Senior, I've Come to Visit - Chapter 50

Somehow, the two people in front of me, Lupina and Mireille, seemed to be watching my reaction. Especially Lupina, who couldn’t hide her bewilderment and kept glancing at me.

“….”

Even though I had tried so hard to be careful, had something shown?

The two of them seemed to know that Nardi and I were dating. At any other time, I would’ve panicked, wondering how we got caught and thinking it was a disaster, but right now I felt strangely calm. I found myself thinking it didn’t matter if those two knew, and even if everyone else found out, I wouldn’t care.

When Nardi told me we shouldn’t hide our relationship, maybe I should’ve just said yes.

If we had, we could’ve dated more comfortably, and I wouldn’t be hearing things like this.

“The two look great together. A perfect match.”

“So Nardi liked Rocceni.”

“A mutually beneficial marriage for both families.”

Voices from the surrounding tables kept drifting over. The marriage between Nardi and Rocceni was instantly treated as fact and became the cafeteria’s main topic. I kept eating as if nothing was wrong while listening and quietly thinking. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but their voices were loud enough that I couldn’t help but hear.

I’d wanted to keep my relationship a secret because I didn’t want to be the subject of gossip, but hearing Nardi’s name paired with someone else didn’t feel pleasant either.

‘A mutually beneficial marriage for both families.’

In a way, it made me think my decision had been correct. Because of the difference in status between Nardi and me, it was obvious people would gossip, so I suggested we keep it secret. In that sense, I wasn’t wrong.

A marriage between a ducal family and a marquis family was entirely natural and respectable, something people would call mutually advantageous. But what if it became known that Nardi was dating me?

Of course people would’ve whispered negative things behind us. I’d never imagined marrying Nardi, but even without marriage, there was nothing beneficial for him in being with me. Wouldn’t people have said it was a loss for him, that he was being foolish?

I wasn’t trying to belittle myself. I simply didn’t think much about my own status or circumstances. But nobles generally dated and married within their class, and noble marriages especially tended to prioritize practical gains.

Then what should I have done?

In a way, as Lupina said, it wasn’t something worth worrying about. Even if these rumors weren’t pleasant, I didn’t have the time or energy to waste on baseless talk. I could simply ask Nardi myself.

Pretending not to hear the whispers about Nardi and Rocceni, I continued eating in silence.

I spent the entire afternoon preparing reagents.

I would focus for a while, then lose focus whenever stray thoughts intruded. There were simply too many things on my mind. Once I finished work, I had to go straight to the queen’s palace to explain the potion, and I kept thinking about Nardi and Rocceni.

If possible, I wanted to speak with Nardi before leaving, before heading to the queen’s palace. I found myself waiting for him to return from the Safety Department after finishing his meetings and subjugation training.

But his preparations seemed to be taking longer than expected.

By the time it was almost time to leave work, Nardi still hadn’t come back from the Safety Department, and I couldn’t wait any longer because I might be late. With no other choice, as soon as the clock struck the hour, I packed my bag and stood up.

“I’ll get going now.”

“See you tomorrow, Eloise!”

“Good work today.”

After giving quick farewells, I was the first to leave the lab and the Research Department.

The queen knew I worked at the Magic Tower, so she set the time for late afternoon and even sent a carriage for me. I suppose I should be grateful for the gesture. Thinking cynically, I boarded the black carriage that bore no royal seal, not even the royal family’s crest. It was the same carriage I had ridden the first time I received the commission, and it headed toward the queen’s palace.

I checked the potion bottles in my bag again, feeling a bit nervous. Even the second time around, meeting the queen, a royal, was undeniably burdensome. Still, this was better than the first visit, when I had no idea why I was being summoned. I received an unexpected commission then, and this time I was going to deliver the completed potion.

Developing a magic potion that promotes lactation, honestly, at first I hated the idea….

But now, I felt like it hadn’t been entirely negative. Because of it, I ended up dating Nardi.

I’d never expected our relationship to last this long. I’d been totally indifferent to romance, and it had all started as a one-night fling. I assumed it would fizzle out quickly, and I went into it thinking only of its end. But once we actually began dating, it wasn’t bad at all.

I’d always been used to thinking alone and living alone, but talking about all sorts of things with Nardi and going places with him turned out to be unexpectedly fun. Hugging and kissing him whenever we felt like it was nice too. Several hours a day, we had sex skin to skin or lay together afterward, staying pressed close.

Nardi’s touch, his caresses, the way he held me in his broad arms, all of it made me feel calm. It was an unexpected effect. Ever since we started dating, my heart had felt more at ease, strangely reassured.

“….”

If I had known it would turn out like this, maybe I shouldn’t have insisted on keeping the relationship secret.

It wasn’t even a grand secret. I’d just wanted to live quietly, as if I existed and didn’t exist at the same time. And at the time, I thought the relationship would end soon anyway.

As things stood now, unless something strange happened, I figured I would keep seeing Nardi. I thought I should talk to him again when the time was right. He didn’t like hiding the relationship, but he accepted it for my sake. If I said we didn’t need to hide anymore, he’d be happy. Then the rumors about Nardi and Rocceni’s marriage would probably die down.

I’d changed my mind mostly because of that rumor earlier. Even when I tried not to think about it, it kept coming back. When Leon came to the lab last time, the way Nardi hovered outside the door flashed through my memory. Back then, I just found it ridiculous and funny, wondering why he acted like that. But now I kind of understood how he must have felt. Though I could never express my emotions so openly the way he did.

“For now….”

I needed to finish the queen’s commission properly.

The Magic Tower and the royal palace were close, so I arrived quickly. The carriage passed smoothly through the palace gates, then traveled for several more minutes. When we reached the area where the carriages waited, I stepped down to find one of the queen’s attendants waiting for me.

“Welcome, Wizard.”

“Hello.”

It was the same middle-aged woman I had met last time.

The palace was vast, so we had to walk quite a distance. It was the hour when the summer sun stretched long and the sky held a deep red glow. The palace was beautiful and peaceful, but something about it always felt uncomfortable.

Following the woman, I walked into the queen’s palace and entered the receiving room, where the queen was waiting for me like a figure in a painting.

“I greet Your Majesty, the Queen.”

“Come in. Sit here.”

The queen welcomed me with an elegant smile. I offered a polite bow and took the seat across from her. Earlier in her pregnancy, she had shown no visible signs, but now her belly had rounded noticeably, unmistakably the belly of an expectant mother. Resting one hand over her swollen abdomen, she spoke once the lady-in-waiting served tea.

“You completed the magic potion.”

A smile spread across her young and beautiful face.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

I carefully took the vial and the report from my bag. The lady-in-waiting received them on a silver tray and presented them to the queen. While the queen examined them closely, I quietly added an explanation.

“For the lactation-promoting potion, take one pill with water on the day you need it. It’s important to choose a convenient time, such as after lunch or after dinner, and take it at the same time each occasion. The ingredients work best when their concentration in the body remains steady.”

“I see. I like that the instructions are simple.”