Chapter 46
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: The Lady Who Wants to Make a Baby (16)
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Two weeks had passed.
Not just a day, two days, or even a week, but a full two weeks.
Morning dawned once more. The sun was rising in the eastern sky.
Even without Abera around, morning still came to the Menesil Family annex. Led by Alfred, the diligent servants bustled about, and I checked over my tasks for the day.
The maids preparing breakfast were incredibly busy.
Their skilled hands moved effortlessly, but there was no trace of idleness in their motions. Amid that paradoxical efficiency, I made my way through.
'Still can't get used to this.'
Everyone else was rushing around while all I had to do was eat— that lingering guilt of not fitting in still nagged at me subtly.
...But lately, there was another source of unease.
"Ah! Mr. Ganeghan! Good morning!"
"It's Mr. Ganeghan! Good morning!!!"
I gave an awkward smile and returned the cheerful greetings from the maids heading my way. It was starting to feel a bit more familiar.
Was it because of my looks? I'd wondered that at first, but seeing Alfred always greet me warmly too made me think it wasn't just that.
It was nice having everyone show me such kindness, but not knowing why left a nagging itch. In the end, I cautiously approached Hildia, who was dusting nearby.
I'd specifically chosen her because she and Ia-seom were the two who looked at me lately with the most pleased expressions.
Really, to a burdensome degree.
"Um, Hildia."
"Yes? Oh? Mr. Ganeghan?!"
Hildia—the maid who'd been diligently dusting—stared at me blankly.
The moment she recognized me, her face flushed bright red. Not that I'd called her hoping for that reaction.
"Mr. Ganeghan! Me? You called for me?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Oh my! Why? Wait a sec! There's so much dust."
With that, Hildia patted the dust off her clothes. She didn't need to tense up that much.
"All good! What is it?"
"Nothing major, but lately it feels like everyone in the Menesil household has been extra nice to me."
Hildia tilted her head quizzically.
"Well, you're kind, Mr. Ganeghan. This might be rude to say, but outsiders are usually one of two types: rude, or really rude!"
"...Am I kind?"
"Of course!"
Her words left me tilting my head slightly too.
If anything, I'd barely done a thing—never once gone out of my way to be extra nice to the servants.
"You don't make us deep-clean the mansion at dawn because bugs showed up, or demand a steak out of nowhere because you're hungry. You're really kind, Mr. Ganeghan."
"...Isn't it the people making those demands who are the weird ones?"
"Who knows? Anyway, to us, not demanding that stuff makes you way kinder!"
"Still, isn't that a bit off? Those people were probably nobles, and I'm just the personal physician."
"Anyway~ You're a precious guest now too, Mr. Ganeghan!"
In the end, I couldn't help but let out a disbelieving chuckle.
Becoming known as kind for doing nothing at all. What an incomprehensible setup.
"Oh, right. Though if we're being precise, there's an even bigger reason."
"I need to hear that one too."
"But don't you know it best yourself?"
Hildia looked at me as she said it, but I had no real answer.
Not playing dumb—I genuinely didn't know. She found my blank look amusing and let out a delighted laugh.
"Why are you laughing..."
"Mr. Ganeghan, how on earth did you change Dia?"
"Pardon?"
Hildia's gaze drifted toward my bag, her eyes brimming with curiosity.
"Is it the medicine? Your drugs are famous, after all!"
"They just suppress withdrawal symptoms. You mean her changes?"
Despite my puzzled expression, Hildia's smile didn't falter. She went even further.
"No! I mean the change in her attitude!"
Attitude change? I had no clue about that.
I hadn't had a long talk with Dia in these past two weeks.
Not like I'd abandoned or neglected her—she'd wanted it that way herself.
For the first few days, she'd clung to me muttering "baby, baby," but at some point, she'd thrown herself completely into her own tasks.
Maybe she'd gotten hooked on books. I'd figured that was it and hadn't bothered her much beyond injections.
Even when I'd tried to eat together, she'd said she wanted to be alone, so I'd stepped back with an inner score! But attitude change?
"What has Dia been like lately? Toward you or the other servants."
"She's been so sweet these days. Doesn't yell at all."
"Why attribute that to me? Maybe she just grew up on her own."
"Well... Ia-seom can't hold back her curiosity, so she asked Dia directly."
"Asked what?"
"If she'd gotten some kind of motivation lately. A question she'd never have dared before, but Dia's been so calm lately that Ia-seom got brave."
"What was the answer?"
"Uh... heh heh heh!"
Suddenly Hildia burst out laughing, clutching her stomach.
If it was genuinely funny, fine—but if she was mocking Dia, I couldn't stand for it.
A hint of irritation crept into my voice.
"Tell me. This is important to me."
"Ah... okay, hee hee hee! Only Ia-seom and I know for now. Even if it's a secret from others, I should tell you! It feels like something no one else should hear anyway."
At that, I knelt slightly and leaned my ear toward her—asking her to whisper it just for me.
She got it right away and pressed close to murmur:
"She said she wants to marry you, Mr. Ganeghan."
"Lady Dia."
I knocked roughly, didn't wait for a reply, and pushed open the door.
This needed a stern talking-to.
Bluntly telling the servants she was going to marry me? That was beyond careless.
Had I been too soft and coaxing all this time? Maybe today called for a firmer tone. That's what I was thinking when—
"You're here?"
Bright sunlight streamed through the window.
The room's owner stood bathed in it.
Her beige hair—once a messy tangle—had been neatly combed, blending beautifully with her porcelain skin.
And the two pink gems on her face sparkled. Those gems stared straight at me.
"...Huh?"
I blurted out a dumb response without thinking.
Nothing matched what I'd expected. Was this a dream? I pinched the back of my left hand with my right.
Dia lifted a tray of food from the cart. She turned to me.
"I saved all the fruit on purpose. Want some?"
"Pardon?"
"There's coffee too. Though I didn't get any sugar, so I can't adjust the sweetness."
"Who are you?"
The thought in my head slipped out unbidden.
She elegantly pinched the hems of her skirt with her fingertips, gently closed her eyes, and curtsied.
"Dia de Menesil, second daughter of the Menesil Family. Of course, Mr. Ganeghan, you can call me..."
Dia rose slowly from her curtsy. She lifted her eyelids gradually to finish:
"...your wife. Darling."
"Lady?"
The absurd scene left me speechless.
Only then did I notice the stack of books piled on one side of the bed.
I approached as if entranced and grabbed one at random.
There were all sorts: psychology, rhetoric, behavior, and more.
"Did you... read all these?"
"Yes. But reading them once wasn't enough to make them truly mine. So now I'm rereading them in order."
"No way..."
[Noble: Basic Etiquette Book]
That was the title of the one in my hand. She probably just skimmed them.
Confusing reading with understanding, right? Had to be. I flipped it open at random and asked about a passage.
"How should one behave during a meal?"
"Many ways. Do you mean using utensils?"
'No...?'
Her counter-question said it all.
Only someone who knew it all could ask like that.
"Uh... explain knife usage in detail."
"Knives... they're tricky. They started as weapons before settling as utensils. The basics: never point the blade toward the other person's face. Because that would..."
"No, no. That's enough."
I cut her off and set the book down.
Staying here was dangerous. My instincts screamed it.
"Just a mid-check visit. I'll head out now. Have a good day."
As I turned to leave, a calm voice called from behind.
A voice so composed it demanded attention.
"Mr. Ganeghan. No, darling."
"...?"
I turned cautiously. Dia was gently rubbing her belly.
"You know a pregnant woman's emotional state greatly affects the fetus later, right?"
"Uh... yes."
"If I don't get some love today... I might feel a little down. What do you think, darling?"
This is bad.
I muttered it without realizing.