Chapter 6 – Change (Part 2)

After resting in her room for a while and finishing lunch, Elysia planned to check the remaining parts of the mansion to see which curtains needed replacing. However, Pedro stopped her.

“No, Madam. You must rest in your room today, as you haven’t fully recovered from the shock earlier.”

“Thank you for your concern, Butler Pedro, but I think I’ll feel more at ease if I finish my work quickly.”

“Madam, your legs are still trembling.” 

Millie, worried, thought Elysia was struggling due to the shock from touching the curtains.

“If I rest for something as minor as this, I wouldn’t be qualified to be the mistress of the Duke’s house. The Duke always gets up early and works late, so I want to diligently handle my responsibilities too.”

Though she was tired, dragging it out would only make her more mentally exhausted. It was already a ruined day, and she wanted to finish all the hard tasks today and rest properly without anyone bothering her.

However, even Grace, the head maid, sternly reprimanded her.

“The Duke has been trained since childhood to work in any situation. But Madam, you were raised delicately, weren’t you? Moreover, after marriage, you must consider having heirs, so you mustn’t overexert yourself. Please heed our advice on this.”

Descendants! Elysia, stunned as if hit unexpectedly, trudged back to her room as they suggested.

Millie, who had escorted Elysia to her room, asked if she should bring tea, but Elysia dismissed her, saying she just wanted to rest quickly, and closed the door. The sound of the door clicking shut seemed louder than usual.

Though she had been shocked when she touched the curtains, she felt fine after a while, and she was actually more tired from walking around checking the Ducal residence. However, at the moment, Elysia was unable to escape from the mental shock that was so overwhelming she couldn’t even feel her physical fatigue.

‘If I marry the Duke, I’ll obviously have to have descendants. It’s so obvious, yet I hadn’t thought about it at all.’

Elysia, who thought she could live casually since she wouldn’t often see the busy Cassius, suddenly felt the weight of this marriage. The Grendel ducal house had no direct descendants, and Cassius had no close relatives. If Cassius died without an heir, the Grendel ducal house would cease to exist.

Considering the current state of the Grendel ducal house, it wouldn’t have been surprising if efforts to conceive had started from the day Elysia entered the estate. While cohabitation before marriage wasn’t encouraged, in cases of noble families without heirs, it wasn’t a major scandal to spend nights together during the engagement period to produce an heir quickly.

‘Was the Duke giving me time to adjust out of consideration?’

Without even being able to ask him, let alone see his face often, she couldn’t fathom his intentions.

Feeling complicated, Elysia leaned on the sofa and put her hand into her indoor clothes pocket. She grasped the gardening knife she habitually carried. Trying to divert her troubled mind, she picked up the gardening knife and inspected the patterns, discovering a very small decoration of two intertwined snakes at the end of the knife handle.

‘It looks like the emblem of the place where the knife was made… It seems familiar. Where have I seen it… Ah!’

Elysia remembered where she had seen that pattern. Long ago, it was engraved on a vase from the southern country that her father had bought as a gift for her mother. According to Tobias’s explanation when he gave it, the vase was enhanced with alchemy to keep the water inside fresh for a long time, and when flowers were placed, the stems remained intact, maintaining freshness for an extended period.

Lillian had been so delighted that she immediately held a tea gathering to boast about it. It was said to be from a famous custom workshop in the southern country, and the emblem engraved as a symbol of the workshop on the bottom of the vase was identical to the one at the end of the knife handle.

Elysia took out the knife from its sheath again and examined it closely.

“Ronan Hass, it seems you’ve given me something extravagant to incur a debt. Isn’t this too elaborate for a garden knife?”

After putting the knife back in its sheath, Elysia sighed.

‘Come to think of it, did Father also get that vase through the Haas Trading Company? Father’s business mainly involved intermediating goods from wholesalers like Haas to provinces and nobles, with almost no direct dealings with foreign merchants or companies. Now that I’m connected to the Duke’s family, maybe the business has expanded a bit. Everyone must be busy even without me, right?’

Elysia unknowingly spoke her true feelings aloud.

“I miss Father. Mother, Marion, even Daisy.”

Suppressing the emptiness in her heart, Elysia suddenly rose from the sofa and opened the large window leading to the balcony.

Looking outside to change her mood, she only saw the bleak landscape of the Duke’s estate, with neatly trimmed trees lined up. Elysia looked at the Duke’s servants moving around in black clothes outside and then turned her gaze back to her room.

It was a room decorated in dark colors, no different from when she first arrived. Elysia recalled the room she used in the Serenze family. Though smaller than this room, it was cozy and colorful, her own comfortable retreat, and she missed it dearly.

“I want to go home.”

Unconsciously troubled, Elysia buried her face in her hands.

***

By the time almost everyone had left the Administrative Palace, Cassius had a simple dinner and left his office late in the evening. Since it was common for the Duke to work late, those guarding the palace paid him little mind. Cassius walked briskly out of the Administrative Palace and headed towards the Central Palace, the King’s residence.

As he neared the Central Palace, Cassius veered towards a quiet garden instead of entering. Behind the palace, a path followed a wide-open lake, leading to a place where eavesdroppers would find it hard to hide. It was a spot the King often used for secret meetings when he suspected spies within the palace.

The last time Cassius met with King Clois, the King had mentioned there were no suspicious people in the palace. However, since the King had called him to this location on the day Marquis Orga visited, it was clear there was something new to watch out for.

Cassius cautiously approached the lakeside, where the moonlight had begun to shine.

***

King Clois spent the entire day in his office reading a research report submitted by Emiliano van Gottree, who served as a scientific advisor. Instead of Marquis Gottree, who should have been presenting the report, his trembling research student waited anxiously for the King to finish reading. 

The research student, overwhelmed with resentment and fear, recalled what Professor Emiliano had told him.

‘Do you think it makes sense for someone as incompetent as you to ruin experiments while I waste time delivering reports to His Majesty, when I could achieve excellent results instead? If you’re useless, you should at least do this. Stop complaining and go! Remember every word His Majesty says about the report without missing a single one!’

‘Professor, this is really too much. Why must a mere research student deliver the report to His Majesty?’

“So, you’re saying that with the minerals found in the northern part of Brunchia, it’s impossible to create something of the same quality.”

“Yes, yes! The… minerals from the southern mountain region seem to have… higher concentration of magic or better workability… No, no! It’s not that Brunchia is lacking, it’s just that… the mountains in Her Majesty the former Queen’s homeland are truly remarkable…”

“I am well aware that my mother hailed from the southern regions, and I also know that the magical minerals from there surpass those of Brunchia, so there’s no need to explain that. It was precisely because their value was highly regarded that my mother became the Queen here.”

“I-I apologize. I never intended to insult Your Majesty or Her Late Majesty the Queen!”

The research student began to tremble almost to the point of tears.

‘Marquis Gottree always makes excuses and never comes in person. Doesn’t he realize that this causes my displeasure to fall on his research students? Or does he know and sends them deliberately?’

King Clois continued with his questions.

“So, if we can overcome the difference in materials, can we produce items in Brunchia comparable to those from the southern workshops? The report seems somewhat ambiguous on that point.”

“Th-that is, the workshops have no time limit for special custom orders for individuals… The capability of each item is exceptional. However, when it comes to weapons… speaking of mass production materials… well, molds and manpower… general smelting… that’s where Brunchia excels…”

“So, for single items requiring finesse, the southern regions might be superior, but for rapid mass production, we are better? Since the alliance with the southern regions is strong, there shouldn’t be any issues if material procurement is resolved.”

The research student felt relieved upon hearing this but soon wore a frightened expression.

“Y-Your Majesty. Does this mean Brunchia is… going to war?”

King Clois burst into laughter.

“Quite the opposite. We aim to develop the best weapons and strongest forces to avoid war. If they think we’re formidable, they won’t dare attack.”

The research student sighed in relief.

Just as King Clois was about to ask something more, an attendant knocked on the office door, announcing that Queen Agnes was waiting for His Majesty.

“Has it gotten that late already?”

King Clois rose from his seat to leave the office. The research student stood frozen, unsure of what to do, still trembling.

“You’ve done well. Tell Professor Emiliano that I will read the rest and ask him directly.”

“Y-yes.”

Leaving the barely responding research student behind, King Clois met Queen Agnes waiting outside his office.

“We’re running late. Let’s hurry.”

“Your Majesty, are you sure this is a good idea?”

“It’s too late to have regrets now.”

With those words, the King and the Queen, dressed simply and cloaked, hurried out of the palace, followed by several Imperial Knights.