Chapter 73.2

Chapter 73.2

“Ah, that’s right-”

Irvan, who was receiving a report in the office, suddenly spoke as if he remembered something.

“Yes?”

Emma was sitting on a small desk next to him, similarly looking at some documents. She looked up at him.

“Let’s get married,” Irvan suddenly said. “Let’s face the horrors today and hold the actual ceremony as soon as the Territorial Battle ends. So, prepare yourself.”

Irvan commented blandly as if it was just some business affair.  Emma wondered if she had heard it wrong for a moment, so she blinked her eyes before asking again.

“Wait, what… what do you mean by preparing myself?”

“It won’t take long. The shortest is about a month, and the longest would be two or three months.”

Then before she could reply, Irvan beckoned lightly for Laute, and he spoke, “I’m going to hold the wedding after the Territorial War.”

“Who’s wedding?” Laute asked, confusion in his eyes.

“You’re asking who?” Irvan laughed seeing Emma’s wide eyes and Laute’s bewildered face. “It’s obviously our wedding.”

“Our?” Emma could only repeat in shock.

“Who else?”

Emma asked again, pointing to herself as if she had lost all comprehension. “Me?”

“Yes.”

Emma’s finger pointed to Irvan. “And you.”

“That’s right. It’s us.”

Irvan simply affirmed it like a scholar preaching an unmovable truth. He scratched his cheek, looking awkward.

“Anyway, I think I’ll be  sluggish after the wedding. But we have to finish all these trivial matters, so we’re starting with the Territorial Battle.”

Emma looked bewildered at the incomprehensible situation. She was told to prepare for a wedding. A wedding between herself and Irvan.

Emerlyn Herman and Irvan Van Wert.

Emerlyn was a commoner and Irvan was a nobleman. He wasn’t just a noble, but the heir to the marquis of royal blood. Due to the recent death of Limon Van Wert, he naturally became Count Irvan Van Wert, and after the succession ceremony in the Centre, he became a marquis, making him the sixth in the Kingdom of Berken.

Emma shook her head. “Wait for a moment,” she urged.

Irvan merely peered at her curiously. “Hm?”

“You’re the Count.”

“That’s right.”

“I learned that nobles only married nobles.”

“Ah, that’s right…That’s the rule.” Irvan easily agreed.

“Then how…?”

It was an unsolvable puzzle to Emma. Irvan had a mischievous expression on his face as he carefully looked at Emma’s shaking pupils.

“You know that your status is a problem,” he began.

“Well, yes, my tutor always emphasized it,” she replied.

“What did your tutor say?”

Irvan asked her with great interest, and Emma blinked before answering him blankly. “…Don’t even look at a tree that you cannot climb.”

Irvan let out a short laugh upon hearing those words.  “You’re free to look, and you can use a ladder to climb.”

Emma stared blankly at him, bewitched by his sly smile. Thump. Thump. His words didn’t make sense to her, yet her heart beat helplessly, spreading a sweet echo inside her.

“… A ladder?” she asked.

“Yes. You should use whatever you can.”

Emma was confused, and Irvan told Laute to bring Baron Berne.

“Did you call for me?”

After a while, Baron Berne appeared in the office and bowed politely. Emma’s confused mind slowly calmed down as the upright and well-groomed old nobleman entered the room. She could trust Baron Berne, who was well versed in law and reason. She must’ve heard wrong just now.

It was time to face the truth. She had to calm down. Looking at his solemn expression that revealed his age and experience, Emma regained her composure.

Irvan glanced at Emma and smiled, crinkling his eyes, before turning his head to speak clearly to the Baron. “Baron Berne. We will get married before the succession ceremony.”

“Yes. Understood. We will prepare it without a hitch,” was Baron Berne’s reply, much to Emma’s surprise.

She didn’t expect this. ‘Even Baron Berne agreed? How?’ Irvan merely winked at Emma as if he could read the questions that filled her head.

“My Emma is very worried about her status, so I hope it can be solved adequately.”

“Yes. I was handed the relevant data from the administrative office in Summerville.”

“Ah, you did well.”

Irvan complimented him brightly, which was rare. Emma, who had been quietly listening to the brief conversation between the two, narrowed her eyes. It was like she had been kept out of a loop.

Baron Berne regarded Emma’s marriage to Irvan as if it was something obvious, but it didn’t make sense that the old nobleman, who had a good sense of reality, failed to mention Emma’s status. Was there a solution to this?

“Excuse me, which relevant data from Summerville?” Emma asked carefully after composing herself.

Summerville was a place that had nothing to do with Reshire or Count Van Wert. It only had to do with Emma. Which meant that the ‘data’ had to be related to her.

“It’s just data that had to be cleaned up before being put on the list of nobles. I look forward to your kind cooperation,” Irvan replied.

Baron Berne politely replied, “Leave it to me.”

‘A list of nobles? Irvan would definitely be there.’

Irvan didn’t expound more on the matter, nor Baron Berne. Laute seemed to have picked up on it, leaving her the clueless one among them. Emma passed the time feeling troubled and was only able to get a vague clue when guests suddenly came that afternoon.

“Thank you for the invitation, Miss Herman.”