CHAPTER 238: CAMILLA’S CHOICE

"Uncle, I’ve decided!" Camilla announced proudly. "I’m going to get married! Yes, I’ve made up my mind, no matter what anyone says!"

Quintus had barely returned home from the royal palace when his niece came storming in to declare her decision.

Camilla was the daughter of his younger sister, Henrietta, and the Prime Minister, Dunyarzad aus Londonderry.

Although her attendants and guards followed behind her, it was obvious they were powerless to stop her once she started.

Dunyarzad was a man who had devoted himself completely to his duties.

He’s a serious and hardworking man through and through.

As the head of a marquis family, he had married unusually late. He was 32 when he wed Quintus’s sister Henrietta, who was fifteen years younger than him.

The Londonderry family was one of the three marquis houses of Rosaria. As for Quintus himself, he was the head of one of the Five Earls, the foremost among them, with strong ties to the royal family.

In the royal court, he and Dunyarzad stood at opposite ends of power: Dunyarzad as the representative of the civil officials and Quintus as the leader of the military.

They often clashed during meetings and glaring at each other across the council table.

Because of that, rumors had spread wildly at the time of Dunyarzad’s marriage.

The union between the serious work-obsessed chancellor and the lively bold younger sister of the leading general made for good gossip in noble society.

The social circles had been full of speculation and chatter.

But Quintus knew the truth.

Dunyarzad wasn’t mysterious or scheming; he had simply been too focused on work to marry sooner.

The supposed "conflict" between them was nothing more than politics.

Henrietta had married Dunyarzad out of her own free will.

There had been no political maneuvering, no grand romance that shook the royal court and certainly no scandal.

The popular stories about the passionate love between a brilliant marquis and a rebellious earl’s daughter were complete nonsense. There had been no opposition from either family, no elopement, no dramatic incident at all.

Quintus thought that those bards and writers had far too much imagination for their own good.

In the end, their marriage was a happy one.

The Prime Minister adored his young wife, and his calm, mature nature balanced Henrietta’s energetic and strong-willed personality. He cherished her deeply and treated her with kindness and patience.

Their daughter, Camilla, had inherited her mother’s reddish-brown hair and her father’s green eyes.

She’s growing into a beautiful young woman.

However, her personality was clearly closer to her mother’s.

Between her thoughtful and gentle twenty-three-year-old elder brother and her polite, modest seventeen-year-old younger brother, Camilla was loved and spoiled by everyone in the family. Now twenty years old, soon to be twenty-one, she was considered quite late to marry for a noblewoman. But everyone knew the reason.

Since childhood, she had adored Dominic, the former captain of the Second Division and now one of Quintus’s direct subordinates.

She had always said openly, "I’m going to be Dominic’s wife!" and refused every marriage proposal because of it.

The entire noble society knew this story very well.

At one point, her engagement had even been arranged between the Prime Minister and General Oswald, but by that time, Dominic already had someone by his side.

His name is Shiao Yi and he’s a man from another world.

The engagement’s collapse had been inevitable.

Quintus had thought that, after everything, Camilla would finally agree to marry some ordinary nobleman. But once again, she easily went beyond everyone’s expectations.

"I’ve decided to marry Louis," Camilla declared brightly. "With that bear of a man, I’ll never be bored for the rest of my life! Uncle, do you know Louis?"

"Yes, I know him," Quintus replied. "He’s the man who took Dominic’s place as the new captain of the Second Division, isn’t he?"

He had heard the rumors—something about Louis taming a red-haired bear lately. No one really knew how it started, but apparently, Louis often invited the creature to his home and fed it enormous feasts.

Louis had served as Dominic’s vice-captain for years, he’s always at his side, so Quintus had met him many times. The man wasn’t bad, he’s just a bit simple-minded. Still, he was cheerful, friendly, and loyal. He handled his duties as captain well after taking Dominic’s position. He was strong, took good care of his men, and could read the mood of a room when it mattered.

True, his personality was a bit too carefree, and his head not exactly filled with deep thoughts and probably just muscles under that thick red hair. Even so, anyone who had managed to work as Dominic’s partner for years couldn’t be all bad. He was kind-hearted and always ready to help others, the sort of man who’d lend a hand before being asked.

But he came from common birth. That was why Quintus could hardly believe the rumor that Camilla who is proud and high-born as she was had taken a liking to him and that they were actually seeing each other.

The man himself had seemed troubled by Camilla’s aggressive pursuit. Once, he had even come to Quintus’s office for advice, asking if there was any way to turn her down without offending her.

"She’s a really fine lady, sir," Louis had said earnestly. "She’s beautiful, strong-willed, full of life... but, well, she’s way out of my league, isn’t she? I don’t understand why she’s so interested in me. I know she was heartbroken after losing Captain Dominic. Maybe that’s why she’s looking my way now? But still, inviting me to her mansion, treating me to meals, even walking around town with me like it’s a... a date—it doesn’t feel right, sir. If people start talking, it’ll hurt her reputation. She’s a noblewoman of high rank, after all."

As the red-haired, broad-shouldered man waved his arms awkwardly, trying to explain himself, Quintus had watched him from behind his desk with a doubtful stare.