Chapter 14: An Afternoon to Remember
After a long walk through the streets of Kufstein, they finally arrived at the castle's great hall hand in hand. The moment they crossed the doors, Adela's cheeks flushed with embarrassment. In fact, as soon as she had the chance, she hid slightly behind her fiancé. She simply hadn't expected the day to unfold the way it had, and yet she was glad things had turned out as they did. She felt completely overwhelmed, especially because her fiancé was nothing like the man described by the rumors.
Seated upon the barony's seat of power was Baron Sieghard von Kufstein, wearing a stern expression. The man had clearly not expected his niece's arrival to be brought forward by almost a full day. And yet, there she was—and from what he knew, she had arrived by midmorning. With all that in mind, he understood that he would have to prepare an early reception to give the young woman a proper welcome to his humble territory.
After all, he was not naïve. Though he considered political maneuvering incredibly superfluous, the fact was that he knew perfectly well why his brother-in-law, the Count of Steiermark, had made that proposal: Kufstein's iron mines. Even with intentions so poorly concealed—because any idiot with half a brain would have noticed—Adela seemed to get along well with his son, and that was something he could not ignore.
Even so, his cold gaze settled on his niece, who shuddered slightly—a detail that did not go unnoticed by anyone. Rose, however, simply placed a hand on the young woman's shoulder, and after that, she carefully bowed before her uncle, paying her respects.
"Lady Adela von Graz expresses her gratitude for the hospitality extended during my visit," she declared formally.
Afterward, Rose himself bowed to his father. Despite being the baron's son, he was required to show the proper respect in that moment.
Seated beside Sieghard was his wife, Gisela, whose expression was noticeably warmer than her husband's. She observed her future daughter-in-law attentively. Though she considered Adela somewhat young, the baroness nodded in approval; without a doubt, the girl was worthy of her beloved son. Deep down, she couldn't help but feel pity for Lambert, whose fiancée was a sadistic and pretentious girl who took pleasure in humiliating him, born of an unearned sense of superiority. That marriage would undoubtedly be a difficult one for her second son. In contrast, Adela's attitude gave Gisela deep confidence in her firstborn's future happiness.
Truth be told, Rose would have preferred to be working on plans for the future of his territory—and the entire world—but forging ties with the nobility was just as important as improving the lives of the people. Within his own lands, he could feel safe thanks to popular support, but beyond them, without Desmos or his divinity, he could easily fall victim to his brother's schemes.
Building a good relationship with his fiancée, whose father was a count nearly as powerful as the Count of Tyrol, granted him a necessary level of security to deter nobles of similar rank.
Sieghard, for his part, watched the interaction between his son and his niece closely. He knew they had spent time together that very afternoon, something that went against etiquette, but he was willing to forgive the young woman for being distracted by Rose. Lately, his son had developed a charisma he had completely lacked before.
The boy was now far more sociable, and though Sieghard had no idea what had caused that change, he was sincerely grateful for it. He only hoped that Rose would be able to get along with the nobility as well as he did with the common folk.
However, despite his initial indulgence, the baron still needed to evaluate the young woman's character. He cleared his throat, studied her with narrowed eyes, and rose from his seat of authority, speaking in a stern voice.
"It seems you and my son have already met. Tell me—was that why you came immediately to pay your respects to the sovereign of these lands?"
Adela shuddered at her uncle's words and, in what turned out to be a terrible idea, turned her head to look at Rose for help. Not because he wouldn't support her—he had already sworn to protect her—but because the moment she did, Sieghard slammed his hand against the armrest of his chair and raised his voice.
"Do not take your eyes off me while I am speaking to you! Answer the question."
As expected, tears began to well up in the young woman's eyes. She wiped them away quickly, sobbing before she replied.
"I—I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," she murmured.
Torn between the urge to seize a spear and resolve the situation violently and the need to handle it peacefully, Rose once again placed his hand on his fiancée's delicate shoulder, drawing her slightly closer to him.
"Father, don't you think that tone was a bit too much?" he asked calmly, struggling to keep his own temper under control.
There was nothing to be gained from losing his temper with his father. Besides, he himself was responsible for at least half the problem: Adela bore some fault for not announcing her early arrival, but it was Rose who had accepted Ludwig's suggestion and taken her to lunch instead of presenting her to the baron immediately.
"In the end, a large part of the blame is mine," Rose added. "I was the one who took her to lunch before bringing her here to be formally presented, and as such, I accept the responsibility that falls to me."
As he said this, the young woman—still held within his arms—looked up at him with a warm sensation blooming in her chest. Tears were still streaming down her face, but she was deeply surprised that Rose had kept his word and stepped forward to protect her from his father's anger.
Until that moment—and though she felt ashamed to admit it—she had harbored a slight suspicion that he was merely pretending, that he was still as petty and lazy as the rumors claimed, even if he had regained his physical health.
That moment, however, confirmed that Rose truly was exactly as he appeared to be.
Of course, she had no way of knowing that Rose had stood before the King of Kings countless times, and that compared to his true father, Sieghard did not inspire much fear. Had this been his original father, he probably would have grabbed the girl and jumped out the window, waiting for things to calm down.
As for Sieghard, he had not expected his son to defend so firmly the young woman to whom he had been practically forced to become engaged. Watching him act in defense of Adela's virtue, his stern expression gradually softened into a warm smile.
"I'm sorry, Adela. I was rather rude. I only wanted to evaluate your character. I hope you can forgive me," he admitted honestly.
The young woman wiped away her tears, which had finally stopped flowing after seeing that her fiancé had protected her. She swallowed with some difficulty; she was beginning to understand that this had been a test—one in rather poor taste—and that the baron had simply wanted to see whether she would shift the responsibility onto his son or not.
She herself knew she bore part of the blame. Without the distraction of those smoking machines, she would have gone straight to the castle and followed protocol, after which Rose would have been summoned immediately. He had admitted his own mistake in delaying the meeting after their encounter, making it clear that he was aware of the responsibility that rested on him. She would not have reproached him if he had explained that something in the town had sparked her curiosity, but fear had paralyzed her; she was not accustomed to finding herself in such a vulnerable position.
Shaking those thoughts aside, the young woman gracefully accepted her uncle's apology.
"There's no need to apologize, dear uncle. You were only protecting your son and heir."
Those words brought smiles to both Sieghard's and Gisela's faces. Moreover, Adela was infinitely preferable to the girl betrothed to their second son, whom they both considered a cruel and unpleasant person. It was unfortunate that in a few months Lambert would be married and his fate sealed, but there was little they could do about it.
Rejecting the daughter of a count would benefit neither the barony… nor anyone, really.
Sieghard rose once more and approached Adela, welcoming her with open arms.
"Welcome to my humble home. I hope your stay will be a pleasant one."
Of course, the young woman came from a far wealthier noble house than the modest status of a baron could ever offer, and he would not be able to provide the luxuries she was accustomed to. However, Sieghard had no way of knowing that Adela had already fallen in love with the picturesque scenery, the kindness of the townsfolk, and that peculiar culture.
In fact, she had thoroughly enjoyed the dish she tried earlier, and had no idea that by dinnertime she would be ready to kidnap the creator of those recipes… or simply stay and live within her uncle's lands.
For the time being, the family chatted about trivial matters, catching up on the past few years. Adela was especially interested in speaking about her fiancé and how he had gone from being a frail, idle, and petty youth to the man standing before her. When Rose himself explained that it all had to do with a near-death experience and an angel who gave him another chance—technically, Lucifer was a fallen angel, so he wasn't lying—she could hardly believe what she was hearing. Had he not confirmed it himself, she would never have believed such a story.
Eventually, the table was set and the feast began. The count's daughter sat beside her fiancé, who occupied his usual place. The only member of the family missing was Lambert, something Adela noticed almost immediately.
They soon explained that he was visiting his own fiancée, a coincidence she found curious: she had never imagined that both sons of the House of Kufstein would be engaged at the same time. However, the thought didn't linger long, as it was quickly displaced when incredible aromas reached her nose.
She had never seen dishes so… extravagant. Rose had worked overtime teaching the chefs new recipes as soon as he learned of his fiancée's arrival. Classics such as schnitzel, Spätzle, wurst, rouladen, and sauerbraten—all learned in his previous life—now adorned the table.
Of course, Rose felt proud of all that. However, several dishes were missing, and for a very simple reason: potatoes. The damned Demon King had sent him to this world a hundred years before the discovery of the Americas, so not only did he have to deal with the absence of his favorite drink, but also with the lack of countless recipes such as potato pancakes, French fries, stuffed potatoes, and about a hundred more.
That realization had led him to make the conquest of the Americas an absolute priority. To hell with the Aztecs and the Incas and their immeasurable reserves of gold and silver—if they gave him potatoes and chocolate, he would protect them like their god. After all, he was Hades' grandson; he was fairly certain he could pass himself off as an underworld deity without too much trouble.
While those thoughts crossed his mind, the rest of the people at the table reacted in very different ways. His family had already grown accustomed to enjoying such delicacies over the past month, but Adela's eyes shone with genuine ecstasy as she tasted truly high-quality food for the first time in her life. No matter what happened when she eventually returned home, she had to bring those recipes back to her father's kitchen staff.
And although she was completely enchanted by the flavors, she continued eating with the grace and courtesy expected of a young noble lady.
After enjoying dinner, the family finally went their separate ways to continue with their nightly routines. In Rose's case, that involved finding some way to relieve his arousal and openly cursing his youthful hormones—to his father's genuine amusement and his mother's deep mortification, as she had never imagined her son possessed such colorful language.
Henrietta, meanwhile, took it upon herself to escort Adela to her room, insisting that she bathe before going to bed. The young woman initially refused, seeing no need for it, but Henrietta had learned a thing or two from Rose—one of them being sheer stubbornness once something lodged itself in his head. In short, she ended up dragging her to the bath.
The bath passed in rather awkward silence, but eventually Adela was able to retreat to her room and rest.
As she lay face down, hugging her pillow and dressed in a sky-blue nightgown, she couldn't help thinking about her fiancé's actions throughout the day. Not long after, she fell asleep with a loving smile on her face.
Without a doubt, it had been the best day of her life.
End of chapter.