Chapter 55.2

“It must have been chaotic, but please rest for a while. I will bring some tea.”

Orpé turned around behind Erna, who had returned to her office. She hurriedly said to Orpé, who was about to leave, “Please make it warm.”

“Are you cold?”

“Yeah, it’s strange I feel chilly.”

Erna hugged herself as she sat on the sofa. A calm silence fell in the room after Orpé went out with a nervous look on her face.

Erna fell deep into thought. After having seen the marquis’s condition, she didn’t think he would be able to work right away even if he got better. On top of that, Haband, who deliberately sent the delegates to take Hessenguard’s things, could not wait more than a month. I said that I want to contact the main palace.

Those believed to have been planted by the king had asked Erna to return the weapons to the knights who would be sent to Haband and place Hessenguard knights at the border.

They think better than the marquis. Erna watched their eyes move about busily. Perhaps they were madly writing a letter to send to King Haband by now. They must have filled it as much as possible with what they had seen and heard here. And it seemed that they would also check the capabilities of Hessenguard’s knights.

It will take about a week to go, and even if the royal family decides on a new envoy as soon as possible, it will take two weeks. And returning will take about another week.

Seeing Marquis Canavan’s state, the delegates would also calmly wait for the new man to come. Then, for at least a month, the Grand Castle would be quiet again, if not as much as it used to be.

I must hurry. Erna hugged her body, which felt even colder, as she recalled what she had to do. She needed to have the baby as soon as possible.

“Oh…”

She felt a heavy dull pain from below that she had forgotten about due to the chaos. Hugging the soft cushion, she lay herself down on the sofa again. She used to lie down often, but recently, she often lied down here as if it were a bed. This, of course, was because of Kalion.

Last night, it was Kalion who had been doing it like crazy. Erna thought that it wasn’t a bad thing. Was it better than being uncooperative? If Kalion had negotiated with Aether and promised to remain the same and if she had refused to go to bed with him, Erna would have been the only one to disappear from Hessenguard.

However, she did not neglect her promise to sleep together, as Kalion had not negotiated with Aether. No, it was a problem because he was too eager. Anyway, he had decided to join hands with Erna in this matter.

If so, I too should be diligent. Erna, however, didn’t know what part of ‘sleeping together’ she had to be diligent at. Kalion was always the one moving, so should she do something differently?

However, when Kalion came inside, she couldn’t get herself together. On top of that, he pushed her like crazy. Then, Erna, who was wondering if she had to move while Kalion was motionless, jumped up in surprise at the thought.

“I guess I’m also crazy.”

How did she come up with these thoughts? Right when she blushed and felt embarrassed about herself, Orpé came in with tea. Seeing Erna’s bright red cheeks, she quickly set down the tea set, took a blanket from the corner of the office, and placed it over Erna’s lap.

“It seems your condition is worse than I thought. I think it will be better for you to take a break from work today.”

Erna, who was about to tell her that that was not possible, only nodded. Strangely, her body was acting up pretty badly today. It felt like a fever was coming on, and she kept getting the shivers. These were not normal symptoms of pregnancy. It hasn’t been that long since the last time she slept with Kalion; plus, there was no way the symptoms would appear this quickly.

“But I feel like I haven’t done many lectures these days.”

Erna thought about the magicians she was teaching.

“Right now you have to rest. They’re all struggling with the last assignment you gave them. I don’t think they’ve understood even half of it.”

“Was my explanation that bad?”

Erna’s shoulders drooped. The magician who taught her in the past–when she hadn’t a single clue about magic–had done such a good job from the beginning. Thanks to that, she didn’t struggle in class and was able to absorb basic knowledge.

“Umm, it’s not that you can’t teach well, but it’s still hard for the wizards…”

Looking at a depressed Erna, Orpé thought about how she should improve her explaining skills.

There was indeed a problem in the way Erna explained in class. She felt frighteningly unusual about magic. Because she used to not understand where ordinary wizards had difficulties.

When Erna asked “It’s easy, right?” after doing a simple magic that everyone thought was difficult, they had no choice but to crack a fake smile and answer yes.

“That’s the same as saying they can’t do it.”

As Erna’s voice grew fainter, Orpé deliberately said in a bright voice, “How are they supposed to learn the same way you did? I guess the number of wizards has increased, so you need to teach according to their understanding. Why don’t you find a new wizard like you said last time? That way, you’ll be relieved on days when you are not feeling well or when you’re outside the Grand Castle.”

“…should I?”

“Yes. I’ll look into it as well.”

“All right. I’ll leave you to that.”

Erna nodded as she took a sip of the tea Orpé had brought in. Still, her body felt chilly.

***

As soon as Kalion returned, he hurriedly washed and headed to the couple’s bedroom.

He had also gone to see Marquis Canavan earlier today. Seeing the state that he was in–his face so swollen he couldn’t move–Kalion thought that the marquis was a lucky man. Because if he acted like he had this morning one more time, he really would have had to take care of it somehow.

When he entered the couple’s bedroom, saying that they should finish talking about Marquis Canavan, he saw Erna curled up on the bed sleeping.

Kalion’s walking became cautious all of a sudden. Approaching closer to the bed, he carefully sat next to Erna so that she would not wake up. Had she been that tired? Erna fell into a deep sleep with no signs of waking up even though he sat next to her.

Then, Kalion saw her slightly opened lips. Staring at her red lips, he realized something: Never once has his lips been planted on hers.