Chapter 03

Leon quickly took Tamia, who was spouting all sorts of absurd things, and led her out of the training grounds.

In the process, he had to endure the Griffin Corps members’ fond, knowing looks.

But that was something he could easily deal with tomorrow by putting them through a few extra drills.

“So, you have a debt?”

“Yeah. It came out of nowhere, and they said they’ll take the house if I don’t pay back one thousand der by next week.”

Tamia sullenly chattered away about her family’s situation.

“But then, while I was passing by, I suddenly saw that the prize money for this competition is a whopping two thousand der!”

“Prize money?”

Leon took the crumpled piece of paper Tamia pulled from her clothes and held out to him.

“It’s a monster-hunting competition where married couples participate together. But I don’t have a husband.”

“…So, you intend to marry me, enter the competition, and win the prize money?”

“Oh, you’re pretty smart! You catch on quick!”

Apparently delighted, Tamia suddenly grabbed Leon by the sleeve and shook his arm back and forth.

“Let’s get married! The competition is tomorrow, so we only need to be married for one day. Once the competition is over and we get the prize money, I’ll divorce you right away. Oh! We’ll split the prize money in half, too. How about it? Not bad, right?”

“Wait, could you let go of this and talk—”

“Whoa, is it already this late? This is bad!”

The sun, which had been precariously hanging over the mountain ridge, finally disappeared completely.

In a hurry, Tamia whistled, and the horse she had ridden over immediately came running.

Tamia effortlessly climbed onto the horse and held out her hand toward Leon.

“Get on.”

Leon looked up at her with an utterly baffled expression.

“…?”

“Why are you being so slow? We need to hurry to the temple and register our marriage!”

Leon, who had never actually agreed to marry her, was extremely bewildered by the situation.

Has she still not figured out who I am?

A gentle breeze lightly brushed through Leon’s hair.

Only members of the Imperial Family possessed such vividly saturated, brilliant golden hair in this Empire.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the other party still hadn’t realized Leon’s identity.

She apparently hadn’t even noticed the members of the Griffin Corps repeatedly shouting the title “Your Highness.”

No wonder she continued speaking informally to him.

Could she be a country girl who just came to the capital?

But dismissing her as a mere country girl was difficult when the sensation of her deflecting his sword aura with her own was still vivid in his mind.

A Sword Master.

There was no doubt about it. This woman was a Sword Master.

A Sword Master who isn’t even registered with the Empire.

Leon became intrigued.

At the same time, a strange sense of mischief began to stir within him.

For some reason, he wanted to learn a little more about this woman.

He also wanted to see the look on her face when she discovered that Leon was actually an Imperial Prince—how shocked and flustered she would become.

It might be fun to play along for a little while.

Leon pulled up his hood to conceal his hair, then effortlessly mounted the horse without taking Tamia’s offered hand.

However, he climbed onto the back of the horse rather than the front.

“Huh? Why are you sitting in the back? This is my horse!”

“You said we’re running out of time, didn’t you? Do we go to the temple?”

“Y-You…!”

“We’re leaving. Hold on tight.”

The horse Leon was riding surged forward toward the temple without hesitation.

“Wow, you’re really good at riding! Even though it isn’t your horse!”

Tamia was in the best mood imaginable.

Not only had she managed to find an ‘incredibly strong person’ the day before the competition, but he had also willingly agreed to marry her.

She wasn’t particularly fond of the fact that she was currently riding as though she had obtained a free horse ride, though.

Well, I found myself a husband, so I’ll let that slide!

After crossing swords with him, she could tell that his skills were extraordinary.

And since he could even use sword aura, he was undoubtedly a Sword Master.

Two Sword Masters forming a team for a competition? They were guaranteed to take first place.

“We’re here.”

When Leon brought the horse to a stop in front of the temple, Tamia hopped off and hurried him along.

“Come on, let’s go fill out the marriage registration first!”

Leon obediently followed Tamia.

The marriage registration process was simpler than he had expected.

All they had to do was write their names on the marriage registration form and submit it at the temple counter.

“I’ll go first.”

Tamia quickly grabbed a form from the writing stand and wrote down her name.

[Tamia Arderin]

So she’s the daughter of Count Arderin.

The House of Arderin was a family that had devoted itself to exterminating monsters in the frontier until Leon founded the Griffin Corps.

I vaguely recall hearing that Count Arderin had a daughter.

Since she had never made her official debut in the capital, almost nothing was known about her.

But if she had inherited her abilities from her father, Count Arderin, then her extraordinary skill made sense.

“Here, write your name, too. We don’t have much time.”

Tamia urged Leon on while glancing at the sky outside the window, which was gradually darkening.

A marriage registration.

A marriage involving an Imperial family member was a major event for the Empire. It was certainly not something to be carried out as casually as this, merely for two thousand der.

However, the Empire discarded all records of a marriage immediately upon divorce.

If he followed this woman’s plan—collect the prize money and then divorce—there would be no record anywhere that he had ever been married.

In that case, I suppose there’s no harm in playing along for a while.

More than anything, Leon was deeply curious about how Tamia’s abilities, which she had displayed during their spar, would perform in an actual battle against monsters.

Leon accepted the pen and paper from Tamia and deliberately wrote his name on the form.

[Leon Ignatz Valentis]

Valentis was the noble surname bestowed exclusively upon the Imperial Family of the Valentis Empire.

Now this woman would soon realize just how outrageously disrespectful she had been toward a member of the Imperial Family and turn pale with shock.

She clearly made the mistake because she didn’t know who I was, so I suppose I can forgive her this once… Hmm?

“Are you done? Here, I’ll submit it.”

Tamia cheerfully snatched the marriage registration form from Leon and promptly thrust it through the temple’s marriage registration window.

She didn’t even look at my name?

Before Leon could even find words to express his disbelief—

“Y-You… You came here personally to r-register your m-marriage?”

The young priest sitting behind the counter saw the name written on the marriage registration form, his face turned deathly pale, and he shot to his feet.

“Are there people who make someone else register their marriage for them?”

“N-No, that’s not it. That person is…”

“Please hurry and issue us a marriage certificate. We’re in a bit of a hurry.”

The priest looked back and forth between Leon and Tamia with an expression of utter disbelief, but under Tamia’s urging, he had no choice but to issue the certificate.

“Great! Now all we have to do is register for the competition. Come on, husband!”

“…Husband?”

“We’re husband and wife until the competition is over!”

Just as Leon was getting used to the unfamiliar title, Tamia grabbed him firmly by the wrist and immediately took off running.

“Running through the alleys is faster than making a big loop on horseback!”

“I could run without you holding—”

“If we fail to register and don’t get the prize money, are you going to take responsibility, husband?”

Tamia suddenly became angry and tightened her grip around his wrist.

She was holding him so tightly that his wrist began to tingle.

Yet he didn’t dislike the sensation.

The feel of her palm against his wrist was strangely vivid.

The calluses unique to someone who wielded a sword, the strength of her firm grip, and the strangely warm body heat…

But Leon had no time to dwell on it, because Tamia began running even faster.

Through the alleys where the setting sun cast long shadows, the two men and women, swords hanging from their waists, ran side by side.

Whenever they encountered a high wall while charging ahead—

“You can jump over something like this, right? You’re an incredibly strong man, after all.”

And whenever they encountered a huge freight wagon completely blocking the road—

“You can step over it and get past, right? You’re super strong, after all!”

In this way, the two of them covered in just five minutes a distance that would have taken ten minutes even on horseback.

“Huff, huff… Getting married is really hard!”

“Haaah… Who are you saying that to?”

The competition registration booth finally came into view in the distance.

Fortunately, perhaps because it was the final day for registration, it seemed they were accepting applications later than usual.

But even that time was almost up.

Just as the civil servant was beginning to dismantle the tent—

“Wait!”

Tamia charged forward and slammed into the registration desk just as she had the previous time.

“I told you to wait because I was going to find myself a husband!”

The civil servant, who had been organizing the paperwork, recognized Tamia and asked in surprise,

“You really did find yourself a husband?”

“Did you think I was lying?”

“Then… Is the person wearing that black hood your husband?”

“That’s right. I even brought our marriage certificate… Huh?”

No matter how thoroughly she searched through her clothes, the certificate was nowhere to be found.