The Holy Grail of Eris Chapter 1.1

(W-wait a minute!)

Constance Grail screamed in her heart as she stood open-mouthed.

There was a hugging couple in front of her. Of course, if that was all, there would be no problems. After all, love was free and a simple hug wouldn't count as disturbing the morale.

However, if a serious problem was to be named ―――

It was the fact that no matter which angle one looked from, the man in front of her was her fiancé.

It all began a few months ago, due to the usual sincerity of the 11th Viscount Grail.

Thou shalt be sincere.
The first generation Parcival Grail, who distinguished himself in a decade long war with the neighboring Faris, is said to have answered with those words when asked about the secret of victory. Since then, the motto of the Viscount Grail family is to be "sincere". Of course, Connie's father, Parcival-Ethel Grail also followed the suit and was a sincere Head of the family. Rather, he was too sincere.
――― For example, if a friend came crying to him, he would become a guarantor for a shady loan and end up having to shoulder a large amount of debt.

By the way, that friend would quickly hide somewhere and not even give a word after that.

It must be stressed once again, that the motto of Grail family was unconditional sincerity. In addition to that, scrimping and saving. Luxury was absurd. If there was a profit from the management of the territory, it would be immediately returned to the citizens. Thanks to this hateful tradition enforced by the first generation Parcival Grail, there was no extra money in the Viscount family.

In other words, they had no money to repay the debt.

The fate of the Grail family was already in a very fragile state.

Grail Family seems to be in need of money.

It was Damian Bronson, a merchant they had been closely acquainted with, who extended a helping hand after hearing those rumors. Damian was the 3rd generation representative of Bronson Company and held the title of a Baronet.

However, he was not a noble.

Even though he was received more favorably than a commoner, the high society circles he could join with his rank were limited. Bronson Company was a well-established old store with its headquarters on Anastasia Street in the capital and several branches in the region. Its administration was stable. It was so stable, so firm, that it had started to stagnate. That's why they wanted to make new connections.
Fortunately, Damian had a son, who would turn 17 years old this year. His name was Neil Bronson. And Grail family had a daughter. That was Constance Grail a.k.a Connie. By the way, she had reached the age of sweet 16 this year.

In other words, that's what it meant.

Thus, their engagement was smoothly decided. Despite this, Parcival-Ethel was trying to respect his daughter's wishes until the very end, but Connie herself wasn't particularly dissatisfied with this engagement. Rather, for her, the first daughter of the Viscount family that was deep in debt, this matter felt like a slice of pie falling into her lap.

Connie was the daughter of a noble. Hence, she didn't even think about marrying out of love. Certainly, ever since His Highness Enrique was been able to marry Crown Princess Cecilia after surmounting the many obstacles that came from the large difference in social status, society had also starting to accept the importance of love in marriage, but that didn't mean that everybody had the luxury of marrying for love. Even more so if the concerned party was an introverted and docile girl like Connie with average looks.
Moreover, Neil Bronson was a tall, handsome and gentlemanly young man. Connie thought that having such a husband wouldn't be bad at all.
She truly thought so.

――― Until she heard rumors that he was crazy about another woman.

◇◇◇

Pamela Francis was a very attractive woman.

There were people around her all the time and beautiful men would always be amongst them. She was slightly willful and selfish, but it was a part of her charm. Wasn't it amazing? There was no way plain and mediocre Connie could compete with her.
The most amazing thing about Pamela wasn't her peerless beauty, but the knowledge of how to make herself look the loveliest. Her platinum-colored fluffy hair was always skillfully braided and her evening dresses were always tailored by "Moonlight Fairy", the royalty appointed retailer, whose dresses all noble ladies dreamed to wear at least once in their lives. ――― By the way, it was said that you could buy a four-wheeled carriage with the amount that a single dress from "Moonlight Fairy's" costed, so it was quite unaffordable for Connie.
Despite only having the rank of Baron, Francis family, which hit the jackpot by trading ores that were mined in their territory, was incomparably wealthier than Grail family. They should have been the best partner for Bronson Company. Latter would be able to get the desired noble connection and could have a chance at the right to the ore. It would be miles better than the poverty-stricken nobles who only had sincerity going for them.

Having thought so far, Connie looked up at the sky. Otherwise, she might have started to cry. This wasn't something that she could tell her father. After all, her engagement had already been safely concluded. It was just the other day that she finished the pledge at the church together with her parents. Right now the engagement was in the process of public announcement that was said to be a step towards the marriage. Even the feudal domain should have been notified. For the allegations of unfaithfulness to have appeared at such time―――

There was a big chance that this engagement would be broken if Connie appealed, but that way, her family wouldn't be able to pay back the debt. Besides, if her sincere-to-no-end father found out about this, he would definitely challenge Neil to the duel. In other words, either of them would die.

(Ah, jeez, somebody, save me―――)

At the fragile age of 16, Connie's life was already at the end of the line.

—
Notes:
Oh wow, me? actually following up a prologue? with a new chapter? unbelievable.
Though it's just an info dump chapter.

2nd chapter of manga is out so go see how cute Scarlet is!

Notify me about all mistranslations, typos and awkward grammar so I could fix it right away.

P.S I felt that, Connie.
 

Chapter end