My Wife and I Became Sages in Another World
Chapter 232: Debutante Ball Preparations

Chapter 232: Debutante Ball Preparations

It had been a little over a month since we returned to the academy at the Sephyr Kingdom, and the road that went through the Illusive Forest was almost done.

When I showed it to King Leon, he heartily laughed as he said he would contact the Droman Empire to re-negotiate their trading.

Now that they had a way to cross by land safely, it would take considerably less time for goods to be imported or exported.

All of the nations in the western continent were able to communicate in an instant with my voice crystals, so sending letters between rulers became a thing of the past.

Ideally, I would have liked for every country to be able to communicate, but it was a good first step in that direction.

Still, all that time, I kept thinking about what Gina told me in my room—about Melina’s 18th birthday.

In this world, most noble ladies had what was called a "debutante ball," which was a large, fancy party where the upper class socialized.

However, there were more hidden meanings behind the party, and one of them was to look for the perfect suitors for the debutante.

Ever since Melina was a small child, the royal family received letters from nobles all over the world wanting to engage their sons with her.

Nevertheless, Queen Diana never allowed anyone to choose Melina’s partner for her, saying that her daughter would decide when it was time.

Melina’s mother was the Crown Princess back in her days, and during her debutante ball, she received proposals from almost every single male noble in the world. However, her father said that the Sephyrs would never marry anyone out of convenience.

That’s how Queen Diana ended up marrying Leon, who, at the time, had the title of Baron, which is the lowest title that a noble could have.

Gina was the one who told me that story, and even after a month, I couldn’t get it out of my head.

For starters, I needed to ask her to be my partner for the party before anyone else could get ahead of me. Still, I had to wait for the event to be confirmed.

__________

Several weeks after the construction of the Illusive Road, I got a voice message from Queen Diana, asking me to visit her at the castle for a moment.

I teleported to the backyard, where I knew the queen liked to drink tea, and she was waiting for me, peacefully eating snacks under the sun.

"Ichiro, how is the academy doing?" she asked.

"It’s been doing pretty well. The level of magic that the students are casting is at a much higher level than the others," I confidently replied as I sat across the queen.

Diana playfully chuckled and snapped her fingers, making a servant pull out a large leather bag filled with letters.

"I don’t want to take up much of your time, so I’ll get straight to the point..." she said.

"You see this bag? These are all proposals for Melina..." Diana continued, leaving a silence between us that lasted for a few seconds.

’All of those? There are like... hundreds of letters there...’ I thought.

"Already? But her debutante ball hasn’t even happened yet!" I said nervously.

"That doesn’t stop nobles from trying to match their sons with my daughter. Truth be told, she has been receiving proposals ever since she was a small child." Diana continued.

"Ichiro, do you have any plans to marry my daughter?" she asked in a serious tone.

"Yes, of course!" I replied with my uttermost confidence.

The queen smiled and ordered the servant to take the letters away, expressing her excitement for the party and saying that she would help me prepare.

"Wait, what?" I asked.

"To make sure that everything goes well! Don’t worry about it, alright? Just follow my lead." said the queen with a smile on her face.

Since I was pretty busy during the day working as a teacher, the queen asked me to visit the castle every night.

During those visits, they took my body measures and asked one of the best tailors in Sephyr to make a suit for me.

I also asked the queen what would be the most appropriate gift to give to Melina, and she said that any type of jewelry would suffice.

’Hmm, any type? That’s quite vague...’ I thought.

I sensed that the queen was testing me as if she were wondering if I could find the perfect gift on my own. To be fair, I did have some ideas.

One night, Melina called me to her room, saying she wanted to chat for a little.

When I got there, Yuki and Eve left the room with a smirk on their faces, leaving me and Melina alone.

The princess was standing on the balcony and greeted me with a smile, saying she had something important she wanted to tell me.

’Is she going to break up with me!? No, no... She wouldn’t be smiling if that was the case...’ I thought.

"Ichi, you probably know that I’ll have my debutante ball soon..." Melina muttered.

"Umm, right..." I said, not knowing where she was going with this.

"So... I wanted to ask you to be my partner!" she exclaimed.

Her words left me perplexed as I was supposed to be the one inviting her, not the other way around.

I placed my palm on my face with embarrassment, although I still felt quite happy that she even thought about asking me first.

"Here I was, trying to get ahead of everyone else before they could invite you. I should have been thinking that you would be the one to beat me to it..." I said, letting out a chuckle.

"Yes, Mel. It would be my honor to be your partner."

Just as I finished my sentence, Melina gently placed her hands around my head and softly caressed my hair from the side.

Locking my eyes with hers, I pulled her closer to me, and before we knew it, we were kissing passionately under the moonlight that bathed her balcony.