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For now, I took the teacup from Maria's trembling hands and enclosed them with both of my own.
"Going into town is a last resort, so I don't have any plans to do that right now."
Honestly, it's normally not a good idea to prioritize a maid in front of the royal brothers, but I decided not to worry about it since the brothers aren't that narrow-minded.
"Also, I can't be relieved until I see who Maria's going to marry. And I'm also curious about who Cyril-sensei's going to marry, so even if you tell me to go into town right away, I definitely won't."
".........Hey, so if that Maria? doesn't get married, you'll stay here forever?"
Andrea-nii-sama smiled with a slightly mischievous look, so I put a damper on that.
"If you interfere with Maria's marriage for that reason, I'll hate Brother Andrea for the rest of my life......... Of course, if you're going to marry Maria, I wouldn't want to give her to anyone who can't overcome all the obstacles that Brother Andrea prepares."
"Rai-sama really likes Miss Maria, huh."
"Of course. If my age wasn't a problem, I'd want to marry Maria myself."
"Lord Raimond........!!"
Maria, who heard the words I returned to Ludo-san, who said that teasingly, covered her mouth and blushed as if she was deeply moved.
It's like when a little kid says, "I'm gonna marry my big sister~".
Especially since Maria has been with me since I was born at eighteen years old, so the emotion must be exceptional.
".........Grimaldi. You were a duke's family, if I remember correctly. Do you have an fiancee now?"
"Eh!? U-Um, I don't right now. That is, there was also Maya-sama's matter, and I had my father decline because Lord Raimond had to grow up."
At Federico-nii-sama's words, Maria answered clearly, though timidly.
I felt sorry for that. Sorry, you're missing your chance to marry because of me. I feel even more strongly that I have to do something about Maria's marriage.
"You're twenty-four now, right? That's......... eighteen years apart from Rai........."
"Federico-nii-sama, I'll get angry if you say any more than that. Admiration and affection are two different things. If you try to promote an engagement between me and Maria, I won't come to tea parties anymore."
"I, I see........."
Whether I had hit the nail on the head, he turned slightly pale.
"Rather, if you proceed with an engagement with Grimaldi, the Baltzer family won't stay silent."
"Ah......... Certainly. Leandra-chan, was it? If I remember correctly, there was a young lady the same age as Raimond. General Baltzer would be angry, wouldn't he."
"Eh, what is that, troublesome."
Should I go into town after all?
Sensing what I was thinking from the frown on my face, Brother Bertrand firmly grabbed my shoulder.
"Listen, Raimond. I can mostly guess what you're thinking, but I'll protect you no matter what happens, so don't rush things."
What's that, Brother Bertrand is so cool.
"That's right. I'll help because I'm worried about this guy alone. So, Raimond, let us protect you."
What's that, that's also cool. Kyaa, Brother Andrea is so cool. Say more~. (Sarcasm)
"Well, that's up to you guys. Um, Miss Leandra? Is she going to be my fiancee? Eh, do I have a fiancee?"
What is that, it's the first I've heard of it.
In other words, for me, who has a previous life, it's the ultimate choice between being a lolicon or liking mature women, isn't it?
I've started to be pulled by my body more and more as I get older, so I'll try not to think about that too deeply.
"Hmm. For now, General Baltzer's Leandra-chan is the most promising candidate, isn't she? Well, it depends on what the Maya faction's nobles will do from now on, though."
As they continued talking to me, the brothers, sensing that I wasn't going to do anything right away, started drinking tea elegantly again.
And I had nothing but a bad feeling about the content of that conversation.
"Ugh. Are there factions after all?"
"Of course there are. The royal palace is just a competition for nobles to outdo each other. As long as there are monsters, it won't develop into a war for that reason, but even so, there are those who want power, you see."
"By the way, the current mainstream is divided into two: the Karina-sama faction, who is Federico's mother, and the Maya-sama faction, who is Rai-sama's mother."
Ludo-san added from behind. Eh, there really is a Maya faction? I thought it was just a bunch of hangers-on at best.
What is that, Mother doesn't have the capacity to lead a faction?
"So, Mother is just a decorative top of the faction?"
"I don't hate that attitude of judging your own mother to be just a decoration without hesitation."
"Ehhh. Brother Bertrand also knows that Mother can't do that, right? It's impossible. Because it's that Mother, you know?"
That's right, it's that Mother. She's flighty, bad at talking, and still in love with love, you know?
There's no way she can stand above people.
"The nobles in Mother's faction want to make me the top and seize power. The nobles in Karina-sama's faction want to take me in and use me as a pawn, right? Ugh, what is that, troublesome."
"I didn't want to hear the word 'pawn' from Rai's mouth."
"Give it up, Federico. You knew Rai-sama was like this, right? You shouldn't have any illusions about Rai-sama."
Ludo-san is saying something rude.
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