That evening, after their feelings had become mutual, Diana and Alan visited the Duke of Gazard together.
Their arrival as a pair allowed Diana’s father, Wesley, to guess a good deal of what had occurred.
When they knocked upon the drawing-room door, he was already seated upon a sofa with his head in his hands.
“…I suspected this would happen.”
“Father…”
Diana’s eyes wavered at his words.
She had acted according to her own wishes.
Because Alan was her father’s friend, part of her had calculated that Wesley would not oppose them.
But as Alan had pointed out, there was a considerable difference in their ages.
Wesley might approve of Alan as a friend, but would he accept him as a father?
Now that Diana saw her father genuinely tormented by the matter, anxiety spread through her chest.
“For now, sit down.”
Wesley’s voice held a bitterness that was unusual even to Alan, his friend of many years.
The two seated themselves side by side upon a long sofa facing him.
Wesley regarded them with a vaguely hollow expression.
Ordinarily, Wesley and Alan would have shared one sofa as friends, or Wesley and Diana would have sat together as father and daughter.
Their different arrangement now made the change in the pair’s relationship unmistakable.
“Father, um…”
Alan restrained Diana with one large hand when she began to speak.
“I will say it.”
“Lord Alan…”
Alan looked Wesley squarely in the eyes.
Sweat slowly gathered in his palms.
His throat burned, and his heart felt as though it might be crushed.
But he could not flee.
For this moment alone, the veteran warrior wore the desperate expression of a young swordsman facing his first battle.
“I ask your permission to marry Lady Diana.”
“…………”
Wesley pressed his lips together.
He had wondered what elaborate reasoning his friend might offer, yet the words from Alan’s lips were exceedingly simple.
They were direct, without ornament or evasion.
“…Diana.”
“Y-Yes!”
When her father addressed her without warning, Diana’s voice rose nervously.
“Allow me to confirm one thing. You did not accept this marriage merely to save Alan’s life, did you?”
Diana’s heart thudded at the question.
She certainly did wish to secure Alan’s safety.
That desire was undeniably part of it.
But even greater were the feelings for Alan that Diana had cultivated over many years.
“If that is the reason… then both of you gravely underestimate the power of House Gazard. We can protect one man without giving him the position of our daughter’s husband.”
“…That is by no means my only reason.”
Diana rejected her father’s suggestion without hesitation.
“You know better than anyone that I have loved Lord Alan for years, do you not?”
Wesley could not meet the unwavering gaze of his beloved daughter.
When he looked slightly away, he saw the two sitting close enough for their shoulders to touch.
At some point, Diana’s and Alan’s hands had found one another and clasped tightly.
“Alan, you…”
At last abandoning both his position as a duke and his dignity as a father, Wesley addressed his friend in a resentful voice.
“I am sorry, Wesley!”
Alan bowed his head honestly.
“I cannot do it any longer. I cannot keep deceiving myself. I have fallen in love with Lady Diana—with your daughter.”
The words were meant for Wesley, but Diana, sitting immediately beside Alan, turned scarlet.
She was the accomplished elder twin, always calm and composed, praised by all as a gifted young woman.
Wesley had never seen Diana wear such an expression.
When he thought back, she had always been preoccupied with Alan, even as a child.
Memories of his daughters’ early years returned to him.
The twins had nearly been abducted when they were small.
They had gone into town with their nurse and a guard. After a seemingly endless shopping trip left the knight careless, he looked away for a moment, and criminals attempted to carry off the girls.
Beautiful twin children—and girls, at that.
To the city’s scoundrels, they must have seemed more valuable than the largest jewels.
The man who rescued them before they could be taken away was Alan himself, then commander of the knights.
While patrolling the capital, he noticed the suspicious men, beat them into submission, and recovered the twins.
Cordelia had done nothing but cling to her sister and cry. Diana, driven by her responsibility as the elder twin, had remained brave even while the criminals threatened them.
Yet the instant Alan saved her, Diana burst into tears.
When Wesley arrived to collect his daughters after receiving the report, little Diana had cried herself to sleep in Alan’s arms.
Her tiny hand remained wrapped around Alan’s clothing and refused to release him.
From that day onward, whenever Alan visited the residence, Diana greeted him with a smile like a great flower in bloom.
Wesley had known that Diana loved Alan.
But to think Alan returned those feelings—
“—Since when?”
“What?”
Alan’s voice cracked at Wesley’s low question.
“I asked when it began.”
Even Alan faltered beneath the glare of his friend.
“I cannot say exactly when… but by the time I noticed, I had begun thinking of Lady Diana constantly.”
Beside him, Diana’s face turned so red that it appeared painted with rouge.
She had believed that she alone was in love.
Even now, the reality that Alan felt the same had not fully reached her.
“Haa…”
Wesley’s shoulders sank as he looked upon them.
“Even I understand that this is likely the best solution. I do understand…”
By marrying into House Gazard, Alan would leave the royal palace and come under the duchy’s protection.
The Gazard Knights would become even stronger with a warrior as formidable as Alan among them.
Wesley understood all of that intellectually.
His emotions simply refused to follow.
Could he truly accept a man near his own age as his daughter’s husband?
Yet his daughter herself was utterly devoted to Alan.
No matter how hard he searched, Wesley could find no reason to oppose them.
Their difference in age, the judgment of society—such things were secondary when weighed against their happiness.
“Father…?”
Diana addressed him timidly as he sat with his shoulders slumped.
Without raising his head, Wesley slowly opened his mouth.
“You understand this much, I trust. If you ever make Diana cry, I will not forgive you.”
“…Of course.”
Alan’s grip tightened around Diana’s hand.
With the approval of her father, the Duke of Gazard, the two officially became betrothed.
“There are various matters… upon which I must now act.”
When Wesley raised his head, his expression had become strangely clear.
Once he accepted the match, he could do nothing but entrust them to each other.
Alan would surely make his daughter happy.
His old friend had earned that degree of trust over many years.
(The question is how the royal family will respond—)
The face of an indulgent father gave way to that of a statesman.
Wesley frowned as countless considerations crossed his mind.
Marriage to Diana would reduce the danger to Alan personally.
Becoming the son-in-law of a ducal house meant being removed from the royal family’s register.
Royal blood would continue to flow in his veins, but Alan would henceforth be treated as one of the king’s subjects.
To the Crown Prince, the future king, Alan would no longer be a possible rival for the succession.
In his place, however, House Gazard would attract greater scrutiny.
With the king’s younger brother marrying into the family, its political influence, power to speak at court, and practical military strength would all increase.
As the saying went, the nail that stood up was hammered down. Excessive power in the hands of a subject could become the beginning of that subject’s destruction.
(In particular, I must learn how the Crown Prince intends to move…)
Wesley looked upon an expression he had never before seen upon Diana’s face—the melting, joyous smile of a woman in love.
After witnessing it, he could only pray for the happiness of his beloved daughter and his dear friend.
He would willingly place himself in the line of fire to protect them.
That day, the Duke of Gazard formed a new resolve within his heart.
