"I didn't hear the details clearly, but I heard he was attacked and collapsed."
Orpheus said as she hurriedly followed Erna.
"Attack?"
How on earth did this happen?
'There is no one to attack the Marquis.'
There must be many who dislike the Marquis. Just how many times has he displayed such arrogant behavior in a single day? From the moment he was first greeted, he emerged from his carriage slowly, acting as if he were the superior. Furthermore, judging by Callion's account, it seems he even raised his hand at the attendants this morning. However, that was insufficient as a reason for an attack. If attendants were to attack a foreign delegation for such a reason, none of the delegations would have survived until now.
Even though Hessengard had a developed parliament and the boundaries between high and low social status were blurred compared to other countries, distinct class differences still existed here. A servant might feel sorrowful if slapped by a foreign Marquis, but no mad servant would seek revenge on the Marquis because of it.
'Then who is it?'
There were only two people here who had the right to be outraged by the Marquis's actions: Erna herself and Callion. Erna clenched her fist. At any moment, the two of them were about to become a target of suspicion.
As Erna appeared, Havand's delegation, standing in front of the room, bowed their heads. The angle, which was far from proper etiquette, explained the feelings they held toward Erna, but Erna had no intention of pointing that out at this moment.
As Erna entered, the doctor, who had just finished his consultation, bowed respectfully to Erna.
"How is the Marquis?"
“I am sorry, but...”
Erna squeezed her eyes shut at the doctor's words. Was he really dead? She had thought of him as someone she wanted to kill, but it would be troublesome if he really died. Just as her head was starting to spin over what to do next, the doctor spoke.
"He has regained consciousness, but it will be difficult for him to move comfortably. It looks like he will need to stay bedridden for at least a month."
Erna breathed a sigh of relief at the doctor's words. Fortunately, it seemed he hadn't died. However, she soon felt a surge of anger welling up inside her.
“Who on earth did this to me? Where is the culprit!”
This is the Grand Duke's castle. As the Grand Duke, she had to take responsibility for what happened here. She had to find out just who on earth had been acting so recklessly in this place.
Just then, the attendant standing beside the doctor took a step forward and politely extended his hand in front of Erna.
She asked where the culprit was, but she couldn't understand why the servant suddenly reached out his hand. Then the doctor answered on behalf of the servant.
"It is the culprit."
"What?"
"This is the culprit you were looking for."
The doctor pointed at the servant's hand. Only then did Erna look more closely at the hand the servant had extended. There was a black insect about the length of a little finger joint. Its lower body was flattened, as if it had been crushed to death by something, so it clearly looked like a type of bee.
“This is the culprit?”
Before she knew it, a dazed voice came out of Erna's mouth.
“That is correct. It is a type of venomous wasp called the Heon paper wasp, and it builds its nest during this season. Uniquely, it operates alone without a queen wasp, and only during the breeding season...”
“I don’t want to hear an explanation right now. Is this really the cause of the Marquis’s collapse? Did anyone see it?”
At those words, the doctor realized what Erna was worried about and replied.
"Of course. It is said that the delegation from Havand, not us, witnessed it."
The doctor answered, turning to look at the members of the delegation standing beside the bed. Erna's gaze also turned toward them. Whether the doctor's words were true or not, they bowed their heads to Erna with faces unable to hide their bewilderment.
"Did you see it with your own eyes?"
"That is correct."
"I would like you to explain the situation."
“After lunch, he told us to prepare a letter to send to Havand, and then sat at his desk to begin writing. Just then, refreshments arrived and were served to the Marquis; shortly afterward, a bee flew in through the window. It hovered unusually close to the Marquis, so he swung his hand to chase it away, but the bee suddenly latched onto his neck and stung him. The Marquis screamed, and by the time we rushed over in surprise, his neck had already begun to swell. So we hurriedly went outside to look for a local doctor, and fortunately, someone was there to help.”
At those words, when Erna asked with her eyes who it was, the doctor answered.
“This is Chairwoman Vanessa. She happened to be here to discuss the contents of Havand’s letter. Fortunately, thanks to her excellent first aid, we were able to overcome the critical situation.”
"I see."
Listening to their explanation, Erna approached the bedside to check on the Marquis's condition. Perhaps because he was so swollen that lying down would be dangerous for his esophagus and trachea, the Marquis was sitting on the bed, leaning against a large cushion. As Erna approached, his eyes, which were barely visible due to the swelling, darted around, making her wonder if he was conscious at all. But that was all. The Marquis was unable to even utter a sound, let alone greet her.
After seeing the Marquis's condition, Erna asked the doctor again.
“... Is he really okay? It’s swollen this badly.”
"His life is not in danger. However, it seems he will have difficulty moving until the swelling subsides."
At those words, Erna swallowed the thought, "That’s a good thing." She was already planning to send a secret letter to Havand to try to replace the envoy. But to think he had created a reason for them to withdraw on his own accord like this.
Of course, since it happened inside the Grand Duke's castle, she would send a letter apologizing for not being able to adequately escort the delegation to Havand, but Havand couldn't blame them for failing to manage the situation either. After all, it was truly an accidental incident.
"You must have been very busy, so please take a break for a moment. I'll go get the tea."
Orpheus turned around behind Erna as she returned to the office. Erna spoke to Orpheus, who was about to leave in a hurry.
"Please make something warm."
"Are you cold?"
“Yeah, I feel a strange chill.”
Erna sat on the sofa, rubbing her arm. As Orpheus left with a worried look on her face, quiet silence fell over the office again.
Erna was lost in thought. Judging by the Marquis's condition, it did not seem likely that he would be able to resume his duties immediately, even if he recovered. Moreover, there was no way that Havand, who had gone out of his way to send an envoy to take Hessengard's possessions, would simply wait idly for over a month.
'They said he wanted to contact his home country.'
Those believed to have been planted by the King demanded that Erna return the weapons to the knights to be sent to Havand and send knights of Hessengard to the border region, as they wanted to urgently contact Havand.
'They are smarter than the Marquis.'
Erna watched their eyes darting about. They were probably frantically writing a letter to King Havand by now. They must have filled it with as much as they had seen and heard here as possible. It also appeared they intended to assess the capabilities of the knights of Hessengard.
'It will take about a week to get there. Even if the royal court appoints a new envoy as quickly as possible, it will take two weeks. And it will take another week to return.'
With the Marquis of Carnarvon in such a state, the delegation would also quietly wait for a new one to arrive. If so, the Grand Duke's castle would be quiet again for at least a month, though perhaps not as much as before.
'I need to hurry.'
Erna hugged her body, feeling an even colder chill, and thought of what she had to do. She had to have a child. As soon as possible.
"Ah..."
A heavy, dull ache, which she had momentarily forgotten due to the chaos, was felt from below. Erna hugged a soft cushion and lay back down on the sofa. She used to lie down often, but recently, she had been lying there more frequently than ever, as if the place had become a bed. Naturally, it was because of Callion.
It was Callion who had been acting like a madman last night as well. She didn't think it was a bad thing. Wasn't it better than being uncooperative? If Callion had negotiated with the Ether and been promised that he would remain, and thus refused to go to bed, Erna would have been the only one to disappear from Hessengard.
However, Callion did not negotiate separately with Ether, nor did he neglect his promise to sleep with her. In fact, he was so zealous that it was a problem. In any case, he had decided to join hands with Erna regarding this matter.
'In that case, I should work hard too.'
However, she had no idea what on earth she was supposed to be working hard on in bed. It was always Callion who was moving, so was she supposed to do something different?
However, whenever Callion came inside, she couldn't possibly regain her composure. On top of that, he was driving her like a madman. Then, Erna, who was wondering if she should just let Callion stay still and move herself, was startled by her own thoughts and sprang to her feet.
"I must be crazy, too."
How could I now think of such a thing so casually? Just as she was blushing with embarrassment, Orpheus returned with tea. Seeing Erna blush, she quickly offered her the tea, brought a blanket from the corner of the office, and covered Erna's knees with it.
"It seems you are feeling worse than I thought. I think it would be best for you to take the day off work."
Erna, who was about to say that she couldn't, nodded instead. Strangely, she felt even worse than usual today. She felt like her fever was rising, and drowsiness kept overwhelming her. Naturally, these weren't signs of pregnancy. It hadn't been long since she had properly slept with Callion, and there was no way symptoms could appear this quickly.
But it feels like she's taking too many breaks from lectures these days.
Erna thought of the wizards she teaches.
"You need to rest a little sometimes. I bet everyone is struggling just with the assignment you gave us last time. It looks like about half of them still haven't properly understood it."
"Can't you explain it that well?"
Erna's shoulders slumped. The wizard who had taught her in the past had diligently taught Erna, who knew nothing, from the very beginning. Thanks to this, Erna was able to learn the basics of magic without much difficulty.
“Hmm, rather than saying they can’t do it, I’d say it’s still a bit difficult for us wizards...”
Orpheus pondered how to explain it to Erna, who was feeling downcast.
There was a problem with Erna's explanation. Erna was frighteningly brilliant when it came to magic. As a result, she often failed to understand where ordinary wizards struggled.
When Erna drew the magic formula that everyone else struggled with so easily and asked, "How is it? Easy, right?", they had no choice but to smile weakly and answer yes.
"That means you can't do it."
As Erna's voice grew quieter, Orpheus deliberately spoke in a cheerful voice.
“How can everyone learn the same thing? Now that the number of wizards has increased, we need to divide them according to their level of understanding, so why don’t we try recruiting a new wizard as you suggested last time? That way, we can rest assured even on days like today when Lady Erna is unwell or away from the Grand Duke’s castle.”
“...Maybe.”
"Yes, I will let Vanessa know first, but I will also look into it separately."
"Yes, then I'll leave it to you."
Erna nodded and took a sip of the tea Orpheus had brought. Still, the chill had not gone away.
As soon as Callion returned to his room, he hurriedly washed up and headed to the couple's bedroom.
He, too, had seen the Marquis of Carnarvon earlier in the day. Seeing him so swollen that he could barely move, he thought he was a lucky man. After all, he had been thinking that if he acted just one more time like he did this morning, he would really have to get rid of him somehow.
When he entered the couple's bedroom, saying he needed to finish talking to Erna about the Marquis of Carnarvon, he saw Erna curled up asleep on the bed.
“...”
Callion, who had been walking briskly, suddenly grew cautious. Approaching the bed, he sat down beside Erna carefully so as not to wake her. Was she tired? Even with him sitting beside her, Erna showed no signs of waking up and remained in a deep sleep.
Just then, Callion saw Erna's slightly parted lips. After gazing at the red lips for a moment, Callion finally realized.
The fact that he and Erna had never once kissed.
Orpheus said as she hurriedly followed Erna.
"Attack?"
How on earth did this happen?
'There is no one to attack the Marquis.'
There must be many who dislike the Marquis. Just how many times has he displayed such arrogant behavior in a single day? From the moment he was first greeted, he emerged from his carriage slowly, acting as if he were the superior. Furthermore, judging by Callion's account, it seems he even raised his hand at the attendants this morning. However, that was insufficient as a reason for an attack. If attendants were to attack a foreign delegation for such a reason, none of the delegations would have survived until now.
Even though Hessengard had a developed parliament and the boundaries between high and low social status were blurred compared to other countries, distinct class differences still existed here. A servant might feel sorrowful if slapped by a foreign Marquis, but no mad servant would seek revenge on the Marquis because of it.
'Then who is it?'
There were only two people here who had the right to be outraged by the Marquis's actions: Erna herself and Callion. Erna clenched her fist. At any moment, the two of them were about to become a target of suspicion.
As Erna appeared, Havand's delegation, standing in front of the room, bowed their heads. The angle, which was far from proper etiquette, explained the feelings they held toward Erna, but Erna had no intention of pointing that out at this moment.
As Erna entered, the doctor, who had just finished his consultation, bowed respectfully to Erna.
"How is the Marquis?"
“I am sorry, but...”
Erna squeezed her eyes shut at the doctor's words. Was he really dead? She had thought of him as someone she wanted to kill, but it would be troublesome if he really died. Just as her head was starting to spin over what to do next, the doctor spoke.
"He has regained consciousness, but it will be difficult for him to move comfortably. It looks like he will need to stay bedridden for at least a month."
Erna breathed a sigh of relief at the doctor's words. Fortunately, it seemed he hadn't died. However, she soon felt a surge of anger welling up inside her.
“Who on earth did this to me? Where is the culprit!”
This is the Grand Duke's castle. As the Grand Duke, she had to take responsibility for what happened here. She had to find out just who on earth had been acting so recklessly in this place.
Just then, the attendant standing beside the doctor took a step forward and politely extended his hand in front of Erna.
“What?”
"It is the culprit."
"What?"
"This is the culprit you were looking for."
The doctor pointed at the servant's hand. Only then did Erna look more closely at the hand the servant had extended. There was a black insect about the length of a little finger joint. Its lower body was flattened, as if it had been crushed to death by something, so it clearly looked like a type of bee.
“This is the culprit?”
Before she knew it, a dazed voice came out of Erna's mouth.
“That is correct. It is a type of venomous wasp called the Heon paper wasp, and it builds its nest during this season. Uniquely, it operates alone without a queen wasp, and only during the breeding season...”
“I don’t want to hear an explanation right now. Is this really the cause of the Marquis’s collapse? Did anyone see it?”
At those words, the doctor realized what Erna was worried about and replied.
"Of course. It is said that the delegation from Havand, not us, witnessed it."
The doctor answered, turning to look at the members of the delegation standing beside the bed. Erna's gaze also turned toward them. Whether the doctor's words were true or not, they bowed their heads to Erna with faces unable to hide their bewilderment.
"Did you see it with your own eyes?"
"That is correct."
"I would like you to explain the situation."
“After lunch, he told us to prepare a letter to send to Havand, and then sat at his desk to begin writing. Just then, refreshments arrived and were served to the Marquis; shortly afterward, a bee flew in through the window. It hovered unusually close to the Marquis, so he swung his hand to chase it away, but the bee suddenly latched onto his neck and stung him. The Marquis screamed, and by the time we rushed over in surprise, his neck had already begun to swell. So we hurriedly went outside to look for a local doctor, and fortunately, someone was there to help.”
At those words, when Erna asked with her eyes who it was, the doctor answered.
“This is Chairwoman Vanessa. She happened to be here to discuss the contents of Havand’s letter. Fortunately, thanks to her excellent first aid, we were able to overcome the critical situation.”
"I see."
Listening to their explanation, Erna approached the bedside to check on the Marquis's condition. Perhaps because he was so swollen that lying down would be dangerous for his esophagus and trachea, the Marquis was sitting on the bed, leaning against a large cushion. As Erna approached, his eyes, which were barely visible due to the swelling, darted around, making her wonder if he was conscious at all. But that was all. The Marquis was unable to even utter a sound, let alone greet her.
After seeing the Marquis's condition, Erna asked the doctor again.
“... Is he really okay? It’s swollen this badly.”
"His life is not in danger. However, it seems he will have difficulty moving until the swelling subsides."
At those words, Erna swallowed the thought, "That’s a good thing." She was already planning to send a secret letter to Havand to try to replace the envoy. But to think he had created a reason for them to withdraw on his own accord like this.
Of course, since it happened inside the Grand Duke's castle, she would send a letter apologizing for not being able to adequately escort the delegation to Havand, but Havand couldn't blame them for failing to manage the situation either. After all, it was truly an accidental incident.
***
"You must have been very busy, so please take a break for a moment. I'll go get the tea."
Orpheus turned around behind Erna as she returned to the office. Erna spoke to Orpheus, who was about to leave in a hurry.
"Please make something warm."
"Are you cold?"
“Yeah, I feel a strange chill.”
Erna sat on the sofa, rubbing her arm. As Orpheus left with a worried look on her face, quiet silence fell over the office again.
Erna was lost in thought. Judging by the Marquis's condition, it did not seem likely that he would be able to resume his duties immediately, even if he recovered. Moreover, there was no way that Havand, who had gone out of his way to send an envoy to take Hessengard's possessions, would simply wait idly for over a month.
'They said he wanted to contact his home country.'
Those believed to have been planted by the King demanded that Erna return the weapons to the knights to be sent to Havand and send knights of Hessengard to the border region, as they wanted to urgently contact Havand.
'They are smarter than the Marquis.'
Erna watched their eyes darting about. They were probably frantically writing a letter to King Havand by now. They must have filled it with as much as they had seen and heard here as possible. It also appeared they intended to assess the capabilities of the knights of Hessengard.
'It will take about a week to get there. Even if the royal court appoints a new envoy as quickly as possible, it will take two weeks. And it will take another week to return.'
With the Marquis of Carnarvon in such a state, the delegation would also quietly wait for a new one to arrive. If so, the Grand Duke's castle would be quiet again for at least a month, though perhaps not as much as before.
'I need to hurry.'
Erna hugged her body, feeling an even colder chill, and thought of what she had to do. She had to have a child. As soon as possible.
"Ah..."
A heavy, dull ache, which she had momentarily forgotten due to the chaos, was felt from below. Erna hugged a soft cushion and lay back down on the sofa. She used to lie down often, but recently, she had been lying there more frequently than ever, as if the place had become a bed. Naturally, it was because of Callion.
“I know you’re trying your best, though.”
However, Callion did not negotiate separately with Ether, nor did he neglect his promise to sleep with her. In fact, he was so zealous that it was a problem. In any case, he had decided to join hands with Erna regarding this matter.
'In that case, I should work hard too.'
However, she had no idea what on earth she was supposed to be working hard on in bed. It was always Callion who was moving, so was she supposed to do something different?
However, whenever Callion came inside, she couldn't possibly regain her composure. On top of that, he was driving her like a madman. Then, Erna, who was wondering if she should just let Callion stay still and move herself, was startled by her own thoughts and sprang to her feet.
"I must be crazy, too."
How could I now think of such a thing so casually? Just as she was blushing with embarrassment, Orpheus returned with tea. Seeing Erna blush, she quickly offered her the tea, brought a blanket from the corner of the office, and covered Erna's knees with it.
"It seems you are feeling worse than I thought. I think it would be best for you to take the day off work."
Erna, who was about to say that she couldn't, nodded instead. Strangely, she felt even worse than usual today. She felt like her fever was rising, and drowsiness kept overwhelming her. Naturally, these weren't signs of pregnancy. It hadn't been long since she had properly slept with Callion, and there was no way symptoms could appear this quickly.
But it feels like she's taking too many breaks from lectures these days.
Erna thought of the wizards she teaches.
"You need to rest a little sometimes. I bet everyone is struggling just with the assignment you gave us last time. It looks like about half of them still haven't properly understood it."
"Can't you explain it that well?"
Erna's shoulders slumped. The wizard who had taught her in the past had diligently taught Erna, who knew nothing, from the very beginning. Thanks to this, Erna was able to learn the basics of magic without much difficulty.
“Hmm, rather than saying they can’t do it, I’d say it’s still a bit difficult for us wizards...”
Orpheus pondered how to explain it to Erna, who was feeling downcast.
There was a problem with Erna's explanation. Erna was frighteningly brilliant when it came to magic. As a result, she often failed to understand where ordinary wizards struggled.
When Erna drew the magic formula that everyone else struggled with so easily and asked, "How is it? Easy, right?", they had no choice but to smile weakly and answer yes.
"That means you can't do it."
As Erna's voice grew quieter, Orpheus deliberately spoke in a cheerful voice.
“How can everyone learn the same thing? Now that the number of wizards has increased, we need to divide them according to their level of understanding, so why don’t we try recruiting a new wizard as you suggested last time? That way, we can rest assured even on days like today when Lady Erna is unwell or away from the Grand Duke’s castle.”
“...Maybe.”
"Yes, I will let Vanessa know first, but I will also look into it separately."
"Yes, then I'll leave it to you."
Erna nodded and took a sip of the tea Orpheus had brought. Still, the chill had not gone away.
***
As soon as Callion returned to his room, he hurriedly washed up and headed to the couple's bedroom.
He, too, had seen the Marquis of Carnarvon earlier in the day. Seeing him so swollen that he could barely move, he thought he was a lucky man. After all, he had been thinking that if he acted just one more time like he did this morning, he would really have to get rid of him somehow.
When he entered the couple's bedroom, saying he needed to finish talking to Erna about the Marquis of Carnarvon, he saw Erna curled up asleep on the bed.
“...”
Callion, who had been walking briskly, suddenly grew cautious. Approaching the bed, he sat down beside Erna carefully so as not to wake her. Was she tired? Even with him sitting beside her, Erna showed no signs of waking up and remained in a deep sleep.
Just then, Callion saw Erna's slightly parted lips. After gazing at the red lips for a moment, Callion finally realized.
The fact that he and Erna had never once kissed.
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