Subsequently, amid the battle’s aftermath, Lord Nazel and I were led to a tent for married couples. Everyone else was also provided with their own places to rest. King Bertrand and Prince Valen would be staying here for a few days, in fact.
The Polpystani tent was quite spacious and there was still space left even with the two of us lying down. Torre, Defi, and the rest were also in nearby tents, while the mountbeasts were resting in their own designated area. Lord Davier was apparently staying together with King Bertrand.
Rugs were layered on the floor, with bedding stacked on them. It wasn’t hard or anything. Lord Nazel and I were receiving special treatment as a married couple. We’d provided a set of plant residences developed by Lord Nazel since the allied army had seemed short on tents. The residences were useful even in this kind of place!
“Did anything happen while I was out fighting, Agnes?”
“No, nothing really—” I suddenly realized that something had happened! “Um, Prince Valen...”
“Did he do something to you?!” Lord Nazel’s expression changed.
“No, he discovered what my magic is.”
“Huh?”
“You see, after you all left, Prince Valen collapsed from poison. It looked like it would take him time to recover, so I used my magic on him to save him. Ah, I believe King Bertrand was watching too.”
“Hmm... I understand your kindness well.”
“When Prince Valen discussed my magic, I made excuses to dodge the subject, but I’m a terrible liar.”
“That’s true.”
“Fortunately, he didn’t question me, but I think he probably realized that my magic isn’t ordinary matter reinforcement. I’m sorry.”
“So that happened. Prince Valen had been vaguely aware of something for a while now. It doesn’t seem like he plans to make a big deal out of this like Duke Masroono did, but I’ll give him a warning just in case.”
“Ugh, I’m so useless.”
“Don’t make that kind of face. Thanks to you, everyone made it out of this unharmed. Your magic protected everyone. And Prince Valen too.” Lord Nazel hugged me tight. “You even made an ally out of Defi, who can use absolute release. You really are my Goddess of Fortune.”
“You’re exaggerating!” I might be useless, but if I’d managed to avoid getting in Lord Nazel’s way and was of at least some help, I believed it was a good thing that I’d accompanied him this time.
While we were talking, the tent gradually got colder and colder.
“It seems that there’s an extreme shift in temperature, perhaps because we’re in the desert. It looks like it will get much colder as soon as the sun sets,” Lord Nazel said. The sky outside was currently transitioning from evening to night. “I could technically bring out a plant that can keep the room at an appropriate temperature...but there’s an issue with it.” He looked unusually troubled.
“What plant would that be?”
“I tried enlarging a plant called a skunk cabbage; it’s in the same family as taros.”
“Oh, I can tell what the problem is.” The name gave it away. Skunks were beasts that lived in Desnim. When they were cornered, they sprayed an extremely foul-smelling liquid from their tails. In other words, the problem with the skunk cabbage was the odor. “Let’s keep that for emergencies only.”
“Agreed. They’ve left us a few blankets, so we can use those and also...” Lord Nazel embraced me. “If we sleep side by side, it should be relatively warm.”
“Yes, it should.” I clung closely to Lord Nazel. It really is warm, and reassuring to boot... Sleeping side by side is a good idea.
Lord Nazel smiled as he stuck closer to me.
“That reminds me, they said that they would bring us dinner here,” he said.
“We can eat at our leisure then.”
“King Bertrand also brought a lot of ingredients, so we shouldn’t have any food shortage. His magic sure is convenient.”
“I appreciate it.” Logistics for an army were complicated, and in cases where supply lines couldn’t keep up, food had to be sourced locally, such as through hunting.
A short time later, our dinner was brought to us, just like Lord Nazel had said. Our meal had been cooked properly, with vegetables, fruit, bread, cheese...it was quite lavish. There was even wine.
“Wow, how luxurious.” This was a much more proper meal than the ones we’d had when we’d first moved to Sutrena.
“It seems unlikely we’ll get food poisoning this way,” Lord Nazel commented.
“Food poisoning?!”
“It sometimes happens in unhygienic environments...” Lord Nazel had gone on expeditions during his time as a prince consort candidate, so he might have seen that happen. But these ingredients had probably been brought over by King Bertrand, so they were safe.
“Let’s dig in!” I started eating with no hesitation.
“You’re so fearless, Agnes.” Lord Nazel smiled as he also ate dinner next to me.