As if it had been an anticipated question, Ail immediately countered.
“Do you think someone could secretly slip a forged magic tool in midway, knowing how the Magic Tower handles deliveries?”
“If it were the East, who have received magic tool supplies before, they would be familiar with the method. What matters is how it was hidden.”
Virki burst into tears, crying as they streamed down.
“No. I definitely checked it before sending it by magic…! Since it was something I was sending to Lise, I inspected it so many times.”
“I believe you. It is not your fault, Lord Virki.”
Liselotte soothed him, patting Virki’s head, which was bigger than her own.
Since the previous ambush had failed, it seemed they had tried probing them this way instead.
The sudden increase in attacks meant they were that desperate.
Ever since bringing Kairi to the North, they had been acting more openly.
‘I thought it would be either an ambush or a subjugation, but to think it was really an ambush.’
Among the vassals of House Keilos, not a single one believed they would give up so easily like this.
Perhaps because of that, Ail bowed his head without protest.
“Magc Tower Master, I apologize for investigating you so rudely.”
“Hic… I am offended, but since it was for Lise, I will praise you.”
Taking a step back, Virki covered his mouth with his sleeve and slipped behind Liselotte.
It seemed the emotional distance between him and Ail had only grown further.
Eren looked around the area surrounding the estate and asked.
“Where is Ferento?”
“Ah, monsters appeared near the western border region, so he has gone out to deploy.”
Subjugation and ambush. So it was both.
Perhaps because minor subjugations were an everyday occurrence, no one seemed particularly concerned.
After a small commotion, they entered the manor safely.
As she walked down the corridor with Eren, Virki trotted along beside them, chattering.
“You know, Grand Duke, what are you using to inspect the magic tools?”
“We are using the magic tool you recently crafted, Tower Master.”
“As expected, right? I think the forged magic tool was probably made by them using the Word of Command.”
“I think the same.”
Something was happening.
Liselotte, who had been quietly listening to the back-and-forth conversation with herself in the middle, looked straight ahead and asked gently.
“I would like to understand too. Could someone explain?”
Only then did Eren seem to realize it and let out a short sigh.
“Ah, I have been cooperating with the Tower Master on developing new magic tools.”
“I heard defensive magic tools can be breached by the Word of Command. I rarely had opportunities to encounter nomads, so I couldn’t take that into account before, but thanks to the Grand Duke, I am making them sturdier now!”
Virki placed a hand proudly on his chest, his eyes shining.
As if seeking praise, his sparkling gaze landed on Liselotte’s face to the point of being burdensome.
It was the moment she understood why the two of them had been so inseparable.
“If that was the case, you should have said so. I had no idea at all. How are you taking that into account?”
Just as she smiled brightly, half in praise, and was about to pat Virki’s head.
“By drawing the Grand Duke’s blood.”
At the innocent answer, Liselotte’s hand froze.
“Blood?!”
Liselotte sharply turned her head to the side and stared at Eren with wide eyes.
Eren himself remained calm.
“Seeing Kairi, it seemed blood was necessary, so I only drew a small amount.”
“The Grand Duke is right. We didn’t take much. Thanks to that, Lise is safer now, so it was a very cost-effective choice!”
Pressing a hand to her forehead, Liselotte let out a groan.
“If there was something like that, you should have told me. Why did only the two of you know?”
Of course, if she had heard about it, she would have worried. Still, looking at it in the long run, it was necessary work.
‘A magic tool that the Word of Command doesn’t work on means, conversely, that Eren cannot use it either…’
The newly developed magic tools had to be distributed only within the North.
If it were to fall into the hands of the East, it would be the same as giving them a shield as well.
Ail would have surely handled it cleanly on his own, but just in case, she resolved to check it personally.
While she was thinking, Virki leaned forward so far that even his upper body tilted, peering around in front of Liselotte’s face.
“Lise, are you angry because I didn’t tell you?”
Only then did a dull, aching sensation gather around her eyes.
It seemed she had been unconsciously tensing her gaze.
Liselotte quickly put on a smile and answered as if nothing were wrong.
“No!”
“Phew, I thought Lise was angry…”
He continued speaking after that, but it didn’t clearly register in her mind.
She should have been fine.
In her head, she understood and accepted it perfectly.
Since those who carried out the ambush had broken through the magic tools with the Word of Command, countermeasures were something that should have been prepared as quickly as possible.
But it felt as though something knotted and unresolved was coiled heavily in one corner of Liselotte’s heart.
She didn’t know what to call the weight of it.
‘What is this?’
Without understanding why, Liselotte swallowed the feeling inside herself.
As they neared her room.
Eren, who had come to an abrupt stop, quietly spoke.
“Tower Master. Could you look for any other forged magic tool?”
“Ah, right!”
As if realizing it belatedly, Virki shuddered, then for once drew his eyebrows together with a sharp look.
“It looks like those bastards have been grinding their teeth ever since I won the case. I will not let this go. Lise, I will go check the storage room for a moment!”
Before she could even respond, a magic circle spread beneath Virki’s feet.
With a faint breeze scattering, he vanished at high speed.
As she blinked and stared at the suddenly empty space beside her.
Eren strode over.
A shadow fell over Liselotte.
“What is it?”
Frowning as if something displeased him, Eren looked down at her and reached his hand behind her waist.
Click, as he opened the door, his movement naturally wrapped around Liselotte’s waist.
“Is there something you wanted to say…?”
Before Liselotte could finish speaking, she had been drawn into the room with him as if pulled in.
Thud, with the door closed behind her, Liselotte blinked and looked up at Eren.
He replied with a strained expression.
“I am sorry for making you feel left out.”
“Yes…?”
A large hand brushed her cheek. His golden eyes lingered gently over Liselotte’s face.
“I had absolutely no intention of hiding it from you.”
Liselotte swallowed the sigh that was about to escape.
Only then did she realize what the shallow, unresolved feeling had been.
‘I… felt hurt.’
It seemed that being unconsciously left out while things were handled had bothered her.
The feeling she couldn’t understand became clear with a single apology from him.
It was ridiculous. What was there to feel hurt about?
Eren had simply done what the Head of the House was supposed to do.
“It is fine since you told me now. I already knew that something was going on, more or less.”
She answered with a bright smile, but his strained expression remained.
A faint pressure entered the large hand holding her waist.
As he lowered his head, the front strands of his hair fluttered as if they might brush Liselotte’s forehead.
“I can tell you everything at any time, Liselotte. So please do not misunderstand, no matter what happens.”
At Eren’s words, her lingering hurt had long since vanished.
“It is fine now that you apologized, Eren. How do you understand my feelings better than I do?”
His expression softened ever so slightly.
To others, it might have looked like the same face as always, but to Liselotte’s eyes, it seemed quite varied.
“So, do you dislike it?”
“I just find it fascinating.”
“I am always attentive to you, Liselotte. No matter what it is.”
The faint warmth lingering in the narrow distance felt especially warm.
Thump, thump, the small sound of a beating heart echoed near her ear.
It sounded almost like a confession.
What should she say?
As confusion swirled and her mouth instinctively began to open.
Knock knock knock. Urgent knocking sounded from behind her.
“Your Highness! Is the Grand Duke in your room?!”
Startled, Liselotte’s voice burst out as if she were shouting.
“Uh, uh! Y-yes!”
Bang, as the door flew open, Ferento stood there, panting heavily with a distressed expression.
“They are asking to see you in the West.”
Eren, who had been standing behind her, grasped the doorframe and asked.
“What is the matter?”
“I am sorry, My Lord!”
Gulp, swallowing hard, he squeezed his eyes shut and snapped his head down at a ninety-degree angle.
“All of the monsters that crossed into the western border region are types that inhabit the North! And so…”
The end of Ferento’s voice trembled as he bowed his head.
“They wish to discuss the North’s subjugation management with us in the West!”
