Published: August 15, 2025
I took out the document—the "investigation report on Marquis Dario Alfonso"—and flipped through it on my lap as I read aloud.
"—Dario Alfonso, forty-five years old. Lord of the marquisate in the Sandalqia Region of the Kingdom of Sphain. Engaged to Sophia at age twenty, married five years later."
Up to this point, I already knew. It was Dario’s brief history. But beyond that, I had almost no information. When Dario became Sophia’s husband, I was still very young and have known little about the two of them ever since.
However, when it comes to the eldest daughter’s marriage arrangement, it’s unthinkable not to know the background of her fiancé. I suspected there would be a record of his career somewhere in the Duke’s mansion, so I asked Mio to search for it. At the same time, she was gathering rumors.
"He currently owns an estate in the territory and lives there with his wife Sophia and their eldest son, who is eighteen. The main industries in the fief are coastal fishing, fruit farming, and tourism... it seems they live quite comfortably."
"Yes. However, this wealth is more due to the natural blessings of the land rather than the lord’s business acumen. With the rise of modern science reducing the value of primary industries, the challenge is whether they can adapt to changing times."
"Hmm, so he became a marquis after marrying Sophia? His family’s noble title was viscount. And the one who promoted the marriage arrangement was... Erwin Fuchs, Marquis of Dilz?"
I said the name aloud, but it didn’t ring a bell. That was odd—at least the noble families of Dilz should be familiar to me. Wolfgang noticed my confusion and began to explain.
"He passed away ten years ago. During the war, his fur processing business contributed to military supplies, earning him the country’s trust and enormous wealth. After the war, he stayed out of the spotlight and gradually spent down his assets. But since his territory was near the border with Sphain, he was often consulted by Lord Alfred Granado when the latter was developing the port town."
Wolfgang answered immediately. I wondered if he had memorized all the historical nobles. Neither Mio nor I had such extensive knowledge, so I listened to him with genuine admiration.
"Though deceased, he was quite an influential figure. While the match was between the duke’s daughter and a foreign viscount, Lord Alfred wouldn’t have dismissed a proposal backed by him lightly."
Mio continued, glancing at the report.
"It seems Erwin Fuchs frequented the Duke’s mansion. Both I and master don’t remember this clearly, as we were very young, but the head maid testified that he visited multiple times and drank with Lord Alfred."
"…And what is his relationship to Dario?"
"Erwin Fuchs is the husband of Lord Dario’s elder sister, Perla Alfonso."
—Dario’s brother-in-law. That’s a surprisingly close relative.
"I see. Sophia’s brother… then it makes sense for him to support the marriage."
"Yes, but—about twenty years ago, at Dario and Sophia’s wedding, the wife Erwin brought wasn’t Perla."
"…Huh?"
"And Perla, who sat among the groom’s relatives, was accompanied by a different man and their child. At that time, both were married to their respective spouses."
…Huh? My mind was momentarily thrown into confusion.
Each had a spouse and child… meaning they were both remarried. I skimmed the report again and found they indeed married each other five years after Sophia’s ceremony.
"You never know what ties people together."
I muttered casually, only to have Mio and Wolfgang both narrow their eyes at me—sending a silent "Oh dear, young master," glance.
…Uh?
…In Dilz and Sphain, divorce and remarriage are no taboo. Maybe they fell in love at the wedding and Dario’s sister left her husband. That’s not necessarily bad—but.
The timeline was off. When Erwin proposed Dario as a son-in-law to my father, Erwin was not yet married to Dario’s sister. In fact, both had spouses then. So Erwin was recommending a young man with no connection to Dario’s family as a son-in-law to a duke he was close to.