Chapter 265: A Date (Viola’s Perspective)③
Suddenly, a roar echoed through the tavern.
I turned my gaze toward the source of the commotion, feeling a sense of discomfort, and there, I saw two men grappling each other by the collar. Beside them stood a woman, weeping softly.
“Meriana is my girl! How dare you lay a hand on her!”
“Don’t be ridiculous! Meriana is my fiancée!”
“Waaah, please, both of you, don’t fight over me!”
“…A lovers’ quarrel, huh?”
From their brief exchange, I could grasp the general situation—a lovers’ quarrel over a single woman. It seemed that the men were fighting over one lady… and Rest’s keen eyes were not deceived. The woman at the center of the conflict, while pretending to cry, wore a sly grin on her face. She appeared to be reveling in the attention of the two men fighting for her.
“Hey, Rest. What are those people doing?” Viola asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.
“Ah… it looks like they’re fighting over a woman. It’s a common occurrence,” Rest replied casually.
“A common occurrence? But isn’t courtship supposed to be decided between families? Isn’t it strange for them to be fighting like that?”
Viola seemed astonished, her eyes darting back and forth. For nobles, romantic relationships were contracts negotiated between families. While lower nobility might experience love marriages, it was rare for high-ranking nobles to choose their own partners.
“Political marriages among commoners are quite rare. Commoners don’t worry about interests or family advancement; they simply marry the ones they love,” Rest explained.
“I see… I’ve heard about it, but to think you can marry anyone you love is such a wonderful thing,” Viola mused.
“…Is it, though?”
While the idea of free love sounded appealing, witnessing the scene unfolding before us made it hard for me to nod in agreement.
“Whether it’s free love or a political marriage, I believe that as long as there’s mutual respect, happiness can be found,” Rest said thoughtfully.
Indeed, Rest had found happiness by becoming engaged to the Rosemary Sisters. His magical talent had made him the chosen partner for the daughters of the prestigious Rosemary Marquis House. If he had lacked that talent, even if the sisters had developed feelings for him, the Marquis and his wife would have never approved of the engagement.
“You’re right… I share the same opinion,” Viola replied, smiling as she took Rest’s hand on the table.
Even in love marriages, divorces and broken engagements could occur, and happiness could also be found in arranged or matchmaking marriages. What truly mattered in engagements and marriages was the consideration for one another. Rest felt this deeply.
In the midst of the ruckus and shouts in the tavern, the atmosphere between the two of them was warm and tender… but that pleasant mood was soon shattered.
“You bastard… die!”
Finally, the conflict escalated into violence. One man hurled a sake bottle from the table, and the other scrambled to dodge it.
“Watch out!”
“Ahh…!”
The misdirected sake bottle flew straight toward the table where Rest and Viola sat. In a split second, Rest stood up and caught the bottle with his free hand.
“That was close…”
“Thank you, you saved me.”
“…Yeah, just wait a moment.”
Rest released Viola’s hand and turned his gaze toward the table where the argument was intensifying.
“You… scum!”
“Ugh… take this!”
The men were so engrossed in their brawl that they didn’t even glance in Rest’s direction. They were oblivious to how close the sake bottle had come to hitting Viola.
“…Did your parents never teach you how to apologize?”
If that was the case, then it was up to him to teach them a lesson. With the sake bottle in hand, Rest walked toward the brawling men, ready to give them a piece of his mind on behalf of their parents.