Chapter 3
"Why am I the husband again?"
The one who asked that was the coachman.
He was a member of the Solnzari family, and from now on, any communication would go through him.
So there was no problem explaining the situation to him.
"Surprise, surprise—turns out my old man and the Prime Minister were actually best friends."
"Huh."
The man, unfamiliar with noble society, gave a vague nod.
"Even among nobles, it's rare for a high-ranking marquis and a poor viscount to be friends."
I ended the story vaguely and shrugged.
On the other side of the small window for talking to the coachman, the man also shrugged and said, "Being a noble must be rough."
It really is rough. To be blunt, my position is basically like drawing the short straw.
From my perspective, this pretty much marks the end of my career as a noble, and for my family, siding with the Prime Minister's house—who's got bad blood with the royal family—makes maneuvering politically a nightmare.
Frankly, the role of the eloping partner in this farce isn't something you normally find just a week before execution.
And even if you did, it wouldn't be someone decent.
That's when the troubled Prime Minister turned to his best friend—my old man—for help.
From the Prime Minister's point of view, my father was a trustworthy friend, and conveniently, he had three kids. Even better, the second son—me—was a classmate of the daughter, and being from a poor viscount family made me a perfect fit for the elopement setup.
Well, miraculously, that "perfect fit" turned out to be me—but honestly, the only reason I happily drew the short straw is because I'm an idiot.
I'm just a fool who threw away his life for the chance to stay by the side of a woman I once gave up on as a flower far above my station—even if only in name as her husband.
Well, that woman who's worth throwing away my life for is currently in a full-on daze.
As expected of a genius, even though she only had the situation explained once on the day of departure, she hasn't misdirected a single curse.
Now, in addition to the damn prince, she's added the name of the upper noble's son who had a thing for the Priestess of Light.
For a moment, I wondered what I'd do if she stayed like this forever—but imagining it, it actually didn't seem so bad.
No matter her state, Erika Solnzari is beautiful. I'm fine taking care of her for life.
Being able to stay by the side of such a beautiful woman—maybe I'm the luckiest man in the world.
"Ah—sir, I've got something I'd like to discuss."
The man called out as he subtly slowed the carriage, just past noon.
I was just giving water to Erika Solnzari, who was still cursing nonstop.
Even as she performed the miracle of drinking water while cursing fluently, she remained beautiful—not spilling a single drop.
Impressed as always by Erika Solnzari, I closed the canteen lid and leaned toward the window, and the man spoke.
"We're still a ways off, so I can't be sure—but there might be bandits."
"Huh? This close to the capital?"
We'd been traveling for about eight hours since leaving the capital early in the morning. Though we were making decent speed on the highway, we were still practically within sight of the capital.
Sure, I'm being exiled from this country, but was the security ever this bad?
"Actually, it's probably because we're close."
The coachman said, glancing subtly toward the distant forest lining the highway.
According to him, this road stretching west from the capital is often used by merchant carriages carrying trade goods, and whether entering or leaving the capital, this area ends up being the farthest point from the city.
The capital's knight order is well aware of that and patrols the area heavily, even conducting anti-bandit operations.
But that also means, if you time it right, it's a perfect spot to ambush prey.
"And right now, we're the only carriage on the road."
"Makes sense."
Taking his unspoken implication—that we looked like a rich carriage—I decided to trust his judgment.
I pulled my sword closer and said to the man,
"So you were an adventurer, huh."
"Eh? You could tell?"
I gave a wry smile to the surprised-looking coachman.
"Only adventurers or former adventurers with skills could notice bandits from this distance. The Prime Minister can't make adventurers his vassals for political reasons, so it's not strange to think you're someone he personally contracted."
"Man, nobles sure are something."
I ignored the man's exasperated tone.
"What rank are you?"
"Six, sir."
Makes sense—typical of a marquis family to hire the highest rank they can afford long-term.
Rank 6 is practically beyond human.
Any higher and hiring someone long-term becomes difficult.
Not just financially, but because you can't expect someone that powerful to be conveniently available.
For my family, even hiring a Rank 6 long-term would be impossible—purely for financial reasons.
"Can you tell how many there are?"
"Six in the forest on the right side of the road—plus one guy who looks like a washed-up adventurer..."
The man's eyes briefly went distant.
"Well, they're nothing special."
"They probably can't even break through the carriage's barrier," he muttered to himself.
I fastened the sword I'd pulled close to my waist.
"I'll go out alone."
"Huh?"
The man turned around through the window, looking surprised.
"It's not that I doubt your assessment, but if there's a washed-up adventurer, I won't let my guard down. Actually, it's because I trust your judgment that I'm going alone. If they can't even break this carriage's barrier, I'm more than enough."
The man looked at me for a moment, then shrugged—as if to say, "Do as you like."
"If things go south, just ignore me and run."
"Like I'd forget who's paying me, sir."
I couldn't help but smile at his sarcastic but affirming reply.
In other words, he was saying I could trust him with Erika Solnzari's safety.
"Alright, I'm off."
I leapt out of the carriage.