Unprecedented Debut Party (Part 1) (from Cermiane’s perspective)

“Meeting Mia made my life go crazy”

That’s what my wife, Ralphine, used to say. She often said this when making fun of me, so it doesn’t sound like she is regretting or lamenting.

If you ask me, I’m the one whose life has taken a major turn since I met Ralphine. For the better.

It was a complete coincidence that I, Cermiane Emilian, became the escort of the Marquise de Caliente, Ralphine, at her coming-of-age ceremony that year. It was the result of a lottery, so it was pure luck. In other words, the guidance of God Almighty. If a different number of lines had been drawn on the lottery string I drew at that time, I would never have taken Ralphine’s hand.

I was sixteen at the time; I came of age at thirteen, became a knight’s apprentice and was appointed a full-fledged knight at sixteen. My first assignment as a novice boy knight that year was to escort a young lady who was coming of age. The duties of a knight include escorting royalty and high-ranking nobles, so escorting the Lady was a good practice for this. For this reason, every year, those who have just become full knights are asked to take on this role. However, the young knights in their arrogance dismissed it as something beneath them, saying “Babysitting, really?” in a way that belittled the task.

My initial impression upon drawing the Marquis of Caliente’s daughter in the lottery was “this is going to be tough”. After all, she is a marquise. A daughter of a high-ranking noble family. She must have been a pampered, haughty young woman. My status is that of a knight, the lowest rank of nobility. Even if she made unreasonable demands, I couldn’t just refuse her. She might use her status to make impossible demands or even resort to violence, and as a mere knight, I would have no means to resist. I greeted the day with a slightly gloomy feeling.

I vividly remember the first time I saw her at the entrance hall of the main building of the Imperial Palace.

When I heard that the Marquis de Caliente had arrived, I went to the entrance hall. I recognised the Marquise immediately. After all, he was the highest-ranking person at the debutante ball. Many people had gathered to greet him. There was a girl there in a sober dark blue dress. That must be the daughter.

As I approached, she turned around with a graceful movement. Our eyes met, and my breath caught for a moment.

I thought she was a fairy from a fairy tale. She was an unrealistically beautiful lady.

She had long, glossy silver hair. It was tied back loosely, with the rest flowing down her back. Cheeks that looked as if they were polished crystal. Her nose and lips were exquisitely arranged, without a single flaw. And large, strong-willed golden eyes. Supple hands. Softly curved limbs. Her straight posture radiated an overwhelming presence that made it difficult to approach her.

A golden gaze gazing at me. The expression on her face was not the fake smile of an aristocrat, but rather a blank expression, or rather, an expression that revealed her wariness. Perhaps, as a spoiled Lady, she was dissatisfied with being escorted by a knight. Surely, if such a beautiful young lady were to attend social events, she would be surrounded by high-ranking Noble Men. I didn’t know what would happen if I upset her. I hid my inner fear behind a smile and took her hand.

However, my fears were unfounded. She immediately showed a joyful expression, uncharacteristic of an aristocrat, and rather than being escorted by me, she was holding my hand and swinging it around as she scurried about the wide corridors of the Imperial Palace. Something was not right.

“Is this your first time at the Imperial Palace, Lady Ralphine?”

I asked, to which she replied with a frankness that would be unusual for an

aristocrat.

“Yes, it is. I mean, I came to the Imperial Palace for the first time about a month ago.”

Apparently, she had grown up in her territory, which might explain why she had no knowledge of proper etiquette. After all, she asked me to call her by her nickname. It’s only appropriate for a noblewoman to allow the use of a nickname for family members or very intimate acquaintances.

On the contrary, while talking to her, she said she wanted to hunt. When I told her about the forests adjacent to the imperial capital, her eyes lit up and she laughed like the sun. She was so cute that my eyes might be crushed.

But what came out of her pretty lips were a number of extremely disturbing statements. She wanted to hunt bears, after all.

“Bear? Does Lady Ral hunt bears as well?”

“Just call me Ral. I’ve hunted a big bear with red hair before. With a bow and arrow, you know. And I’ve also hunted a small black bear with a spear. I heard that a gray-haired big bear is bigger than the one with red hair, so I want to try hunting it someday.”

I thought it was a dubious story. The red-haired one would be the red bear. It’s a disaster beast  that knights are advised to take on with at least five men. It would be a medal for a single man to defeat it. I don’t think such a pretty girl could hunt it. Incidentally, the grey-haired bear is called a king grizzly, and it is a huge vermin that can only be defeated by at least ten knights, and in some cases it has even destroyed entire villages.

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