Chapter 74

Whenever Reina explained what she was working on or talked about the principles behind it, her eyes sparkled like stars.

Watching from a distance, Peter realized for the first time that he’d always known she would make that expression.

Before she measuring it, Reina had naturally reached the point where she was holding a mug and drinking tea together with everyone else.

One mage laughed heartily.

“At first I thought she was just some vague looking woman. Turns out she’s got a real knack for magic!”

“How do you understand something after just one explanation? That’s impressive! If you had magic power, I’d want to drag you straight into the mage tower. You said you have a daughter, right? Bring her along too!”

“Ah, I don’t have magic power.”

At Reina’s calm reply, all laughter and conversation came to a dead stop.

“No magic power? You mean not just a little?”

“Uh… none.”

“Not even a single drop?”

“…None.”

Clatter…

One mage dropped his mug.

“H-How can you have no magic power… Did you ever suffer from some illness in the past?”

“No.”

“Isn’t the measuring tool broken? Ah, Eleanor came by, right? If it was her, she might’ve damaged the tool.”

“N-No. We checked and it was working fine.”

“No way… how is that possible…”

Now everyone was looking at Reina with pity. Instead, she felt like she’d done something wrong.

“Well, there are several medicines that help increase magic power…”

“Yes, Eleanor Beanz said she’d tell me about them.”

“The newest ones? Or the old formulas?”

“She said the old methods are best, so I think it’s a traditional formula.”

“That’s better.”

“Yeah, yeah. The latest formulas were proposed by the temple. You can’t trust those.”

“Exactly.”

Reina’s eyes widened at the unfamiliar information.

“The temple researches things like that too?”

“Yes. Donations to the order have been decreasing, so they’re probably trying to boost them.”

“But don’t those work pretty well?”

Another mage added from the side. Immediately, the others growled and smacked his back hard.

“Do you even know what’s in those?”

“You know too, don’t you!”

“Quiet! Anything not made by mages can’t be trusted! You understand too, Miss Reina Botn, right?”

“Yes, y-Yes.”

Reina smiled awkwardly as sweat trickled down her face.

‘They’re a bit intense, but they don’t seem like bad people.’

* * *

Damian read through the daily report Peter had submitted.

“To think the mage tower managed to win her over like that. Impressive.”

“Maybe they fell for Reina Botn’s personality.”

“If personality alone could win people over, they’d have been tangled up long ago.”

“Your Grace? I think that’d be difficult.”

At Peter’s blunt remark, clearly unconcerned for his own life, Damian shot him a cold look. Peter rolled his eyes and looked away.

“If those annoying fools hadn’t known how to keep their line, I was planning to use it as an excuse to stir things up a bit.”

Damian hadn’t expected the mages to be friendly to anyone in the first place.

If they’d treated Reina rudely, he planned to use that opportunity to lodge a complaint with the mage tower and squeeze out a few artifacts.

‘Of course, it’s best if they aren’t rude at all.’

“Either way, there was nothing to lose.”

If the mage tower had been rude, they’d gain additional benefits. If they were cooperative, the research would proceed smoothly.

At Peter’s words, Damian replied flatly.

“If they’d been rude, Reina Botn would’ve been hurt.”

“…”

Peter wondered if he’d heard that right.

“Your Grace, are you saying you were worried about someone else?”

“What?”

Damian’s eyebrow twitched at Peter’s question, but he continued anyway.

“No, isn’t it true? The only time Your Grace cares about others is when you’re judging whether they’ll become a threat.”

“That’s not it.”

“Then whether they’re useful or not?”

“Not that either.”

Peter had stayed by Damian’s side for years. Damian trusted him, and Peter prided himself on knowing Damian well.

That was why Damian’s shameless expression and shameless words left him utterly dumbfounded.

‘It was strange from the start.’

Damian had gone out of his way to take care of Reina.

He said it was all for Estelle, but it was obvious it had already gone beyond that.

‘Not that he’d realize it even if I asked.’

Thankfully, the money Damian had spent on the Botn mother and daughter hadn’t put any strain on the ducal finances.

If there’d been even the slightest sign of instability, countless families would’ve moved to interfere.

‘There’s no way His Grace has feelings for Reina Botn.’

Then what is it?

Peter felt like he was trying to complete a puzzle with no matching pieces.

‘Lately, I really can’t tell what His Grace is thinking.’

But there was one thing even Peter hadn’t noticed.

While he wondered why Damian was so considerate toward Reina, Peter himself was also taking no small amount of care of her.

* * *

‘That took longer than I thought.’

It was well past dinner time when Reina finally returned to the ducal castle and let out a small sigh.

‘Peter said he was going to see Master…’

She sighed again and looked down at the large box in her hands.

‘And they gave me so many gifts…’

She’d been told mages were full of pride, but to Reina, they’d been nothing but kind.

They’d even packed snacks for Bonita, insisting she take some for her.

On top of that, they’d added several magic books and a few magic crystals.

‘Is it really okay to just give these away?’

Isn’t that embezzlement? Reina tilted her head in thought when she suddenly felt a heavy weight around her waist.

“Mom.”

“Boni.”

Bonita had appeared at some point and was hugging Reina tightly, looking up at her.

“Mom, you came back really late.”

“No, you didn’t wait that long.”

Boni grinned up at her. At that sweet smile, a gentle smile bloomed on Reina’s face too.

“Mom, what’s that?”

“They’re things Mom’s coworkers gave her at work today. They said to share them with you too.”

“With me too?”

“Yes.”

Boni beamed, then paused as if something occurred to her. Her smile slowly faded as she spoke.

“Then will you give some to the young lady too?”

“To the young lady too?”

“Yes.”

‘Is she worried about being the only one getting something?’

There was no other reason she could think of. Reina looked at Bonita for a moment, then asked,

“Should we give some to the young lady too?”

“…Mmm.”

Bonita rolled her eyes and let out a small groan at Reina’s question.

“Is that not it?”

Reina couldn’t figure out what Bonita wanted. She simply waited for her to give a clear answer.

After a brief pause, the child nodded.

“Yes, let’s give her some.”

“Alright.”

Bonita loosened her arms and grabbed the hem of Reina’s clothes tightly.

“…Mom got these for me, right?”

“Yes. Mom’s new coworkers asked me to pass them on to you as gifts.”

Bonita stayed silent for a moment, then nodded.

“I’ll share.”

“You’re so good.”

“Yes. Mom’s daughter is super good.”

“Hehe.”

Reina tucked the box against her side and lightly tapped Bonita’s hand with her free one.

Bonita clutched Reina’s clothes as if she’d never let go, then firmly took her hand instead.

Matching her pace to Bonita’s small steps, Reina asked gently,

“Did you have fun with Uncle Dean today?”

“It wasn’t bad.”

“What did you do?”

“Hmm, I named the doll he bought me, and we went to the knight order. The Captain said he’d bought cookies and told us to eat some, so we went. Then the uncles kept asking if I was really going to be a knight…”

Bonita began talking softly, one thing at a time.

About how it was winter but she heard a bird singing and chased after it, what color its feathers were, and the strange cloud shapes she’d seen that day.

She whispered every little detail, things that didn’t really matter and would be forgotten quickly, to Reina.

Reina could tell how much Bonita had thought over these small stories just to tell her.

“If it wasn’t bad, doesn’t that mean it was good?”

“No.”

“Why?”

When Reina asked, Bonita stopped in place.

She seemed to hesitate, wondering if it was okay to say.

“Not bad and good aren’t the same.”

Bonita struggled again, trying to find the right word.

Reina gently swayed their joined hands and waited until the child found one she liked.

“Um… it was so so.”

Bonita finally chose the word so so by the time they reached the stairs.

The way the little girl mumbled so so was both funny and adorable.

“Mhm. Why was it so so?”

“Uncle Dean is just… kind of like that.”

‘Like what?’

Bonita liked Dean. She followed him well.

‘Actually, Bonita gets along with most people.’

That was why her reaction felt a bit unexpected to Reina.

Bonita glanced up at Reina, checking her expression.

“I-It’s not that I don’t like him, okay? It’s just that… he keeps telling me to be careful all the time, so…”