Breeding Madness and the White Flower
"Breed! Breed! Make them breed! Get breeding! Breeding press!! Come on, multiply! Multiply! Hyah hyah!"
Remilia was cheerfully bellowing words that made one's head spin just to hear them. Dark shadows hung under her eyes like black ink, the kind left by several sleepless nights. Beside me, Gartan watched her the way a man watches something he dearly wishes he had never seen.
"Great Chieftain, that woman is clearly insane."
"Yeah. Looks that way."
"That wasn't the poison you prepared, Great Chieftain—it was cafe…ine?"
"Yeah. Caffeine."
"She drank it and said she couldn't sleep, then tore around working for days. Even when the tribe tried to stop her, she kept raving that this was the moment she had to stake her entire life on."
"..."
"Breed! Breed! Breed!! Ohhh! Yes!! That's it!! Scatter the seed!"
That was genuinely dangerous. It looked exactly like the way Household Mate Number Two used to go feral for days after coming back from the lab.
Come to think of it, Number One once said Remilia's motif was Household Mate Number Two…
"Wahahaha! Long live breeding!"
"Truly horrifying."
"Agreed."
I walked toward Remilia as she rampaged through the Bloody Horn ranch and—
Splash!
"Gwek!!"
—dumped a full pail of water over her face.
"Huh…? Your Grace, why are you here?"
"Remilia, how much of that caffeinated drink I gave you have you been drinking?"
"Uh… two cups a day?"
A convenience-store 500 ml caffeinated beverage, and someone smaller than me had been downing two of them daily. It was a miracle she was still alive.
"Haa. Leave Bloody Horn breeding to the orcs for a while and get some proper rest."
"H-but the breeding…"
"..."
"Understood."
"I'm confiscating the caffeinated drinks for the time being."
"Th-that can't be… if I just drink that I can stay up all night researching…"
"If you drink any more you'll actually die. The moment I catch you drinking it—"
I seriously considered what words would make Remilia leap in terror and finally rest. The calculation finished inside my head and the completed line began playing from my mouth.
"I'll burn every scrap of research Remilia has gathered so far and make her write it all over again."
"..."
"Would you like that?"
"No. I'm going to sleep."
Watching Remilia leave by carriage, I let out a long sigh.
"Working hard is fine, but if she collapses I'll be the one who has to do the work with zero knowledge, so I'd really prefer she take it easy."
"Hm? Wouldn't the Great Chieftain be able to manage?"
"No, I wouldn't."
Just how strong was these orcs' faith in me, anyway?
"Even without Remilia, ranch management won't be a problem, right, Gartan?"
"Of course not. If anything, it's more comfortable without someone breathing down our necks, Great Chieftain."
"…So you're just giving the professors what they used to give you."
Why did that remind me of the junior who swore he'd end the chain of abuse and then immediately started dishing it out himself?
"You've got it rough—"
"Hm? Great Chieftain, a carriage is coming."
In the direction Gartan pointed, a carriage approached under escort.
"Black Knights?"
The only person the Black Knights Jester had stationed at the manor would escort was…
"…Why is she here?"
The moment Cecilia stepped down from the carriage, the watching orcs began to murmur. A single white flower had fallen onto the vast prairie. The man approaching that flower was the Great Chieftain they followed.
"It can't be…"
"The Great Chieftain looks flustered—uncharacteristic of him. That means…"
"That lady is the Great Chieftain's—!!!"
When Cecilia smiled and waved toward the orcs, they could not hide their astonishment. Unlike Remilia or the other human women who recoiled at the sight of them, her eyes held only kindness and trust.
Those eyes carry a strong heart!
The mate the Great Chieftain chose is no ordinary woman!
Cecilia looked puzzled as the orcs knelt toward her, but when Victor drew near she broke into a soft smile and greeted him.
"Your Grace."
"My lady, what brings you all the way out here…"
"I came because I had urgent news for Your Grace, but if I am imposing I will turn back at once…"
"Nonsense. Come with me."
"Were you not in the middle of work here?"
"I was, but speaking here would be rather inconvenient, would it not?"
Seeing Victor try to move them out of consideration, Cecilia shook her head.
"No."
"Are you not afraid of them, my lady? Or uncomfortable?"
"Are they not people under Your Grace's protection? Why would I feel fear toward those who stand with me?"
"…Gartan, I'll speak with the lady for a moment."
"Understood, Great Chieftain."
Seated at the tea table set out on the open prairie, Cecilia felt for the first time in her life a true sense of openness and the fresh wind brushing her face; a gentle curve formed on her lips.
"I've never had a tea party like this."
"Is that so? It's my first as well."
"Really? That makes me happy. Um… Your Grace…"
Cecilia almost asked whether he was uncomfortable, then swallowed the words. They were not in that kind of relationship, and asking would have been improper.
"Is something the matter?"
Every time she met those red eyes that worried over her, a strange pang ran through one corner of her chest. It was the first time anyone—neither family nor house—had ever fretted over her like this.
But I must not cross the line any further.
Swallowing the words "because we're that kind of pair," Cecilia shook her head.
"It's nothing. I have urgent news I must deliver to Your Grace."
Looking over the missing entries Cecilia had uncovered in the records of northern iron-ore distribution and use, I clicked my tongue.
Hah. The second Father died they turned their heads? Even with my elder brothers as heirs, if they flipped this fast…
It meant such relationships had been quietly forming under the surface for a long time.
"I had people check the reports of several houses located in the northern rear and the weapons actually stored there. It was wretched."
"..."
"If an emergency muster were issued in this state, I wonder whether they could even appear properly armed."
"And around Black Heart Castle?"
"No one reckless enough to siphon away the iron ore most directly tied to survival."
"The rear, is it…"
The northern rear meant the territories bordering the Empire proper.
"Dogs drunk on the meat their new master tossed them, already preparing to bite the hand that feeds them."
Crunch.
I clenched my fist hard enough for blood to well up. Watching, Cecilia started and reached toward me in alarm.
"I understand Your Grace is angry. But please do not hurt yourself with that rage. Are you not the shield of every person living in the North?"
"..."
She took something from her sleeve and carefully spread it over my hand. Cecilia's hands were very small and very warm.
"That is…"
"The wound salve I gave the knights this time."
"Your ladyship has excellent hands."
"Yes. I once tried hard so I could be of help to His Highness the Crown Prince… ah."
A shadow fell over Cecilia's face the instant she realized her slip.
"I-I'm sorry… I… that's not…"
Wheeeeing!
Once again the warning tone rang through my head, forcing Victor's brain cells to draft a line that would break the present deadlock. The finished dialogue began to leave my mouth.
"It is only natural for a person to recall happier memories of the past. Do not hide them or deny them. My lady's kind and diligent nature is well known to me and to every retainer of House Walterheim."
"..."
"So do not blame yourself, my lady."
At that plain, Victor-like comfort, Cecilia lowered her head.
"Incidentally, the salve works remarkably well. Superb craftsmanship, my lady."
How kind you are. Why treat someone who is nothing more than a contract partner with such gentleness? Is that gentleness for me alone, or does it extend to everyone inside your fence?
Cecilia lifted her gaze to Victor's red eyes—eyes that insisted every word he had spoken held not a single lie.
What is this ache blooming in one corner of my chest…?
Watching Cecilia's carriage head back toward the manor, I let out a breath of relief.
I stopped it right before it blew… right?
Was Cecilia still carrying feelings for Crown Prince Baron?
"This is going to be rough."
If it was already this delicate in the North, I dreaded how carefully I would have to handle her once academy life began. Still—
"There's something more important right now. Luche."
"Yes, Your Grace."
"Tell every northern noble I name from this moment on to present themselves at Walterheim Manor."
"Understood."
What needed doing had to be done. It was time for a purge.
In the imperial capital, at the heart of the palace, the Emperor's children—save Baron—had gathered in one place. The one who had summoned her siblings was the Second Princess Luisilla. Standing behind her was a white-haired old knight: Sir Bison, her maternal grandfather and former commander of the Imperial Palace Knights.
"I'm truly grateful you all came. My dear younger siblings."
"Just get to the point."
"Right."
Luisilla heaved a sigh at the open hostility radiating from Second Prince Liberdo and Second Princess Renata.
"Children, an opportunity has come to break Brother Baron's momentum. What good does it do us to fight among ourselves?"
"Honestly, the moment he kicked Lady Cecilia of the Roeyental Duke Family to the curb, wasn't Brother already finished?"
"Father was furious."
"True. But we must not forget the two standing behind him—Boris and Ryan."
Liberdo recalled the names Luisilla had spoken and chewed his fingernail.
"Fair point. If the Imperial Knight Commander and the Magic Tower Sage's disciple are on Brother's side, it's dangerous."
"Of course, the fact that the connecting thread is that commoner girl makes it precarious."
"She's managing them well. That woman is no ordinary fox."
The moment Liberdo remembered Elysia from the imperial ball, his heart began to race against his will.
Damn it… why the hell is this happening…
"Liberdo?"
"No… it's nothing. So what did you gather us here to say?"
"Not long ago Brother Baron went north and came back covered in nothing but disgrace."
"He did, didn't he?"
"Such a pathetic return I couldn't help laughing."
Nodding at Liberdo and Renata's words, Luisilla spread a map of the North.
"How about we join forces and put a leash on the North that Brother is so desperate to collar?"
"Using the lords we've already brought over?"
"Is that wise? If Father makes an issue of it again—"
"We only need to slip the collar on before he can make an issue of it. You know the people I've cultivated just as I know the ones you've cultivated. You understand what happens when the three of us combine our strength."
Her younger siblings sat in silence, yet Luisilla could read the quiet assent in their expressions.
"Then it's a race against time. We should hurry and make contac—"
Clunk!
The door opened and three people entered, each approaching their own master to deliver a quiet report.
"What?"
"That's…"
"What do you mean?"
The information they brought was that the Grand Duke of the North had detained every noble the three of them had turned into their own limbs and was holding them at his manor.