Chapter 56
“At a store I coincidentally entered while sightseeing…?”
[Coincidentally? I see.] Ash straightened. [You must have really liked it for you to wear it alongside your wedding ring.]
“Yes, I do love it.” I smiled, rubbing the bridge of my nose. “There were a lot of other, fancier rings, but I was attracted to this one. It’s weird, isn’t it?”
Having seen the reactions of Lennox and the shopkeeper, I was expecting the bird’s reaction to be around the same.
But he answered seriously, [No, it’s not weird at all.]
I blinked. “You really think so? I thought I would hear scolding from you as well.”
[Everyone has different tastes. This ring has found a good owner.] Ash nodded vigorously, even a bit happily. [Don’t lose it.] He flew up after speaking.
“Are you going now?”
[For the sake of the newlyweds, uninvited guests should leave quickly.] He winked. [Have a good night, Olivia!]
Late that night, Ashuna stood in front of the duchess’ bedroom.
Their master had already gone into it. Because of the barriers he’d set, not a single sound leaked out, but it was obvious what was going on beyond the doors.
’Just do it in moderation.’
Or else their lady wouldn’t be able to get any sleep.
Ashuna, grumbling to herself, felt a cool breeze from the end of the hallway. She raised her head and glimpsed the figure of a walking man.
“Do you want me to relieve your shift?”
She snorted at Nishir’s suggestion. “Never mind. I just got here too.”
Of course, for the ‘shadows’, standing guard in the middle of the night was easy.
“What really brings you here?”
“Let me talk to you for a moment.”
Normally, she would have responded with “Shoo, don’t talk nonsense,” but he looked serious. Ashuna looked back at the tightly closed bedroom door, then at Nishir.
“Wait a second.”
The two moved to the center of the corridor, a position where they could still see the door clearly.
Ashuna spoke first, “I suppose I really am busy these days.”
“Don’t make that face,” Nishir said, rejecting her sympathy.
She smiled. “Didn’t you know? Everyone is betting on when I’ll die of overwork.”
“I wouldn’t have known that.”
“I’d have thought that you would put the most money on the line about what will happen to me in the near future,” she shot back.
“…”
“Was it a hundred gold?”
“…Who said that?” Nishir shut his mouth.
“Someone must have been confident this time, considering that they bet five months’ worth of salary at once. Did they want to get rid of me that much?’
“…You’ve been listening in the wrong places.”
“I have to know who’s praying for my eternal rest. Still, I’m going to wake up anyway, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
Nishir changed the subject. “Anyway, did you change your hairstyle?”
“…Did you eat something bad today?”
“I’m genuinely curious!”
“Two can play at that game. Your hair seems longer now, huh?” Ashuna replied testily.
“And the wounds on your hand haven’t healed yet.”
“That’s because it’s been rough these days… wait, what?” She frowned, hurriedly grabbing a handful of Nishir’s hair to measure the length. “Hey, what’s this? Why is it getting longer? I…”
She realized something soon after.
“Could it be that… magic is coming back?”
“Yes.”
“Because of the lady…”
“That’s right.”
Ashuna’s face hardened. It was not for a long silence that her mouth opened. “So… again…” she trailed off, biting her lower lip in an attempt to keep her emotions at bay.
Tears welled up in her eyes. “Finally, we…” She buried her hands in her face.
Nishir waited for her to compose herself in silence, a small consideration for a colleague.
In the end, he didn’t have to wait very long, but she was not known to be flustered by most things. Considering her usual temperament, this much was natural, and her overwhelmed appearance was more of the exception.
“I apologize. I must have looked ugly.”
“Not at all. I had the privilege to witness a rare sight.”
Ashuna glared. “You know you’re becoming more and more like your master, right?”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Don’t.”
Even with her cold answer, Nishir only shrugged off her rebuke and brought up the real reason he came to her. “But there are some problems.”
“What is it?”
His eyes scanned the empty hallway, their battlefield at the moment. There was no sign of life in the vicinity.
Having confirmed that no one could eavesdrop, he opened his mouth, “His Highness is going to break his promise.”
“What promise?”
“The one he made with his wife.”
Ashuna’s face distorted when she understood what he meant. “What about the contract?”
“He’ll destroy it no matter what it takes. He’s that type of man.”
“But…” She hesitated. “We have to go back to where we came from someday.”
“True,” Nishir answered calmly.
Her eyes widened. “Is he going to take the lady with us?”
He kept silent, which was an answer in itself.
“He can’t. Does he think humans can live there forever?”
How long would that last? Months? Years?
Nishir gulped. “You know, Madam is not an ordinary human being either.”
“If you’re going to say that it’ll be fine with her powers, get lost,” Ashuna growled. “She won’t be able to stand it. That place isn’t like here.”
“…”
Nishir didn’t expect that his colleague cared that much for Her Highness.
“You could have stopped him!”
“I couldn’t! His Highness…” He ended up confessing the truth, “He wants to have her entirely.”
Ashuna’s eyes filled with anger. “Did you hear what you just said? How could he think that? Has he gone mad? How dare he treat his wife like that?’
“Lower your voice, Ashuna.”
But Nishir never could placate her when he went into such moods. She never gave up on her dedication, and it seemed that she’d given it to their lady. She wouldn’t be able to accept the will of their master.
“People aren’t things to be had!”
Of course, she’d felt the signs of it before, especially when Lennox asserted monopoly over Olivia. But she didn’t expect it to be this bad—no, she had only fooled herself. She saw their master’s eyes filled with more than just desire.
“I don’t want to believe it.”
There was only one conclusion to reach.
“No… It’s…”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s something else.”
Ashuna smirked. “And what is it? Is it Madam?”
Well, that was what they wanted to believe. She snorted to herself.
She had no intention of stopping Nishir from currying favor with their master, but that arrogant man needed to be seriously hurt at least once.
“This will be interesting.” Ashuna laughed darkly.
Nishir asked anxiously, “What is it?”
“Look forward to it.”
She was one of Lennox’s best shadows, but her strongest trait was one that made her a ticking bomb.
“We will see a rare sight that will never again happen in the future.”
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