Chapter 46
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Chapter 46
That's right.
Dale and I were newlyweds now.
"I've been considering using one bedroom for sleeping, another room solely for books as a study, and the third as a nursery for the two children we'll have someday."
"Pfft!!!"
The apple I'd been eating flew from my mouth in an instant.
"Cough, cough!"
"Are you alright, my lady?"
Madam Marie patted my back in alarm.
"Is something the matter?"
"Ah. No, I'm fine. Cough."
A nursery—I hadn't even considered that. A nursery?
'For Dale and me?'
I tapped my head and reconsidered.
Most newlywed couples would probably prepare one, but we were a contractual couple.
'This is like that baby-blessing brooch of Sophia's all over again.'
A chill ran down my spine at the inexplicable sense of déjà vu.
"But don't you think a nursery is a bit premature right now?"
"Is that so?"
Madam Marie smiled thoughtfully.
"Now that I think about it, you and the master are currently using separate bedrooms, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"Does that mean you intend to maintain separate rooms going forward?"
"Yes."
Crunch, crunch.
Only the sound of apple-chewing echoed through the suddenly quiet living room.
When I glanced to the side, Madam Marie tilted her head as if she'd misheard.
Ah, that's right.
"Yes~ I almost said that—? Haha. It would be better to have just one bedroom, wouldn't it?"
"Of course."
Madam Marie finally nodded with a pleased expression, as if we'd finally understood each other.
"Then perhaps we could connect the two rooms to create one large bedroom?"
"...Y-yes!"
I answered for now.
"Then the remaining room could serve as a multipurpose space, and we could also set aside a small corner for the two children you'll have in the future."
"Wow..."
I nodded stiffly.
Madam Marie proceeded with practiced efficiency, as though she had already calculated everything beforehand.
"Wow, perfect."
"Then, madam, should I prepare the largest bed size?"
"Yes. But even in one bedroom, we should have two beds...."
"One bed should be sufficient, shouldn't it?"
"...Y-yes!"
An awkward laugh escaped through my nostrils.
With servants handling the housework—cleaning (99.9% Dale's doing), laundry (99.9% Dale's doing), meal preparation (99.5% Dale's doing)—life had become easier, but new complications had emerged.
'Dale will probably find the bed arrangement uncomfortable.'
He leaves in the morning and returns at night; sharing a bed with me might make it difficult for him to sleep well.
Dale slept quietly enough, but the real problem was me.
I rolled around the bed constantly.
Whoosh.
Just then, I noticed the wind howling outside the window. The sky grew increasingly overcast, and the snow fell fiercely.
"It's snowing quite heavily...."
The journey home would be treacherous.
Dale had left this morning as usual and still hadn't returned.
He seemed to be working harder to earn money for furniture.
'Kind, diligent, and supporting the household (?). What could Dale possibly be lacking?'
Would there even be one person as perfect as Dale if you searched the entire Continent?
"He should come home safely without catching a cold."
"That's what you're concerned about, isn't it, master?"
"Yes. He needs to return home safely, but the weather is so bad that I'm worried."
"You two are quite close. But there's no need to worry. The Emperor...."
Madam Marie froze mid-sentence.
I, who had been listening absently, suddenly felt something strange. Our eyes met, and she stared blankly into empty space.
Madam Marie's face had gone deathly pale.
"The Emperor?"
I heard it clearly with both ears.
"Did you just call Dale the Emperor?"
She definitely said Emperor.
I stared at Madam Marie quietly. No matter how I thought about it, she said Emperor.
Emperor?
Dale?
"...The Emperor!"
At that moment, Madam Marie cried out.
"The great Emperor! Because the roads throughout the Empire freeze, carriages cannot travel well, and merchants' routes are blocked, causing inconvenience to the entire nation, His Majesty was deeply troubled. Therefore, he specifically ordered the roads to be managed with care. His Majesty personally commissioned the Magic Tower Master to develop magical powder that melts frozen snow, and distributed it throughout the Empire each autumn in advance. So the Lord of Grunvalt must have certainly spread that powder all over the roads, which means you'll be just fine, master. You'll be absolutely fine."
Madam Marie spilled out her words in rapid-fire succession without pausing for breath.
I was even impressed by her speed—faster than a praying priest.
"M-Madam Marie. Breathe. Breathe first. Take a breath before you speak."
"Thank you, ma'am."
She gulped down the water I offered her.
"You certainly admire The Emperor greatly... You even know things most people wouldn't memorize?"
"I enjoy reading the newspapers."
Madam Marie answered immediately again.
"Reading the papers daily has broadened my knowledge, and I've come to hold deep faith in The Emperor. That is why I—"
"Alright, alright. Calm yourself. I've heard quite enough praise for The Emperor. It's snowing heavily, so you should head home, Madam Marie."
I soothed Madam Marie and urged her to leave for the day.
Since the house wasn't fully furnished yet, the servants didn't have much work to do anyway.
Madam Marie, who was always courteous and quiet, hurried home with an unusually pale complexion.
'Does she really praise The Emperor that much? She spoke incessantly, as if brainwashed.'
She possessed an oddly extensive knowledge of The Emperor, as though she'd received some remarkable education. Her devotion seemed particularly intense.
...Could Madam Marie be one of The Emperor's people?
Suspicion suddenly crept into my mind.
"Dale would have noticed, but I should investigate as well."
I decided to write down the list of servants and send it to Emma.
And while I'm at it... Dale too.
'I've asked The Lord several times to reduce Dale's workload, but his schedule hasn't changed. It seems Dale is doing something dangerous behind my back. I need to look into this.'
Not doing dangerous work was part of our contract. This wasn't a matter of privacy invasion—it was a breach of contract terms.
I sealed the letter.
Then I unfolded the reply I'd received from Emma not long ago.
[I couldn't find the illness you asked about last time. If your heart acts strange when you see someone, could it be that you've fallen in love? Kyaaaaa, Miss! Who on earth is it—]
Crunch.
I immediately tossed the letter into the fireplace and disposed of it. Then I stretched with all my might.
"Ahhhhh...!"
Having stayed indoors on such a cold day, my body felt stiff and sluggish.
I began organizing the belongings I'd scattered throughout the office one by one. Madam Marie and the other servants had taken care of the larger items, leaving me only to arrange a few personal effects.
Madam Marie had even organized my herbal medicine books by the color of their spines, creating a beautiful gradient.
'There really are peculiar people in this world.'
One advantage I'd gained from wandering across The Continent to escape The Emperor—it was the experience of meeting diverse people.
The world truly contained all manner of individuals.
"People who steal medicine without paying, people who sign promissory notes for medicine and never return, people who bring goods instead of payment and demand barter."
The talisman that emerged from my stored belongings was one such memento.
One of the villages where I'd stayed was located near a desolate forest, and there I'd been plagued by sleep paralysis with unusual frequency.
So I'd bartered with a man who introduced himself as a Necromancer, exchanging his talisman and medicine for some of my own.
"This was it."
I gazed at the strange characters written in red over yellow. That Necromancer had come from a distant land.
"Should I just throw it away?"
It was something I'd forgotten about anyway. There's no harm in discarding it now.
Whoosh—!
Crash!
"...Crash?"
That's when I heard something break. I'd only thrown the talisman, so why the sudden crash?
The sound had come from outside my door.
I opened the office door on the Second Floor and looked toward where the noise had come from.
A vase lay shattered.
...Suddenly?
"Ah, I must have left a window open!"
That must be it!
...But the window is closed.
"...."
Dark, pitch-black, desolate.
Since the furniture hadn't all arrived yet, the already spacious House seemed even more expansive.
Voices echoed hollowly, and the magical stone lighting hadn't been installed yet, leaving everything dim.
Perhaps I shouldn't have lit the candles.
The atmosphere was exactly the kind that made you expect a ghost to appear.
"...."
A ghost, perhaps.
A ghost, perhaps....
A gh... ost....
"Bah! Ghosts don't exist in this world. My imagination really is the problem...."
But why did that vase suddenly shatter on its own?
There wasn't even a breeze.
I shuffled backward, step by cautious step.
"Hmm~ When did Dale say he was coming? Haha~"
I stretched and closed the door behind me.
Click. Click-click.
I locked the door and shoved a chair against it, barricading it shut so it would never open.
Then I retrieved the talisman I'd thrown in the trash and cradled it reverently in my hands.
* * *
A flash of green light revealed a man whose attire clashed starkly with the peaceful atmosphere of Grunvalt.
Dale had completed his official schedule and immediately traveled to Grunvalt.
He had torn through magical scrolls so countless times that he'd lost count—it must have been in the hundreds by now.
There were moments when even he felt the strain.
'A blizzard is pouring down.'
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org