IWJACM Chapter 33

The more the physician explained, the whiter Yvessa's color drained. Elise's pregnancy having been a black-hearted lie, and the horrific ordeal she would have to endure if a child were actually conceived—Yvessa seemed unable to decide which fact deserved more of her shock.

After a while lost in thought, Elise asked the physician.

"Then this matter you mentioned—things to be mindful of, when coupling with a yon'gyn—what exactly is it?"

"There's a time that absolutely must be avoided. The day a yon'gyn's madness manifests. That timing differs for each individual, and only the person themselves can know it for certain."

"What happens during that time?"

"The Mad Dragon Semesitha's rage toward humankind manifests fully and directly. That is, without discrimination, he either slaughters or violates any human near him. It applies without exception—man or woman, whoever comes within reach."

"……."

"That's likely why His Grace goes on campaign so often. The madness doesn't subside until he's either shed human blood or spent his lust. No cure has been discovered to this day. So that period must be avoided without fail. Also—"

It was a spine-chilling string of words. Freya, who had laid out her explanation without so much as pausing to breathe, took a short breath.

"By nature, yon'gyn are vulnerable to their own urges. It's said they're also extremely relentless with their partners during intercourse. It's likely an instinct to breed and increase their numbers. I confess, I can't judge how Your Highness's body—as delicate as glass—could possibly withstand him… If it's at all possible, I would truly wish for you to reconsider."

"That's out of the question, obviously…!"

Yvessa, already white as a sheet, looked on the verge of fainting. She stared at Elise, who had somehow regained her composure, as though she couldn't understand her at all.

"How could anyone go through with such a horrifying coupling, without courting their own death!"

Elise, after a moment's thought, came out with a wholly unexpected question.

"But it isn't impossible, is it?!"

"I'm sorry?"

"What I mean is—structurally speaking."

"…I beg your pardon?"

Freya's and Yvessa's expressions both turned awkward. But Elise remained entirely serious. Her earlobes had gone red, but this was no time for her to worry about appearances.

"I won't die from it, at any rate—but I don't know whether the act itself is even possible before that point. I have some rough idea of how it's meant to happen… but whether that's actually correct…"

"……."

"Of course, I understand it would be extremely painful. But what I want to know isn't the degree of pain—it's whether it's possible at all."

Whether the thing would even fit inside her—that was what she wanted to know. Her voice crawled smaller and smaller as she went, until it died out altogether. Freya answered haltingly.

"No, well, that is… if His Grace takes particular care, it wouldn't be impossible, no."

"Then is there any chance he might feel pain during it as well? I ask because if I knew beforehand, I might be able to be careful about it."

"…That, too, would depend on His Grace taking particular care... Though—Your Highness, when a man and woman come together, it needn't necessarily mean enduring pain. If both parties are considerate and respectful of one another, there can be a great deal of pleasure as well…"

"Is that so?"

Elise blinked, puzzled, then smiled faintly a moment later.

"But I'm not exactly in a position to hope for that."

"No, that's not—that isn't how it should be, Your Highness…!"

Yvessa had finally taken to waving her hands. Elise lifted her shoulders in a light shrug.

"His Grace refused me by saying he didn't want to see blood even in the marriage bed. I already knew as much, so it's fine."

"……."

"In any case, it seems it's possible. That's a relief."

At her offhand answer, both Yvessa and even Freya fell silent. Neither of them could hide the thought that the princess was somehow, on some crucial point, entirely uninformed.

Elise, for her part, had finally resolved a question that had been quietly troubling her alone for days. Gazing for a long while at her own two hands folded in her lap, she at last wore an expression of relief.

"In any case, I understand now. That will be all for today."

After the physician withdrew, Elise bathed with the help of Yvessa and one or two other maids. She also took a simple dinner.

Yvessa kept her mouth firmly shut the whole while she was preparing Elise's bed. Elise didn't press her to speak, and left her be.

Having married the Grand Duke on the pretext of a child that didn't exist, Elise supposed it was only natural if Yvessa, like the rest of the world, thought her a temptress.

It was also true that it wore on her to worry over every detail of how her maid saw her. Elise gestured to her, weary.

"Go on and rest now. I'd like to be alone."

"Yes, Your Highness. Pull the cord if you need anything."

Yvessa draped a shawl over her without any particular fuss. Then, after a moment's hesitation, she seemed to make up her mind and spoke firmly.

"I heard nothing from Your Highness today."

"Hm?"

"So nothing will pass my lips either. Everything I saw and heard today, I know only as much as Your Highness permits."

Elise stared blankly up at Yvessa.

"…Truly?"

"Of course."

"You won't report me to the Emperor? If I'm found out, you won't come through it unscathed either."

"Doesn't His Grace already know all this? If things go sideways, I'll just duck behind his name, that's all."

"…Yes. Thank you."

That was a relief. At least there was no danger of her false pregnancy leaking out through Yvessa's mouth. Only then did the tension that had been drawn taut in Elise's expression finally ease.

But Yvessa's color remained dark.

"But Your Highness—you still mean to conceive, don't you? Please don't."

"Why?"

"It's far too horrifying a thing. That such a fate awaits every woman who carries a yon'gyn's child. You can't simply accept it, knowing full well what it means. Especially when you know nothing at all about—"

"……."

"If it's Lothier's people you're worried about, you could always say at some suitable time that the child was lost. No one would think it strange."

"If I did that, Van Yela's imperial court wouldn't leave me be. My life's worth is tied entirely to a child that hasn't even been conceived yet."

"How can you say such a thing so calmly…"

Elise only smiled a little in response.

It was true that the physician's blunt explanation had shaken her as well. But Elise had information more certain and more trustworthy than anything the physician could offer.

Within the Argan imperial household, countless tales concerning the Mad Dragon Semesitha and his disciple Ghallian had been passed down in secret for generations.

Whenever Elise was bored or sunk in melancholy, Andrei would take her to the church within the imperial palace. Beneath the altar's crypt slept the remains of their ancestors, alongside Argan's most confidential archives.

The days before Semesitha became the Mad Dragon. The years when their founding father Ghallian had been his disciple, and the countless magic formulas he had learned from the dragon and developed further. And records of Ghallian's final fate, known nowhere else on the continent—down to the very reason his bloodline, the imperial house of Argan, had been able to survive generation after generation, evading the dragon's wrath.

Thanks to this, Elise could be reasonably certain of one thing. She murmured, almost to herself.

"If there's one woman in this world Rezet Kyrstan can take without any worry at all, it would be me."

"Your Highness…"

"It might be a strain on me, I imagine. But it won't end so wretchedly. I knew that much before I ever came this far."

The problem was that he had to stop concerning himself with it, too.

Elise gazed quietly at the bedroom door, which showed no sign of opening. She hadn't expected any word tonight, but would tomorrow be any different? Or the day after that?

'He will come to see me eventually, won't he?'

Elise forced the thought to a stop. This was only the first day at Lothier. There was no need to rush.

It was deep into the night, under a clean half-moon, before a candle was finally lit in the Grand Duke's study.

"She's improved a great deal. I expect if she simply rests properly and eats her meals on schedule, she'll be able to move about without much difficulty."

A fresh scent drifted from the table, carved from red cedar. To Rezet, it was a familiar scent, one that felt almost synonymous with Lothier itself.

He unfolded, one by one, the dozens of parchments his aide had left neatly stacked for him, and listened to the report as he read. What he was reading concerned the management of his territory, but what he was hearing did not.

Standing before Rezet, deferential, was Freya, the physician who had examined Elise that afternoon.

"There's also nothing notable left in the way of aftereffects from the accident. Her ringing in the ears has fully subsided as well. I don't see anything requiring serious concern for now."

"You told her—word for word, as I instructed?"

"Of course. I told her everything I know, in addition to what you instructed."

"And she stayed calm, hearing all that?"

"Yes. She listened attentively, but she didn't seem greatly shaken."

Rezet gave a short, wry laugh. He remembered her—eyes damp and blinking with that innocent look, stealing glances again and again at the hardness pressed against her.

The corner of his mouth, which had been held firmly shut, curved into a crooked line.

"No fear in her, is there."

Or maybe no sense. No wariness at all.

Or else—some other confidence he didn't know about.

There was one point that had raised his suspicion.