The exploits of the Galactic Empire Imperial Guard were always discussed in the same breath as the Emperor’s most beloved Lord Groom, Leo Kamishiro.
As a member of that very Guard, I was technically treated as a hero by the public. Well, we were classmates, after all. I had even fought alongside Leo-kun and the others back on the academy grounds.
However, within the Imperial Guard, I was strictly a reserve. My simulator scores were barely enough for a solo clear, and as infantry, I was only mediocre at best. Since Leo-kun’s strength would waver if people started dying, I stayed off the front lines and handled the back-end duties instead.
And what exactly did "back-end" entail? To put it bluntly: I was a civil official. Specifically, I worked in the Bureau of Accounts aboard Veronica-chan’s battleship. I was one of the accountants.
Today’s story is about the elegant life of yours truly, Yuri Morishita.
Duke House Morishita was a prestigious family—at least, the main house was. My family was just a branch, the Viscount House Morishita. Even though we held the title of Viscount, we had no actual territory. We were essentially just hangers-on to the Duke’s estate.
However, the Morishita family was fortunate. We had been part of the Neutral Faction, playing both sides by remaining non-committal toward both the Emperor and the Duke Association. On top of that, I was a direct subordinate and a personal friend to the Emperor, Veronica-chan herself.
Then there was the fact that the Grand Chamberlain’s actions had caused a severe shortage of civil officials. Thanks to Veronica-chan’s policy of "I will not punish those who have done their jobs," both my family and the main house were spared by the skin of our teeth. In the end, only the Duke Association and the Grand Chamberlain’s faction—those who had abandoned their duties during the Empire’s time of crisis—were targeted for the purge.
Under any other regime, I’m certain we would have been executed. Instead, the main house received neither reward nor punishment, and my family’s branch became independent. We were elevated to a Count House and granted our own territory. It also seemed that, eventually, I was slated to become the Head of House for the Duke family as well.
That was where the trouble started: finding a husband.
As a daughter of what used to be a Viscount house in name only, I was originally supposed to marry into the main house’s lineage. But because my family had become an independent Count House, the search for a groom hit a total dead end. We simply had no connections.
I tried reaching out to the Imperial Officer Academy Guardians' Association, but things weren't looking good. Was everyone already searching? Was the Pro-Emperor Faction getting priority? Actually, it turned out that the families of almost every promising boy had jumped ship to the Pro-Emperor Faction immediately after the war with the Zork began. Matching with someone in the Neutral Faction was impossible.
The various houses of the Neutral Faction had tried to rely on Ren-chan’s family, Duke House Mistral, but the current Head of House was still far too young to lead a faction. It seemed the Neutral Faction lacked the spirit or talent to manipulate a young Duke into seizing power. Then again, if they were that capable, they would have already joined the Pro-Emperor Faction or the Duke Association.
Two years passed in vain. Just as I had completely purged the concept of marriage from my mind, an engagement proposal suddenly landed in my lap.
"How about Saijo from the Personal Guard Knight Order?"
Veronica-chan had summoned me and asked the question out of nowhere.
Saijo-kun was a classmate of mine. We were in the same class, though he was a year younger. If I remembered correctly, he was the second son of Count House Saijo, also part of the Neutral Faction. He was a brilliant student who had skipped a grade to enter the academy.
Male graduates of the academy generally had a few career paths. They could become Leo-kun’s subordinates, serving as both Imperial officers and Chronosian nobles. That was a dream job, but high-risk. It was the kind of path that made parents weep, never knowing when their son might be wiped out.
The other option was to become one of Veronica-chan’s subordinates in the Personal Guard Knight Order. It was less flashy, the training was brutal, and the discipline was iron-clad, but it was a stable career that put parents at ease.
Saijo-kun had graduated from the Imperial Guard and was currently an apprentice in the Galactic Empire Personal Guard Knight Order. Back then, he was a "cute" boy. Not the macho type like Kevin-kun, but the small, adorable type.
Right after we entered the academy, the girls all treated him like a little brother. Because he was so small, we would give him sweets, use him to run errands, or dress him up in girls' clothes—oh god!
"Agagagagagaga... my dark history is coming back to haunt me..."
"The girls all say the same thing," Veronica-chan remarked dryly.
Even Rikochi had been panicking because her marriage to Leo-kun was finalized, but I couldn't do Saijo-kun! Anyone but him! Besides, there was no way he’d want to be part of that "older sister" army again!
"The boy is quite eager, you know."
"Excuse me?" I blinked. The world felt like it had just glitched.
"Saijo requested you by name, Yuri."
"Wait... that sounds like a death sentence..."
"Just go and meet him! Seriously!"
"I mean, I guess, but..."
"...Riko is getting her marriage papers filed next month."
"What... did you say...?"
I was going to lose to Rikochi? The girl everyone said was "unmarriageable"? I mean, she was competent enough to be Leo-kun’s wife, so it made sense, but still!
"Just go! Here, have a free ticket to that famous cafe in Chronos!"
She slammed the ticket down. It was an ultra-premium pass for the cafe Leo-kun owned.
"Thank you so mus-cle!"
I cheered. A free ticket! A free pass to Leo-kun’s shop! And if it was the night shift, it was all-you-can-drink! Jackpot!
After my shift at the Bureau of Accounts ended, I went to wait for Saijo-kun. I wondered where he was.
"It has been a long time."
I turned around. A lovely girl with black hair, wearing a sailor-style school uniform, was speaking to me. She was an incredible beauty.
"Could you be... Saijo-kyun?"
"Yes ♪"
My brain felt like it was about to melt. The classmate I hadn't seen in years had turned into an ultra-super beauty.
"Um... I was told this was an arranged marriage meeting?"
"Of course it is."
"O-Okay... so why me?"
"Have you forgotten who was responsible for 'remodeling' me into this?"
"Ah. Right."
My dark history had officially caught up with me.
"So, did you have, like, reconstructive surgery? I know Zork-ization is the trend these days, but..."
"This is all natural. Go ahead, feel my chest."
I patted him down. He was definitely flat. But wow, those pectoral muscles were well-developed. This was definitely a knight’s body.
"Are you satisfied? It’s actually quite difficult to find clothes that fit right."
He was wearing a uniform, but it was a thick winter one. That was how he hid the muscle. He wasn't a gorilla-type, but he was definitely a lean-macho.
"Ah, yes. It seems you’ve been training very seriously."
"It was all so I could catch up to you."
"I mean, I gave up on being a pilot to work in accounting..."
"Oh, please. You’re famous as the 'Lord Demon Accounting Officer.'"
"Urgh!"
I had accidentally worked way too hard for my paycheck. Most of my academy classmates were the type who couldn't sit still unless they were working.
"Now then, let’s get a drink, Big Sister."
"H-H-Hyai!"
Meeting a classmate for an arranged marriage years later, only to find out he’d awakened to his inner beauty because of me... was this what they called karma? The payoff for that foreshadowing came way too fast!
"I’m not letting you get away, Big Sister."
"Fueeeeeeeeeeeeee-nn!"
And that was how I ended up with a boyfriend.