriage proposals. And yet he claimed that Ms. Claire had started it all. “…I suppose it’s not surprising that you forgot…” “Forgot… But what did I say?” “It was years ago… I think it was right after Tillura was born. So about ten years ago. Back then, you always wanted to hear stories about the founder of this house.” “…Yes, I do remember asking to hear those stories back then…” So it would be around the time that the servants were spreading rumors about Ms. Claire being the reincarnation of the founder. Ms. Claire was always so full of curiosity, and had a fixation with Silver Fenrirs, so it was easy to imagine her being interested in such stories. “I talked about it once back then. About how she married through an arranged marriage.” I see. Well, if she had become a duchess, then such strategic marriages would make sense. But what did that have to do with Ms. Claire? As Mr. Ekenhart talked, both Sebastian and Tilura listened with deep interest. But Ms. Claire still looked puzzled as if she had no recollection of this. “It was then that you started talking about how you too wanted an arranged marriage. Of course, I did not want that for you at the time, and I tried to stop you…” “I said such a thing…” “Lady Claire…” “Sister…” Ms. Claire was quite stunned by this revelation. While she didn’t remember it, she had now learned that she was the reason all along. Not only that, but Sebastian and Tilura were looking at her accusingly. It was as if they were blaming her for all the hardships they had faced up until now. However, I had also learned that Mr. Ekenhart was a typical father after all, and had not wanted to send his daughters off to be married. I suppose fathers really were the same everywhere.

CH 94

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