95 - The Bride of the Great Lord is a Warrior from Hell
The Grand Duke's Bride is a Warrior from Hell 95
The place Alisha had considered going after eliminating the West Allic administrator in Hell.
What was going on with Hell's defenses?
She had questions, but no one to ask.
Alisha herself knew Hell better than anyone in the world.
"Haa..."
Right now, Alisha was overflowing with energy.
It was a natural result of absorbing such a large Magic Stone.
To compare, it felt like she had become stronger absorbing the Magic Stone from the Lord of West Allic in Hell than when she absorbed the Magic Stone offered by the Lord of East Noah on the ground.
"I shouldn't have eaten that."
Alisha had definitely given it to Reikart.
But the Magic Stone's power had seeped into Alisha against her will.
Alisha looked at the letter she had set aside and sighed deeply.
It was a letter from Anne.
Anne was informing her friend about the situation with the Brenel family in the guise of sending her regards.
"Everything's going well..."
Marquis Manners' family had provided Cynthia with three matchmaking opportunities.
All three ended with the prospective groom vomiting violently.
This incident caused the Brenel family's reputation to plummet.
Rumors openly circulated that they were an untrustworthy family.
Brenel was rapidly losing business partners.
Social interactions were also being cut off.
The Marquis Manners family was also gradually reducing contact with Brenel.
The prospective grooms protested, questioning whether there was a problem with the food provided by Brenel.
For the young nobles, vomiting during tea time with a lady was more horrifying than being poisoned.
The families of the prospective grooms suspected that Viscount Brenel had used drugs.
However, tests revealed no poison.
This made Brenel even more aggrieved, and the prospective grooms and society grew more suspicious.
From Alisha's perspective, it was fortunate.
All three men who met Cynthia had adverse reactions to 'Ronan Powder.'
Ronan Powder was a product that would become a huge hit a few years later, used to quickly make ice.
If you put Ronan Powder in water and left it in a shady, cool place, ice would form, and it was called a miracle powder at the time.
However, some people who ate ice made with Ronan Powder experienced vomiting and dehydration.
Cynthia's three men were, fortunately, people who reacted adversely to Ronan Powder.
The symptoms were even more severe because it was in an unfinished state, compared to the refined Ronan Powder that would be sold later.
After being cleared of using poison, Brenel began to threaten the Marquis Manners family instead.
They even threatened to accuse the Marquis Manners family in connection with Marquis Rein's accident.
Brenel was spouting nonsense, claiming they could get away with saying they were used by the Marquis Manners family and the Miller family of heretics.
"Everything's going well."
There was no way the Marquis Manners family would just stand by and watch Brenel's threats.
Alisha had already instructed Judith to pay more attention to Anne's protection.
"Everything..."
Everything was going smoothly.
Brenel was scheduled to be dealt with by the enemy soon.
Alisha's condition was optimal.
She was more energetic than ever, but Alisha felt a little like crying.
Everything was going so well, but she had eaten the precious Magic Stone.
She had cleanly absorbed everything that a sick person should have eaten, without leaving a single piece.
"I shouldn't have eaten that."
Alisha repeated the words she had said, looking like she was about to cry.
Reikart was reading a book.
He was feeling skeptical about this reading.
He had started reading after dinner.
He squeezed his concentration to barely read two lines, looked around, and swallowed.
He kept repeating the process of looking at two or three words and then doing something else.
His gaze kept scattering here and there.
His attention was directed to irrelevant things.
Eventually, Reikart left the study and headed to the tea room.
There was someone already there.
The protagonist who had eliminated the mysterious white castle two days ago, a feat that could be called the long-cherished desire of everyone in Tessen.
Alisha was looking at a letter from a friend with a vacant expression.
The official name of the white castle in the western forest of Tessen was 'East Noah.'
It was Alisha who had told him that.
The face that told him something he would never have known was blank.
There was no sense of pride or boasting.
East Noah in Tessen was sealed by Alisha and Reikart.
They could tell it was sealed because no new monsters appeared anymore.
And from that moment on, Alisha had become gloomy.
She seemed to have received a big shock.
Her listless face spread a sense of guilt every time Reikart saw her.
Reikart felt sorry for the powerless Alisha.
But on the other hand, there was a pleasure in watching her gloomy, apologetic face.
Alisha's appearance, spreading a guilty air for taking someone else's good fortune, gave the impression of invisible ears and a tail drooping down.
She had that face even now.
Alisha saw Reikart appear in the tea room and looked like she had committed a great sin.
"Were you here?"
Reikart sat down in front of Alisha and spoke.
"Yes."
Alisha flinched slightly when their eyes met.
The vacant expression slowly spread into gloominess.
Reikart didn't think Alisha had any health problems or was sick.
Rather, she looked more energetic than usual, except for the frequent zoning out.
So he could steal glances at her gloomy face without guilt before turning away.
"It's not easy to exchange letters in Tessen."
"It's okay."
"What letter is it?"
Reikart asked an appropriate question and poured tea into a teacup.
Alisha folded the letter she was looking at and pushed it aside.
"There seems to be some trouble with the Brenel family."
Alisha replied casually, carefully observing Reikart.
At the same time, she moved a little closer to him.
"That's too bad."
Reikart drank his tea and moved his body to the side as much as Alisha approached.
It was a smooth and graceful movement.
"..."
Alisha saw that clearly.
"..."
Reikart indifferently let the purple eyes staring at him pass by and moved his body a little further.
It was a clear gesture of avoidance.
"Ray."
"Yes."
Alisha abandoned her gloominess and looked at Reikart with a serious face.
Reikart pretended not to notice the gaze stabbing at him.
"You're avoiding me now, aren't you? It's the Lua Cycle, are you okay?"
Alisha, who was about to argue, stopped and checked what was important first.
"I'm fine."
Reikart replied and openly avoided Alisha, who was about to approach this time.
Alisha looked upset.
The relationship between Alisha and Reikart was ambiguous.
Officially, they were engaged.
Reikart had confessed to Alisha countless times that he liked her.
Alisha hadn't said she liked him, but she had confessed that she felt the same way.
Both Reikart and Alisha were busy people.
They were always caught up in complicated incidents and work, so they had no time to spare.
As a result, they became close rapidly, but they were soon estranged because they were separated by their respective work.
Reikart liked Alisha.
But he said he didn't like marriage, and he had declared several times that marriage was not an option.
Alisha was ready to hit Reikart at any time.
Reikart regretted coming here for no reason.
It was nice to come and see something cute, but this was a dangerous place now.
He put down his teacup and stood up.
"Alisha."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Reikart burst out laughing at the stiff title.
He was not hurt by his fiancée's cold attitude.
"Let's keep some distance when we're together."
Reikart said seriously.
"..."
Alisha didn't react for a moment.
Her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly, then twisted violently, and slowly returned to their original shape.
Her purple eyes stared intently at Reikart.
Reikart suffered from severe pain during certain periods.
When he touched Alisha at that time, the pain disappeared.
According to the existing rules, Reikart should be going through a period of pain now.
But he was suggesting to Alisha that they keep their distance.
Is it because I ate all the Magic Stone?
Alisha barely managed to hold back the childish words that Reikart wouldn't understand.
Reikart seriously watched Alisha's face, which changed expression every moment.
The discomfort he felt grew as Alisha's heart pounded and her emotions rose and fell violently.
"Um, Alisha."
"Yes."
"It will sound unpleasant, disgusting, and dirty, but I think it's better to tell you honestly."
Reikart said more seriously than ever.
He showed the most polite attitude he could towards Alisha's face, which was difficult to understand what she was thinking.
"...Yes?"
Reikart regretted not saying it from the beginning when he saw Alisha panicking.
"You smell very delicious."
His face full of anguish confessed and swallowed a sigh.
Alisha slowly closed and opened her eyes.
She heard the sound with her ears, but the meaning of the words didn't hit her head all at once.
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't come here with impure thoughts. I should have said it in advance, but I couldn't say it because it seemed like it would sound unclean no matter how I said it."
Reikart said seriously.
"I smell...?"
Alisha was flustered and brought the back of her hand to her nose to smell it.
"Yes."
Reikart took another step back.
"You smell very, incredibly delicious."
A voice full of self-reproach said firmly.
He seemed to be immersed in self-loathing.
"Ray."
When Alisha tried to move, Reikart said in a stern voice.
"Don't come closer. Stay there. Actually, I was going to say it since the day before yesterday. It's true. But I liked your apologetic and gloomy face, as if you had taken my things. It was pitiful, but cute and good. Because there's usually no need to take care of or look after you. So I missed the right time to say it."
What Reikart was saying was arbitrary.
"Explain it in a way that's easy to understand..."
Alisha didn't understand well.
Reikart suddenly said they should keep their distance.
He was very sorry and disgusted with himself, and he said that Alisha smelled delicious.
Am I some kind of pancake?
It's not a good smell, but what's a delicious smell?
Reikart was very embarrassed with a stiff face.
He regretted saying whatever came to mind.
"Alisha. Since the day before yesterday, I haven't felt any pain at all, even if Alisha is just next to me. It seems to be like that since the light from East Noah permeated Alisha."
"Yes? You don't have any pain?"
"So don't come closer."
Reikart gave up on explaining further.
He quickly turned around.
"Why, why?"
Alisha forgot her apology and tried to follow Reikart.
"Because you smell incredibly delicious."
Reikart said firmly and left the tea room.
Incredibly delicious smell.
To be exact, it was a fragrance reminiscent of fresh and sweet fruits or flowers.
But the moment he smelled the fragrance, the impression that it was delicious came to mind first.
Reikart now knew that the pain, like a punishment inflicted on him, disappeared even if Alisha was just by his side.
Lua was in the sky.
He had come to Tessen, but the reason he had no pain was because he had kissed Alisha before.
Reikart guessed that it was probably like that.
And now, it wasn't just that he didn't hurt even if Alisha was next to him, but he was full of energy.
Reikart couldn't tell Alisha everything.
"..."
Currently, he had returned to his room.
He had opened the book and closed it right away.
He was not in a state where he could perform the high-level act of reading letters.
He realized earlier that it was a useless act.
Reikart threw himself on the bed like a loafer and then sat up again.
He was sitting in his room.
But since the day before yesterday, he could know where Alisha was even when sitting in his room.
"Am I crazy?"
Reikart buried his face in his hands and rubbed his hot face with his hands as if he was washing his face.
Even in the midst of that, he continued to sense where Alisha was.