Chapter 121: Choosing a Family Name
“Family name… a family name, huh…”
Rest, who had just been appointed the head of a newly established noble family, muttered to himself as he walked down the corridor. He needed to decide on a family name before the award ceremony, but what kind of name would be good?
(If I were to use the name I had when I was Japanese, it would be Honda… but that’s definitely out of the question. Absolutely impossible.)
Rest Honda. Clearly not an option. It was more than just unsuitable; it was completely unacceptable.
(Then how about the name of a protagonist from a novel I liked? Siegfried or Pendragon, perhaps?)
However, when he checked the noble name directory he had retrieved from the library, he found that both names already belonged to existing noble families. Using the same family name was not an option.
(I can’t believe names that scream “chuunibyou” are actually in use… Could it be that there are other reincarnators besides me?)
“Oh, Rest. What’s wrong? You look troubled.”
“Viola.”
As he pondered while walking down the corridor, he bumped into Viola, who had just come from the bath. Behind her were Primula and Yuri. All three were dressed in nothing but cardigans over their negligées. While it was perfectly fine to wear whatever they liked in the house, as a young man, Rest found it a bit overwhelming.
(Viola and Primula are fine; I’m used to them since they’re my fiancées. But… Yuri’s outfit feels a bit inappropriate…)
“This girl seems to not have any nightwear, so I lent her mine,” Viola explained.
Yuri, still flushed from her bath, smiled brightly at Rest.
“Ah, back at the Cattleya Marquis House, my brothers would walk around the corridor naked after their baths. For some reason, I was the only one not allowed to do that… Since leaving home, I’ve been spending time in my room without clothes, but I couldn’t do that at someone else’s house, so I borrowed some nightwear.”
Yuri explained without being asked. It seemed that the Cattleya family had a penchant for nudity. It was information Rest found utterly irrelevant.
“So, how do I look? Does it suit me?”
“Uh… I think it looks good on you?”
Yuri struck a pose with her hands on her hips, showcasing her negligée. Rest tried not to look directly at her and offered a safe compliment.
“More importantly… Rest, what seems to be the problem? You looked troubled.”
“Ah… I was just thinking about something.”
Responding to Primula’s inquiry, Rest led the three of them down the corridor. Standing around talking after a bath would only leave them chilled. He took them to the parlor and explained his situation while they settled onto the sofa.
“Hmm, a family name… What about ‘Rosemary’? Wouldn’t that work?”
“Since it would be a different family from the Rosemary Marquis House, it’s better to choose a different name. It could get confusing.”
“How troublesome… Even if I become a noble, I’m still a part of the Rosemary family, so it would be fine to keep the same name.”
“Ah… Among higher nobility, it’s not uncommon for individuals to hold multiple titles and family names. My father likely has several titles as well.”
Primula added, pouting slightly. Yuri, who had been listening, pondered aloud, raising her index finger.
“Then how about ‘Giant’? It sounds strong, doesn’t it?”
“It does sound strong, but honestly, it doesn’t feel like it suits me.”
“I see… Then how about names of strong animals? Lion, Tiger, Buffalo, or even Hawk and Eagle? They all have a nice ring to them and sound cool, don’t you think?”
“Are you saying that on purpose?”
“What do you mean?”
Rest furrowed his brow at the strange coincidence, but Yuri looked genuinely puzzled. The consistent naming made him suspect that Yuri might also be a reincarnator.
“By the way… it seems like many nobles in this country have flower names. Is there a reason for that?”
Rosemary, Cattleya, Crocus—each was a name of a flower. He recalled that several of his classmates at the academy had flower names as well.
“Well… it is said that the first king of the Aiwood Kingdom and his queen had a hobby of cultivating flowers. She apparently gave flower names to her favorite vassals, and that tradition has continued to this day.”
“Ah, I see…”
Rest nodded at Primula’s explanation.
“So, nobles with flower names were favorites of the first queen… Hearing that makes it feel oddly relatable.”
“Not every noble with a flower name is a favorite, though. Some later nobles adopted flower names to emulate that tradition. If you’re struggling with your family name, you could consider that.”
“Flower names, huh…”
Unfortunately, Rest wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about flowers. The only ones that came to mind were cherry blossoms, plum blossoms, and chrysanthemums—Japanese flowers.
“Primula, do you have any names in mind?”
“Well… how about Tulip, Hyacinth, or Peach? I don’t think any of those have been used as family names yet…”
“Hmm…”
Rest Tulip. Rest Hyacinth. Rest Peach. None of them felt particularly striking. He wasn’t confident enough to turn around when called from behind. Flipping through the noble name directory, he found that many well-known flower names were already taken.
(If I’m going to choose a name, I want it to be something auspicious… After all, I get to choose my own surname. An auspicious name, a lucky flower…)
“How about… ‘Clover’?”
Rest suddenly voiced the name that had come to him. Rest Clover. It felt pleasantly resonant. It also evoked the image of a four-leaf clover, symbolizing good fortune.
“Clover… that’s nice. There shouldn’t be any nobles with that name.”
“Sounds good. I think it suits Rest well.”
Primula and Viola agreed with him.
“Viola Clover… yeah, that doesn’t sound bad.”
“Primula Clover… yes, I like it.”
“Wait… you two don’t need to adopt that name, do you?”
Rest was set to be conferred nobility as a newly established noble, but he would still be marrying into the Rosemary Marquis House. It made no sense for the daughters of his fiancées to take on the name “Clover.”
“Yuri Clover, huh? Yeah, that has a nice ring to it. I like it too.”
“Eh!?”
Yuri suddenly dropped a bombshell, causing Viola and Primula to spring up from the sofa in unison.