Chapter 8

After a while, Victor brought in two maids.

I had thought Raphina would come alone, so I hurriedly pulled the cloth deeper over my face.

One of them was a tall maid with a bloodless face, walking with her eyes fixed on the ground.

The other was Raphina, my wife, dressed in the same uniform as the maids.

Although her face seemed slightly different from the last time I saw her, the smell was just as I remembered.

Raphina bowed her head and said,

"Welcome back!"

(Welcome back?)

When she raised her face, there were freckles that shouldn't have been there before.

Was she originally freckled, or did she deliberately add them?

(Is this her idea of a disguise?)

I turned my gaze to Victor, who had returned to my side.

Even without a good sense of smell, it was obvious that the steward hadn't noticed Raphina.

(No way.)

I couldn't understand why my wife was mingling with the maids in the laundry room, or why she was enthusiastically greeting me with "Welcome back."

I was certainly confused.

"What is this...?"

"It's not what you think!"

The maid who wasn't Raphina interrupted Belion's words.

She stepped forward as if to protect her wife, clasping her hands together in a prayer-like gesture and continued,

"Please forgive us! We didn't do it to make things easier... Our hands are rough, and we wanted to make them less so... Rough hands slow down our work... This girl made it for us... But it did make things easier... Please, if you must punish someone... I helped make it too...!"

I hadn't intended to scold them, but it seemed they had a major misunderstanding.

However, Belion was used to such reactions, so he didn't even sigh.

Even though his appearance had changed, his essence remained the same as when he was human.

Despite not eating people, most humans trembled in fear and begged for their lives when they saw Belion.

According to Victor, the other party understood intellectually, but couldn't help it.

Even Victor, who had seen Belion since he was a baby, felt fear at his current form.

There were a few people who could face Belion without fear, which allowed the administration to function minimally.

His enhanced physical abilities were also useful in the borderlands, where battles with monsters were inevitable.

(This form isn't all bad, though.)

"It's okay, Alma."

Raphina stepped forward.

She placed a hand on the shoulder of her colleague, who looked like she was about to cry, and continued,

"Trying to make things easier isn't a mistake."

"Huh?"

Raphina, having passed by her colleague whose fear had dissipated, approached Belion without hesitation.

"I was told to answer your questions. This is about the washing machine, right?"

"Ah, yes."

"Then let me explain its structure first. If you have any questions, please ask. As you can see, the structure itself isn't very complicated, and thanks to Alma, it's easy to disassemble and reassemble."

Raphina squatted next to the tub—next to the washing board—and began to explain as she disassembled it.

While I was impressed by the explanation, I was also somewhat exasperated.

(Has she forgotten about her husband?)

Even with a monster that could make a child cry in fear as her husband, she acted as if she were meeting a stranger for the first time.

Was she unaware that Belion was pretending not to notice?

She seemed to have a lot of confidence in her freckle disguise, which made me want to laugh.

"Since the trial introduction, the time spent on laundry has been reduced. However, with only one machine, the overall impact is minimal."

Raphina's confidence was amusing.

To hide the fact that I was laughing, I deliberately spoke in a low voice.

"Then... let's have some of them made by an outside contractor."

"Thank you!"

"Can a larger one wash more at once?"

"No. If it's too large, we won't have the strength to turn it."

Raphina stood up and looked at the laundry pool.

"I'd like to have it turned by a horse or use the water pump's power to automate it, but my knowledge is limited. The material is also a problem. If not properly maintained, the wood will rot... Ideally, it should be... Al... Ste... Still... Pla... Poly..."

The latter part was more of a monologue. I could hear her voice, but I couldn't understand the meaning.

After a while, the other maid muttered,

"Fiona, you're not just anyone..."

Belion, the only one who heard this, nodded slightly under the cloth.

*

Raphina's odd behavior continued.

The tea snacks served that day were supposed to be the inedible parts of lemons.

"..."

To deal with the monsters in the territory, I often had to rely on portable food that was second in taste.

When those ran out, I would catch and eat snakes or spiders.

Even I hadn't expected to be served organic waste in the office during peacetime.

I couldn't help but glare at the steward.

"Victor"

"That is candied lemon peel, made by boiling and drying the lemon rind."

"Most of it is covered in white mold."

"Please look closely. It's not mold, but sugar."

"..."

Prompted by the gaze, I put one in my mouth.

The lemon peel, which I had never eaten before, was slightly sweet and bitter.

What kind of determination did it take to eat lemon peel like this?

There was only one answer that came to mind.

"Have I let the people starve to this extent? I am a failing lord."

"It's not because of food shortages. It was made by Lady Raphina."

"My wife?"

After inventing the washing board, she now processes lemon peels for food.

"What is she doing in the laundry room and kitchen? She was a daughter of a marquis."

"She has been going out a lot recently. The maids have been quite busy."

"..."

"Prepare the carriage."

"As you wish."

Raphina, known as the poisonous flower of the capital, was bound to do something.

I had expected it, but not in broad daylight.

(I don't want her to do anything that draws attention during the day.)

I don't insist that she be a virtuous wife.

However, if she goes too far, I need to have a talk with her.

I got into a plain carriage without the family crest, sighing deeply, and leaned back in the seat after removing the cloth I had worn from the office to the carriage.

The carriage eventually stopped. I wondered if we had arrived at an inn, a theater, a shop, or someone's house.

Peeking out the small window, I saw a familiar building.

"A church?"

"Th-the back garden, sir."

"I find this hard to understand."

Could she be blooming a poisonous flower in a corner of the church?

Belion, who wasn't particularly devout, felt a pang of sympathy for the gods.

I put the cloth back over my head and moved as quietly as possible.

I ignored the church officials who stiffened in fear upon seeing me.

"--- Quietly."

My inhuman ears caught Raphina's voice.

If she needed to be quiet, she shouldn't have chosen the church's back garden.

I moved forward.