The meeting with Lady Hilla was arranged sooner than expected.

Delphina quickly conveyed to Lady Hilla that I wanted to talk with her alone.

The answer came back saying that Lady Hilla had agreed without hesitation for a long time as if she had the same thoughts as mine.

While looking for a place to have a conversation where no one will find out, in case you have to talk about security.

She first told me and Delfina that there was a private room that could be rented under her name.

Although I had heard at first glance that some high-end cafes in the academy had such facilities.

Because in my previous life, I graduated without even having a chance to confirm that.

As a high-ranking aristocrat, he seemed quite used to renting a private room like this.

Lady Hilla rented a spacious and quiet room in her name where we could talk without hesitation.

Thanks to that, Delfina and I were able to enter a luxurious cafe room that was not even in the middle of the day.

“Thank you, Miss Hilla. I’ll make sure to repay the favor today.”

When Delphina accepted Lady Hilla’s favor and sincerely thanked her, she replied by holding Delphina’s hand and shaking her head.

“it’s okay. Miss Delphina is always indebted to her, so I can do as much as she wants.”

“But Miss Hilla, you can’t afford to receive such favor and not give anything in return… .”

“I heard that it was Miss Delphina who confronted Coil Mouse until the end at the last hunting festival. It must have been that we were all rescued by Conrad senior and Saint Clare thanks to such time.

If I think of it as a reward, I feel sorry that this is the only thing I can give you.”

“… All I did was just struggle to live.”

“Thanks to that struggle, we can laugh and talk like this now.

So please don’t be burdened. It’s between me and Miss Delphina, right?”

Looking at the personality of Lady Hilla, who returned Delphina’s thanks again and again, I thought that my sister was as certain as one eye that looked at people.

If I hadn’t been able to enter the academy because of the lack of tuition like in my past life, this would have been a precious relationship that would not have been possible.

“Miss Hilla… .”

Delphina was slightly moved by Lady Hilla’s kindness, and immediately left the place so that she and I could talk alone.

The refreshment table, which was spacious even when there were only three of us, soon became a place for conversation between the two of us, Lady Hilla.

It was a place created to reject an engagement letter, but it feels like it has become a confrontational atmosphere for some reason.

“If you need anything later, please call the clerk.”

“Ah yes.”

“Thanks for your efforts.”

I’m looking at Lady Hilla’s atmosphere as she bites the clerk with a relaxed expression.

Certainly, I thought that being a noble lady might mean this kind of person.

Delfina also claimed to be an aristocratic lady, as she had been in the social world for several years, but her image as a younger sister was more intense, so she did not feel the sense of being an aristocrat.

Besides, Stella, the closest aristocratic daughter, had a personality more like a big-hearted female warrior than a young lady.

It was virtually the first time he had ever sat face-to-face with a real noble lady and talked alone like this.

“Thank you for preparing this place, Lady Hilla Warburg.”

Maybe it was because the atmosphere changed as the seats changed.

Against a two-year junior at the academy, honorific words spontaneously came out of my mouth.

“Take it easy, Conrad Perdalos. You weren’t so nervous last time.”

“Anyway, since the location has changed, I am a little nervous. Then can I call you Miss Hilla from now on?”

“As much as you like, Conrad-senpai.”

In the air softened a little thanks to Miss Hilla’s consideration.

After taking a sip of tea to calm my mind and body, I went straight to the main topic to talk with her.

“First of all, the reason why I made this kind of troublesome place today. It is to reject the marriage talks that have come up before me and you.”

After hearing my story, Ms. Hilla gently closed her eyes as if thinking about something.

The answer came back with a quiet voice from the open mouth along with the closed eyes.

“To some extent, I expected it.

Of all the recent events, the only opportunity for me to talk with Conrad is the engagement letter from my family to Conrad.”

“I will tell you earlier. Of course, this offer of refusal of the engagement is not because it insults Miss Hilla or does not respect the honor of the Warburg family.”

“Yeah, that would be it. If you had been thinking that way, Miss Delphina would have sent a formal rejection letter first.”

“Miss Hilla is too precious to me. A marriage alliance with the Warburg family would of course be the family’s honor.

However, I can’t help it because I can’t put my feet anywhere else for circumstances. The Warburg family, of course, would have rejected it if it had been a marriage proposal from the ducal family.”

“Yeah. I heard that you rejected the engagement letter offered by the Duke of Skebluff.”

That was something I didn’t know.

It was like I heard indirectly through her mouth how much Delphina was using her hands for me under the water.

“On the contrary, because I am an acquaintance of Miss Delphina, I am sorry that I made it to such a troublesome place.”

“Thank you for understanding, Miss Hilla.”

Contrary to my remaining concerns, Ms. Hilla was a person with a much deeper heart than I thought.

At this rate, they thought that the engagement papers would go smoothly without any disrespect to each other.

“But I wonder if my father will accept it the way I think… . That worries me a little.”

Until the last words from her mouth shattered my expectations.

“Miss Hilla’s father, are you talking about Marquis Theo Warburg?”

“Yeah. It is very likely that this engagement was also a decision that my father made after careful consideration.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been close with Miss Delphina since before, and I’ve also opened up to Conrad-senpai. You probably never thought you would be rejected.”

“Hmm… .”

After listening to Miss Hilla’s explanation calmly, I thought that it must be a rather troublesome story.

Originally, marriage alliances were much more likely to be between families with whom there was no one-sided exchange, instead of between families that had exchanges in the past.

Rather, the closer they were, the more they tended to send an engagement letter after clearly confirming their intention.

If the other party rejects the engagement letter sent while you know each other well.

After all, there was a case where it was thought that there might be a defect that was not revealed to the family or the person who sent the engagement letter.

Of course, the fault of the Warburg family is greater for sending the engagement letter without asking me and my family’s intentions.

As long as the House of Warburg was the marquess and ours were the viscounts, it didn’t matter that much except who was at fault.

It would not be possible to avoid the theory of responsibility that our family had dared to raise a problem that could be sufficiently dealt with.

Perhaps Margrave Theo Warburg, who felt that his pride had been hurt, might take retaliatory measures rather than end with the severance of relations.

“It’s a little bit difficult.”

Even so, accepting Hilla’s engagement as it is was obviously impossible.

Miss Hilla was kind to me, so I was expecting the story to be solved a little easier.

In the end, meeting the Marshal of Warburg in person would be the only way to resolve it.

“Miss Hilla, I’m sorry, but can I ask you one thing?”

“What is your request?”

“I’d like to have a talk with Marshal Theo Warburg about this engagement. If it’s okay, I was wondering if I could visit the Warburg estate this weekend.”

“Well… .”

Ms. Hilla listened to my suggestion and put on a worried expression for a moment, then answered with a quiet nod to mean that she understood.

“like. I also happened to be visiting the mansion this weekend. Let’s go down together on Friday evening.”

“Thank you, Miss Hilla.”

“By the way, even if you’re meeting in person, is there any way you can convince my father?”

“I’m still trying to get a little help from Ms. Hilla… .”

Finally, I explained to Ms. Hilla the strategy to convince her father.

A shallow smile appeared on Miss Hilla’s face after hearing all of my story.

“If it goes that way, I’m sure my father will break the engagement letter, too.”

After receiving her confirmation of the plan, he immediately began preparing to leave for her estate.

The day I met her again was two days later on a Friday afternoon.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

The carriage of the Warburg family, where she and I were seated, left the academy and started moving towards the warp gate of the royal capital.

Miss Hilla tried to seat me at the high table in the right direction since I was visiting the estate as a guest.

Since I wasn’t an idiot who hadn’t learned the minimum level of education to the point where I sat in the upper seat after having the lady sit in the opposite direction, I firmly refused and was able to secure a seat in the opposite direction of the carriage.

While gazing at the scenery passing by outside the carriage, I arranged my words to Margrave Theo Warburg at the Warburg Mansion.

The moment I looked away for a moment to see what my helper Ms. Hilla was thinking, I met her eyes at the right time as she was looking in my direction.

“Going down to my hometown with senior Conrad like this, I feel like I have a brother, just like Miss Delphina.”

“As far as I know, I remember Miss Hilla as having two older sisters, right?”

“Yes, that is correct. But not too long ago, my mother had a late brother. Maybe this time I will have a younger brother.”

“Maybe it will be whatever you want.”

If he was the last child of the Warburg family, he was probably the son in my memory.

It will be a great gift for Miss Hilla who wants a brother.

After my last words, the conversation between me and her stopped for a while.

After a while, her cautious voice, which was heard, led again.

“I’m telling you just in case.”

“yes?”

“Is there really no room for Senior Conrad to become my fiancée?”

Obviously, I thought I had finished explaining this beforehand.

Seeing Miss Hilla’s sudden change of words, for some reason, I started to feel a little uneasy.

Miss Hilla, noticing my reaction, hurriedly corrected her words.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to burden you.”

“yes.”

“It’s just that I’ve been thinking about how I would feel if I had an older brother like senior Conrad.”

“You know that a brother and a fiancé are different.

I don’t know if it’s a relationship that I’ve known for a long time since I was young, but Hilla and I must be hard to be that kind of relationship.”

Well, these days, unlike the past when I got married as if I was being sold to someone I don’t even know in order to strengthen the family.

There were not a few cases of ordinary marriages that were made in the hope that their children would be happy.

It was not so rare that a close territorial aristocrat whom he had known since childhood became a wife or husband.

In fact, there was a legend-like story that the youngest son of a certain baron family married the only daughter of a duke family he had known since childhood.

There were even occasional cases of nobles marrying commoners.

If Miss Hilla and I had known each other since childhood that way, I might be able to play the role of the brother she wants in her own way.

The relationship between Miss Hilla and I was too shallow for such a relationship.

Most of all, it was impossible to promote an engagement for such a trivial reason.

“Because no one knows unless you experience it yourself.”

Ms. Hilla, who had her last words but her mouth closed, had a meaningful smile on her lips.

The wagon carrying her and I was already running through the Warburg estate.