Chapter 14
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Normalizing the Broken Ducal Family (2)
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Elena tilted her head.
"Will you like it if you have a sibling?"
"You said you wanted to become a great mage who protects others, Duchess."
"Not others, but protecting Luke."
...This was an unexpected answer.
I had planned to say that protecting more people would make her an even greater mage, but it looked like I needed to change direction.
"If you have a sibling, you can become an older sister."
"Will it be good to become an older sister?"
"Older sister sounds mature and impressive just hearing it, doesn't it? And your teacher has two younger siblings herself."
"R-Really...!"
Elena nodded vigorously. Fortunately, she seemed to take it positively.
I hadn't lied or anything, but why did my chest sting like this...?
After that, I explained the plan to Elena.
Elena, who had been listening while munching on cookies, swallowed everything in her mouth with a gulp.
"Siblings are made by Father?"
"Father and Mother make them together."
"How do you make them? Like dough for cookies? Then I want to join too..."
It was an idea only a truly pure child could come up with, something a thoroughly corrupted adult could never think of.
Still, how on earth was I supposed to explain this...?
I furrowed my brow in thought for a moment before suddenly realizing something. If I couldn't explain it, then there was no need to explain it at all.
I'm nine years old, too.
"Actually, I don't know either. I learned that you'll understand how babies are made once you grow up."
"I see. Then I should ask Father."
Sorry, Your Grace. This was my limit.
"Anyway, you just have to tell Father you want a sibling, right?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Then let's go right now-!"
Elena hopped down from her chair and pointed at the door with her finger. Just like a general marching off to battle.
Watching her in a daze, I pulled a handkerchief from my pocket.
"You have crumbs on your mouth."
"R-Really?"
Anyway, she's always two percent short, no matter what she does.
Rose Frozenheart.
She stared into the mirror and let out a long sigh.
'What's the use of dressing up like this...'
It had been well over a year since she became the Duchess. Yet there was no news of a child—not even a shared bed—just endless frustration.
Lately, even the servants were starting to whisper suspicions. The Duke had fathered a child with his first wife, so why not with his new one? It was obvious where those arrows would point.
'At first, I was truly grateful...'
What woman doesn't feel anxious on her wedding night? Especially if her partner is a man with no emotions.
But it had been fine. It was for the family. If offering her body and emotions could restore the house, she could endure it.
Yet ironically, she had been rejected.
"We're both tired. Just get some good sleep."
Tired. It was clearly an excuse. His heart must still be firmly occupied by his late first wife.
Before the marriage, he had told her to just take good care of his daughter, but she hadn't expected him to forgo even their bed.
Still, thinking she had to do something as the Duchess, she had tried her utmost to care for Elena...
"It's okay..."
"Elena, don't be like that. Let's go out together for a bit, okay?"
"No... I want to stay here..."
Elena's heart, sealed shut after her birth mother's death, showed no sign of opening.
What started as one day became two, then dragged on for months, and she began to grow truly anxious.
The Duke had no intention of making a child, and Elena had no thought of accepting her as a parent. She was the sort of person who could vanish without anyone batting an eye.
In belated regret, she had asked the Duke for a child, but he still had no such intention.
"In this situation, a child would only make things harder for Elena."
Now she couldn't even tell if it was an excuse anymore.
She even started wondering if her appeal as a woman had faded.
Time flowed on like that until one day—exactly around three months ago.
"Good morning, uh, Mother..."
The word "Mother" slipped from Elena's lips.
At first, she thought she'd misheard. Or that she was dreaming.
"Thank you for forgiving me, Mother."
But hearing it twice left no choice but to accept it.
Elena had called her "Mother." Not the late Duchess, but the current one—herself.
'Why on earth?'
She had once tried to get close, but that was all in the past. There was no reason for her to open up now.
Especially since she'd been openly harsh lately. She'd even scolded her harshly just yesterday.
So what had changed Elena?
'Could it be that kid...?'
The little boy standing a step behind Elena. Luke, surely.
The kid was gazing at Elena with an expression like he might burst into tears at any moment—not out of sadness, but emotion.
'No, it couldn't be.'
He looked about Elena's age. Far too young to scheme anything.
From that point on, about three months passed, and Duchess Rose gradually grew closer to Elena.
Once she started hearing "Mother," she couldn't bring herself to ignore her. She even felt an urge to dote on her. It had to be maternal instinct.
Thanks to that, there were more smiling days. Even the servants remarked on her brighter expression, so the change was clear.
Yet amid all that, one worry lingered in her heart...
'I want a child...'
Before, it had been purely to leave an heir for the family. Now, she simply yearned to bear and hold her own child.
It was because getting close to Elena had made her realize just how precious and adorable children were.
'I'll have one last serious talk. If no, then I'll give up.'
With that resolve, the Duchess headed to the Duke's office where he was working—and happened to overhear the conversation from beyond the door.
"Elena, you're saying you want a sibling now...?"
"Yes, Father. I want a sibling."
"W-Well, you see, that's not something I can decide alone. A sibling comes from father and mother meeting and..."
It was unbelievable.
But at the same time, a chance that might never come again.
The Duchess opened the office door and stepped inside.
"I'm fine with it. If Elena wants a sibling, we should make it happen. That's what a mother does."
In the Duchess's eyes, Elena looked more lovable than ever.
'How is this unfolding...?'
While waiting for Elena outside the Duke's office, I spotted the Duchess approaching from afar.
Seizing the chance, I cracked open the office door and hid. Not long after, the Duchess entered.
The problem was that the door then shut tight, blocking all sound.
I couldn't very well press my ear to it either, with servants passing by now and then.
Why is the soundproofing this good in a medieval setting...!
Standing there with the heart of an auntie awaiting her morning drama, the door soon opened. Out came Elena and the Duchess, holding hands openly.
The Duchess spotted me and tilted her head.
"Hm...? You were here the whole time...?"
"Sorry. I stepped out to the bathroom for a moment."
"Well, these things happen when it's urgent. No need to explain."
Her expression was like that of an enlightened monk; she looked ready to forgive anything right now.
Of course, I had no intention of testing that.
"Elena."
The Duchess lowered herself to meet Elena's eyes.
"Don't worry too much about the sibling. Mother will squeeze Father for all he's worth... ah, no, I'll do my best."
"Yes, Mother. Good luck."
"Yes, I will."
It seemed the Duke showing up at breakfast with a weary face was now a certainty.
I prayed for his safety, Your Grace.
"Then Mother will head out now."
With those words, the Duchess rose. Just before taking her leave, she shot me a meaningful glance.
I simply bowed politely toward her. She had no way of knowing the truth, and even if she did, there was nothing she could do about it.
Suspecting a nine-year-old wouldn't change a thing.
"Luke, then let's go."
"Yes, Duchess."
I stepped off alongside Elena. Her footsteps felt a bit lighter than usual.
Once we arrived back at the mansion, Elena...
"Luke, I asked Father how babies are made?"
"Yes, what did he say? I'm a bit curious myself."
"He said if a man and woman hold hands and sleep, a baby comes."
It instilled caution about sharing a bed with men while satisfying Elena's curiosity—a perfect 120 out of 100...
"Then if you and I hold hands and sleep, a baby will come?"
"If His Grace said so, then surely."
"I see, amazing. Gotta be careful."
Elena fiddled with her little hands.
I gazed at her with my usual calm demeanor, but my back was drenched in sweat.
Thank goodness Elena wasn't curious enough to experiment.
It was some time later.
After returning from swordsmanship training, Elena summoned me to her room.
"Luke, there's a baby in Mother's belly...!"
"Congratulations."
"Yeah, but it takes nine months to come out? It's super tiny right now and has to grow inside."
At least the Duke could get some rest now.
With his dark circles lately, I'd felt inwardly sorry; now I could finally relax.
"Oh, and guess what. Teacher told me about this place called the Academy today."
"The Academy?"
"Yeah, where her teacher is. She said if you go there, you can become an even greater mage."
I couldn't not know about the Academy even if I tried. It was the original story's setting, after all.
Of course, in the original, Elena attended the General Studies Department rather than the Magic Department, but since they were in the building next door, it hardly mattered.
'Is it flowing toward the original...?'
It was just a suspicion, not certainty. For a mage, attending the Academy was natural anyway. It might just feel that way because I knew the original.
Well, I could look into it slowly. There were at least eight years until Elena enrolled.
"But she said you can't bring servants."
"I see."
I knew that, of course.
Luke hadn't gone to the Academy as Elena's servant, but as a student in the Swordsmanship Department.
But did I really need to go that far? I could just return home and live idly...
"Still, you'll come with me, right...? We're secret friends."
"If that's what you wish, Duchess, I'll go with you."
"Then let's go together...!"
It seemed idling away my life was off the table.