I Picked Up a Witch With Amnesia

6. Bullshit – 13

A thousand years ago, since the 4th Duke’s family was established in the four directions by order of the first emperor, the 4th Duke’s family has been reigning as the loser in their region.

It had to be. In the first place, if you look at the origin of the position of the 4th duke’s position on the border, it was no different than being dispatched there with all authority entrusted by the first emperor to calm the endless troubles throughout the empire.

Estel in the north, Tournisen in the west, Dekaraznan in the east, and Crusell in the south.

They were the leaders and losers of a region in name and reality, and to the minor lords of that region, they were no different than absolutes wielding more powerful authority than the emperor located in the system. From their point of view, a duke who wants to consolidate his power by projecting his influence throughout the region is much more fearful than the emperor, who is a being above the clouds who is only confined to Lumentium and whom you hardly ever meet once in your life. because I couldn’t

However, around 800 years after the Empire entered, in the North, such a system slowly began to crack. It was because the Duke of Estelle, who had to lead the north with themselves as the main axis, was gradually going down the path of decline. The reason didn’t even have to be spoken. It is because the farmland has dried up, the intellect has declined, and the mines that were constantly pouring out gold and silver have become abandoned one by one, and the dukedom of Estel has been reduced to a status inferior to that of a mere military estate.

All in all, the power of the aristocratic family is not simply derived from their position or authority. It was unacceptable for him to brazenly try to reign over someone else when he couldn’t even take care of his own safety. In that sense, the Duke of Estelle, who, after declining and declining, had only scraps left of their heyday, would have lost the right to rule over everyone as a loser in the north.

Two hundred years passed just like that. After the Duke of Estelle descended from the position of the leader representing the north, it was none other than the Marquis of Castana who took the new position. In the opinion of everyone in the north, the Marquis of Castana had more than enough qualifications to reign as a loser after the Duke of Estel.

The Castana Marquis family was also a family with a long history that existed from the time the empire was founded, and produced powerful wizards from generation to generation, and by selling artifacts and making huge profits, their economic power was also a high-ranking family that had no corner to compete for the top spot in the empire. It must have been

That’s why, everyone concluded that there was no way that now and the Duchy of Estel could regain the momentum of two hundred years ago. The nobles of the north decided to follow the Marquis of Castana, ignoring the Duke of Estel. No matter how much I thought about it, it was as if the trend had already been decided.

…Yes, until just before news of the engagement of Cain von Estel, the duchess of the Duke of Estel, and Bianca del Castana, the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Castana, hit the whole north.

For the nobles of the north, the news was nothing short of a thunderclap. As soon as they heard the news, they couldn’t help but doubt their ears. According to their common sense, Estelle and Castana’s descendents falling in love was nothing more than bullshit, no different than a cat and a dog falling in love at first sight!

It’s nonsense. The fact that the youngsters of the two families, who had been snarling at each other’s faces for a thousand years ago, fell in love and even confessed their love in a place where all the members of the family gathered. It could not have been a last-minute development that would not appear even in a cheap popular folk drama in the street.

However, the brain-stopping surprise was short-lived, and the nobles of the north couldn’t help but ponder what would happen after the ‘engagement’ rather than being shocked at what had already happened.

If, at any rate, it was just a case in point, if the engagement between the Duke of Estelle and Castana’s daughter was successfully concluded, and even a child was born between them, the northern landscape would become very complicated after that. Because it was self-evident.

Since Cain von Estel is a minor duke of the Duke of Estelle, the child born between the two will inherit Estelle’s surname, the father’s last name. However, at the same time, as he inherited half of the Castana lineage from his mother, it meant that he could become a legitimate successor who could inherit everything from the Castana Marquis family.

Considering that Bianca del Castana is currently the only legitimate descendant of the Marquis of Castana, the possibility that Estelle and Castana will be united into one family by a child born between them could not be ruled out. In other words, their engagement might upset once again the balance in the whole North, which had been thought to have been barely calmed down!

So, all the nobles of the north began to move to the Marquess of Castana, where their engagement ceremony was held. To see with their own eyes what kind of result the small breeze that blew between Estelle and Castana would have in the future.

****

I don’t remember exactly when, but when I was part of the expedition, I had a conversation like this with Kyrie.

‘Oh, Cain. If I don’t mind, may I ask you something?’

Kyrie asks me a question in a very polite manner. Seeing that polite look, I nodded my head involuntarily. It was because that annoying elf seemed to have finally learned some manners in the human world, so I felt somehow proud.

‘Yes, what are you curious about? Kyrie?’

‘Oh, it’s nothing. I happened to overhear a conversation you had with Bianca del Castana the other day. Listening to that conversation made me curious about something.’

‘…Yes?’

Seeing Kyrie proudly claiming that she had overheard someone else’s conversation, I experienced an absurd feeling. Why didn’t the other women tell the elf that stealing other people’s conversations was a crime?

‘Ah, was it a secret story? okay. Humans and us have different levels of hearing, so I didn’t even think about that.’

Saying it was never intentional, Kyrie tapped her long ear. Looking at Kyrie like that, I couldn’t help but ponder whether this was also a form of racial discrimination.

‘…So, what is the question you want to ask? Kyrie?’

‘Well, it’s simple. Cain, you. I heard you were engaged in the past?’

‘…Yeah, what. It does.’

‘But how the hell did that engagement come to be broken? By any chance, did Cain make a big mistake?’

‘…..’

…Well, it was an elf who didn’t know the human mind and didn’t even think to count. Is it necessary to dig into the heartbreaking past of others to feel refreshed?

‘…why do you ask such a thing?’

‘Yeah, I’m curious. We elves, choose only one mate for the rest of our lives, and make a pact with him until we die of old age. In that sense, I’m really curious about the feelings of a woman who promises a future but breaks that promise without any hesitation.’

Saying that, Kirie frowned as if she really didn’t like something. Her long ears, too, were fluttering up and down, as if representing her current mind.

‘…mmm…’

To be honest, all my nerves were now focused on that ear where Kyrie was flapping up and down. It was truly an amazing sight. In an instant, I felt the urge to hold in my hand that flapping ear like a living fish, and see a dark urge engulfing my heart. If I could just close my eyes and stroke Kyrie’s long ears just once, I don’t think I would envy anything in the world-

‘…Cain? Aren’t you thinking about something rude? There’s something strange about the corners of your eyes?’

‘…Not at all. Could I?’

When I momentarily stiffened my face and made a fuss, Kyrie stopped questioning me and passed me on, even though she was looking at me suspiciously.

‘Well, so can you answer me? Cain, why did that woman announce that she would break up with you?’

…Well, it wasn’t a very difficult question to answer. It was just that I was reluctant to mention it with my mouth because just thinking about it at that time made me feel like shit. However, since this elf in front of me couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to such a trivial matter as my feelings, I soon gave up and was about to open my mouth to answer Kirie’s question.

‘…Mmm.’

‘what? You sound like you’re talking about something interesting? Can I join in too?’

‘…..’

It was then. The princess who was immersed in personal training in the bay, the saint who was calmly warming up at a bonfire, and Bianca, who was idle around me, also quietly came over to me, and as if I had been entrusted with their place from the beginning, they were snuggling around me. sat down Now that I see it, it seems that Kyrie wasn’t the only person who suffered from voyeurism in the expedition.

‘…Everyone, why are you flocking here?’

To the question I asked with the slightest wish that everyone would disappear, those women answered me with a nonchalant expression.

‘Yeah, that’s something I’ve been curious about too.’

‘Huh, actually, that was a question I wanted to ask Cain. I didn’t ask because I thought it would be rude.’

‘Are you going to answer that woman’s question when you have time to ask that question? yes?’

‘…..’

I knew that women were naturally interested in other people’s love affairs, but I never imagined that they would show interest and interest in such trivial things. I used to think that to the women of the expedition, I might look like weeds on the street.

‘…This is what it is. After all, she and I hadn’t even held hands properly, so I wouldn’t say we were properly engaged. I wouldn’t know if it was just a purely political relationship.’

As I murmured, I was overcome with shame and involuntarily lowered my head. Now, I had no choice but to confess because I couldn’t overcome the external pressure of the violence of these women in front of me, but in fact, this story was truly embarrassing. If the story of not being able to have a mediocre relationship with another woman even though he was about to turn 30 is not shameful, what kind of story is shameful?

‘…Cain. You really, really never even held hands with her?’

And Bianca who kills me for confirmation.

‘…Yes, so can you please stop asking that question?’

Bianca nodded with a satisfied face, as if she was satisfied with my shame-covered expression. And inversely proportional to that, my mood only went downhill.

This time, the saintess asked me a question as I was lowering my head.

‘…Hmm, Cain. Did you ever love a woman named Sarah?’

In response to the saintess’ question, I gently shook my head from side to side.

‘…I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like it. But now that I think about it, it’s hard to say that it was love.’

What I liked about Sarah was the story of an immature past that I fell in love with just by looking at her appearance. I know it well now. She knew very well how immature an expression of affection I had been forcing her toward.

Seeing me like that, the princess frowned and asked these questions, as if something was not to her liking.

‘…was Kyung really, really okay? Could I have forgiven the woman who was my fiancée when I saw her in the arms of another man?’

‘…well, because I liked it. And, is it all over now? I think it’s even worse to have any kind of attachment to her now.’

Yes, I wasn’t a saintly man, so I felt like a f*cking bitch, but now what can I do? It’s just a thing of the past, so I have no choice but to let it go.

‘…..’

When I answered the women wholeheartedly, they all kept silent, as if their curiosity had only been satisfied.

Just as I sighed softly and was about to get up, Kyrie, who could be said to be the person who held today’s hearing, called and stopped me.

‘Cain, it’s a question that exists in the realm of what-if, really what-if…’

Saying that, Kirie’s own green eyes, like glass beads, sparkled.

‘If you were to be engaged again, what kind of woman would you be engaged to then?’

I seem to have answered Kyrie’s question like this without much thought.

‘At that time, I really want to get engaged to the person I love. Now, things like arranged marriages are not allowed.’