The sound of a rough wind came from far in the sky, then short screams were heard from the direction the knights had fled. Soon the ground beneath their feet vibrated as if something heavy had landed on the ground with a thud. Then they heard running footsteps.

“Eric! Elodie!”

“Huh? That’s Dad’s voice. Dad!”

Roderick, who had run toward where Elodie’s voice could be heard, felt great relief. When he heard that the children had been evacuated from the palace through a secret passage, he had followed on Snowball, only to see traces of battle.

Roderick was shocked to see the frozen corpses fallen around the children and the knights trapped and dead in the ice barrier. It meant Eric had dealt with all these many enemies.

“Eric!”

As he had thought, the boy must have overexerted himself. Eric looked at Roderick, smiled briefly, then closed his eyes and sat down on the ground.

“Eric, please stay conscious.”

Roderick laid the child who had collapsed from exhaustion after using his power without knowing his limits on the ground. He placed a magic stone he had brought in case his magic power ran low in the child’s hand, but since he was unconscious, the mana wasn’t being absorbed well into the child’s body.

“Eric, sob…… wake up……”

Meanwhile, following Elodie who had burst into tears, rain began falling from the sky and the ground started shaking. Desperate, Roderick tried a last resort, hoping it would work.

He placed his hand over Eric’s heart. How long had it been since he channeled cold air containing magic power into his son’s heart, just as he had done for Winterborn who had fainted after using their abilities too much on the battlefield? Eric’s tightly closed eyelids began trembling.

“Eric? Eric! Open your eyes!”

“Mm-hmm…… Dad?”

The moment the child who had difficulty opening his eyes called him, Roderick hugged Eric and swallowed tears of relief.

* * *

“Ugh!”

Erica grabbed a bucket and retched. Since she hadn’t eaten anything, no bile came out, but the nausea wouldn’t stop. This symptom was definitely morning sickness.

This time she had succeeded in drawing her sword in time, but it seemed she had gotten pregnant because the struggle on the bed hadn’t ended with just one round.

‘Sigh, I can never be purely happy whenever I get pregnant……’

Every time she got pregnant, it was a situation where she couldn’t be discovered. With Eric, it was her parents; now it was the enemies.

‘Not having Roderick by my side to tell about the pregnancy is exactly the same as with Eric.’

He would be happy. No, if she told him in this situation, he would worry. She wanted to tell Roderick first, but this time she had no choice but to give Grandma Greta Roderick’s turn.

“Haah……”

When the convulsive retching stopped for a moment, Erica collapsed to the floor. Grandma, who had been holding her head, sat beside her and offered a glass of cold water and a fruit candy. Erica carefully swallowed a sip of water and put the candy in her mouth. The sour taste spreading in her mouth made her feel somewhat better.

“If only we had some medicine, but those bastards won’t let us make one, so I can’t help you……”

Grandma lamented in a small voice, making sure not to touch the crystal orbs installed in every corner of the room.

“It’s okay. If I did that, they might discover I’m pregnant.”

Actually, even if the marquis knew Erica was pregnant, it wouldn’t be a big problem, but there was no particular benefit to letting him know either. It might become a weakness.

“I should have stopped you, I shouldn’t have given permission.”

She meant she should have stopped her from approaching the marquis while pretending to have prophetic dreams.

“It’s dangerous to do that while carrying a child.”

“Well, as long as I don’t vomit in front of the marquis, is there anything more dangerous about being pregnant?”

“Still, I’m worried and feel sorry for you. Since I can’t follow and protect you, it’s like you’re standing alone in the middle of enemy territory, so how could I not worry?”

“Someone has to do it.”

She felt it while being in the palace. It would be difficult to bring them down from the outside.

The marquis, being someone who had seized the throne through rebellion, had made very thorough preparations against rebellion, assassination, and palace intrusion. So in Erica’s view, they needed to bring it down from the inside to have a chance of winning.

By the time the marquis realized he had personally brought in a little rat that would gnaw away at those solid walls, it would already be too late.

“I wonder. Will that really be the case? To be honest, I don’t understand why you’re going this far.”

For revenge. My revenge.

This time, she would finish those bastards with her own hands.

“Have you found the spell?”

Erica bowed her head toward Grandma and asked secretly.

“There are still some parts that are a bit hazy, but I’ve almost found it all.”

“That’s a relief. Then soon……”

Erica’s face, which had been smiling with anticipation, hardened. Someone had knocked on the door outside the room.

“Maid! Come out right now! Today you’re told to pull weeds in the garden!”

The guard outside the door barked roughly. It meant the marquis was calling. The order to pull weeds in the garden was just a false excuse to call Erica out without the Grand Mage discovering that the ‘maid’ had ‘betrayed her master.’

Erica pouted and reluctantly stood up. Grandma Greta’s expression darkened. To the eyes of the enemies watching this scene through the crystal orbs, it would look like Erica was acting.

“I’ll be back.”

“Be careful.”

“Ah, Hilda. You’ve come.”

As soon as she entered the king’s office, the marquis, who was sitting boldly behind the king’s desk, looked up. The people here knew Erica as Hilda.

“You’re feeling unwell?”

The marquis asked abruptly. The surveillance soldiers who had watched Erica vomit through the crystal orbs must have reported it.

“Yes, I originally have a weak stomach and vomit often. Because of the accumulated mental illness……”

“Tsk tsk…… I’ll have the court physician send medicine that’s good for the stomach.”

“Thank you.”

Erica bowed her head and smiled. It wasn’t acting but sincere. Of course, it wasn’t the kind of smile he was thinking of.

‘He seems to care for me quite a bit?’

The more anxious people become, the more they depend on something. Whether it’s God or people. And for him, that object of dependence was a fortune teller.

‘But how shocked would he be if he knew I’m not a fortune teller but his enemy from a past life?’

Just imagining the moment she would reveal her identity to the marquis made her smile naturally. Erica contained her laughter appropriately, raised her head, and asked respectfully.

“What did you call me for?”

The marquis didn’t immediately bring up his business. He glanced at the king sitting on the office sofa, then stood up.

“Let’s walk for a moment.”

Seeing that he wanted to talk away from the king, it was clearly about the prophetic dream Erica claimed to have had.

‘If that fool knew he was thinking of deposing him and putting someone else on the throne, no matter how stupid he is, would he stay still?’

The marquis headed to the garden under the pretext of a walk. From the garden located high up in the palace, which was situated on a hill, the mountains beyond the capital’s walls could be seen at a glance.

“The enemy army is coming down that mountain. They’ll reach the gates in a few days.”

Though the enemy was right at their doorstep, the marquis showed no sign of anxiety.

“But we’re all prepared. And once the land of the elves is conquered, the dwarves beyond the mountain range will also come up this way. The victory celebration isn’t far off.”

“Once we capture the princess to put on the throne, the preparations will be complete.”

When Erica spoke as if testing the waters, the marquis’s expression crumpled.

“……That’s right. But Magnus, that fool, failed to get his hands on the princess.”

Elodie is safe. Erica secretly felt relieved.

The marquis continued his lament after that. Magnus had failed the operation and was afraid of being scolded by the marquis, so he didn’t come to the palace but stayed at the base in the land of the elves, sending reports through crystal orbs. The marquis had barked at him not to return until he got his hands on the princess. The hostages were the precious dark magic research materials Magnus had collected in the palace. And also the promised private meeting time with Grand Mage Margareta.

“But Sir Magnus is also a Grand Mage, isn’t he? So how did he fail to kidnap one little princess?”

Erica, who had been leading up to asking about the detailed circumstances, was flustered by the answer that followed.

“It seems Roderick Winterborn’s son was there.”

“What?”

“The son was also a Winterborn.”

That meant Eric had used his abilities.

“Have you ever seen that child?”

“Ah, yes. I think I saw him once when I followed Lady Margareta. So he was that person’s son…… Now that I think about it, he did seem to resemble him.”

While naturally brushing it off with cunning, worry continued in Erica’s mind.

“So the knights, Grand Mage, and spirit master couldn’t handle one little child?”

“That’s what they say. Those idiots!”

After that, the marquis continued grumbling and cursing his subordinates. He ranted about how a precious spirit master had died, how the knights had stupidly been annihilated, but he didn’t say anything about what happened to that Winterborn child. She couldn’t ask carelessly in case it aroused suspicion. Erica couldn’t ask and felt anxious.

‘Eric is safe, right? I need to contact him soon.’

Even in her anxiety, Erica didn’t forget her duty.

“I only know Lady Margareta among Grand Mages, so I thought all Grand Mages were invincible like her.”

Erica subtly disparaged Magnus. Since the marquis already thought unfavorably of Magnus, he wouldn’t suspect Erica had other intentions.

“I have a grudge against Lady Margareta so I do curse her, but I still can’t fault her skills.”

Grandma Greta, I’m sorry.

“If you get your hands on the princess, I think Lady Margareta will also serve you as her master……”

She was saying to abandon Magnus.

“Hmm…… I hope it goes as you think.”

The marquis seemed to have already been won over.

While Magnus was away, Erica worked hard to drive a wedge between Magnus and the marquis. Magnus was the person who was most wary of Erica.

And if he went to capture Elodie and noticed that the adult woman who was always with her was missing, and suspected that ‘maid Hilda’ might be that woman? And if he returned to the palace and looked for Erica’s composite sketch that might exist?

Then all this acting might be discovered and cause big trouble. So she was splitting them apart in advance and turning Magnus away from the palace.

“Anyway, since Magnus failed, haven’t you ever dreamed about how I can get my hands on the princess?”

This seemed to be the real reason the marquis had called Erica. Erica bowed her head as if apologetic and shook it.

“Not yet, but if I have such a dream, I’ll tell you immediately. It’s still daytime, but should I go and try to sleep right away?”

“I’d be grateful if you would.”

Actually, she couldn’t get Eric’s safety out of her mind and wanted to leave this place immediately.

“Then I’ll go to sleep.”

Erica greeted the marquis and left. She was on her way to the luxurious prison, surrounded by guards. She was turning a corner when the king was standing in the corridor with his guards, leaning against the wall.