Several days had passed since Rest arrived at the Marquis of Rosemary's estate.
His exam preparation was progressing smoothly.
Viola and Primula kept inserting strange bouts of temptation along the way, but Rest powered through their allure with sheer mental fortitude and acquired the knowledge he needed.
Fortunately, problems in subjects like mathematics could be solved without issue using knowledge from his past life.
The tricky part was memorization-heavy subjects like history, but there was no way around that other than to go over it again and again until it was burned into his brain.
Rest didn't just study during the allotted time with the sisters—he flipped through borrowed reference books in every spare moment of his day and hammered the necessary knowledge into his head.
It was going to be a fair bit of work, but… having reference books available and people to teach him, it seemed far easier compared to the high school entrance exams of his past life.
Combat training was also going well.
What he had expected to be a time-consuming process—the acquisition of magic—was finished with surprising ease, which freed up more time for mock battles.
By sparring with the butler, Diebl, he steadily built up his experience in person-to-person combat.
So far, no problems.
At least… none where Rest was concerned.
"………My daughters aren't here."
The Marquis of Rosemary's manor. The dining room.
Albert Rosemary sat alone at the far end of an oversized long table and murmured to himself.
It was dinnertime, and an array of dishes was spread out before him.
Sautéed lamb, fish meunière, salad, soup… befitting a marquis's household, each dish was an elaborate, high-end creation.
Yet Albert, who should have been savoring these delicacies, wore a dark expression.
Because the daughters who were supposed to be at this table were nowhere to be seen.
"The young ladies are dining with Lord Rest."
"Mmm..."
Diebl, the butler standing at Albert's side, spoke up. Albert's expression twisted with anguish.
Recently, Albert's beloved daughters—Viola and Primula—had been inseparable from Rest. Unless they had matters to attend to, they refused to leave his side.
Thanks to that, Albert found himself eating alone more and more often.
The mere fact that his adored daughters were getting chummy with some other man was painful enough, but the way they seemed to pay him no mind at all was gnawing at Albert's heart.
"...Why not simply invite Lord Rest to the dining table? If he were here, the young ladies would surely eat in the dining hall, wouldn't they?"
"N-No... I absolutely cannot do that!"
Albert rejected Diebl's suggestion in a firm tone.
"No matter how much my daughters may favor him, Rest is nothing more than a servant-in-training! It wouldn't look proper at all to have him share the master's table!"
"I believe that ship has already sailed, sir... The servants are well aware that Lord Rest is someone special, you know?"
Diebl's expression shifted to one of mild exasperation.
On the surface, Rest lived in the marquis's estate as a servant-in-training.
However, nobody truly believed he was an ordinary servant.
That was because Viola and Primula fussed over Rest so openly, treating him with all the warmth of women smitten with a man.
As a result, most of the maids and butlers working in the marquis's household recognized Rest as a prospective husband for the sisters.
Some servants even went so far as to address the boy—who might one day become their master—with the honorific "Lord" and curry his favor.
"There were some among the butlers who resented the special treatment Lord Rest receives... but once I had them observe him during his magic training, they quieted down rather quickly."
"...How is his combat training progressing?"
"Better than anyone could have hoped."
Diebl nodded in response to his master's question.
Then, with a tone stronger than he had ever used before, he pressed his case to Albert.
"In terms of combat technique and sense, he is only slightly above average, but Rest is unquestionably a genius of magic. By whatever means necessary... even if it means offering your daughters, I must strongly urge that we bring him into House Rosemary at all costs!"
"Th-that much, you say...?"
"Yes. He possesses the 'eye' and intuition to master magic after seeing it only once. His mana is bottomless, showing no signs of depleting no matter how much magic he uses. He already has abilities close to those of a court magician. Right now I still have the edge as a magician, but he will surpass me within a year, I'm sure."
"............"
Diebl was a man who always understood his place as a butler.
For him to state his views this forcefully was something that almost never happened.
That alone spoke volumes about how invaluable a man like Rest truly was.
"Previously, I advocated that you give both of your daughters to Lord Rest. That was out of respect for the wishes of the two of them, but... now it is different. I humbly believe that marrying the two of them to Lord Rest and having him father heirs is the key to the prosperity of House Rosemary."
"Is that so... if you are willing to go that far, then I suppose my daughters do have a good eye for men..."
"At the latest, you should arrange an engagement between the two of them and Lord Rest before the academy entrance. If Lord Rest enrolls in the academy, his talent will certainly become known to many. A battle to claim him may well break out."
The Royal Academy was an educational institution, but also a hunting ground for talent.
It was where kings and nobles scouted retainers and vassals, and where noble ladies searched for marriage prospects.
A man of Rest's fine character and overflowing talent was exactly the kind of prize that kings and nobles would not be foolish enough to let slip away.
"...Very well. If you feel that strongly about it, I will consider an engagement with both of them."
Albert relented, his shoulders slumping.
His outer defenses had not merely been breached — his inner ones were being filled in too.
Once things had reached this point, he could no longer find any reason to refuse.
"However... this is only if he actually passes the Royal Academy entrance! If he fails the exam, everything will have been for nothing!"
"Sir, I'd say that possibility is extremely low."
"Besides... there's no telling whether my wife would accept Rest. Irish will be back before long, and who knows how she'll treat him?"
Wife... the face of Irish Rosemary surfaced in his mind, and Albert's expression clouded ever so slightly.
Irish, the mother of the two sisters, was quite the unusual character.
Those she took a liking to she would dote on endlessly, but those she didn't take to she would discard like refuse, tossing them aside without a care.
Whether Rest could win over the beautiful sisters... in the end, it was no exaggeration to say that everything hinged on whether Irish would come to favor him.
"On the flip side, if the lady were to approve, then you wouldn't be able to say a word either, sir. That's the burden of being a son-in-law — you can never push back against your wife."
"............"
Albert Rosemary.
He too was a son-in-law of House Rosemary, and where his wife was concerned, he could never have the upper hand.