Konbini Ossan Volume 6 Chapter 5 — Toward the Engagement Announcement
We left Waynesvale behind and began the return to the royal capital.
On the way, Arisa explained to me what had already been decided.
Apparently everything had been said right in front of me, but I’d been too shaken to register any of it, so she went over it again.
First, it seems becoming an official concubine requires preparation.
One doesn’t simply become a concubine from today — there are formalities, and more importantly, custom.
The first step is to announce the engagement.
Usually this is done through an engagement banquet.
After that, Arisa, as the fiancée, will spend about a year making appearances in noble society, letting people remember her face and building horizontal connections.
This is customary when a noble takes a spouse — whether primary or secondary — from outside the noble class.
If one fails to give the nobles time to build connections with the newcomer, some may react with hostility, calling it unfair.
And Arisa herself would be left with no allies should trouble arise.
Because of that, an engagement banquet is required before anything else.
From that point on, Arisa and Marquis Roosevelt will begin preparing for this banquet.
The style of the banquet will incorporate commoner customs.
In noble marriages, ceremonies are highly ritualistic, full of etiquette and formal steps.
But among commoners, engagements are rare and these traditions do not exist.
Naturally, Arisa has never learned noble ceremony.
So instead, they will base it on the customs seen in commoner wedding celebrations.
Regarding those customs:
The bride traditionally wears a dress passed down from her mother.
A dress is too expensive for commoners to have made each time, so they wear one inherited through the family.
Since Arisa has no such dress, her guardian — meaning me — must provide it.
Next comes a gift from the father when sending off his daughter.
Most commonly a necklace.
Fathers give a piece of jewelry to their daughter at the wedding banquet, as a charm for her future happiness.
Ideally the item should symbolize good fortune, be sturdy, and unlikely to be lost.
Necklaces are chosen often because they’re not in the way when worn, and unlike rings, if taken off they’re harder to misplace.
Naturally, this too must be provided by me, the guardian.
In short:
Arisa must be introduced in noble society as a fiancée for about a year.
Before that, an engagement banquet must be held.
For that banquet, the dress and necklace must be prepared by me.
That is the situation.
She explained all of this as we rode toward the capital.
Sensing the mood, Kanehama and Mimori had taken another carriage. So the journey from Waynesvale to the capital became a two-person trip for Arisa and me.
When she finished explaining, Arisa looked at me seriously.
“Hey, ossan. I have one last request. One selfish wish. Will you listen?”
“Last?”
“After this, it’s over. Once this is done, I won’t be the Arisa who loves you anymore. I’ll be your niece, and Lord Roosevelt’s wife — Mikimoto Arisa. Properly.”
Her voice, pushed to the brink by resolve and desperation, left me unable to refuse.
“I… want to go to my wedding happy. I want to wear the dress made for me by the big brother I love most.
…
I want to receive a necklace from the big brother I love most. And I want to be sent off with a smile by the big brother I love most.”
Her voice trembled, painful and on the verge of tears.
“So please. You have to try too. For me — prepare the best dress. The best necklace. Then smile and see me off. If you do that… I think I’ll really be able to be happy.”
“Arisa…”
No words came.
Thirty years alive, and I couldn’t even manage a simple response.
But the decision was already made in my heart.
If she says this much…
Then I will do it.
I will prepare a dress that makes Arisa look more beautiful than anyone.
I will choose a necklace that blesses her entire life.
Because that is all I can do.
For the happiness Arisa chose, that is all I can offer.
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E/N:
After editing, I try watching cute cat videos to wash out the gloom of ts… 😭
Gone are the times I wanted Arisa-chan to give up… As pathetic as it is, Ossan, don't give up! Fight for this love, it ain't over yet!
Stay tuned!
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