Published: September 6, 2025
Hartmut, who had once headed toward the space where the civil officials were, returned together with a girl wearing a blue cloak. I felt I recognized her somehow—it turned out she was a civil official apprentice who had accompanied Hannelore at the library’s tea party.
Dark brown braids swayed on her back. Her eyes were the same shade of blue as the Dunkelfelger’s cloak. Standing next to the tall Hartmut, she fit right in, so she must be tall as well. She walked just half a step behind Hartmut, her cheeks faintly flushed with embarrassment, giving off a very fresh and innocent impression.
"Dunkelfelger, huh..."
I tilted my head at the high priest’s mutter, sensing a displeased tone. The high priest let out a soft breath.
"Many women from Dunkelfelger are calculating. We don’t know how much information they might be taking away. Now then, can Hartmut control that?"
"My Lord Ferdinand, do you have some unpleasant past with the women of Dunkelfelger?"
"...No, that’s just a general observation."
Is it really common in that territory to speak of calculating women as a general rule? I only knew Hannelore from Dunkelfelger, and I never found her calculating.
"She is Clarissa, a fifth-year senior civil official apprentice from Dunkelfelger."
So, Hartmut’s companion was Clarissa, the one who had given me the story of Dunkelfelger. Just knowing that I had read some of her stories already made me like her more.
Clarissa greeted me formally for the first time and, with a deeply moved expression, said, "I’m so happy to finally be introduced to Lady Rosemine."
...Come to think of it, didn’t Hartmut date a lot of girls?
"Since you’re being introduced like this, Clarissa, you must have decided to marry Hartmut, right? What was the deciding factor? I just want to hear it for reference."
I couldn’t ask directly what she liked about Hartmut, who was quite an unusual person, so I asked about the deciding factor of their marriage in a roundabout way.
"Do you remember the competition between Dunkelfelger and Ditter last year, Lady Rosemine?"
"Yes, of course."
"That was when it happened."
Hartmut, as a civil official apprentice, wasn’t supposed to be at the Ditter competition, but perhaps they became close while exchanging information about Ditter. Curious, I watched Clarissa blush and begin to speak.
"I was truly moved that time."
What Clarissa began to describe wasn’t her meeting with Hartmut but how wonderful it was to see the smallest-built me at the noble academy use an unexpected strategy to confuse the knights of Dunkelfelger.
"I decided then that I would marry a gentleman from Ehrenfest to serve Lady Rosemine in the future."
...Huh? That has nothing to do with Hartmut!?
Starting from that point, Clarissa began gathering information, looking for a man in Ehrenfest whose mana capacity matched her own. He had to be a noble of the same year or older, someone who could be near me after marriage, and someone whose parents she could convince. Considering Ehrenfest’s rankings, it’s difficult for a senior noble from Ehrenfest to marry a senior noble from Dunkelfelger.
Only two men fit Clarissa’s criteria: my excellent aide Brother Cornelius and Hartmut. When she probed them, Brother Cornelius declined saying, "I already have someone I love," but Hartmut was a free man who got along with many girls from various territories while gathering information.
"I thought there was no one but Hartmut, so I asked him to date me with marriage in mind."
As I listened attentively, my mother’s voice suddenly came from behind, "Is that so."
Startled, I turned and saw my mother taking notes with a face like one of my civil officials.
"How did you express your feelings to Hartmut?"
Hartmut answered with a wry smile and a shrug.
"Clarissa was passionate. She tripped me, pushed me down, and pressed a weapon to my throat."
"...What?"
"I didn’t understand what was happening for a moment."
Clarissa apparently showed her physical strength by charging at him and demanded a challenge to marry her. Feeling her life threatened, Hartmut begrudgingly gave her the challenge, which she cleared one by one. Along the way, she defeated all the potential love rivals close to Hartmut. For Clarissa, love is something won through passion and tenacity.