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It was the day after my arrival back home, and we were all sitting at the dining table for breakfast as my family had some small talk with the guest I brought along.

As far as that, everything was normal. The only abnormal thing was Emma, who had been stuck with me ever since dinner last night. The only place that I was free of her was when I was in the bathroom or changing, tho not for lack of trying on her part.

When I asked her what had gotten into her, she said, “Because I am your personal maid, and I will stick by your side!” she said with a determined face before blushing and looking down while mumbling something I did not catch, she may have said “Forever” but I may be wrong.

As much as I wanted to tell her that I wanted some space, her cute, determined face made me banish that thought. I had just come back after not seeing her for almost a year, and I was not about to reject her company.

So, this resulted in me allowing her to pamper me… even if it went to ridiculous degrees, the most public of this pampering started when she refused to let me feed myself and insisted on feeding me. When I rejected this at first, she started trembling as tears started welling up in her eyes.

This quickly made me change my decision, so she happily wiped away her tears and started feeding me while my friends and family snickered at my expense.

Wanting to get to the bottom of this, I had to ask someone while Emma was not around, and my chance came when Dad took Dave and Sam to the training yard to test their skill level before he made any decision to take them in as retainers.

Dad faced them one at a time and asked them to come at him with all they had; he was not only testing their skill but also their endurance, so this might take a while, the perfect time to setup a distraction.

While I was sitting beside Mum, watching Dave get toyed around by Dad, I asked Emma for some fresh juice, to which she happily nodded her head and scampered off to a nearby pantry to get some.

I then turned to Mum and asked, “Mum, what is going on with Emma? She has been stuck to me like glue ever since I got back.”

Mum chuckled as her eyes squinted in amusement, “Luke, sweety, is that any way to talk about your betrothed?”

“My what?!” I said as I almost strained my neck when I snapped my head in her direction.

“Oh? Do you not remember the letter you sent back saying that Emma was your betrothed? A man should not play with a maiden’s feelings. You should learn this now, women can be very spiteful if their affections are spurned.” Mum said teasingly.

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“That is not what the letter meant, and you know it!” I hissed under my breath.

Mum shrugged and said, “We could not help it. Emma is smart and diligent, but deceitful she is not. She cannot keep up a lie, so we did the next best thing, We discussed the situation with her parents and they agreed to betroth her to you, we are lucky the Castilene house did not follow up on investigating your claims. But I thought you liked Emma… Don’t you?”

“I…I don’t…” my first reaction, like any boy my physical age, being accused of liking a girl, tried to deny it, but as I caught myself thinking about the question, could I tell myself that I did not like Emma? If I was being truthful with myself, I could not. We have been with each other ever since we were in the crib, and from time to time, I even imagine us growing up together, and if possible, I would like to see that come to pass.

I mean, even socially speaking, coming from a newly minted Baron house that came from a common background like my dad, while it was socially expected that my family would try to marry me up to a family of higher noble standing, unlike Viscounts and above, it was not uncommon for new barons taking commoners as wives or concubines. So, even if I were to marry Emma in the future, there should be no issues.

I just nodded my head and admitted, “Yes… I like Emma.”

“Oh my… how bold.” Mum said while she was barely holding in laughter, but as I was about to ask her what was so funny, I noticed her gaze was slightly off-center from me, and when I turned around, there was Emma, holding a glass of juice with the biggest grin I have ever seen on her face, her eyes were staring at me, but were a little unfocused.

“Err… Hi Emma, how much of that did you hear?” I asked but did not get a response. After calling out to her a few more times and waving my hand in front of her to no response, Mum plucked the cup of juice out of her hand and passed it to me before walking Emma back inside indoors.

All I could do was bury my face in my hands.

By the time Dave and Sam were done being tested, it was close to lunchtime, and the two boys had to be dragged off the field by the servants on the count that Dad worked them over so hard that they could barely move.

He did not hit them, mind you, but he made sure that they kept moving until they gave out. When Dad came to the viewing area where I was, a butler was there to hand him a towel, “Son! You got some promising friends there, it is good that you got them early… whats wrong? You look like you have a lot on your mind… where is your mother by the way?”

“Mum had to take Emma inside after she heard me say I liked her… and I just found out about my betrothal.” I said flatly to Dad.

“Ah… that.” he said as he took a seat beside me and we stewed in silence for a while. “Son, I think it is time I gave you the talk, you see, when a daddy and mommy love each other very much-”

“Dad, I know what sex is and where babies come from.” I said, interrupting my father.

“Oh, come on, I had to rehearse that whole speech. I never had my father give me the talk before he died, and I am going to practice with you, whether you like it or not, so I can have it with your brother when he grows up.” Dad grumbled.

So I just stayed there and let him do his Dad thing, after that, he just patted me on the shoulder and said, “Good talk,” and went inside.

At lunchtime, I saw Emma again, still wearing her goofy smile, and this time, she let me eat on my own but one-handed, she had claimed my other hand in hers for the meal and the rest of the day.

The worst part was that I was unable to tell her to stop while she was wearing that bright smile of hers. All I could do was sigh, at least she was happy.