Fish Don't Know About Water - Chapter 48

“A m-magic potion…?”

A magic potion that his wife often drank? He had never seen her drink any potions.

“What is it u-used for?”

“Probably for recovery from fatigue?”

Cecilia shrugged, indicating she wasn’t sure.

“I heard it’s a magic potion with strong calming effects, but I don’t remember exactly.”

“A c-calming effect…”

“Drivers and airship pilots often drink it when they’re on night missions. But the funny thing is, even though Phenelity drinks more than those people, she just sleeps well.”

Night missions? That means it’s a stimulant to forcefully keep them awake.

He frowned, puzzled. He worried if the work of a nurse was so exhausting that she frequently needed a potion to stay alert.

Being in a place where life and death were on the line all day long required constant tension, but it was still concerning that she drank such an addictive potion often.

“If you need more, ask Phenelity to make some for you. The princess and I will drink this.”

“Cecilia. Are you sure this will sober me up? It feels like it’s making me more dazed…”

Rose had approached Cecilia and was sipping the magic potion.

“The effect is guaranteed. Although Phenelity has no magic power at all, she’s quite skilled at brewing magic potions because she took the course every year.”

“Right. Pepe is perfect at brewing magic potions too! How can she be so good at everything?”

“How can she be so good? If you just memorize the recipes and have delicate hands, the results are decent enough. That’s magic potion brewing, Princess.”

“Pepe was always good with her hands.”

Rose put her hands on her hips and shouted.

Yes, she was. Viett nodded, recalling Phenelity’s touch as she undressed him and caressed his body. Rose murmured with a face lost in ecstasy.

“What can’t she do? My Pepe…”

“M-my… what?”

Viett couldn’t hold back and turned to glare at his sister. Rose smirked at him, who hadn’t finished shaving.

“Why. Can’t I call her ‘my Pepe’? Just because you’re her husband now, does that mean the Little Lady is entirely yours? Go away, you’re annoying.”

“Y-you used to say you w-wanted me to m-marry Phenelity.”

“Me? When? Why would a perfect woman like Pepe want to marry you?”

Her blatant denial reminded him of their older brother’s annoying face. Rose would never admit it, but she and Minute were frighteningly alike.

Should I tease her by saying, ‘You look just like our brother with that face’? While he was contemplating,

“You said something interesting, Rose. Phenelity is perfect?”

Cecilia nudged Rose’s butt with her toe and joined the conversation.

“Try asking her to make you some tea later. She’ll show you the miracle of making rotten cigarette ash taste from perfectly fine tea leaves.”

“Her tea brewing skills are as terrible as Hughey Gallant’s. She’s not just like him in looks. Pepe should be called Little Hughey, not a psycho!”

“You’re impossible… Now I understand why His Majesty ordered you to abstain from alcohol among the three siblings.”

Cecilia sighed deeply and shook her head.

“And what? Hughey Gallant? Oh, that man…”

“What? Why are you sighing?”

“…Never mind!”

“Hey, why are you getting mad!”

Viett watched the women’s argument in the wall mirror as he finished shaving. He couldn’t take his eyes off them, worried that his younger sister might rush at the woman holding the heated iron. Fortunately, Rose, fuming with anger, stomped towards Viett.

“By the way, Vivi. After the war, you’re planning to live with Pepe in the Luck Duchy, right?”

“I-I’m thinking about it.”

“Then she’ll be the Duchess of Luck, not the young lady of the Count of Cochrun anymore…”

Rose scratched her messy hair and then rested her chin on his shoulder, standing on tiptoe.

“Did you know the Luck Duchy originally belonged to the Gallant family?”

She began to recount the history of the Luck Duchy without being asked.

The fact that after the disappearance of Hughey Gallant, the sole heir, his estate was absorbed into the state and incorporated into the Luck Duchy. The place, traditionally inherited by the second sons of the royal family, had fertile soil and an industrial complex on the outskirts.

Thanks to this, the taxes flowing into Viett’s bank vault were quite substantial, and it was widely regarded as too good an estate to be bestowed upon the royal family’s troublemaker.

“In other words, Hughey Gallant’s great legacy has become Pepe’s!”

“Strictly speaking, it’s not Phenelity’s.”

Cecilia corrected Rose with a chuckle.

“A wife doesn’t co-own her husband’s estate, right? Unless she bears an heir and gains ownership…”

Both his sister and his ex-fiancée turned their gazes to Viett simultaneously. He glanced at the two women reflected in the wall mirror and picked up a towel. As he wiped the white foam from his chin, he fell into thought.

An heir. If a prince were born between Minute and his sister-in-law, and a son were born between him and Phenelity… Viett’s son would be sidelined, forever treated as an eyesore and ignored by the royal family.

He didn’t want to hastily predict the future of a child who hadn’t even been born yet, but reflecting on his past, Viett couldn’t help but solidify his conviction.

But where on earth had Phenelity gone? Had she gone to the nurses’ quarters to fetch her things?

He put down the towel and looked around the first floor. Inside the utility room, the oak barrels used at yesterday’s party were lined up. The flowers that had filled the first floor the night before were now placed in water inside the barrels.

“Phenelity did that.”

Cecilia spoke to him, comfortably resting her feet on the table.

“She said she’d be sad if they wilted quickly, so she diligently put them in water. Then she left, saying to let the Commander sleep well, and fluttered away like a butterfly as usual.”

“D-did she s-say where she was g-going?”

“No. By the way, Your Highness, do you know where the Crown Prince is?”

“W-why do you ask about M-Minute’s whereabouts?”

“He disappeared halfway through the party yesterday and hasn’t returned since.”

Viett recalled the moment when the giant oak barrel had almost toppled over him. At that time, Hilias Law had tried to stop Minute.

“You’ve noticed it too, haven’t you? Yesterday’s incident was planned by the Crown Prince.”

Cecilia gave him a bitter smile as she watched him ponder.

“Such a childish person.”

Rose hiccupped and plopped down on the sofa.

“After you saved him, he repays kindness with malice? That was too much to be just a prank between brothers.”

“H-he probably… w-went back to his q-quarters, s-satisfied with having pra… pranked me.”

Viett turned away with an annoyed face and went into the laundry room.

When he emerged from the living room dressed in his well-ironed uniform, Cecilia greeted him by shaking something.

“But there were too many belongings left behind for that.”

He squinted at the items she was holding. They were Minute’s identification booklet and car keys.

“W-where did you f-find these?”

“On the lawn.”

Cecilia sighed deeply and tossed the booklet and keys onto the table. Rose snorted.

“Leave it. He’s probably rolling around with a nurse he met at the reception.”

“Oh my, spending the night with another woman when Princess Amilia is right there?”

“Well, Minute is…”

“S-stop it, Rose.”

Viett calmly cut off his sister’s words. Rose buried her back into the sofa with a disgruntled expression.

“Tsk. Always covering for him is why Minute turned out to be such a scoundrel.”

“By the way, I noticed Senior Law was also missing from the party midway… Where did they both disappear to?”

Cecilia murmured worriedly as she put down the cooled iron. Viett pressed his military cap onto his head and headed for the front door. As for Hilias Law, he didn’t care whether that guy was dead or alive.

“L-lock up properly when you l-leave, Rose.”

“Can’t I stay another night? I’m on vacation anyway.”

“I said g-get out.”

“Tsk.”

Leaving the two women behind, he stepped out of the house. Thanks to the Commander-in-Chief’s consideration, he had free time all morning. He had plenty of time to find his wife and spend it with her.

Should I start with the field hospital? He walked with a nonchalant face. Just then, trainees were jogging between the buildings.

Some who recognized his face offered mischievous congratulations. Viett waved them off half-heartedly and headed to the hospital.