"How could something that good happen to me? You see, the family head is chosen regardless of gender. This means the head is usually the most outstanding person in that family. Because of this, everyone automatically considers the family head to be half a rank higher than those who aren't."
"In this situation, for the remaining children, whether they marry into another family or marry someone into theirs, whether they move in or get married out, depends on the power balance between the two families and the situation of the children involved in the marriage."
"Nobles, well, those who know, know. Except for the position of family head, which is truly based on talent, other positions are decided by background, money, or other things."
"For marriage alliances, the side with the better family status usually gets to choose first. After all, for the family, as long as the marriage serves its purpose of connecting the two powers, it doesn't really matter who marries whom."
"And as the side with lower family status, you naturally have less say when you go to the other family. Sometimes, you could die, and no one would even know."
"The very top-tier nobles are all on the same level, so situations like marrying into another family or having someone marry into yours don't really happen. They mostly have normal marriages. In these cases, the excellent ones get snapped up quickly, sometimes even having arranged marriages as children."
"The ones in the middle tier pick each other. If they find someone they like, they get together. But there's still a batch of the worst ones left. They either have personal problems, bad reputations, are really ridiculously ugly, or truly no one wants them. So, what happens then?"
"Yeah, what happens then?" Himeragi Yukina was gradually drawn in by Cid's words and couldn't help but repeat his question. Cid gave her a strange look.
"They get someone to marry into their family, of course! But naturally, it can't be nobles of the same rank. They can only choose nobles one rank lower. And the lower-ranked nobles, of course, wouldn't miss this chance to deepen their relationship with a higher-ranking noble family."
"So, don't expect any great beauties to be set up with me. The good-looking ones are mostly taken. After all, if talent isn't a factor, then looks are all that's left."
"My sister doesn't have to worry. Not only is she the family head, but even if she wasn't, with her talent, tons of top nobles would be lining up to marry into our family."
"I'm different. Not good enough for the top, not bad enough for the bottom. I'll most likely be the one marrying into another family. Who knows what kind of weirdos I'll be set up with then. That's why I want to be independent."
Most of the above was true, but some parts were false. For Cid, if a higher-ranking noble really did demand he marry into their family, Claire would probably be the first to object.
He didn't want to say it, but in Claire's eyes, how could a bunch of misfits possibly be worthy of her "excellent" little brother? So, where did Claire get that mysterious confidence from?
Even if Claire did agree, if he didn't like it, he could just ask Gamma for help.
Of course, not for Gamma to marry him he knew his own limits. He'd ask Gamma to send a subordinate to go through the motions. With the backing of the Mitsugoshi Corporation, which noble would dare to disrespect them?
"The world of nobles is so complicated," Himeragi Yukina sighed, walking beside Cid.
So naive. She actually believed all that.
Cid's reason for coming here, of course, wasn't to escape his family. He just thought there would be many high-quality "protagonists" here, perfect for the Power in the Shadows to make an entrance.
As for why he lied? It was just a random dream he made up. Anyway, his future family head was his sister. With his apparent talent, that dream was impossible to achieve. Holding onto a dream only to be crushed by reality doesn't that sound very "mob character"-like?
"It's alright, I guess. Most of what I have now was given to me by my family. Enough about me. I've told you so much; now it's your turn. Otherwise, I'm losing out. Why did you come here?"
"Uh... th-this... I came here because my family wanted me to." Himeragi Yukina's eyes unconsciously darted to the right, and she started stuttering. The "it's hard to talk about" feeling was practically written all over her face.
"Your family doesn't want you to talk about it?" Cid could see what was going on at a glance. He initially thought she was another kid sent by her family to join the social circles. Now it seemed there was more to it. But he'd pretend he didn't notice.
"Eh! Mmm-hmm."
"Okay, then tell me if you want to be a Peerage member or a King. I can give you some advice. I'm not bragging, but I do have some information channels in this school."
Cid really wasn't bragging about this. He had Aiba Asagi, his information tool. Very little information in the whole school could be hidden from him.
Since this time it was his fault, he'd help Himeragi Yukina out whether she wanted to be a Peerage member or a King.
"Peerage? King? What's that?"
Just as Cid was feeling confident, Himeragi Yukina's words hit him like a blow to the head. He stumbled and almost fell.
"You don't know?"
"S-should I know?"
After steadying himself, Cid turned to look at Himeragi Yukina. Seeing the pure confusion in her eyes, Cid was sure that Himeragi Yukina really had no idea why her family sent her to Saikai, this semi-noble school.
"You can think of Peerage and King like the marriage alliances I just talked about. The King is the side with the better family status. Peerage is just a different name for marrying in, but instead of family status, it's based on personal strength. After all, this world still respects strength. Without strength, no matter how big your reputation is, you're not worthy of your position. So, your family didn't even tell you this and just sent you here?"
"Th-this, this..." Himeragi Yukina's cheeks turned completely red, and her gaze darted left and right.
….
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