* * *

“No matter how mature she is at eighteen… isn’t she still a bit too young?”

Originally, the wedding was supposed to take place as soon as she became an adult, but I managed to delay it until after Berta graduated.

With the wedding date being postponed several times, it was decided that it would be officially announced only after Berta settled down after the marriage, without informing the local nobility in advance.

For a typical family, this would be considered quite rude, but Berta, whose family’s status had fallen considerably, had no choice but to comply.

“Well… since it’s a romance fantasy, once the heroine and male lead meet, they’ll take care of everything on their own and live happily ever after.”

I accepted the demands of the Yudenet family without much resistance.

Once I left for the northern estate of Velon, it would be difficult to see them except for occasional gatherings in the capital.

Once the two were married, I would be nothing more than an extra, mentioned briefly in the epilogue, fading away into the background.

After all, the real male lead, the young Duke Hernan Velon Yudenet, would fall in love with Berta Callis the moment he saw her at the wedding.

Apparently, Jurgen was supposed to become a sub-male lead who secretly harbored feelings for Berta… but for me, Berta was still just the younger sister I had known for years, and I felt nothing more for her.

The novel was one thing, but life after transmigration seemed to be a separate matter.

I still didn’t fully understand, but if my existence could somehow contribute to the couple’s happiness, then that would be a good thing, wouldn’t it?

I sighed lightly as I watched Elise searching for Berta.

Little did I know that something would happen to me 30 minutes later.

“Sir, you wouldn’t happen to be hiding the young lady, would you?”

Elise, her face full of excitement, came to my office as I was checking the debts due next week.

What a terrifying assumption.

Even though Elise was nearing the age where her hair was turning gray, she was still full of energy.

Despite her energetic demeanor, I had been stressed for months due to the ongoing expansion of the temple, trying to figure out how to manage the investments from the central nobility to minimize interest.

Elise didn’t intend to distract me, but her sudden appearance completely shattered my concentration.

I sighed lightly and responded.

“Elise… Even if I am the only one in this family who cares for Berta the most, do you really think I would hide her when she has an appointment with her fiancé this afternoon?”

Unless Berta was opposed to the marriage, I had no reason to do so.

Many things had happened and changed over the past ten years.

Although the main flow of events hadn’t altered much, Berta had become a completely different person.

The once-traumatized girl who mistrusted people was nowhere to be found.

She had thrived, outshining even the most prominent noblewomen in the capital, becoming not only the dormitory representative but also the student council president.

It was said that many underclassmen fainted from tears as they bid her farewell upon her graduation.

“I can’t help but feel that things have changed too much…”

In any case, Berta had returned to the Everdeen family after graduating, and the marriage proposal with the male lead had progressed smoothly.

Although the process had changed a bit, the plot seemed to be on track.

Since I hadn’t read past chapter 10, I didn’t know the details of what happened next, so there was no need to force the story to follow the original.

After all, what happened beyond this point wasn’t my concern.

The two of them will manage their own romance and live happily ever after, as befits the genre.

Sorry, but after getting the 500 won bonus for reading chapter 10, I never looked at it again.

I used that 500 won to buy a preview of something else instead.

In any case, Berta had grown up, and the male lead had become a duke at a young age.

As in the original story, the marriage proposal from the Everdeen family reached him.

It was said that he had lost his parents before reaching adulthood and had become emotionally closed off while wandering the harsh northern front under the emperor’s orders.

Rumor had it that despite his youth, he was a ruthless brute, which had led most noblewomen to reject the position of his wife, leaving Berta, a noble but parentless woman, as the chosen bride.

“In reality, though, he’s just a handsome man who struggles with communication and started spreading bad rumors about himself to fend off the endless proposals after inheriting the title.”

He’s indeed harsh and blunt to everyone except Berta, so the rumors aren’t entirely false.

In any case, he ended up with a woman who cared little for power, so it’s a sort of happy ending.

Now all that’s left is for them to be happy.

“I met the previous Duke a few times before he passed, but I’m not sure how much he’s changed now.”

After living as Jurgen Nil Everdeen, I had only encountered the original male lead twice, both times before we became adults.

“Even if I did meet him… I didn’t really talk to him, so I’m not sure it counts as meeting him.”

Our first meeting was in the kids’ zone at a social party for adults, and the second was at a hunting competition hosted by the Imperial City for the prince.

Although it was called a hunting competition, it wasn’t a grand event, as it was a competition for boys aged around twelve to sixteen.

It was more like a survival game at a youth camp.

The arrows were blunt and covered in paint to prevent injuries.

The game was to shoot at the opposing team, and after an hour, the team with the most paint on their clothes would win.

Fortunately, I was on the prince’s team.

Moreover, even though the opponents were noble sons trained since childhood, they were no match for me, who had learned modern military tactics.

Sorry, kids. It was a bit embarrassing for someone my age, but I thought if I won and invited the prince to my territory as a commemorative gesture, I could use the title, “The Best Hot Springs That Even the Prince Loves!” to promote our products.

And I did use it, and thanks to that, the bath salts that the prince used in the bath became a huge hit and were sold at high prices to nobles nationwide.

Among the many unfamiliar noble children on the opposing team was Hernan.

I stumbled upon Hernan wandering alone in the forest, seemingly unable to take a central role among the children.

I was startled to see Hernan, shining white in the dense forest.

Just as described in the webtoon, his skin was as white as snow, his hair as radiant as his skin, and his eyes gleamed like ice.

For some reason, he was dressed in shabby clothes, which didn’t suit his status as the heir apparent of a principality.

Moreover, he was clutching his ankle as if he had hurt himself while fleeing through the forest.

As important as victory was, I couldn’t aim even a fake arrow at an injured person.

‘Ah…!’

Originally, injured people could be taken as prisoners, and capturing a prisoner would earn extra points in determining the winner.

So, if I were thinking only of immediate gains, it would have been right to take Hernan as a prisoner.

But that was just a theoretical discussion.

He was the protagonist of this story, and I was merely a supporting character.

There’s no way a supporting character would be safe after acting against the protagonist.

Besides, I didn’t want to leave any unnecessary regrets, and Hernan’s young, pitiful face made it impossible to take him as a prisoner.

“Shh.”

To avoid being discovered by the other noble children, I held a finger to my lips to calm Hernan, then picked up a stick to use as a splint and wrapped it around his ankle with a handkerchief.

The handkerchief was embroidered with “Everdeen” by Berta with her terrible skill.

Though the fabric was of good quality, the embroidery was so comically bad that it made me laugh.

I remembered Berta throwing a fit before the hunting competition, saying she would kill me if I lost it, but it didn’t matter.

After all, you two will probably fall for each other later anyway.

“Can you walk now?”

As I treated his ankle, I calmed Hernan, who was trembling as if I might harm him, and helped him stand up.

Hernan slowly nodded with trembling eyes.

“Then I’ll be going now. You’d better stay hidden in this thick forest so that you don’t get caught by the others.”

Though he later became someone I couldn’t dare speak casually to, he was still a child back then.

After confirming he could walk, I turned away, and that was the last time I ever had the chance to meet Hernan.

‘It wasn’t a particularly memorable event, so he probably doesn’t even remember it.’

It’s not like I want to reminisce about the past now anyway.

Given that we’re now brothers-in-law on paper, there’s no need for me to be overly cautious or pretend to be close.

‘If nothing else happens, the wedding might be the last time I see him.’

Velon is a vast principality that occupies most of the key areas from the gateway city leading from the central to the northern region.

The Yudenet family owns five castles there.

Since it’s a principality formed by uniting small northern countries, the land is so vast that it’s rumored the Grand Duke frequently moves his residence for management purposes.

If they move to the castle near the northern border, it would be difficult to see Berta’s face again unless it’s a special day when all the noble families gather in the capital, like the emperor’s death or the ascension of a new emperor.

‘Well… What does it matter if we see each other? As long as she lives well with her husband, that’s enough.’

In fact, Berta and her husband, who were supposed to live well together, were rather distant.

I wondered if they even remembered each other’s faces.

After enrolling in school, Berta lived in the dormitory and exchanged letters with me, making only a handful of appearances at social gatherings.

To my knowledge, there was only one occasion when she and Hernan were in the same place.

* * *