Your marriage proposal has been decided.
That's what my father told me when he summoned me.
I'm the fourth son and I have no choice but to become a commoner, so I can choose who I want to marry instead...
Suddenly, and as if it were a decision, I objected.
"Hmm. That's what I was talking about.
I'm sorry, but that conversation has been changed today.
"Well, how did it come to that again?"
Disgusted by the unilateral change, I asked my father, not being able to hide the disgust in my voice.
I received a letter today asking me to marry you.
That's why the conversation suddenly changed.
Your betrothed is Lady Anastasia Unsworth.
The only daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Unsworth, who love her so much it hurts.
"The Duchess of Unsworth! ! ? !"
I was astonished to hear the name of a great aristocrat that every nobleman in this country knows.
"That's right.
It's an offer from the first duke's family.
We have no right of refusal as a mere baronial family.
This is a decision."
It seems I've been chosen to be the groom of a great nobleman.
"So.
The Duke and Duchess of Seven Worth are coming to our house next month with their daughter.
"What? What?
No, no, no, that's not good.
They are overwhelmingly superior to us, so we have to ask them.
It's the Duke's wish.
It's the Duke's wish. Since we're asking, he wants all the help he can get.
Do you understand?
I have no right to refuse, but you've come all this way.
We don't want you to leave without a gift, do we?
I won't take no for an answer but yes, miss."
Father said, as if to remind me.
Don't worry.
I can understand that.
I know that if I said no, I would have no place in this house or in this country."
In fact, the Dukes of Seventhworth are known for their immense power.
There's no way I'd want to go against them.
If you have any problems with women, do whatever you can to sort them out before your visit.
I don't care how much money you spend."
Yeah. Don't worry about it. Women's relationships are beautiful.
I replied to my father's useless concern.
As I was related to a great nobleman, my family was unanimously delighted with this marriage proposal.
The only person who panicked was my mother, who was in charge of dealing with visitors.
I, by the way, accepted the sudden change in my life plan without hesitation and was thinking positively.
To tell you the truth, I have a memory of a previous life.
In my previous life, I worked for a single company from the time I joined until I retired.
When you have been working for a long time, there are countless times when you have to swallow unreasonableness or be wrapped up in something long.
The rebellious spirit I had when I was young had already worn out by the time I retired.
I no longer have the energy to rebel against power.
I've already learned that it's much more comfortable to accept the status quo and do the best I can within the given conditions than to rebel.
◆◆◆◆◆
I am Genorius Adornius.
I am the fourth son of an impoverished nobleman who is not a viscount.
I am a nobleman, but the fourth son of a poor nobleman is destined to be a commoner in the future.
In a wealthy aristocracy, the eldest son could take over the reins of the family and the rest of the siblings could stay in the family as the eldest son's assistants.
But we don't have the financial means to do so.
Even if the eldest son should happen to be a fourth son, there is no way he would be able to take over the family.
So I have to leave home and make my own way.
Normally, I would not want to be a commoner, and if I lost my nobility, I would join a knight's order in order to be knighted.
However, I have no qualms about becoming a commoner.
This is because I have memories of a previous life in which I lived as a commoner in a society where there was no status difference.
Since this knowledge is useful in business, I would rather be a commoner.
In preparation for becoming a commoner, I borrowed a small amount of money from my parents and started a business when I was ten years old.
I didn't have a lot of money, but I was able to increase it through my knowledge of my previous life, and in just six years I was able to grow my business rapidly.
As expected, six years was not enough time to reach the level of a multinational trading company with several branches across the country.
However, I was able to develop it into a semi-major domestic business association with branches in almost every major city in Japan.
I think this is an unparalleled success for a child's business.
With the success of my business, my father began to pay more attention to me and began to ask for my opinions on the management of his domain.
With my input, the reformation of my domain, which had been on the verge of dying out, became a little better.
This world was much later than the world of my previous life, and even my limited knowledge, which I had only read in the newspaper after I became a member of society in my previous life, was revolutionary enough in this world.
I was praised as a child prodigy for my success in business and also in managing my territory.
The Duchess of Sevensforth was the one who took notice of me.
The family was looking for a groom for their only daughter.
I'm the same age as the daughter, and I think I'm pretty good-looking, if I do say so myself.
In addition, I am a child prodigy, so I think the duke's family had their sights set on me.
However, the House of Sevensforth is the first dukedom, and is the second most powerful aristocracy after the royal family.
No matter how talented they are, they would not normally take a chance on me, the fourth son of a viscount, as if I were just a piece of wood.
But that family was having a hard time finding a match.
This is because their only daughter, the duchess, was an ugly woman known as the Goblin Lady.
◆◆◆◆◆
I've never seen you before.
I am Anastasia, the eldest daughter of the House of Seventh Worth.
This is my fiancée.
The high-necked dress she wore was instantly recognizable as a luxury item.
The purple A-line dress with a fine floral pattern was divided into two parts by the skirt.
The A-line dress has a fine floral pattern with purple tones, and the skirt is separated on either side, revealing an underskirt with layers of white lace.
The bosom and hem of the dress are studded with jewels, especially the hem jewels, which are so numerous that they look like stars in the night sky.
The lace of the underskirt was also intricately woven, and was nothing short of magnificent.
I think it is a wonderful costume that gives a calm impression and a clear sense of elegance.
The accessories were also chosen with stones of the same color as the dress, indicating that the dress was modestly dressed.
However, it is only "modest" by the standards of high aristocracy.
The largest sapphire in the pearl and sapphire necklace she is wearing is the size of a hen's egg.
It's probably a famous jewel with a name like the Star of Nantes, and even if I sold all of my Adorni family's house and possessions, I wouldn't be able to afford even a single jewel on that necklace.
It is not only Lady Anastasia who is being modest, but the Duke and Duchess as well.
Perhaps it's because they don't want to intimidate us, but I can sense that they're all trying to keep a low profile.
But I'm a merchant.
One look at me and I know that I am worth a fortune.
The moment I met him, I realized the disparity between the Dukes of Sevensforth and my Viscount Adorny in price.
She is a Goblin Lady, but I think she has some kind of disease.
The only part of her body that is exposed is her neck, but she has a ping-pong ball-sized bump all over her face and neck.
There is also a bump on the eyelid, which distorts the shape of the eye like a person whose eye is swollen up from a beating.
The bridge of the nose is also bumpy thanks to the bump, and it is hard to tell what the original shape of the nose was.
Her eyes are the same vivid color as the Duchess's.
The duke and duchess are both beautiful in a "high aristocrat" sort of way, so if it weren't for her bump, she would probably have a beautiful face as well.
Her skin, as the name of the goblin lady suggests, is a mixture of green and white.
Her half-white skin is probably right above the uncanny valley.
It would have been better to have only green skin.
I don't pay any attention to people's appearance.
The reason is simple.
Because in a previous life, I was a famous creep in the community.
In my previous life, there was no girl who would hold hands with me at the school dance.
If I tried to pick up a girl's lost item, she would cry like fire, and the item I picked up would be thrown in the trash.
"I heard there's a really creepy guy at your school. Yeah."
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. That's the guy."
I overheard this conversation once.
I didn't dare look at him.
"Hey. Isn't he dangerous? Hey.
"Oh, man, that's bad. What's that?
Whoa! I saw him looking at me."
Some of the girls pointed at me and laughed.
After I got a job, I was never invited to a drinking party when there were women present.
There was also a time when I went to a brothel to have at least one experience with a woman, but the girl I picked was suddenly sick and could not help me.
It broke my heart, and I haven't been to a brothel since then.
So I don't care about my looks.
In my previous life, from birth to the end of my life, I was discriminated against because of my looks.
I know the pain of that, so I can't and don't want to be treated differently because of my looks.
However, it is not that I could not care about my looks at all from the beginning.
In my previous life, when I saw a beautiful woman, I would chase after her with my eyes, and every time I found myself being blinded by her, I would fall into self-loathing.
This is because it reminds me that I am no different from those who despise ugly me and flock to handsome men.
However, after repeating such self-loathing for decades, before I knew it, I was no longer chasing beautiful women with my eyes.
When you look at a woman, you can determine the degree of objective beauty or ugliness.
Even when I see a beautiful woman, I only understand that she is classified as such, and I am not moved at all by the sight of her.
Before I knew it, I had become like that.
I will never fall into the same category as those who have made fun of me.
I can say that my gross pride has made me what I am today.
After the greetings, my parents, Lady Anastasia, and I had a short chat.
Since this was the first visit of a great nobleman to our territory, our family was very nervous.
However, the duke and his family seemed to be accustomed to dealing with such lowly nobles, and used their skillful conversation skills to ease our tension.
As far as the fiancé in the conversation was concerned, Lady Anastasia was quick-witted, elegant, and did not make others feel uncomfortable.
Also, listening to the conversation between the duke and his family, I could tell that they cared for each other deeply.
I would have thought that an aristocrat like my family, who didn't have enough money to hire a nanny, but a high class aristocrat who leaves the child rearing to the nanny, would have a little more distance between the parents and children.
But this family seemed to be much closer to me than my family.
The fiancé seemed to be a kind and intelligent man, and the parents-in-law seemed to be very loving people.
It was a good match.
I patted my chest.
In my previous life, I could not marry anyone and became an old man living alone in my old age.
On New Year's Eve, while my friends were happily spending time with their children and grandchildren, I was eating rice cakes and stew alone and watching a special program on New Year's Eve alone.
It was hard for me to go out to visit my friends with my weak legs and feet, so I had to spend all my time by myself.
The lonely days with no one to talk to