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“Since your fiancé is such a beauty, I imagine you'll gain a lot of inspiration from him. In my eyes, Valentin is even prettier than I am.”
“Hmm. Of course, he is beautiful, but...”
I asked the hesitating Emma subtly.
“You seem uncomfortable around Valentin, Emma. Am I right?”
“It's not that I'm uncomfortable. That's just how arranged marriages are. It would be different if he were a partner decided since childhood, but he's a fiancé decided only a week ago. Why do you ask, Your Imperial Highness? Have you become curious about marriage?”
Emma, who was personally tying up my hair, chattered on in an excited voice.
“I was exactly like that when I was your age. The man I'll spend my life with. The man I'll start a family with. I wondered what kind of man I would marry... What kind of man would make me happy?”
The direction of this conversation. Not bad. In fact, I liked it. I widened my eyes as much as possible and nodded with a curious expression.
“Exactly, Emma. Actually, I've been very interested in that lately.”
“I knew it! Thirteen is exactly the age for that. Ask me anything.”
What reason could there be for me to be obsessed with Valentin?
“What kind of man do you think one should marry to be happy?”
“Conventionally, it would be a gentleman from a good family with plenty of wealth... but I believe consideration is the most important thing. If you are considerate of one another, there's no reason to fight or get hurt, so wouldn't it be easier to be happy in the end?”
Then Valentin is a total disaster.
“What about Valentin? Tanya—I mean, Tatyana—said he's the most popular man in Ohala.”
“Objectively, that's true... but as a partner to love, well.”
Why, why? What's the problem?
“Is there some other flaw I don't know about? Being popular means there are many people who want him. If a rare jewel that others cannot have becomes mine, wouldn't I be happy regardless of his personality?”
Emma blinked silently for a moment, then very slowly revealed her inner thoughts.
“At first, I couldn't believe I was becoming his fiancée. The night before we first met, my heart raced so much I couldn't even sleep properly. Marriage... there's an aspect where the partner's level determines my own level. In that sense, he is literally the best possible partner. I thought it would be hard not to love him.”
“And?”
“The human heart is a strange thing. Once I became certain that he has no interest in me, and will have none in the future... I found that I became indifferent as well. The fluttering heart cooled instantly, and I stopped feeling romantic emotions.”
She continued bluntly.
“If he were to find another lover, I might be hurt. But how should I put it... I have a belief that such a person will never appear for Count Valentin. In that regard, it's good. A man who loves no one instead of loving me. He wouldn't be a bad husband.”
Emma's honest confession gave me quite a shock.
Because she was certain he wasn't interested, her own interest cooled? How can that be? I'm the complete opposite! I asked, feeling a bit urgent.
“Then what about when you continue to be curious even in that situation? If the other person isn't interested in me, but I still want to know more about them... why is that? Could it be a mental problem or something?”
“A problem? That happens all the time. It's not strange at all. Some people prefer climbing a high, rugged mountain over a hill that's easy to cross.”
In that moment, a flash of realization hit me.
I felt I finally understood the real reason why I was obsessed with Valentin.
Valentin was the only person who acted so coldly toward me, Larisa Nikolaevna Novarov. Having experienced this for the first time in my life, I simply cannot stand it when others are indifferent and heartless toward me. That's why I keep clinging to him and feel hurt by his lack of sincerity!
Following that lightning-strike realization, another question arose. If so, how do I make this 'you're the first person to treat me this way' kind of obsession disappear?
“I'm glad to hear that, then. But how do you cut off those feelings?”
“Do you want to cut them off?”
Me? I'm not talking about myself. As I looked away and pretended not to know, Emma chuckled and spoke in a somewhat serious tone.
“Friends of mine who had similar experiences all said the same thing.”
“What did they say?”
“That once the other person starts liking them, the feelings that were so intense they crushed their pride cool down in an instant.”
“...You mean my interest would cool down once the other person becomes interested in me?”
“Exactly. Strange, isn't it? I heard there's a psychological reason, but I can't remember it now. Or, hmm. Maybe if you stay apart by force for about three years, it wouldn't cool down? Since out of sight is out of mind.”
Interest!
Oho, that sounds quite plausible. If I gain Valentin's interest, I'll achieve my goal of breaking through his indifference, and my obsession with him will naturally extinguish. I really was right to come to Emma.
“Please make sure to come to my engagement party. I would be truly happy if Your Imperial Highness attended.”
“Of course I'll go. I have business with Valentin as well.”
“I don't know what business it is, but you'd better see him as soon as possible. I heard the Count is leaving Mahachikala immediately after the engagement ceremony. Around April, I believe.”
What?
“He's leaving?”
“It's common for noblemen who have had their coming-of-age ceremonies. He will also be embarking on the path of the reformer.”
The path of the reformer was a three-year study abroad course that involved hiring high-level professors to visit the western edge of the Central Continent, pass through major cities in the West and the Holy See, and then return to Mahachikala.
For some reason, my mind went blank. Wasn't April less than two months away?
“Then why have the engagement ceremony in advance? It wouldn't matter if they did it after he returned.”
“I wonder. What's certain is that it didn't seem to be just a matter between the Tolstoy family and the Dmitriev family.”
It was a vague answer. It meant that a third party's will was involved in the union of the two families. If it were a higher entity capable of interfering in the marriage of high-ranking nobles, it was most likely the Imperial Family.
What is their intention?
Why hold the engagement ceremony for Valentin and Emma before a three-year study abroad trip? Having a fiancée meant, in other words, that there was a justification for him to return...
This engagement must be a means to keep Valentin tied to the Ohala Empire.
I looked at Emma with somewhat complicated eyes.
No matter how much of an arranged marriage it was, making someone wait for three years was harsh. Furthermore, since most men who embarked on the path of the reformer were in the prime of their youth, there were cases where they acquired mistresses or illegitimate children.
I wasn't certain Valentin was that kind of person, but it was undeniable that this was an engagement where Emma could suffer a great loss. Of course, Mahachikala was overflowing with ladies who would volunteer to be his fiancée regardless.
Just then, an attendant entered the drawing room cautiously to deliver a message.
“Count Valentin Vladimirovich Dmitriev has arrived. Shall I tell him you are unavailable?”
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