Chapter 52

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While Luria, who intended to pretend to be asleep, was actually about to fall asleep.

“Mee~”

“Bubo!” “Moo!”

The guardian beasts living secretly in the small forest near the grand duke's residence were holding a meeting.

“Chu chu (Luria-sama is not coming back this way but heading towards the lake~)”

The guardian beasts, informed by the sparrow guardian, wanted to chase after Luria.

However, the goat, boar, and cow were too large and would inevitably stand out.

“Moo (We should send a smaller one because we stand out too much)”

“Bubo! (If something happens, the smaller ones won't be able to handle it!)”

“...Meeeee~ (...As long as our existence isn't discovered, it's fine)”

The heated discussion was concluded by the words of the leader, the goat.

The goat, boar, and cow all wanted to be by Luria's side.

(…Mee) (…Bubo) (…Moo)

And deep in their hearts, all three thought it would be fine even if Luria found out.

The desire to be called by Luria and to be petted grew stronger every year.

Of course, as sensible guardian beasts, they didn't say this out loud.

They shouldn't stand out, and while it would be fine if only Luria found out, it could cause a commotion if the adults found out.

But, it would be nice to meet secretly. That was their thought.

Then, the three guardian beasts began to discuss how to move to the lakeside villa without being noticed.

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The letter that Amalia recognized in the carriage on her way back from the baron's residence immediately reached Graf.

This was before Luria and the others arrived at the lakeside villa.

“What... what is this...”

Graf thought of many things after reading the letter.

About Amalia and Luria. About Marion and the protected Sara. And about the foolish baron.

For half a second, he was flustered, angry, and sad,

“Sir, what shall we do?”

The butler's voice restored his calm, and he handed Amalia's letter to the butler.

“Amalia, Luria, and Sara are heading to the villa. Please prepare so they can live comfortably.”

“Understood.”

“Send ten attendants. Of course—”

“Take care not to get infected.”

No matter how much he wanted to protect his wife and daughter, he couldn't let the attendants get infected.

“How much budget do you need?”

“Use as much as necessary. I will have to pay the carpenters extra for their trouble.”

“Understood. I will go and make the arrangements.”

The butler immediately set to work to ensure that Amalia and the others could live comfortably and safely at the villa.

Then, Graf left the room and headed to his study.

When Graf entered the study,

“Oh, Father.”

Gilbert was smiling as he selected a book.

Lydia, standing behind Gilbert, was nodding seriously and hadn't noticed Graf.

Lydia's neighbor, Corco, was looking intently at Graf.

“I was choosing a picture book to read to Sara and Luria. Father, which one do you think is better?”

“I have something to discuss about that... Lydia?”

“...”

“Lydia?”

“Huh”

“...Eh? Ah, Father. When did you come in?”

Lydia, nudged gently by Corco, finally noticed Graf.

“You were quite focused.”

“Yes. I was cleaning the toys for Sara and Luria to play with.”

“Toys?”

“Yes. If I leave it to Luria... she might start sword training or something.”

Graf could easily imagine such a scenario.

“Luria might say something like that.”

“Yes, that’s right.” “Moo”

Lydia was cleaning wooden dolls and furniture for playing house.

“Luria doesn’t show much interest.”

Lydia smiled a little sadly.

Perhaps she wanted to play house with Luria.

“There are also animal dolls, so Luria might enjoy them...”

There were wooden carvings of dogs, cows, and goats that Lydia had prepared for Luria.

“I wanted to use the toys I played with when I was little to find out what Sara likes.”

Lydia smiled happily.

The decision to take Sara as a foster child had been known to Gilbert and Lydia the day before.

Only Luria didn’t know.

The reason Luria wasn’t told was because she would be going to the baron's residence that day.

When explaining the foster arrangement, it would be necessary to explain Sara’s current situation.

If that happened, Luria would not be able to remain calm towards the baron.

If Luria became agitated, it could disrupt the plan.

Graf intended to tell her “It’s all right now” after everything went smoothly.

“About Sara... her arrival will be delayed by about five days.”

“Why? Did Baron Didier object?” “Why?”

“Both of you, calm down.”

Graf calmed the children and explained that they had become close contacts of the red pox.

“L, Luria. Ah... spirits, why...”

Hearing about the red pox, Gilbert turned pale and prayed to the spirits.

“Oh, what... Mother, Luria...”

Lydia cried.

“Moo~”

Corco pressed his body against Lydia to comfort her, then suddenly ran out of the room.

Corco started moving his head to head to the lakeside villa.

‘It’s an emergency!’ ‘Where is the villa?’ ‘Luria-sama~’

The young spirits attached to Corco also began to move.

Of course, the spirits' movements were not visible to Graf and the others.

Graf embraced the children.

“It will be fine. She may not develop symptoms. If she does, I will send a doctor immediately.”

“Yes, Father.” “Yes.”

“It will be fine. It will be fine.”

Graf repeated “It will be fine” as if to convince himself.

After hugging for a while, Graf and the others began to move.

Gilbert and Lydia started selecting gifts for Luria and the others and wrote letters.

Graf began making various arrangements.

Arrangements to ensure that Luria and the others could live comfortably and safely at the lakeside villa.

Arrangements for doctors to be sent to the lakeside villa and to Marion.

Investigations into whether the baron's illness was indeed the red pox.

And an investigation into curses by the High Priest of the Church of the One God.

Yes, Graf had also noticed the possibility of a curse.

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While Luria and Sara were having a cozy nap together.

At the Church of the One God, the Archbishop of Valois, Saul, received a letter from Graf.

The letter asked if Marion could have been cursed by the baron.

“Hmm. The possibility of a curse. How is the ‘Witch of the Southern Wasteland’?”

Saul asked his close priest.

In fact, five years ago, the “Witch of the Southern Wasteland” had cursed Amalia.

When Luria was still saying “dau dau,” Graf had almost destroyed the “Witch of the Southern Wasteland.”

However, Graf did not destroy the “Witch of the Southern Wasteland” after their surrender.

There are countless groups of sorcerers, including small ones, and it is difficult to destroy them all.

Therefore, he added them to his control to keep other sorcerer groups in check and to gather information.

It’s a snake’s way to deal with snakes.

“The ‘South’ is obedient and has not been active in our country for the past five years.”

Of course, the High Priest and Graf did not forget the possibility that the “Witch of the Southern Wasteland” might rebel.

They kept them under constant surveillance.

“If it’s not the ‘South,’ then it could be the ‘Witch of the Eastern Forest,’ the ‘Witch of the Northern Swamp,’ or the ‘Witch of the Western Mountain.’”

Sorcerer groups, for some reason, call themselves witches.

There are four major groups in this country, each named after the cardinal directions.

“Ask the ‘South’ if they have any leads on who cursed Baron Didier’s wife.”

“Yes, sir.”

“...If it’s a curse, it’s fortunate that it’s not the red pox, but is it likely to be a curse?”

The rumor of Graf leading his forces to almost destroy the “Witch of the Southern Wasteland” had spread.

No one in the underworld was unaware of Graf’s ruthlessness and strength.

Not only did he destroy the sorcerer group, but the duke and the High Priest who had commissioned him also died mysteriously.

By doing so, Graf had made it clear that if anyone cursed his family, they would face death.

“I don’t think any ‘Witch’ would accept such a commission.”

If it’s not a curse, then the baron suddenly developed the red pox.

This means that Luria has a considerable chance of developing the red pox.

“Send the list of healers who can diagnose the red pox to the Grand Duke immediately.”

“Yes, sir.”

Once you have had the red pox, you will never get it again.

Therefore, healers who have survived the red pox can diagnose it.

“...God, protect Luria-sama.”

Luria-sama is loved by God, so there’s no need to pray.

But Saul couldn’t help but pray.

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