I was excommunicated from the Holy Knights

75 – The Princess of Blue Steel 4

Santana’s request to meet him.

Regarding this, Estelle was curious and slowly started following the red-haired maid.

‘Santa or Andreas… I’ve heard quite a bit about it. What kind of person is he?’

I knew about him roughly through rumors.

The heir to Bohemia who ran away from his family to become a paladin and returned after more than 10 years.

In addition, despite the vacancy, he was the one who defeated the army of the fearsome emperor and brought victory to Bohemia.

And, through this background, the being who has the full trust of Count Thurne, who has a fiery temper.

Putting these stories together,

Even though Estelle had never actually seen him, she was naturally able to picture in her head what kind of person Santana was.

‘Since he worked as a paladin, he must have the temperament of an unmanned soldier… On top of that, it is clear that he has quite outstanding military talent. Even so, if he resembles the character of Count Turnen, there is a high possibility that he will look like a strong knight with a fierce heart.’

The figure that can be recalled at first glance like that was a gigantic knight with a fairly rugged body.

A courageous warrior who takes the lead on the battlefield and defeats enemies while having the appearance of a beast.

Of course, war is not simply done by force, and there will be various strategies and schemes in it, but once it is a ‘hero who led the war to victory’, it was a common case to naturally think of such a person.

And in that respect, Estelle’s current evaluation of the person named Santana is,

First of all, he seems like a man who doesn’t seem to be a good fit for me.

It was called.

‘Of course, you’ll have to see the details yourself… but I don’t think it’s a style I’d like very much if I just listened to rumors.’

A man who tried to solve problems by force was not her taste.

Although it is likely to be of use for political reasons, and I am considering getting married if necessary, that and the concept of so-called affection are separate issues.

In the first place, like ordinary aristocrats, as she regarded marriage as a mere political means, she did not care much about so-called love or anything like that.

‘Marriages of nobles exist only for the benefit of the family. Even if you don’t like your husband that much, that in itself can’t be helped. My purpose is only to make my brother and my power stronger than they are now.’

While Estelle was thinking about that,

The maid who was guiding her finally arrived at the door of a certain room, and then she politely knocked.

“The master has brought you.”

“Yes, come in.”

A man’s voice came through the door, more calm than I thought.

Estelle, who had expected the voice to sound a bit harsh, felt a little suspicious about it, and cautiously entered the room following the maid’s guidance.

right after that…

A man in front of her eyes.

The moment she caught sight of him, Estelle began to feel a bit embarrassed as she recognized the fact that her prediction had been wrong from the start.

‘It’s a bit more delicate than I thought…’

Contrary to what I expected of a muscular, large man, the man in front of me was relatively small and thin.

To put it simply, he had a moderately healthy appearance.

In addition, although his face was not conspicuously handsome, it was not that rough, and the impression was closer to that of a scholar rather than a warrior.

To put it bluntly, from an appearance point of view, would it be an impression that fits Estelle’s taste?

‘Well… it’s not such an important part… but it wouldn’t be a bad thing for the groom to look good.’

Estelle calmly sat down while feeling a strange sense of joy at such an unexpected fact.

“My name is Santana Andreas, the son of Count Turnen. Thank you for accepting my invitation, ma’am.”

Santana bowing politely to herself

As with first impressions, his voice didn’t have the harshness she expected.

While showing her inner interest in that fact, Estelle greeted her ‘potential fiancée’ before her eyes with an equally respectful bow.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Estelle Bertina Fernandez.”

Estelle introduces herself with a deep smile on her lips.

With the smile on her face that she usually wears when dealing with other people, she went on.

“I have heard of Santana’s reputation. I am very happy to be able to meet in this way the heir and savior of Bohemia.”

“I am truly honored to meet Lady Estelle, who is ruling the Rhapsody region well on behalf of the lord.”

“It is overrated. Even so, it was only governing a small area. It is pitiful compared to Santana-sama’s achievements in fighting that emperor and winning.”

With those words, Santana showed a serious smile on his lips.

Then, he continued his words with a flash of black eyes that felt like a gun.

“It’s not easy to serve a young lord and rule in the Holy Empire as a woman, and besides, didn’t you suppress the opposition of countless nobles in the process? Even if there was help from Drago or the Empire, I think it deserves full respect for that.”

“…”

If it’s formal…

However, Santana tells the story of the bones in it.

As she listened to his words, Estelle instinctively began to sense that the man in front of her was more formidable than she thought.

“..I’ll take that as a compliment. If not… Since we are both busy, I’m going to say hello at this point, and do you know why Santana asked me to see you?”

“It is. Unlike me, Estelle-sama must have many places to visit to gather information.”

“!… What.. what.. say.”

Santana’s story hits the spot

In response, Estelle began to show embarrassment without realizing it.

Looking at her like that, Santana said in a light tone without losing her calm smile.

“I mean literally. Aren’t you touring here and there in Bohemia in the name of a candidate for a fiancée? Not only the lord’s castle and the commercial district, but also a sneaky training ground. He was running around really hard. No matter how plausible the cause is, I thought that I should have been a little more careful if I was going to collect information.”

“… Umm..”

Santana’s words accurately read his movements, which he moved as secretly as possible.

In this unexpected situation, Estelle began to feel a slight cold sweat.

‘I thought that a war hero would simply be a warrior full of courage.

While thinking about that, Estelle looked at the man in front of her with a more prudent smile and said,

“… To know that much, it must have been my lack of attention. so? What do you plan to do now? Are you planning on arresting me as a spy?”

“No, that won’t happen. No matter how circumstantial evidence is, we are well aware that it is not easy to formally prove it.”

While saying that, Santana lightly drank from the glass placed in front of her.

Then, looking at Estelle again, he said in a more serious voice.

“The reason I asked to see Miss Estelle was not to make a threat, but to ask for a deal.”

“A deal… you mean?”

I was saying that though. Estelle began to recognize at this moment that there was also a little threat in it.

Although, it was a bit difficult to take any official action right away with this.

However, Estelle and Rhapsody had no choice but to take some damage just by spreading the related story to the public.

The spread of rumors that he acted as a spy at a place where marriage talks took place is bound to adversely affect the reputation of this side in many ways.

In particular, in a sensitive time like now, the ripple effect was likely to be even greater.

In order to prevent this, Estelle realized that she had no choice but to listen to the deal that this man named Santana was asking for, half-accepting it.

And, towards Estelle who is thinking that way

Santana in a calm voice

He spoke of the transaction in question.

“Lady Estelle. Will you be my fiancee?”

“you… yes?”