Chapter 73: Chapter 73

Translator: Latte Editor: Sasha

The wound on his forehead was still red.

“I… accidentally rammed into a wall. Please don’t worry about it, Your Grace,” Heinz said, dripping in a nervous sweat.

He slammed his forehead to the ground so that the duchess would forgive him. But he could never say that to the duke, for it would lead to his demise.

‘I mean, the reason I apologized in the first place was because I cursed the madame behind her back!’

If Heinz told him the truth, there’s no guarantee that he would ever make it back alive.

“……”

On another side of the room, a gloomy Therion could be seen.

“Why did the princess have to leave?” Therion asked after being silent the whole time.

Caville’s eyes then turned to him.

“How could Your Grace send her away like that?” Therion’s added.

Hearing his atrocious words, Heinz gave Therion a death glare.

“I didn’t want to keep the emperor’s envoys in my residence for too long,” Caville answered coldly.

The knights, who did not like the Imperial Government nor the Temple, grinned in satisfaction at the refreshing answer.

‘That damn traitor!’

Therion hadn’t committed a major sin but not in Heinz’s eyes. If looks could kill, Therion’s would’ve died ten times over, just by his glare.

After wrapping that up, Caville paced back and forth in front of Elody’s lab.

‘How do I bring up the topic of sleeping together in the same room with her? How do I phrase it so that my wife doesn’t refuse?’

Fortunately, Caville was finally able to come up with a good idea after much consideration.

* * *

The next day, Elody woke up early in the morning, washed up, and left her chambers.

“Good morning, madame.”

Dame Solar was waiting for her as it was her first day as the duchess’s escort.

There was a hint of a gentle smile in her gaze as she greeted Marie, who stood beside Elody.

“From today onwards, I shall be your escort. I look forward to working with you, madame.”

“…Ah, yes. May I ask why you are here so early?”

“I’m hoping to match your schedule with mine. Will madame be going to the lab now?”

“Yes.”

Fortunately, Solar was able to escort Elody without any trouble.

Elody thought that she would feel uncomfortable if someone followed her everywhere she went. But surprisingly, she did not feel that way with Dame Solar at all.

It was probably because Dame Solar wasn’t as mischievous as she was when they were young.

* * *

After arriving at the lab, Elody quickly started doing her work.

First of all, she had upgraded the machine used to make red pills.

Because of the Elemental Crystals, Elody was able to use them to reduce the machine’s noises and increase the efficiency of the magic tools. It was a great outcome.

It was confirmed that with Ifrit alone, there would no longer be any need to purchase mana crystals.

‘What else can I do with these Elemental Crystals?’

Her curiosity as a scholar overcame her. Elody took out the sacred tools that the temple had left behind.

“I think I can make something like this….”

This divine magic tool was made by one of the high priests, and the material used was probably from a magical crystal.

There was a tight connection between divine power and complex magical formulas.

Elody did not think that pure mana obtained from nature was any less than divine power.

Instead, she thought that maybe the power of this mana created nature, might be stronger than divine power.

‘I need to look it up a little more in that book.’

Elody headed for the mansion, recalling the book she had found in Caville’s great-grandfather’s study.

Then, as she went down the stairs with various books from the study, she ran into Heinz who had a bright expression on his face.

“Madame…!” Heinz exclaimed.

“….!”

“Why is Sir Heinz approaching us?” Solar asked, puzzled.

She was confused as to why the knight looked so happy to see the duchess.

Elody shook her head, telling her that she didn’t know the reason as well.

Heinz approached the two with an awkward smile.

“Madame… I saw that you weren’t in the laboratory.”

“What’s going on, Sir Heinz?” Elody asked.

“I have something to tell the madame…. Will you please excuse us both Dame Solar?” Heinz spoke, looking at Solar.

“Unfortunately, I cannot. From today onwards, I have been appointed as the madame’s escort. So I must guard her at all times,” Dame Solar responded.

“Huh? Why did the duke choose you to be the duchess’s escort?”

“Why not? Do you have a better choice?”

“Well, I think I’m a good choice,” Heinz grinned at his words.

“…I think not. I mean, the lord has entrusted me with this position. Therefore, he trusts me more than you.”

Heinz’s eyes narrowed at Solar’s answer.

“Whatever… I need to have a word with the duchess, so please leave us be.”

“A word? With the madame? What could you possibly even talk to her about?”

As Dame Solar was unwilling to cooperate, Heinz shifted his gaze at Elody to plead for help.

“…Dame Solar, please give us a minute….”

“…Understood, madame.”

At Elody’s words, Solar sighed and went back a few steps.

Elody stared at Heinz anxiously, fearing that he would bang his forehead to the ground again.

The bruise on his forehead was still not healed.

‘He’s insane…’

“Madame, it’s about Sir Therion!”

“What about him?”

“It seems that he’s in love with Princess Larissa!”

“Huh?”

“I saw him drooling at her this morning! Plus, he kept saying Princess this, Princess that… That basta-! I mean Sir Therion is a traitor!”

“Ah, I see. But why would you…”

Then, Heinz got straight to the point.

“That guy stood up for the princess in front of the knights! He took her side! Not Your Grace’s!”

“….”

‘So what…’

Elody blinked and stared at Heinz.

“Aren’t you the same? Didn’t you take Her Highness’s side as well?”

“Yes?”

“You said it with your own mouth. You hated me… You wanted Her Highness and His Grace to get married.”

“That’s not….”

“Are you here to frame Sir Therion?” Elody asked while creasing her eyebrows.

Heinz was confused when hearing her response, and his mouth was left agape.

“That’s….”

Elody sighed and left.

Dame Solar quickly followed her.

As she glanced back, she noticed Heinz’s sullen expression. The other also maids passed by while groaning and avoided him.

“Madame, Sir Heinz can be a bit rude sometimes. But please understand. He’s a mercenary, so he hasn’t gotten the opportunity to learn about etiquette.”

“Is that so.”

‘Sir Therion likes Princess Larissa…’

Therion was quite popular among the maids because of his handsome appearance and well-manners.

Sir Heinz, on the other hand… was quite the opposite.

It seemed that the maids were scared of him as they avoided him every time.

However, Elody paid no mind to that and went back to the lab to continue on her research instead.

Then, as she read more books, she learned that elemental crystals were used to create ancient artifacts.

The brooch that belonged to the first Duke of Cernoir was also made of elemental crystal.

These days, artifacts were created by mages with simple magic.

But what Caville had was an ancient artifact. A rare artifact that contained ancient magic.

The Temple’s relics were also ancient artifacts.

Ancient artifacts were made by legendary mages that dealt with all spirits a long time ago.

Elody also began to study what the elemental crystals can do.

‘What if I combine these with the magic pills or some herbs?’

She would be able to make potions!

And maybe…

‘It might be possible to cure my illness completely.’

Elody’s heart leaped for joy.

* * *

After his morning duties, Caville took a break before having lunch with Elody.

He and his aide, Lewis, left the office and headed for the parlor on the first floor.

Along the way, Caville saw a bunch of maids gathered in one corner, muttering about something.

He approached them quietly and saw a piece of paper they were looking at.

“My lord!”

One of the maids was surprised when she saw Caville.

“Ah! We deeply apologize, my lord!” She said whilst bowing her head.

“What is that?”

Caville pointed to the paper.

Having no other choice, Marie carefully handed over the paper to him.

“……”

There were the knights’ names written on the paper. And they were written in order… like a popularity vote.

“What is this?”

“Umm… That’s… It’s just a joke between us. Please keep it a secret from the butler, my lord!”

If Norman ever finds out, he would scold them nonstop!

“Is this a popularity vote?”

“…Yes.”

Caville slowly looked through the rankings.

In first place was Therion. Solar and Ren were tied for second place, and Sir Heron, who was famous for his handsome looks, placed third on the list.

Unfortunately, Brien and Heinz weren’t even named at all.

Come to think of it, his wife really cared for the servants. Furthermore, the maids that she was close to were given so much care and attention that even Caville started to get jealous.

“……”

Suddenly, a good idea ran through Caville’s mind.

* * *

Elody headed to the mansion to have lunch with Caville.

Throughout lunch, Caville kept staring at Elody with a nervous expression. Unfortunately, his wife paid no mind to that, or rather, she did not notice it at all. She was far too busy thinking about the Salvation Herbal Tea.

‘Would I be able to find the remedy if I combine the stem of the Salvation Herb and elemental crystal together?’

If she finds the cure, she wouldn’t have to vomit blood anymore.

It was not that she had not made numerous medicines with the herbs. However, the leaves and stems of the Salvation Herb only showed positive results when consumed with tea. That was why it had side effects.

“Um, my wife.”

“Yes?”

“Look at this.”

Caville pulled out the paper he had hidden. It was the result of a popularity vote that he took from the maids earlier.

“It’s a ranking of the knights that the maids made according to their popularity. Oh, and they told me not to tell Norman.”

“Alright?”

Elody smiled and looked at the paper.

“Why is Lord Vedos’s name not here?”

“Of course not.”

“As expected, Sir Therion is number one…”

“…’As expected?’ What do you mean by that?”

Caville furrowed his eyebrows.

‘Does she really think that he deserves first place?!’

“Because he’s handsome.”

“……”

Caville tried to picture Therion’s face in his mind. However, he still couldn’t understand which part about his face was attractive.

‘Is Sir Therion my wife’s ideal type?!’

“Do you like Sir Therion, my wife?”

“What? Of course not.”

Caville stared closely at her expression to make sure that she wasn’t lying.

‘Well, she does look honest.’

“There’s something else that I wanted to talk about with you, my wife…”

“What is it?”

“It’s about the maids. They seem rather anxious these days…”

“What? Why?”

As expected, Elody was bewildered.

“Because we sleep in separate rooms, people still think that we might get a divorce… I’m afraid that others might spread false rumors about us.”