[Your marriage’s now been decided.]
These were the words that welcomed me as I face my father who suddenly called me.
[Uhm, I’m not sure but are those words really meant for me? As the fourth son of the family, we already talked about that in exchange for me not inheriting anything and to live nothing but as a commoner in the future, I’d be allowed to decide my own marriage…]
I mean, isn’t this too sudden? And what did he mean when he said it’s been already decided? That’s not what we agreed upon before. Did he expect me to just accept that?
[Right… We had that conversation before, didn’t we? I apologize but that needs to be changed starting today.] (Father)
[Haaaa… Just why is this happening…]
Does this mean that the agreement we had is something that he can just change on his own? Haaaa. I can’t help but express my disappointment even if he is the head of this house.
[We have received a marriage proposal earlier. All of this change is due to that letter. Because the partner in question is the sole young lady of the Duke Family, Anastasia Sevensworth. It is a well known fact that the Duke dotes on her daughter as such we cannot offend them.]
[What did you say!? Duke Sevensworth!?]
Hearing the name of the noble that every citizen in this country knows surprised the hell out of me.
[That’s right. The proposal came from the only Ducal family of this country. We, a mere family of a viscount are in no position to decline. That’s why I said it’s already decided.]
Right. As a lower house, that’s basically saying that we can’t question this decision in the first place. In summary, I’ll be moving into the Duke’s family.
[Further, it was already decided as well that the duke and his wife will come to our house for a visit together with their daughter next week.]
[Haaa!? No, no, no. Isn’t that bad? Don’t they hold higher statuses than us? We should be the ones going to them instead.]
[That’s what the duke desires. I would like to ask you this as well but even if this all of sudden, please do your best to cooperate. Do you understand now? From our social standing alone, we are in no position to decline, but what’s more, the other party has chosen to visit our estate instead of the other way around. You don’t expect them to come all the way to a viscount’s estate and just go home with just some souvenirs, right? They will never accept a ‘no’ for an answer. That’s for sure.]
My father reminds me once again.
[Fine. Even I understand the implication and motives behind all of this. Saying ‘no’ to their proposal basically means the destruction of our house, and ultimately, our place in this country.]
That is because the influence of the name Sevensworth holds is pretty enormous.
Who would dare to go against them? I can’t imagine.
[Also, you better cut off all your ties to your women before the Duke’s family arrives next week. You’re allowed to use as much gold as necessary.]
[Sure. I’m pretty much clean when it comes to all sorts of relationships though so no worries.]
[Well, I kind of expected that from you. Bust just in case.]
Our family’s already in a panic and this sudden marriage proposal just has to come on top of it.
That’s because there’s a sudden situation with a monster right now and my older brother is currently in the front lines to deal with it.
In short, the whole family’s currently in a state of emergency.
Personally, I’m not really dwelling on it anymore. It is what it is.
If there’s anything that I need to keep hidden, it’s not a woman, but my previous life’s memories.
In my previous life, I only worked for one company starting as your usual rank and file until I climbed up the ladder and retired.
With my experience being in the corporate life for so long, I’ve had countless instances where I have no choice but to bear with the absurd and useless decisions by the people at the top.
By the time I retired, the drive inside me to fight and argue was already long gone.
That rebellious spirit had been dead already for quite a while and can no longer resist those who are in authority.
I’m already in the phase of my life where I now fully understand the phrase when life gives you lemons, make a lemonade.
◆◆◆◆◆
I am Generious Adleni.
The fourth son of a humble noble, a viscount.
While it is true that I’m a noble, our family is on the poor side. And, being the fourth son, it’s almost guaranteed that I’d lose this title in the future and will have to leave the estate and live as a commoner.
For those who are on the wealthy side, the other children can remain in the estate to support the successor of their family and live using the same title of nobility.
However, that is a luxury our family cannot afford.
And being the fourth son on top of that, there’s no way I’d be able to get the family’s inheritance even if something happens to our eldest brother, the current successor.
That’s why I eventually have to leave this house and pave a life for myself.
This situation is actually pretty usual and because there are a lot who hate the thought of changing their statuses from being a noble to a commoner, people usually try to pursue knighthood.
I personally don’t mind losing my status as a noble though.
Afterall, I lived a life where social statuses hardly meant anything.
Besides, the memories that I built up in my previous life are mainly business skills so being a commoner is actually a preferable situation for me.
To prepare myself for such a future, I asked my parents for a very little amount of capital and started a business at the age of ten.
I didn’t really have much capital to work on. However, using the knowledge from my previous life, which made me think I am almost resorting to crime, the business I started has grown tremendously as a company in six years.
Though I have to admit, six years are far too short for the company to reach multinational status but I’m glad I was able to build branches across the country.
We’re like a so-called semi-major business back in Japan where we have branches in almost all the major cities in the country.
For a business built by a child of age, I believe it is on a level of tremendous success.
With the success of the business fluttering under my belt, my father has seen me in a better light and began to seek my opinion for managing our territory.
Integrating my opinion into our ruling, the territory that had been struggling to breathe has become a better place for our citizens to live.
This world is so behind my previous one that perhaps even a guy like me who didn’t do anything but encourage people to read newspapers everyday became revolutionary.
With my business venture successful, and my inputs in developing our territory for the better, rumors started to spread that I am some kind of genius.
That’s probably why I caught the eyes of Duke Sevensworth.
The Duke only has a sole daughter so they are probably looking for a son in law to adopt and marry their daughter to continue their family.
I am the same age as their daughter and if I have to say so myself, I am quite a looker.
The duke must have considered these things before settling for me.
Speaking of the ducal family of the Sevensworth, they are practically the most powerful family in this country after the royalty.
No matter what achievement I made for myself, it will never amount to anything in front of their authority. In fact, because I am a fourth son, of a lower nobility family to boot, I am in no position to decline as this proposal is totally out of my league.
However, this particular ducal family is having difficulties in wedding their daughter thus making this remote possibility a reality.
Their daughter, after all, has a nickname that is known all over the country as Lady Goblin because of her, well, to be for lack of better words, ugliness.
◆◆◆◆◆
Translator’s Note:
1. The manga changed the setting from one on one (Gino and Father) to a family discussion (Plus mother and sister)
2. A better illustration of Gino
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