Marquis Palatio Alon is in a state where all thirteen years' worth of memories are gone.
In other words, Alon doesn't know what kind of experiences he's had over the past thirteen years.
Even if he heard a rough explanation of his relationships from Penia Kraisinne, that was, quite literally, nothing more than acquiring information.
And in that sense—
it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say Alon's confusion was accelerating to the extreme.
Alon stared blankly down.
There—
was a marriage registration form, dirty and worn as if quite a long time had passed.
When he raised his gaze again, he saw Seollang—a beastkin woman—grinning from ear to ear.
Seollang's eyes were sparkling excessively, as if she were overflowing with anticipation.
'...I was going to get married?'
Alon looked back and forth between the marriage registration form and Seollang.
...Of course, from the standpoint of someone who'd lost his memories,
it wasn't like he had some serious dissatisfaction with marrying her.
To begin with, as Alon was now, his memories were merely being suppressed—given time, he would regain his original memories.
Besides, Seollang, in Alon's eyes, had a fairly beautiful appearance,
and although he'd only seen her face for a few minutes, the lively energy he felt from her did come across as quite charming.
And on top of that—
even with Alon's lacking common sense, he could tell.
At Alon's current age, it was an age where marriage talks would realistically be going around.
No, considering this world's setting, you could even say it was rather late.
Meaning, in every respect, the existence of this marriage registration form wasn't that strange.
Of course, even so.
Fundamentally, the very existence of this marriage registration form was, in fact, bewildering.
If it were up to him, Alon wanted to ask right away, 'Huh? Me? Marriage?'
He even had his own reasons for wanting to ask that.
Alon stared fixedly at Seollang.
Seollang kept up her energetic smile, but subtly turned her eyes to the side.
...That look of hers—no matter who saw it—was the behavior of someone who clearly had something on her mind.
But unfortunately, Alon wasn't in a state where he could ask.
Asking questions itself could, in a way, be the same as loudly announcing that he'd lost his memories.
So after staring back and forth between the marriage registration form and Seollang for a while, feeling the confusion behind his blank expression—
Swish— swish, swish—
first, Alon signed the right side of the marriage registration form.
Using the signature Penia had taught him—Alon's current signature.
And then—
Heh?
The moment Alon signed the marriage registration form, Seollang, who'd been grinning from ear to ear until just now, made a strange sound.
At that reaction, Alon was confused, but he still held out the signed marriage registration form to Seollang.
Seollang took it, stared at it fixedly, then shifted her gaze to Alon.
She didn't speak, but her face was filled to the brim with a strange question.
Naturally, Alon also expressed confusion as he watched Seollang's reaction abruptly change.
As their question marks piled up, what filled the office was silence.
In a situation that had grown extremely awkward, with no one sure who would speak first—
Th-then, what's wrong?
Alon asked.
Uh, yeah—
Seollang stared blankly at the marriage registration form and Alon's face, then belatedly tried to come to her senses, but—
she repeated the act of spacing out again,
and then—
Tuk— tuk—
she turned around and headed out of the office.
Her eyes remained fixed on the marriage registration form.
...Seollang?
Alon tried calling her, but—
Seollang, as if she'd been hypnotized by a single sheet of paper, slipped out of the room like a ghost.
Click—
Watching that process, Alon could only feel stunned.
'...What...?'
After more time passed, until it became lunchtime, Alon met a total of three people.
The first person he met was Nangwon.
The moment Alon saw Nangwon, he was shocked without meaning to.
In the game's visuals, Nangwon was someone you could call the overwhelming number one in Psychedelia's ugly-man ranking.
But the Nangwon Alon greeted now...
could, in truth, compete with even Elivan, a practically playable character.
Alon realized inwardly just how important the way someone lives their N o v e l i g h t life is.
The next person he met was Radan.
This time too, Alon was surprised once by Radan's handsome looks, and then even more shocked by the mate of the Sea King God that Radan had brought.
The Sea King God's size was as long as the entrance that cut across the outer wall and the marquisate.
But even more shocking than that was—
the fact that the true identity of that guy—
the one living in the Palatio marquisate's pond who would cutely act spoiled whenever Alon sat by the pond to rest—
was that enormous monster.
All Alon ever saw, usually, was—
Blackie and Basiliora, who were off to one side of the office, going to the pond whenever they were bored and the three of them playing.
And the last person he met was Historia.
With her unique blank expression, she lightly wrapped an arm around Alon's waist and left a brief, "Happy birthday."
Then she handed Alon a ring and vanished like the wind.
...In a way, because the conversation didn't drag on,
for Alon—who had to hide the fact that he'd lost his memories—she was the most comfortable person to deal with.
Hoo—
You look like you're having a really hard time, my lord marquis.
As Alon, recalling up to that point, suddenly let out a sigh, Evan—who knew his current condition—spoke to him.
Well, yeah. I have to act like I know what I don't know.
Still, up to now, haven't you managed to get through it somehow?
...Have I?
Alon thought back on what he'd done so far.
...He felt like, in his own way, he'd handled it well enough.
Ah, come to think of it—
Alon was about to ask, recalling Seollang's gift, but then he stared fixedly at Evan's face.
My lord marquis? Why are you suddenly staring so hard like you're boring a hole in my face?
No, it's just—
—I just thought you've gotten a little older....
...My lord marquis, thirteen years have passed. If you didn't get older, wouldn't that mean you aren't human?
That's true. But how should I put it... from my standpoint, it's like it flashed and changed overnight, so it feels a little awkward.
At Alon's impression, Evan's expression turned ambiguous for a moment.
Wella— you really did get a lot older.
...Are you done talking?
Yes.
You think you won't get older?
Hm—at least I think I'll age less than someone.
Penia cut in without missing a beat.
As if it were planned, the two of them started throwing sharp jabs at each other with their mouths.
...Alon had already seen this scene several times even after losing his memories, so now he was fairly used to it.
How long had it been since he'd roughly finished lunch with some snacks while watching Penia and Evan fight?
As if to mediate, Alon cleared his throat and asked.
How many more people do I still have to meet?
Mm— I'm handling the nobles at my level, so let's see— I feel like it's about four more? If I think of just the ones who said they're coming. Right, Evan?
...That's right.
Evan nodded, then, as if something came to mind, added,
Ah, come to think of it, one person will probably come soon.
Who?
Magrina.
Ah, that person?
At the name that came up in Evan and Penia's conversation, Alon asked.
Magrina... the elf queen?
Yes. She'll probably come soon.
...Last time, she didn't say anything at all, but is it okay for the elf queen to be wandering around that freely?
Wella— I think that too, but.
At Evan's agreement, Alon made a strange expression.
Elf Queen Magrina.
Right now, Alon didn't know anything about her.
The only thing he knew was Penia's explanation, mixed with a very faint piece of information in his memories: 'She appears in the DLC.'
Are you worried?
...Mm, a little?
When Alon answered that way to Penia's question, she smiled as if it was fine.
Don't worry too much. She's not really the weird type. She won't put you in a difficult position, my lord marquis.
Is that so?
Yes.
At Penia's assurance, Alon let out a sigh of relief inwardly.
After lunchtime.
Just as Evan said, Alon met Magrina.
And this time too—
he couldn't help but let out a momentary admiration.
Because of Magrina's beauty.
Of course, Alon had inwardly held a bit of anticipation at the words "elf queen."
Because he was curious just how much the queen of the elves—called a race of beauty in fantasy—would be.
But the person standing before him exceeded Alon's expectations with ease, so—
Alon, who'd lost his words for a moment, came back to his senses late and acted.
Magrina.
Yes, big brother. I'm sorry I couldn't come visit you in the meantime.
It's fine.
Magrina gave a clear smile at Alon's words.
Watching that, Alon couldn't help but admit what Penia had said.
Because among the people who'd come to see Alon so far, she continued the conversation with the most normal attitude in many ways.
'So it wasn't for nothing that Penia said she wasn't the weird type.'
It wasn't that everyone who'd come so far was weird.
But compared to ordinary people, their reactions had been especially peculiar, so Alon loosened the tension he'd been holding, if only a little.
Magrina sat down like that,
stared at Alon for a moment, then cleared her throat for no reason with a hem-hem, and subtly pulled a magic orb from inside her clothes.
A magic orb that made a woooong sound.
A question rose up in Alon, and he soon realized without much difficulty.
That the magic orb quietly placed on Magrina's hand was a magic orb with a storage function.
'...All of a sudden?'
While Alon was confused by this situation—
Hem-hem—big brother?
What is it?
You... aren't calling me like you usually do.
...Like I usually do?
Yes— like you usually—
Even though she hadn't said many words, Magrina, as if her throat was strangely dry, took a small sip of water—
and then—
My lovely Magrina... is what... you usually... called... me....
She opened her mouth.
...Pardon?
Before he knew it, Alon asked back in honorific speech.
And at the same time—
Penia's words came to Alon's mind.
'Don't worry too much. She's not really the weird type. She won't put you in a difficult position, my lord marquis.'
...She's not weird, right?

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