The Bride-Hunting Tale: I’ve Failed 20 Marriage Proposals Already. I Don’t Need Titles Like Dragon Slayer or Hero Who Saved the Nation—All I Want Is a Cute Wife!
“Welcome back.”
When Lisrante returned to her room in the dormitory, a woman of the same age as her, dressed in a servant’s uniform, bowed respectfully.
“Sigh. I keep telling you, there’s no need to wait in my room all the time.”
“No, Your Grace. I’ve been instructed by the Duke to serve you without any discourtesy.”
A typical exchange, with the same words and the same response as always.
Feeling tired of the routine, Lisrante let out a small sigh.
“I’ve told you I don’t need a maid. Thanks to this, we can’t even speak casually, even though we’re classmates.”
When she complained, the woman furrowed her brows, looking troubled.
“Since you are the Duke’s daughter, Your Grace, it is not permissible to not have at least one attendant with you.”
“Even though the academy claims equality among its students. The rules say attendants aren’t allowed.”
While saying this, Lisrante fully understood that those were just formalities.
The academy’s core purpose was to instill loyalty to the emperor in young noblewomen and men.
The vast Empire, with its enormous territory, had no choice but to adopt a feudal system. Some regions were so far from the capital that it took over a month by carriage to reach them, and the central government couldn’t operate effectively due to the sheer size of the territory.
The issue that arose was that in regions where the emperor’s gaze didn’t reach, local lords could act as they pleased, ignoring the emperor’s wishes, or were more susceptible to harboring rebellious thoughts.
Of course, there were regular inspections by those acting on the emperor’s orders, keeping watch for any suspicious activities. However, there were always nobles who managed to cover their tracks or bribe inspectors and spies.
In fact, there were many reports of such cases in the past, sometimes even leading to large-scale rebellions.
To counter this, the Imperial High Academy was established as an institution to remove noble children from their homes for at least five years from the age of twelve, ensuring they were educated while also being monitored to prevent dangerous ideologies from taking root.
Noble children were required to live in the academy’s dormitories, and as a rule, they were not allowed to return home except for the long 60-day vacation once a year.
As a result, attendants from noble families were not permitted, and no matter how high-ranking the noble, they were expected to handle their own affairs.
However, nobles always found ways around the restrictions. Once their daughters entered the academy, they began sending lower-ranked noble girls, their foster daughters, to act as attendants.
But even these attendants were still just children of the same age, and since they couldn’t return home either, the academy tacitly allowed it.
Moreover, the House of Duke Forst was the highest-ranked noble family in the Empire, with the current head serving as the prime minister.
The family controlled vast lands, with a huge number of vassals whose names couldn’t all be kept track of.
Although they didn’t belong to any particular faction, their influence was so great that they were effectively called the “Forst faction.”
Naturally, when Lisrante , the Duke’s daughter, enrolled, several noble families requested to have their daughters placed as attendants to her. She refused, but at her father’s command, several young women were assigned to her service.
For Lisrante , living in the dormitory away from her family and doing everything on her own had become something she enjoyed, so she sometimes found their presence bothersome.
However, by the third year of her enrollment, she had gotten used to it, and as long as she thought of them as allies, it wasn’t a major issue.
No matter how many times she told them to act casually, their behavior, driven by fear of offending the Duke, never changed. Lisrante sighed again and decided to change the subject.
“Well, whatever. So, Crejes, did you handle the case with the Viscount’s daughter?”
“Yes. I’ve received word that the Viscount and his family were satisfied with the conditions.”
“And what about her? If I made her refuse despite her interest, I’d feel a bit guilty.”
“No, she seemed to have had a chance to converse with him, and though she liked him, she hesitated to marry into the Lestal Barony.”
Hearing her classmate, dressed as a maid, speak, Lisrante looked relieved.
“Anyway, make sure to contact my father and have a good match prepared for her.”
“Understood.”
Crejes bowed and started to leave, but her gaze wandered, as if she had something else to say.
“Is something wrong?”
When Lisrante asked, Crejes hesitantly opened her mouth.
“Well… why go through all these indirect methods?”
“I see. You’re asking why I didn’t just handle it directly?”
“Yes…”
Given the context, Lisrante quickly deduced that the Viscount’s daughter in question was Suriemis, the daughter of the Viscount Admines , who had rejected a proposal from Count Fordilt.
Lisrante must have applied some pressure or set conditions that led to this outcome.
“Well, Fordilt is a good match for her, both in terms of status and personal relationship. It would have been normal to proceed with the engagement through proper channels.”
In response to this, Lisrante smiled wryly and shook her head.
“It’s not that simple. Not for me, and not for his family either. Honestly, being a noble is such a pain.”
She closed her mouth, signaling she didn’t intend to explain further.
Crejes, understanding that, gave a polite bow and left the room.
“Honestly, it’s never straightforward. And this time, it was close. If Fordilt had been more persistent, Suriemis might have agreed. I need to come up with something.”
Lisrante muttered to herself, shrugging with self-deprecation.