“That’s true, but that’s not why I came.”

While Fatie was waking up, Elena looked at the papers hanging like laundry. They were being dried after being soaked in a special solution, not magic, though they looked like wet papers being dried.

Fatie, who had come to stay in the Grand Duchy at Elena’s request, wore glasses and a gown. With her hair tied up and wearing a white gown, she looked more like a doctor than a researcher.

“How is the Count?”

“He’s talking with His Highness the Grand Duke.”

Elena entered while scanning the papers. Fatie gently slapped her cheeks to clear her foggy mind and focused her eyes.

“What do you need?”

“Didn’t you say you’ve been working on biological things lately?”

“Yes. I’m putting more effort into experiments to make tree trunks extend.”

“Could you make what I’m thinking of too?”

Elena asked seriously.

Fatie’s practice papers hadn’t been commercialized, but they were quite effective. Thanks to that, Elena had taken hundreds of sheets under the pretext of practice. This time too, Fatie immediately came to mind.

“I have something in mind, and I need your help.”

“Miss, considering how much you sponsor me, just tell me what you need.”

“Can I really tell you?”

Fatie, who had been rubbing her stiff eyes, paused slightly. Her glasses were pushed by her hands, creating a world where clarity and blur coexisted. Elena stood at that boundary, smiling. That smile appeared blurry to Fatie’s eyes. Because of this, she asked a question she normally wouldn’t have.

“Is it really necessary? Is it about saving people?”

“Half……”

Elena raised her chin to examine the ceiling pattern while pondering Fatie’s question. Then she nodded lightly.

“I don’t want to go to prison.”

“You probably won’t. This is all for our benefit.”

“Our benefit?”

“To be precise, His Highness the Grand Duke’s?”

As Elena struggled to speak, Fatie couldn’t hold back and asked.

“What exactly is it?”

“That thing that……”

Elena raised her arm, fanning her palm upward.

“Stretches.”

“Do you suddenly want to grow taller?”

“I don’t want to increase length. I want to increase the number.”

Are you talking about increasing the number of organisms? Fatie tried to piece together the puzzle.

If it’s about increasing the number of organisms for the Grand Duke’s benefit, what could it be?

As her foggy mind cleared, an uneasy feeling crept up. Fatie looked at Elena with disbelieving eyes. Did she want to mass-produce Rudfelix or something?

Elena seemed to ponder a bit more, then wiggled her fingers.

“Reproduction.”

When her suspicion was confirmed, Fatie trembled with agitation.

“Reproduction? Reproduction?”

Whose reproduction? The biological reproduction of Grand Duke Raion?

Instead of making excuses, Elena added seriously.

“We need very quick results.”

At that moment, Rudfelix froze with a chill running down his spine.

***

Rudfelix stiffened with an indescribably strange feeling. He swept his surroundings with sharp eyes and ran his tongue over his dry lips. He calmed his trembling body by wiping his mouth with his thumb. Count Jellisto, faced with his sudden alertness, put down his cup.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.”

How could he explain the ominous feeling that struck his spine and made his knees tingle eerily! But Count Jellisto raised his eyebrows and acted apologetically.

“I won’t keep Elena for long.”

The Count believed that Rudfelix’s hardened expression was all because of him. It was right after he had said he would take Elena to visit the trading company.

Rudfelix looked at his palm. The slight trembling had disappeared, and his hand looked no different than usual. Rudfelix lowered his hand and looked at Count Jellisto.

“It’s not because of that. I just had a strange feeling.”

“Of course. You’ve never been apart from Elena for this long.”

Rudfelix said that wasn’t it, but Count Jellisto couldn’t accept that. The Grand Duke’s family was the Empire’s highest noble family with bloodlines as excellent as the imperial family, making him still difficult to approach for someone of a count’s status.

Moreover, unlike himself who ran a trading company, the grand ducal family ruled over vast territories. So he had nothing to compare with him. That’s why he was more than just a little nervous about taking Elena away.

Rudfelix quietly examined Count Jellisto’s expression.

“I will not be separated from Elena.”

“Your Highness the Grand Duke, those words……”

At these words that sounded like a refusal, Count Jellisto frowned. He felt greatly disappointed because having Elena would help stabilize the trading company more quickly. Since her role as an aide took priority, Count Jellisto suppressed his desire to ask again. He forced a smile.

“I heard from Elena. Since we received a letter with His Highness the Crown Prince’s seal, it would be better to move as quickly as possible.”

It seemed like he was urging Rudfelix to keep Elena here and leave quickly.

“Then I must return alone. Please take care of Elena. I will come back after stabilizing the trading company.”

He planned to depart for the capital immediately after rising from his seat.

“Count.”

While Count Jellisto was organizing his thoughts, Rudfelix had been watching him. The Count had been so focused he hadn’t heard Rudfelix calling him from the side, but it seemed Rudfelix had reached his own conclusion.

“You’re not asking why I can’t be separated from Elena.”

“Well, she must remain by your side as a faithful aide, so she cannot leave.”

“That’s not it. I’m simply saying there’s no need to go, so she doesn’t have to leave.”

Since Count Jellisto misunderstood, Rudfelix corrected his thinking.

“The Crown Prince is essentially asking the Jellisto Trading Company to choose between supporting him or the grand ducal family. The Crown Prince tried to make a decision without my opinion, so you should hear my words first.”

Rudfelix regained his composure and made a cold judgment.

“The Jellisto Trading Company should use all its strength to assist with this coronation. I will cut off everything that is publicly considered to have ties with the grand ducal family.”

“Your Highness, does that mean you’re severing the relationship between our families?”

Count Jellisto couldn’t hide his confused gaze. Rudfelix’s trembling transferred to him and then to the teacup. The sound of the cup clinking was as noisy as Count Jellisto’s inner turmoil.

“Follow me. There’s nothing good about being at odds with the imperial family.”

Rudfelix refilled Count Jellisto’s cup with tea.

He knew better than anyone else what it meant to be under the imperial family’s scrutiny.

“If the Jellisto family shows any sign of refusal, you will have to live with the constant risk of your trading company collapsing.”

He advised that it would be better not to refuse since the Jellisto family wasn’t as firmly established as the grand ducal family.

“Oh my, this……”

“Instead, do this.”

Rudfelix calmly organized the situation based on his experience.

He was providing his own solution to a problem that he should have discussed with Elena.

Count Jellisto naturally picked up his cup and moistened his throat. He had been so focused on Rudfelix that he hadn’t realized how dry his throat was.

“Not right now, but I will visit the trading company with Elena.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

Count Jellisto awkwardly bowed, unable to express his profound gratitude.

“I’m always receiving from Your Highness.”

The atmosphere softened with Count Jellisto’s hearty laugh.

“Didn’t you give me Elena?”

A smile gradually spread across Rudfelix’s face like paint on canvas.

“I fell in love with the woman you brought in as my aide.”

While that bold, captivating, and capable aide settled into his heart, he could do nothing about it. He was so preoccupied with recognizing his own feelings that he had no room to consider others.

“When I proposed to Elena, she asked for three years.”

Although she had accepted his proposal, she hadn’t fully embraced it. Rudfelix still felt disappointed when he recalled that moment.

“She said she wanted to spend time with you, Count.”

Count Jellisto’s eyes remained wide open until tears welled up. His heart swelled at Elena’s beautiful sentiment.

“She’s your only daughter, but I was so unwilling to be separated from her that I failed to consider you. I’m sorry.”

“Not at all. That’s what love is.”

“I told her I didn’t want to wait three years. I said I wanted to hold the wedding quickly, and that’s how we set the date and informed you. I’m sorry.”