Chapter 72

* * *

After returning to the room, Reina gently woke Bonita and fed her.

After that, she washed the child and changed her clothes, and before she knew it, it was time to head to the laboratory.

Before leaving, Reina faced Bonita and carefully went over her instructions one by one.

“Boni, got it? The practice clothes haven’t arrived yet, so you can’t pester Uncle Dean to teach you swordsmanship.”

“Yeah.”

“And you can’t ask him to toss you up high like you did with the duke.”

“Yeah.”

“And if you suddenly get bored, you can’t go to the duke’s office either…”

“But the duke said I can come play if I’m bored.”

“Uncle Dean will be with you.”

At the mention of Uncle Dean, Bonita’s expression turned subtly pouty.

“Uncle Dean’s not fun.”

“Didn’t you say Uncle Dean was your favorite before?”

“But…”

Bonita clasped her hands behind her back and lightly kicked at the floor, clearly dissatisfied.

“But?”

“He always just tells me to be careful.”

“Well, you are supposed to be careful.”

She’d been so excited before when he said he’d teach her swordsmanship, so what was she unhappy about now?

Reina poked Bonita’s puffed cheek.

“Mom, I’m eight years old.”

Bonita brushed Reina’s finger away with a prim look.

“Right?”

“So that means I’m all grown up.”

“…”

Reina held back a laugh and looked at her. The child looked completely serious, her expression solemn.

So Reina asked,

“Then Boni, can you sleep by yourself now?”

“…”

“You’re all grown up, right? Should I ask the duke to make you your own room?”

Bonita’s violet eyes wavered.

“Th-That’s not it. You don’t have to.”

“Why? You said you’re all grown up.”

Bonita rolled her eyes back and forth for a long time, then spoke in a tiny voice.

“…I sleep next to you so I can protect you from monsters.”

“Monsters under the bed?”

“Yeah.”

Reina burst out laughing.

“Well, our daughter isn’t scared of under the bed at all and even crawls in there. You really are brave and amazing.”

She grabbed both of Bonita’s cheeks and rubbed noses with her.

Bonita scrunched her nose and laughed at the affectionate gesture.

“Mom will be back soon, so play nicely with Uncle Dean. And if a monster under the bed goes after him, Boni can protect him.”

“Even though Uncle Dean’s a knight, I can protect him?”

“Of course. No matter how much of a knight he is, he can’t catch monsters as well as you can.”

Bonita paused, putting on a serious expression as if thinking deeply, then nodded vigorously and clenched both fists.

“Okay. Then I’ll protect Uncle Dean too.”

“That’s my girl.”

Reina planted kisses on both of Bonita’s cheeks. Bonita giggled.

The sulky child vanished, replaced once again by a girl overflowing with affection.

“Just wait a few days. The duke promised he’d prepare everything for you.”

“Yeah.”

“Good girl.”

After stroking Bonita’s hair again and again, Reina placed a handkerchief into her hand and stood up.

“I wanted to finish quickly, so I couldn’t make the sun very big. I’m sorry.”

Bonita blushed and looked down at the embroidery. Near the corner was a cute little sun.

She rubbed the stitching with her thumb and said,

“I like it like this.”

* * *

After leaving Bonita with Dean and giving Estelle her handkerchief as well, Reina headed to work with Peter.

In front of the manor where the experiments were taking place, Peter spoke before opening the door.

“I’ll help for a while, but eventually you’ll have to handle things on your own. I’ll support you until you get used to it and find your footing.”

“That alone is more than enough. Thank you.”

If Reina had been alone from the start, she would’ve been surrounded by mages and Mage Examiners, swept along without being able to do anything.

Worse, she might’ve been looked down on as insignificant and easy, practically treated like a cornered field mouse.

“With you, once you gain confidence, you’ll adapt quickly. The problem is getting that confidence.”

“You’re flattering me again, aren’t you?”

“…What’s flattering?”

“Oh.”

Reina quickly covered her mouth.

Peter looked at her with undisguised curiosity.

‘I let my guard down.’

In the years she’d lived as Reina, there were very few people she could call close.

Because of that, she rarely talked this much with anyone, and she’d mentioned something that Reina normally wouldn’t know.

“Th-That was something I saw in a dream. A vehicle that flies in the sky.”

“A flying vehicle? Using birds or magical beasts?”

“No, using power.”

“Flying a machine with just power. That’s impressive.”

“Ha ha…”

Reina laughed awkwardly.

“Anyway, let’s go. Everyone will be waiting.”

“It’s better to keep them waiting a little. It shows who holds more authority.”

Peter said it as if it were obvious, but Reina’s gaze sank calmly.

The reason was simple.

Normally, she would’ve been the one waiting.

“…Let’s go.”

“You’re firm at times like this.”

Just as expected, there were even more people than yesterday, all already in position.

When Reina and Peter arrived, everyone stopped what they were doing and approached them.

As if planned, the mages lined up neatly in three rows.

“Attention.”

“Good morning.”

At the booming voices, Reina’s eyes widened.

‘I don’t think even the Winternight knights are this strict.’

“Wow, even the Winternight knights don’t go this far, right?”

Peter voiced exactly what Reina was thinking.

For a moment, Reina wondered if she’d spoken out loud.

“…Y-Yeah.”

One of the mages standing at the front stepped forward.

“This experiment could lead to an explosion if mishandled, so we established rules among ourselves before you arrived. With this many people, the risk of accidents is high.”

He handed a thick stack of documents to Reina and stepped back.

Reina took them and was startled by the weight.

“Th-These are the rules you set?”

“Yes. If anyone has opinions they wish to present to the representatives, they must submit them as reports in the morning.”

“…”

Reina thought,

‘I definitely came here yesterday. Did they really make all these rules and write reports in just one day?’

“Both the mages and Mage Examiners are really… amazing.”

“They are.”

Usually, when you praise someone, they deflect it or say it’s nothing.

There was no rule saying they had to, but this was the first time Reina had seen someone accept praise so confidently.

Seeing her flustered look, Peter whispered while holding back a laugh,

“Mages take pride in their work.”

“Ah…”

Are all mages like that? To feel that much pride, you’d need both skill and diligence.

As if reading her thoughts, Peter added,

“His Grace is so inhumanly capable that the mage tower staff who work with him have it rough.”

“Master is that capable?”

“Yes. They have to keep up with His Grace so their pride doesn’t crack.”

“Ah…”

Reina finally nodded in understanding.

It had taken Damian barely a day to prepare the location and manpower.

Keeping up with someone like that would take an enormous amount of effort.

“You all work very hard.”

“That’s true. Thanks to that, we have it easier.”

“We don’t need to go that far, right?”

“Well, it’s hard for us to have that level of pride.”

Peter smiled lightly with his hands behind his back.

The mage, who hadn’t heard their whispering, approached Reina again.

“Then I’ll guide you to your place.”

“My place too?”

“Of course. Aren’t you the representative of this experiment?”

At the word representative, Reina flinched and shrank back slightly.

Seeing her ears turn red, Peter smiled to himself.

“It was prepared in a hurry, so there are many shortcomings. Please come this way.”

The large man guided Reina with impeccable courtesy.

People inside the manor were already kind to her, but being treated so respectfully outside still felt unfamiliar.

She followed timidly until she saw an ornate door.

‘That’s a really fancy door.’

She’d never seen it before yesterday and wondered what it was for.

‘Is it for storing something expensive?’

She’d heard that confidential documents were labeled clearly to avoid mix ups.

‘Maybe that’s why.’

Whether that was true or not, they’d had a lot to organize in just two days, and they’d even prepared such a lavish door. It must be something very important.

Reina thought calmly that it probably had nothing to do with her.

Then the mage guiding her stopped right in front of the ornate door and said,

“This way.”

“What?”

“We prepared it hastily, so it’s lacking in many ways, but I hope it meets your approval, Miss Reina Botn.”

Before Reina could ask anything, the door opened.

Beyond the dazzlingly ornate door was a space so brilliant and lavish it almost hurt her eyes.