I—Agnes—had returned to Sutrena from Polpystan with Lord Nazel and everyone who’d accompanied us. I really felt relaxed here. All of the estate’s staff and Solis were in high spirits and welcomed us home.
Incidentally, Lord Davier was currently staying with us. Sutrena was closer to Peppel Island than the capital was, so he’d return from here. He hadn’t been in the outside world in a long time, so I thought he might want to stay free for longer, but he looked like he really just wanted to return to Peppel Island. He seemed worried about Charite, though. Perhaps she’d also sensed that they’d be parting soon, because she clung to him.
As I looked at Charite, I suddenly noticed a change in her.
Huh? Isn’t Charite’s color an even deeper purple now?
Geni and Charite were mates. When wyverns fell in love, their color got darker, but Charite was now an even darker shade of purple than ever before. Something was strange.
“What’s wrong, Charite?”
She gave a cry and suddenly made a run for the mountbeast stable, followed by Geni. I hadn’t seen the two of them act like this before.
What should I do? Maybe visiting Polpystan stressed her out. As I fell into a panic, I muttered, “I’ll go take a look,” and followed Charite and Geni. Lord Davier and Lord Nazel came after me. I ran through the garden to the stable and found Charite curled up atop a straw bed. Geni was by her side, anxiously encouraging her.
“Charite! Are you all right?!”
We ran up to her, and then...she let out a cry and started shaking. There was a thud, and something fell onto the straw.
Huh? What...?
Geni started flapping his wings and crying loudly. He seemed kind of happy. Charite stirred and moved as she was buffeted by the wind, revealing an unfamiliar object underneath her. It was smooth, round, and a bright emerald green. I shouted when I laid eyes on it.
“Is that...an egg?! Charite, you were laying an egg!”
Charite gave a short cry, nodding in affirmation. Geni nestled close to her. Lord Davier also approached her, and she craned her neck to rub her face against his hand.
“Congratulations on your safe delivery, Charite. I can’t believe I was present to witness such a scene,” he said, earning a cry from her in response. “Thank you for showing me your egg.”
Charite happily flapped her wings. She stirred once more and moved to keep the egg hidden and warm.
“I will pray for a healthy wyvern to be born.” Lord Davier gently caressed Charite. She seemed satisfied that she’d shown him her egg.
After witnessing Charite’s delivery, Lord Davier returned to Peppel Island the next day. The two wyverns spent all their time and energy on the egg, so it was decided that Lord Davier would take a pegasus to the coast, then reach the island by ship. Lord Nazel and I got on Dunk and saw him off to the coast.
“Lord Davier, thank you for all your help this time. Thanks to you, Lord Nazel was also safe.”
“No, no, you also helped me a great deal back there, Lady Agnes.” He smiled with profound meaning. “Besides, I’m also glad I got to see Charite.”
“After her baby is born and can fly, I’ll come to Peppel Island with Charite to show you.”
“Agnes, you made that decision on your own again...” Lord Nazel looked a little troubled. “Davier, I would also like to thank you. Your magic was a great boon.”
“I worked exactly as promised, so I’d like my demands to be implemented promptly.”
“The medical facilities should be prepared quickly. With regard to the islanders’ employment, Sutrena will welcome them if King Bertrand gives his permission.” Increasing Sutrena’s population would actually benefit us greatly.
Lord Davier nodded and got on the ship, which slowly drifted away from the coast and started advancing toward Peppel Island.
After seeing Lord Davier off, Lord Nazel and I returned to the estate, where Kelly greeted us.
“Welcome home.”
“We’re back, Kelly. I feel like we can finally relax,” Lord Nazel said.
“Things must have been hard for you too, Kelly. Everything’s fine now,” I added. The whole kerfuffle relating to her marriage interview shouldn’t come up again.
“Lord Nazelbart, Lady Agnes. I truly appreciate everything you did in regards to my marriage interview. I was helpless on my own, so I’m very grateful for your assistance.”
“You’re the type to bottle up all your worries inside you. I need to keep a close eye on you,” I said. Kelly would likely never be able to ask for advice on her own accord. I’d really like for her to tell me everything, though. But considering her personality, that still looked difficult.
“If you’re approached about an unwanted marriage interview again, tell me right away, okay? I’ll go and obstruct it.”
“Yes, Lady Agnes. Thank you very much.” Kelly looked a bit awkward and had a blank look that...was kind of like a smile? Yes, it was incredibly hard to tell, but she was smiling.
“Marriage interview?!” came a shout from nearby. I turned to look and saw Paul rounding the corner, coming straight toward us.
“Oh, Paul. You were here?” I asked.
“I’ve come to deliver documents from the fortress to Lord Nazelbart. More importantly, what was that about Miss Kelly’s marriage interview?” Paul leaned forward impatiently.
I felt a bit sorry at seeing my brother so desperate, so I quickly explained.
“Don’t worry. There was a proposal, but we put a stop to it.” As soon as I said that, Paul was visibly relieved. “Thank you for bringing the documents, Paul. You may rest in the manor if you’d like.”
Kelly moved to guide Paul, who looked delighted.
I’m happy for you, Paul. It was honestly uncertain whether their relationship would progress. I continued secretly rooting for my brother.
Next, we came across Defi, who was walking down the hallway looking gloomy. I exchanged a glance with Lord Nazel before talking to Defi.
“Oh dear, what’s wrong?”
“It seems like a civil war is taking place in Myzahn. We received the report while you two were away from the estate...”
“A civil war? But Myzahn only just attacked Polpystan.”
“In Prince Rivage’s absence, a fight broke out between the king and another of his younger brothers. It’s a very irritating sibling quarrel that has involved the whole country.”
“Oh my, to think even bystanders got dragged into it. That’s not a proper way for adults to act.” What a troubled country. “All of these terrible events one after the other must be hard on you, Defi. Please take some time to rest. You played a very active role in Polpystan, so you must still be tired.”
“No, I’m fine. My stamina has recovered and I’ve put a lot of my past behind me, though I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing. It’s all thanks to you, Lady Agnes.”
“Really? I’m happy to hear that.”
“I’ve been your guest up to now, but...I’m seriously thinking about working here as a butler. That way, I could openly be with you wherever.” Defi smiled widely and nimbly turned around. “With that taken care of, I’m off to help the maids! I’m glad I was able to assist you all in Polpystan!” he said before running off.
We stood still and watched Defi leave.
“I was worried, but I’m glad Defi is doing well.”
“Me too, but as your husband, what he said was a bit concerning.”
“Hmm? Should we also head to our room?” I quickly held Lord Nazel’s hand, but he looked confused.
“Agnes, isn’t your hand hot? Are you feeling unwell?”
“No, I’m fine. I do feel kind of sluggish, but I thought it was only because I’m tired...”
Lord Nazel immediately noticed the change in my temperature and became extremely worried. But this time, my symptoms really were mild.
“O-Oh no! Someone call a doctor for Agnes!”
“Whoa! Lord Nazel, please calm down!”
“I can’t! Let’s go to our room. You need to rest right now.”
“I’m not seriously ill.”
“We’ll also have a doctor take a look at you just in case.”
I hurriedly tried to let go of Lord Nazel’s hand, but he gripped me tight and wouldn’t let go.
He isn’t holding back!
And so he slowly carried me to my room. In the end...it turned out that Lord Nazel had been right. Some time later, the elderly doctor who’d come to examine me in my room smiled at me as I lay on the bed.
“Congratulations on your pregnancy, Lady Agnes.”
Huh?! I’m pregnant?! Unexpectedly, my second pregnancy came to light, even though Solis was still only one year old.
“I’ll have to excuse myself now. Please take care not to push yourself too hard, like you did on your recent trip to Polpystan,” the doctor admonished me before leaving.
As I got up, Lord Nazel’s eyes met mine as he was crouching right next to the bed.
“Thank you, Agnes.”
“I didn’t imagine it could happen this soon. I was honestly shocked.”
“I’m overjoyed that we’ll be having our second child.”
“M-Me too...” I replied, though my surprise was currently greater.
“You always bring me joy and good fortune. You also helped me several times during the campaign to Polpystan.”
“I only insisted on tagging along...”
Everything I did was glorified in Lord Nazel’s eyes. I’d actually just forced my way into the group and helped out with various tasks, like reinforcing the mountbeasts and overall providing a bit of assistance here and there. Lord Nazel was unmistakably the one who’d captured Prince Rivage and put an end to that pointless conflict.
“Without you, the soldiers from Sutrena would have gotten injured, and Prince Valen might not have made it out alive. With Robin’s magic duplicated, Prince Rivage would have likely had his way with us too.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“You might not be aware of it yourself, but you accomplished incredible things, Agnes. Though when it comes to your magic...it seems that both Prince Valen and Davier realized the truth. They’re awfully sharp, after all.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I should be apologizing that I couldn’t keep it secret for you. But it looks like the two of them are staying quiet for now. Besides, if something happens, I swear I’ll protect you. I’ll exterminate any scoundrels who dare lay hands on you.”
“Huh?!” The way he’d said that was ominous, but I believed that he was just trying to reassure me. His words were powerful and made me think that everything would really be all right.
“Now that we’re having our second child, I need to work even harder. There are a lot of issues at hand, like the big hoppers.”
“Um, you don’t need to work harder than you are now, Lord Nazel. Otherwise you’ll end up collapsing. And if something happened to you, I’d have to push myself too hard.”
“I...won’t work too hard then.” Lord Nazel was quick to change his attitude. I also loved that about him.
I reached out both hands and hugged my dear husband with all my strength.