Chapter 49
“I don’t feel like telling you. Try to figure it out yourself, wife.”
Leaving only those cold words, Kalheil strode toward the door.
“…Excuse me, Your Grace?”
Reina, staring blankly at his back, hurried after him. But in the short time she hesitated, Kalheil was already far ahead.
“Wait for me!”
She struggled to keep up, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t match his long strides.
“Your Grace! Grand Duke…?”
No matter how desperately she called, he didn’t stop.
“Kalheil Your Graaace!!”
Only after her near-scream did he finally pause. Reina quickly caught up, panting.
“You really don’t act like a noble lady at all. How are you going to play the role of Grand Duchess?” Kalheil clicked his tongue, unimpressed.
Still gasping, Reina muttered irritably, “Why do you walk so far ahead?! And why are your legs so long?”
“That your legs are short isn’t my fault.”
Reina, catching her breath, tried again.
“Why won’t you tell me? Shouldn’t you explain to me, since I’m directly involved?”
“You want me to tell you here and now?”
Reina looked around. The area was bustling—people were approaching in a group, busy with greetings.
“Who… are they?”
The answer came from the side. Bayen approached and said, “They must be envoys from the Imperial Palace.”
Bayen yawned and rubbed his eyes. When he noticed Reina looking at him, he quickly shut his mouth.
“Sorry. I don’t know why, but I’ve been so sleepy lately…”
As he scratched his head, Reina suddenly wrinkled her nose.
‘That again…?’
On the back of Bayen’s head, she saw it—a big, black worm-like thing crawling. Others had strange shadows too, but Bayen was the closest she’d ever seen, and it made her shudder. She stepped back a couple of steps, disgusted.
“Why are you avoiding me, Your Grace?” Bayen looked hurt.
Reina hesitated. She’d have to keep seeing him in Lautzen—she couldn’t keep acting like this forever.
“…Sir Bayen?”
“Yes?”
“I have a request…”
“A request?”
He pounded his chest. “Say anything freely, Your Grace. Since you are married to our lord, you are like my own master as well.”
Encouraged, Reina carefully spoke.
“Then… may I… hit the back of your head once?”
“…What? My head?”
Bayen blinked in shock. Even Kalheil looked dumbfounded.
“Was hitting the back of my head not enough for you, wife?” Kalheil’s stare asked what on earth she was thinking.
Reina mumbled, embarrassed, “Well, you said I could ask anything… I just want to test something.”
Kalheil gave Bayen a look—just go along with it. Sighing, Bayen bent down and presented his head.
Right before Reina’s eyes, the black worm squirmed across his hair.
“Ugh…!”
She trembled in revulsion. Kalheil frowned, not seeing anything strange himself.
Reina lightly tapped Bayen’s head, but the thing didn’t vanish. It just froze for a moment, then crawled toward his neck.
“No… it didn’t work…” she whispered, biting her lip.
‘So it really doesn’t respond to me? Maybe my healing power doesn’t work on this…’
Just as she was about to give up, Kalheil said, “Do it properly. Like you did to me.”
“…Huh?”
He swung his hand in the air as if demonstrating a big slap.
Bayen looked stunned. “Your Grace, did… the Grand Duchess actually hit you before?”
Kalheil smirked. “Yes. She has… quite the hand technique.”
Before Reina could protest, Kalheil suddenly grabbed her wrist and smacked Bayen’s head hard with it.
WHACK!!
“OW! That hurt, Your Grace!!” Bayen clutched his head.
“Exactly. That’s how it felt when she hit me.”
Bayen grumbled, “But this time it wasn’t her—it was you hitting me, wasn’t it?”
While they bickered, Reina’s eyes widened. From Bayen’s head, a puff of white smoke rose.
“…It disappeared…” she murmured.
Kalheil immediately grew serious. He had suspected since the gambling den incident that Reina’s powers were more than simple healing.
He turned to her. “So only you can see these things?”
Reina nodded gravely. Without further explanation, she pointed out others in the group.
“That one. And that one too…”
Kalheil’s expression hardened. “All of them are from the Imperial Palace. So the reason you once smacked me before… it was because of this?”
Reina nodded again. “Yes. Back then I wasn’t sure, but now I’m certain. There was the same black worm crawling on you, and when I hit it, it disappeared.”
Kalheil thought for a moment, then suddenly grabbed her hand.
“What are you doing?!” Reina cried.
“Getting rid of them. We can’t take these things to Lautzen.”
And with that, he started smacking people on the head wherever Reina pointed.
“OW!! Your Grace!!”
“KYAA!!”
Confused knights, servants, and maids screamed in shock.
Some knights angrily confronted him:
“What are you doing, Your Grace?!”
“At least give us a reason!”
Kalheil only snorted. “What reason? If your lord orders it, you obey.”
The knights grumbled, but they couldn’t openly defy him.
When it was done, Kalheil shrugged at Reina. “See? Easy.”
Reina glared. “You can’t just go around hitting people like that!”
“But it worked. And in war, people lose arms and legs. A smack on the head is nothing.”
Reina sighed deeply. Rough as his method was, it had cleared the worms.
“Thanks to you, we can leave without them following us,” she admitted.
“Not so fast. Let’s see if that’s really all of them,” Kalheil said quietly.
And sure enough—Reina suddenly smelled that foul stench again. The new group arriving—the envoys from the palace—were crawling with them too.
Covering her mouth, she gagged. Kalheil immediately handed her his handkerchief.
“Use this.”
It smelled of fresh mint—just like him. The clean scent helped mask the awful stench, allowing her to endure it.
Then, in the crowd, Reina spotted a familiar face.
“…Lord Aisen?”
There he was, mingling with the envoys. She hadn’t seen him since their arranged meeting.
Kalheil also frowned in surprise. Why was Aisen Drallrof here?
Noticing their gaze, Aisen approached politely.
“…I didn’t expect you to come out and greet me.” He bowed. “I couldn’t greet you properly yesterday. I am Aisen Drallrof.”
Kalheil narrowed his eyes. “Why are you here?”
“As a member of this envoy, I will also be traveling to Lautzen.”
