34 - Not Your Son, But Your Father
Chapter 34
I sat on another empty chair, leaving Rigen no choice but to sit next to Edith.
Only then did Rigen settle into the seat that he had thought was too much for him and hadn't dared to covet.
The Head Maid gave Rigen custard pudding, strawberry jelly, snow-white bread with the crusts removed, various kinds of jam, and warm milk.
Overall, it was focused on sweet things, and coffee was placed in front of me.
Rigen exclaimed every time the Head Maid set the table.
"It's jam, Father!"
"……."
"This is jelly!"
His excited appearance was just like an eight-year-old boy.
Not bad.
I felt good because the plan to prevent the male lead from running away seemed to be working well.
Winning him over as a stepmother, blocking Gilbert's violent behavior, and letting him see Edith's face a lot. With this, he won't think about running away and awakening the Magical Beast, right?
The excited eight-year-old boy poured out the words he hadn't been able to say to Edith without a break. The main topics were extremely trivial.
How hard he was studying, how far he had progressed in class, and how he was worried because it was expected to snow all night, and so on.
He also said that Maximus caught mice well, so the Head Maid cherished him.
Whether Edith answered or not, Rigen seemed to be the happiest person in the world just by him looking at him.
But after 30 minutes, the Head Maid carefully called Rigen.
"Young Master, you must prepare for your next class now."
Rigen nodded and got up.
Unexpectedly, Rigen greeted me first.
"Grand Duchess, thank you so much for inviting me today."
"I'm the one who's grateful for your company."
Rigen, who had been looking up at me with sparkling eyes, then greeted Edith and left. The Head Maid followed behind.
Now, only Edith and I were in the room.
I said to Edith, who hadn't touched the food, "I think the Young Master has come to like me."
Suddenly, Edith coughed.
"What did you just say?"
"Why do you have that look on your face like you heard nonsense? Didn't you see that the Young Master opened up to me?"
Especially at the end, he looked at me with incredibly sparkling eyes. Not Edith, but me.
"My eyesight is a little bad."
However, Edith denied reality and even changed the subject.
"Did you hear the explanation from Rigen?"
Now that Rigen was gone, I poured a lot of milk into the coffee I had only been savoring the aroma of and replied.
"If you're talking about the explanation that the Spirit sealed by the first Grand Duke is unintentionally dedicating itself to the Calakis family, then I heard it. It has to be on a night when the moon is covered, so I was thinking of going tonight. Will you come with me?"
The next thing was chocolate chips. Edith watched me diligently adding toppings to my coffee.
The blue eyes were languidly relaxed.
"Should I say that I'm extremely grateful that you never forget to take care of me whenever you go out?"
I felt strange at the positive answer.
"Edith."
"Yes, Eve."
"If I said I wanted to see the territory, would you be willing to accompany me then too, like now?"
Visiting the territory was something that had to be done eventually. It would be my new home, so it would be difficult if I didn't carefully observe it when the opportunity arose.
The Esmeralda territory was quite vast, so even if I only visited the major cities, it would take a good two weeks. I also had to keep climate change in mind, and I had to take measures to prevent Gilbert from running rampant while I was away.
"The accompaniment itself is not difficult. However, I'm curious about what role the Grand Duchess wants from me."
"Escort."
"……."
"Backing."
"……."
"Hair styling?"I made a flower base with both hands, rested my chin on it, and threw out whatever came to mind, and Edith became serious."
"Grand Duchess, you should return to your room now. I have work to do too."
Instead of getting up, I made a pitiful expression.
"Is my presence getting in the way of your work?"
"……."
There was no immediate answer.
It wasn't that he was really trying to kick me out because he had work to do, but purely because he was being playfully sulky.
"In this strange land, you're the only person I can play with, no, rely on, Edith……."
"Grand Duchess, are you bored?"
Yeah. I'm very free.
I nodded enthusiastically.
There were some annoying aspects, but Cyclamen Castle had at least a minimal system in place.
There was no need to forcibly interfere without knowing the inside story right away.
I was still a little tired from the trip.
But if I went for a walk, snow would be pouring down outside.
Going to the bell tower in the evening was a matter of life and death, so a walk was a real luxury.
I squinted my eyes, listening to the crackling sound of the burning firewood.
"I'm bored. Entertain me."
I had raised the stepson's favorability, so now it was the husband's turn.
* * *
Edith quietly watched the Grand Duchess.
The Grand Duchess, who had hair that seemed to be filled with flower water and moonlight, was stretching without any tension.
Her gaze stayed on a vase containing flowers that only bloomed in the North.
He could hear her regular heartbeat and even breathing. She didn't seem to mind being in a confined space with him.
Was it because of the Magical Beast's blood?
Or was it because she was really sure that he wouldn't hurt her?
Long ago, Magical Beasts were called demons. The blood they gave directly with intention was special. The Magical Beasts knew this well, so there were no cases where contracts involving blood ended smoothly.
But the Magical Beast that contracted with Maybia offered her absolutely favorable conditions.
Even if she violated the terms of the contract, the price she would pay was not death but temporary pain.
Of course, even that would be terrible, but how could it compare to having one's body torn to pieces and one's soul stolen?
One could maintain reason even during the process of drawing blood, and there was also compassion for humans. How many such Magical Beasts could there be in the world?
"Edith, what's the name of this flower?"
She called his name so affectionately.
Completely unaware of the fact that a weak if weak, strong if strong, restriction was placed on it.
Maybe even if she found out, she wouldn't show any special reaction.
Maybia was the type of person who would take the fact that the chef was good at cooking dishes with onions as more of a shock.
"The blue and white is just like you."
Now she was comparing him to a flower. She said things that people who had known him for a long time would foam at the mouth and collapse over without batting an eye.
"……I don't know. The name."
"Is that so?"
Maybia smelled the flower without looking either expectant or disappointed.
Feeling strange for some reason, Edith turned his gaze away from her.
He was curious about what thoughts were filling her head, but he also felt a sense of rejection that he didn't want to intrude unless he was determined to go deep.
Marrying the Grand Duke of Calakis would not have been the best choice she could have made.
Maybia had received countless proposals in the capital. The documents delivered to him also had a list of suitors densely written on them.
Even the prince, who had been curious about the rumor that she was a heinously beautiful woman, had fallen for her. The prince had guaranteed that he would get rid of the marriage contract made by their predecessors, even if he had to hire the Great Sage of the Magic Tower.
The method would have worked, even though it would have cost a lot of money and time.
But she specifically pointed him out.
"I'll find out."
Edith specifically answered that he would find out the answer to a question that could be solved by asking the maid waiting right outside the door.
Maybia smiled lightly and refreshingly like the spring sunshine.
"Don't overdo it."
He intended to continue overdoing it for the time being.
Even if it was just to confirm whether she was really the person he had been waiting for.
* * *
The sky was black and the ground was pure white itself.
The world dyed in achromatic colors felt unfamiliar.
If I had arrived in the North just one day later, I would have been buried under this snow and died. I'm 100 percent sure.
Hoo, will I be able to come back alive?
I put on my coat tightly, put on my boots, and looked back at Edith. Even in the hesitating moment, the blizzard showed no signs of stopping.
"Let's get it over with quickly."
As I said confidently and nodded, the door opened.
Before the gap could even widen clearly, a biting gale and snow blew in.
C-cold!
My body temperature dropped in an instant. I said with lips trembling from the sudden cold.
"I, I set the wrong date. When the weather gets a little, warmer, let's go. In about 100 years."
I realized the greatness of magic anew. The temperature maintenance magic cast on the entire castle was more than enough to make me contemplate the scenery outside the window.
As if he knew that I, who hadn't let go of my lap blanket even inside the castle, which was like heaven compared to the outside, would be like this, Edith said calmly.
"It's only a 5-minute distance from here to the First Bell Tower. Isn't it too early for the Grand Duchess, who also has to see the territory, to give up already?"
Hell was unfolding through the slightly opened door.
Now my whole body was trembling.
"C-carriage, c-call for one. Ah, no. You can use Teleportation magic, right?"
"Then I'll go ahead, Grand Duchess."
With those hateful words, Edith really disappeared from my sight in an instant.
Traitor!
