Chapter 69.2

The door opened with a click, revealing a fresh Kalion. Water trickled from his damp hair and spilled on the floor. Having washed his filthy body under warm water, his tense muscles were now relaxed. He plopped down onto the sofa while drying his hair with a towel.

It has been two days. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be a big difference between the time he’d spent in the ancient ruin and the current time.

When the two were being attacked by the demons, the campsite was also attacked. So even though the monsters heard the sounds, they couldn’t come to the couple immediately. Fortunately, most of the demons backed away from them, and only two came to the campsite.

Was it because they’d practiced on their way to and from each other’s training ground after the lake city? The wizards under Orpé’s command grabbed the demons trying to escape to the sky and pulled them down to the ground, and the knights swung their swords without hesitation.

What was so difficult to deal with when there were only knights had become a walk in the park with the help of the wizards.

Those who took care of the campsite headed to the place where a loud noise was heard. They didn’t have to worry about Erna and Kalion anyway. The one and only thing that worried them was the mood after those two left the campsite.

“Don’t tell me that was an explosion by Lord Kalion.”

Orpé didn’t reply to Cedric’s chuckling comment and avoided looking at him. She knew how scary and long Erna would last once she was angry. Even worse, she was a problem. Erna, with her strong self-pride, couldn’t have it let go quietly.

“Lord Kalion… exploded?”

“It could happen…”

When not only Orpé but all of the knights fake coughed as they looked away, Cedric’s face turned pale. His steps hastened toward the direction where the noise originated.

The explosion and shrieks from the demons had disappeared before they arrived. It was clear that the two had handled all that had remained. Or Erna may have handled Kalion with the demons.

Then, Kalion’s voice was heard from afar.

“Erna!”

And an ensuing short scream after a while.

After looking at each other, Orpé and Cedric rush to where the noise had come from.

“My Lord!”

“Lord Kalion!”

The place they’d run to, calling out to Kalion respectively, was a huge passage of the ancient ruin. Surprised for a moment by the size they were looking at for the first time, their steps were halted. But the passage quickly became smaller and soon disappeared. What was left was just a demon carcass rolling around.

***

The wizards and the knights have been searching for the royal couple, but right before Cedric and Orpé were about to go crazy, Erna and Kalion had appeared before them.

Cedric had asked Kalion questions about the ruins and the world that existed inside, but Kalion didn’t reply to a thing. His thoughts were a mess. As the fatigue from not having slept rushed in all at once, his temperature rose and his mind became blank.

Is Erna okay?

He thought about her being lifted by the maids placed on the bed. Meanwhile, Erna still couldn’t remember how she had gotten all the way to the Grand Castle. A few times, she muttered that she was hurt, specifically her lower abdomen.

At that moment, there was a word that went by in Kalion’s head: miscarriage. But Kalion shook his head no. Considering the days and the number of times he and Erna had slept together, it was too early to call it a miscarriage.

Kalion swiftly changed his clothes after clearing the thoughts in his head. He’d been told not to even think about coming close to her until he himself was already clean.

Kalion knew better than anyone else that he needed to rest, but he didn’t think he could rest with Erna in such a state like this. He intended to return to Erna’s room, but he heard someone knocking on the door.

“Lord Kalion, may I come in?”

It was the voice of the doctor who had given the orders to take him away earlier.

He clicked the door open.

“Erna!”

The doctor in front of the door looked at Kalion who seemed like he would run away right away, then looked around and asked in a tiny voice, “It is not right for me to say it here. May I come inside?”

“Come in.”

When the doctor entered, Kalion hurriedly shut the door. He felt something strange about her scanning the room, her appearing cautious. It was obvious that she’d come to report something about Erna’s condition. But if she had to be wary of others like this…

What kind of disease is it for her to be acting like this? Kalion gulped. His mouth was as dry as a desert. Don’t tell me it’s life-threatening, he thought. Was Erna able to stand up?

“I came because I think I should say something about Madam Erna’s condition,” the doctor began.

“…All right.” He tried to reply as calmly as possible, but his voice cracked badly.

“The reason she fainted like that is…” Sighing, the doctor answered with a grief-stricken face as if she understood Erna’s pain. “Menstrual cramps.”