"..."

"..."

Edward, and his father Oliver, were currently inside a carriage as they made their way to the manor of the Ducal house of Neville. They were both in silence with serious faces, as they were both deep into their own thoughts. The first one was Oliver...

"..." <For this meeting, I and Edward cannot fail under any circumstance, so our introductions must be absolutely perfect, which then means we must avoid using words that may sound rude or condescending, but at the same time we need to use words that fit our noble status, yet we need to watch out to look arrogant as well, so we must use humble sounding words for our introduction, while also not looking weak or too kind-hearted... *Insert some overcomplicated thought process that never ends*>

Edward meanwhile...

"..." <...*Annoying ringing sound SFX*>

He was suffering from a tinnitus-headache combo plus stress which made him unable to think of anything, aside from that he was suffering a lot.

Then after quite some time, with the two going nowhere with their problems, they were now right in front of the main entrance to Lord Neville's mansion. Oliver approached Edward and talked to him in a low enough voice that only the two of them could hear each other.

"... Son"

"Yes, father?"

"Are you ready?"

"Not at all"

"Then that makes us the same"

Just as the two finished their great father and son talk, the double door opened, revealing a very expensive, intricate, and absolutely not break anything because we can't afford it even with our lives interior. Which was absolutely breathtaking to the two... In a very suffocating manner. But that was not all, since inside that very interior, there were two rows of servants flanking the red carpet in the middle of the entrance hall, and at the very end of it, near the equally imposing staircase, there were two people, a man, and a girl, standing as they gave a very menacing aura (to Oliver and Edward).

The man was tall and with a well-trained body, even with his noble garments, one could see the silhouette of his manly muscles, his face was as handsome as it was intimidating, capable of making any children, and even adults cry, with just a normal glance by the man. That man of a man, none other than Duke Hamilton Neville himself.

Edward and Oliver remained silent as they stepped forward, and then stopped at a respectable distance from Duke Hamilton. They continued to remain silent for a long entire second, until they couldn't any more out of fear of being perceived as rude to the Duke, so Oliver started his intricately thought introduction, that would ensure that Duke Hamilton wouldn't feel offended by him.

"Sir Hamilton. My name is Oliver Harding, and it is an honor to be received in person by your Excellency"

This was all that Oliver could come up with, then it was Edward's turn to introduce himself

"Sir Hamilton. My name is Edward Harding, and I am truly honored of having been invited to your manor, and to be graced by your, and your daughter, presence."

Edward whose mind was still being attacked by a horrible headache, did his best to make his introduction in one breath and without a single mistake, while he also hid his desperation with a poker face with the help of his headache.

"... ... ..."

The Duke remained silent for what felt an eternity to the two, and when they saw him opening his mouth, Oliver and Edward, both felt chills running down their spines while keeping their poker faces.

"Very impressive, little Edward... You are the first child to not start crying the moment they see me"

At hearing Duke Hamilton praising Edward's mental strength, both he and Oliver felt confused by it, but still with the goal of not being rude to him, Edward still tried to thank the duke.

"... Huh? Erm... Thank you... Very much... For the compliment... Sir Hamilton..."

"Hahaha! Very good indeed! Sir Oliver, you taught your son very well!"

"Ah! Yes... Thank you, milord"

"Alright then, without any further ado... Sir Oliver, Sir Edward, My name is Hamilton, of the house of Neville. And it is my pleasure to be receiving you two today. While this beautiful lady by my side, is my daughter Lysette, as you two may have noticed"

Hamilton then gently gesture for his daughter to step forward so that she could introduce herself

"Sir Oliver, Sir Edward. I am Lysette Neville, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, and to be receiving you two on this very day."

Lysette made a short introduction alongside an equally short and curt bow as she slightly raised the hems of her dress skirt.

With her lustrous and silky blonde hair tied in a bun, gave her a truly noble aura. While her serious expression only made her beautiful appearance look even more mature and charming. And to top it all off, her dress instead of hiding, only appeared to emphasize her well-developed body and height, which allowed her beautiful blue eyes filled with pride to look directly into Edward's eyes, without making her look down or up to him.

Lysette was truly a lucky girl to be born with such beautiful looks and status. As for Edward, his gradually more painful headache was helping him by making him unable to think anything about Lysette, since he was completely focused on enduring the pain of his headache alongside keeping his poker face. So he continued to keep looking at Lysette in the eye

"..." <Ara. He is still looking at my eyes? Everyone else either looked away or started looking at me in a different place. Very impressive, sir Edward.>

"..."

"... ... ..." <... Why?... W-Why am I feeling my face heat up?>

Lysette who was never used to being looked back by someone else, especially a boy, started to feel embarrassed, and soon after her cheeks turned pink and then red. Until she became unable to keep looking back at Edward, and turned her face away from him with an embarrassed expression.

"..." <The boy is still looking at my daughter, and I can't sense any ulterior motive from him of his father...

For as much as I wanted to delay Lysette's betrothal, doing so could be rumored to my family, and potentially put her as a fiancée candidate for the first prince...

This is definitely too prudent of me, but considering the circumstances, I need to have Lysette and Edward to be engaged. And also this boy appears to be a decent and honest partner for my daughter>

"?!"

Edward who so far was only vacantly looking at Lysette's direction, jolted back to his senses when he felt that someone was thinking too highly of him. This caused him to instead change the direction of his gaze to Hamilton, who noticed that Edward was looking at him, so he just showed Edward a friendly smile, that also appeared to be saying something else.

"Ahem! Well then, Sir Oliver. How about we go to my office so that we can discuss the matters this meeting was for?"

"Y-Yes, of course. Sir Hamilton, we definitely have much to discuss. *weak laugh*"

"Excellent. As for you, little Edward"

"Eh? W-What is it, sir Hamilton?"

"Can I ask you to spend some time together with my little Lysette? It is not often that she gets to meet children the same age as her, and this will also be a good opportunity for both of our families to deepen their friendship, do you not think so?"

"Y-yes, of course, I do, your excellency!"

"Great! Then I and your father will be taking our leaves. Lysette, Edward, make sure to have fun together for the time being!"

And with that, Duke Hamilton and Count Oliver both left the entrance hall. Leaving Lysette, Edward, and a number of servants there. Then still feeling somewhat flustered, Lysette returned to look at Edward with her cheeks still tinted pink, and she cleaned her throat.

"... A-ahem... Sir Edward"

"! Yes, Lysette-sama?"

"As my father asked for both of us to have fun. Could I ask you to play a match of chess with me?"

"Hm... Sure, albeit I am still a beginner, I will try my utmost best to entertain you"

"Fufu. Is that so? Then I hope our match does not end too soon, in any case, please follow me"

With that Lysette started guiding Edward towards her preferred spot for playing chess, as a few of the servants followed them to attend to any of their necessities.

.

.

.

"So, Edward-sama, do you want to play as white or black?"

"Hmmm... I'll pick white" <Not that it matters since I'm most likely to lose either way>

"Very well then"

With their colors chosen, Lysette sat down with Edward also sitting down while facing her, as the chess pieces stood between them.

"Edward-sama, I hope that you will give me some good entertainment as you promised to do so. Fufu."

"I will make sure to entertain you, Lysette-sama" <... Why did I say that I would do my best to entertain her back then!? Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!! Look at her! She's definitely a genius at chess! This game is definitely going to end in a few moves and on her victory!... Ah... Why do I must get a headache right now?... ... ... All right, fucc it we ball! I don't know who Tennison is, but I'm going to believe in his gambit named after him!>

And so without any other choice, Edward decided what his first move would be and started his chess match against Lysette.

Some time later

"..."

"..."

"... Edward-sama..."

"Y-yes, Lysette-sama?"

Lysette was looking at Edward with fierce and intimidating eyes with an equally intimidating smile, which made Edward feel that he would need to say goodbye to his life.

"... ... ... Very impressive for giving me my first defeat"

"... *concernedly nods*" <I don't want to say anything, because she's clearly angry that she lost... But I also need to say something so that I don't look rude!> "... ... ...Lysette-sama! Let us have another match! I am sure you will win this time!"

"!"

At hearing Edward say that Lysette made a surprised face, but then her expression quickly changed as she began to laugh.

"Pfft! Ahahahahaha! What is that, Edward-sama... Heeheehee... I do not think you are supposed to say that your opponent is going to win the next round. Heeheehee..."

"Eeeerm... But... I do want you to win, Lysette-sama"

"!"

Those words said by Edward, caused Lysette to stop from laughing, only for her cheeks to turn pink while she felt both flustered and happy from having Edward try to cheer her up.

"I see, then Edward-sama. Let us have another match, and also..."

"Hm?"

"Thank you for encouraging me, even though you are my opponent right now"

"*Nods* Sure"

"One more thing, you better not go easy on me or lose on purpose, just so that I can win, Edward-sama"

"I would never think of such a thing, Lysette-sama" <Shoot! What do I do now!?... ... ... Alright, let's go with a king's gambit! As it appears to be extremely risky and bold enough to allow Lysette to win and not suspect her that I purposely lost. Alright, let's go!>

Some more time later

"..."

Edward was silent as he covered his face with one hand due to the despair that he was feeling, all because he unintentionally won again. At seeing him like that, Lysette couldn't help but ponder...

"... Edward-sama? Did you really want me to win?"

"Yes"

"Why so?"

"Well... ... ..." <I can't say it's because of the fact that I'm afraid that I'm going to be killed because she got angry that she lost... So instead let's say that...> "... It is because, I want to see you making a cute happy smile fitting for your beautiful looks, and also because I just want you to feel happy and have fun..."

"Eh!?"

"Hm?"

At hearing Lysette yelp from surprise, Edward snapped out of his thoughts and worriedly looked up, allowing him to see Lysette with her face completely red as she made a very embarrassed expression.

"! I-I'm sorry, Lysette-sama! I-I accidentally said my thoughts out loud"

"... T-Then a-are you s-saying, t-that y-you r-really t-think all t-that of m-me?"

"... Erm... Yes, I do?"

"!!!"

With that, Lysette felt even more flustered, she was used to hearing praises from her father's vassals, but she knew that those praises were all empty and just for flattering her parents. But in Edward's case, since he had said that those were his actual thoughts, that meant that he was genuinely praising her and wanted her to be happy.

"L-Lysette-sama? Are you-"

"P-Please! G-give me a second, no! A minute! S-So that I-I can p-prepare my heart!"

"???"

Edward felt even more confused at Lysette's reaction, both because he didn't know what to do and because he was afraid of disrespecting her or causing an even worse situation. Then as the two were unable to say or do anything, as they were both going in circles inside their minds, a servant walked in.

"Sir Edward. I was requested to call you, to inform you that Master Hamilton, and your father, Sir Oliver, finished their business and that your father will be returning to his territory"

"Ah! Thank you!... Then I am sorry for this, Lysette-sama. But I must take my leave and return to my territory. I hope that the rest of your day is to your liking"

"... *Nods*"

Lysette embarrassedly nodded to Edward's farewell, and without any further delay, Edward walked away at a decent pace. Leaving Lysette alone with her own thoughts and embarrassment.

.

.

.

A few hours later

Lysette was walking down one of the corridors of her family mansion when she happened to meet up with her father.

"Ah! Lysette-chan."

"Hello, father"

"I don't know if it's a good time, but can I ask you a few things regarding today?"

"! Of course, father"

"Excellent, then... What did you think of Edward?"

"... !? W-What I-I think o-of h-him?"

At hearing her father's question, Lysette started blushing as she began to feel flustered due to the events earlier that day

"Yes"

"W-Well, I... I think E-Edward-sama I-is a g-good a-and honest person... ... ... A-and I think I-I'm starting to l-l-like him..."

"I see, that's good to hear... Lysette-chan, today on my meeting with Edward's father, we both agreed to have both of our children be engaged, and marry once they come of age"

"... ... ... Eh!? T-Then t-that means..."

"Yes, you and Edward are now betrothed to each other"

"... I-I see..."

Lysette tried but failed to hide her happy grin at hearing that news from her father. For her, the short time that she had spent with Edward was a very fulfilling one, and alongside that knowing that he genuinely thought that she was beautiful and that he wanted her to feel happy. Lysette couldn't help but feel joyful about her engagement with him.

.

.

.

Meanwhile

"..."

"..."

Edward and his father, Oliver, were both in silence as they felt relief from finally leaving the Neville manor and that nothing bad had happened... For the most part.

"... ... ... Son..."

"What is it, Dad?"

"... ... ... I agreed with Sir Hamilton to have you and Lady Lysette to be engaged with each other"

"... I see"

Edward didn't show any reaction to that news, because his headache was still acting, and because he was currently screaming inside his mind to that news. But then in the middle of all that, he felt a gut feeling.

"... ... ..." <Hm? Why am I feeling that I did something that shouldn't have?... And why do I feel like my engagement to Lysette-sama wasn't supposed to happen?... ... ...>

At those thoughts, Edward simply decided to ignore them, because he was already feeling sick enough from his headache and being engaged to the heir of a duke's family.