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THE royal palace ballroom sparkled with chandeliers and was filled with guests in gorgeous attire. Right after the wedding ceremony, the party began. As one might expect from a royal wedding, no expense had been spared.
Just being there was exhausting, and tonight, Agnes was one of the main stars. She felt like she was going to collapse as she greeted guest after guest, but she had to do her best—for Claude.
“Finally, the wedding happened. Now we can relax a little. And Armand seems to have changed his tune completely. Wonderful, all just wonderful,” Gerome exclaimed as he wandered up, beaming and clutching a glass of wine.
Cesar and Armand stood behind him, looking like they were trying to avoid mingling too much with the aristocrats at the venue.
Agnes was just glad she didn’t need to worry about mushrooms around the royals. With that, a Koganetake appeared on the wine glass with a loud pop. Golden dust puffed out from the cap, falling into the wine. Wearing a bemused smile, Gerome handed the glass off to a passing servant.
“I apologize for my misdeeds, Gerome,” Armand said.
“How was the Walled City? Tough going?” Gerome asked, looking intoxicated, poking the repentant Armand with his elbow. Maybe having too much wine was how Gerome expressed joy.
“It wasn’t the city; it was the hole and the things that emerged that were tough. But let’s not go there,” uttered Armand, looking pale.
Had he been bitten by a monster like Philip? Although he was clearly fine, that would have had to hurt. Being on the frontline of where the monsters spilled forth from the hole must have been like torture.
“Before I forget, Armand, about making you the acting lord of the Walled City…” Gerome said slowly as he glanced at Cesar, who nodded.
“The king has given his permission already. The acting lord had been appointed. He’s a smart boy. He’ll be better at administrative matters than I would be, anyway,” Cesar boasted as he snagged two wine glasses from a passing servant and handed one to Gerome.
“What about Philip?”
“We’ve appointed him as a knight with a view to becoming acting lord one day if he gets himself together. More accurately, he’s an apprentice knight right now. We have no use for him except as a monster decoy.”
Gerome sipped his wine as he listened to Cesar, then sighed and rolled his eyes.
“Well, it’s his own fault. If he’d behaved himself, then the position of Count Lefort would’ve… But never mind. Pretend I didn’t say anything,” he cut off. Red-faced, Gerome slurped down the rest of his wine, feigning nonchalance.
Indeed, if there had been no uproar over the engagement, Philip would have married Agnes and become the heir apparent to Count Lefort. If he hadn’t sold Agnes to the Kingdom of Oreille to cover his own debts, he’d have been assured the position of Count Doran and, eventually, the Marquis of Barthet.
But Philip had destroyed both of those golden opportunities out of his own stupid actions.
“It’s okay. Philip is a fool, and his treatment of Agnes is unforgivable,” grimaced Claude. “But I’m grateful to him. Without him, I might never have met Agnes. Let’s see if the Walled City can’t knock some sense into him.”
There was a popping sound, and a brownish Ganoderma applanatum with grooves like tree rings appeared on Claude’s arm. He smiled as he plucked it, but there was something scary about that smile.
“…You haven’t forgiven him at all,” Armand noticed. “Well, anyway, I agree that Philip needs to start over from zero. The way he is now, he’ll never be of any use to anyone.”
If Armand said so, then Philip really must be useless. It seemed doubtful that he would ever even be able to become a full-fledged knight, let alone an acting lord.
“Tsk, Crest Bearers with Dragonmates can’t be reasoned with. Sorry about him, Agnes,” said Cesar, a Crest Bearer who didn’t have a Dragonmate of his own. He was a sensible sort. As such, he seemed to want to apologize for the antics of Claude—a Crest Bearer who DID have a Dragonmate.
Agnes felt a little sorry for Cesar. She hoped Claude would rein it in a little.
“It’s okay. No actual harm has come to me. Right now, I— Oh!” Agnes gasped a little as several familiar figures approached.
It was Kevin, Benoit, and Therese holding Ciel in her arms. They greeted the royals with bows.
“Sorry to interrupt, Lady Agnes,” Therese said. “I just thought I should hand Ciel back over to you.”
From that night, Agnes would be living at the Aznavour residence and not the Lefort residence anymore. She had forgotten she needed to collect Ciel before leaving.
Agnes took Ciel back from Therese, noticing that the mushrooms that had grown on him before the ceremony were gone now. No doubt someone plucked them… Wait, did this mean Therese had delivered them to Claude? Recruiting her maid for mushroom-harvesting duty… That would be a step too far. In that case, Agnes didn’t want to know.
“Thank you, Therese. Ciel, have you been good?”
“Rawr,” Ciel let out quietly in affirmation.
Suddenly, a sharp sound of breaking glass pierced the air and wine spattered across the floor. Agnes looked around in surprise to see that Cesar was crouched on the floor, head low, having apparently dropped his glass of wine.
“Uncle?!” the princes all reacted with alarm.
Cesar had been doing so well lately. Was he ill?
“Duke Granier, are you all right?!” Agnes asked.
Maybe the spirits could help, but as she tried to rush to Cesar’s aid, Therese took hold of her.
“Don’t, Lady Agnes. Your splendid dress will be stained. Allow me,” Therese placated. She immediately knelt on the floor, held Cesar’s trembling hand, and placed her hand on his forehead. “Color…not pale; more flushed. Tremors. Fever may be rising. He must be taken to bed, right away.”
After assessing his condition, Therese tried to stand up, but Cesar clung to her hand.
“What’s your name?” Cesar spoke to her in a trembling voice. Therese bowed her head politely.
“My apologies. My name is Therese, and I work for Lady Agnes in the Count Lefort household. Please forgive my rudeness, Your Grace. You should lie down and rest.”
Therese tried to stand up again, but Cesar still clung to her hand. What was going on? There was no need to get angry over a servant touching him. After all, this was a clear health emergency. Was he angry?
Everyone stood watching, confused, as Cesar clung to her hand. He drew in a deep breath and gazed at Therese.
“I have found you.”
“…Excuse me?”
Cesar’s voice was solemn, tremulous with unshed tears. Therese seemed…taken aback. He got to his feet, still holding her hand, and turned to Agnes.
“Agnes. You said before that the treats you brought to my mansion were made by a maid. Did you mean this maid, here?”
“Huh? Y-Yes?” Agnes replied.
“And those cakes that Charles brought too?”
“Therese and I always baked together…so yes, surely.” Agnes had no idea what Cesar was asking her. She then heard Claude suck in a breath.
“Uncle, you’re not saying…”
Cesar nodded, his eyes intense, and folded Therese’s hand in both of his before he proclaimed, “Therese… Marry me.”
“Whaaat?!”
As everyone gasped in shock, there was a loud pop, and multiple small Cuphophyllus virgineus with its milky white caps grew on Cesar’s shoulders. He paid them no mind—he had eyes only for Therese.
“Agnes’s pills were great of course, but those sweets were particularly effective,” he said. “It was all because of you.”
“Er…?” Therese was a veteran maid, but this situation seemed to be beyond her. She just looked confused. “Effective? You mean, the improvement in your condition? But…”
Agnes’s pills were made using spirit power. Other than that, there was only one thing that seemed to improve the physical condition of Dragon Crest Bearers!
“No way!” Agnes could scarcely believe it. She looked at Claude, who also looked shocked, but he nodded emphatically.
“Therese is Duke Granier’s…?”
The princes seemed to have reached the same conclusion as Agnes and Claude, and both muttered, “No way…”
Duke Granier had broken a glass, fallen to his knees, and proposed marriage to what seemed to be a servant woman. The nearby nobles were looking on with curiosity and whispered amongst themselves.
Claude quickly put his hand on Cesar’s shoulder and said, “It’s crowded here, Uncle. Let’s go somewhere quieter.”
Cesar gave Therese a reluctant glance, but allowed Claude to lead him away. He must have realized that he couldn’t continue talking about this in front of the assembled aristocracy.
“Therese, please come too,” Agnes whispered to Therese, realizing something important: Benoit and Kevin didn’t know about Dragonmates.
A duke proposing to a maid didn’t make any sense, but Agnes wasn’t sure how to explain.
“This way, please, Count Lefort and Lord Kevin. I have something to tell you,” Armand whispered lowly.
All right. Agnes would leave this in his capable hands. Silently grateful to her brother-in-law, Agnes took Therese and led her out of the ballroom.