MHHC Chapter 16

Seeing Adelheid turn pale in an instant, the head maid gave her a knowing look.

"If it's your first time, you might be surprised, so I'll assign a woman skilled in such matters."

"A-a woman?"

"To seek advice from someone experienced. A man's size..."

Adelheid spoke urgently, as if about to cover the head maid's mouth in horror.

"R-really, there's no need. Greta has been taking care of me well on her own until now. And... I-I know roughly what to do."

"Are you certain?"

The head maid's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Adelheid nodded her bright red face.

"I don't need many maids either. It's not a situation that calls for elaborate grooming. It'll be enough if they help just on the day the priest selects as auspicious. Also, His Grace needs to rest and recuperate for the time being..."

"An auspicious day?"

"Won't it be enough to help with grooming only on the designated day?"

"Ah."

The head maid nodded as if she now understood where the misunderstanding came from.

"I have heard rumors that in the Bayern region, couples only share a bed on auspicious days chosen by priests, but in the north we don't particularly concern ourselves with specific days."

"Y-you don't concern yourselves with the day?"

Adelheid's pale green eyes widened like a startled rabbit.

"But... I mean, without an auspicious day, how can you... that..."

"Unite?"

Unable to say the word herself and beating around the bush, Adelheid pressed her lips shut at the head maid's direct speech and barely managed to nod. The head maid answered matter-of-factly, as if she were asking something very strange.

"Well, Their Graces should do it frequently whenever they feel inclined, shouldn't they? That way a child will come quickly."

"Wh-wha-what..."

Adelheid's neck and cheeks flushed bright red. Margaret was the one who'd spoken, yet she was the one dying of shame. She felt bristling all the way to the top of her head.

The fact that she could say such things so casually was a problem, and doing that without receiving an auspicious day from the priest, at any time or place... was an even greater disaster.

'So the rumors about constant coupling were true.'

Margaret, looking equally shocked, drove the point home.

"Setting an auspicious day and only doing it on that day? Honestly, until Your Grace mentioned it, I would have thought it was a fabricated or exaggerated rumor. It goes against the natural order."

It was outrageous. If you thought about it, wasn't this side promiscuous and lacking in restraint? But arguing about such matters clearly wouldn't lead to any conclusion.

As she alternated between flushing red and turning pale by herself, Margaret gazed at her with an inscrutable expression.

"Your Grace is more honest with her emotions on her face than I thought."

Was it praise, or mockery disguised as admiration? She couldn't tell what the words meant, but Margaret's voice carried a very faint goodwill. Adelheid noticed the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

Margaret quickly composed her expression. She continued in a stiff, businesslike manner again.

"In any case, if you didn't know, you must steel your resolve from now on. Produce a proper heir as quickly as possible."

"S-such words..."

"It's not really my place to speak. Right now His Grace the Grand Duke cherishes Your Grace, but ultimately there's only one way to solidify your position as mistress."

Adelheid met Margaret's firm gaze. She didn't know what had opened this loyal head maid's heart, but she could feel that in the brief time, the eyes looking at her had softened a bit more.

Adelheid nodded obediently.

"...Thank you for the advice."

"Then rest now."

When Adelheid nodded once more, the head maid carefully closed the door and left. She moved her tired body to collapse onto the long couch.

'The head maid is right.'

If there was no proper heir between her and Valentin, then if the same situation arose in the future, Adelheid's position would be difficult to guarantee. According to age-old customs, she wouldn't be able to exercise the right to refuse even if Oskar demanded her.

Moreover, if luck was bad, her family home of Reichenau might claim the marriage was invalid since the wedding night hadn't been consummated. And then sell her off at a high price to someone else.

The problem was that the 'Grand Duke of Ansgar' who had despised her wouldn't have tried to have children from her body even if it killed him. While it might be possible now, there was no guarantee that Valentin, after his memories returned belatedly, would look favorably upon her and her child.

'Actually, I don't know what His Grace is thinking.'

Insisting they must spend every night together, calling her 'wife,' and what about all these mountain-high gifts and splendid quarters...

The more Valentin acted strangely, the more people whispered that the Grand Duke cherished her exceptionally. In reality, the relationship couldn't be more bizarre.

According to the original plan, Adelheid had intended to vacate the castle the moment Valentin returned. Whether entering a monastery using chronic illness as an excuse, obtaining a villa, or hiding in a forester's shabby cabin.

Even if Valentin displayed her like an ornament and brought in illegitimate children, she'd planned to accept it obediently.

'The harm I've done to his life is considerable. I should compensate him as much as I can.'

However, all those plans she'd diligently thought through and prepared became useless in an instant. Because Valentin Ansgar had changed far too much since coming back from death.

Was it a temporary phenomenon, or truly,

'Is something else inside him...'

It was a sentence that chilled her even as she thought it. Adelheid paced the room anxiously.

'First, let's not think too deeply. Even if I worry and agonize now, there's no way to know. If it's truly a demon, the High Priest, Father Padre will clearly reveal it.'

No matter how wicked and evil a demon might be, it couldn't defy the high priest's holy power. So once the priest arrived in Bitzleben, uncovering the identity of this strange incident would be a matter of time.

Adelheid resolutely made the sign of the cross.

High Priest, Father Padre arrived in Ansgar Territory of Bitzleben exactly three days after Adelheid sent her letter. Adelheid, who'd been examining Greta's throat condition, hurriedly descended the stairs upon hearing news that the high priest's carriage had passed through Ansgar Castle's main gate.

"Father Padre."

The weather was so cold that winter's chill stung her nose sharply. Padre, who'd just been descending from his carriage, smiled brightly upon seeing Adelheid.

"Adelheid. Have you been well?"

"How did you arrive so quickly?"

"I happened to be on a pilgrimage. I'd just been passing through Schleicher Territory when the messenger you sent cleverly sought me out there."

Schleicher bordered Ansgar Territory. If someone as important as a high priest had visited Schleicher's temple, it would have been bustling with believers who came to receive his blessing. Only Adelheid, who had no way of receiving such news, had been ignorant.

Even now, the Ansgar people who recognized the high priest's vestments were competing to bow their heads. The eyes looking at Adelheid standing before him changed as well.

Adelheid exhaled a breath of relief.

"Thank you for coming right away. I'd actually been giving up, thinking I'd have to wait weeks just to hear back."

"What have I done? It was all arranged by Morig."

"By Morig..."

Adelheid rolled Padre's words in her mouth. Then she raised her head.

"You're right. Please come inside. It's lunchtime—have you eaten?"

"Not yet. Just a cup of hot tea would be nice."

"Please prepare tea in the parlor right away."

At Adelheid's command, the maid following beside her quickly curtsied with a delighted face and disappeared. She was a woman whose faith had deepened twice over since losing her son. She seemed moved to receive a high priest up close, someone difficult to see even from a distance in the capital.

"This way."

Adelheid said, opening the parlor door. Thanks to tipping them off that an honored guest was coming, the parlor interior was comfortable. A fireplace with a blazing fire, clean carpets, and a large table in the center.

On the walls hung tapestries, portraits of successive Grand Dukes, and mounted animal heads. Padre, instead of sitting in a chair right away, spent some time viewing the portraits hanging on the wall.

When tea was finally prepared, he sat at the table and smiled.

"Still, I'm relieved you seem to be doing better than I'd feared."

"I know... you worried a great deal when I took my vows."

About the marriage. It was a word she couldn't quite voice, but as if guessing even that sentiment, Padre answered warmly.

"The prosperous south disparages Bitzleben as barbarian lands, but this place has its own order and rules. You must understand that now, Adelheid."

Adelheid slowly nodded. It wasn't empty words—Padre had truly worried about Adelheid.

Unable to ignore her misfortune, Padre had ultimately broken his vow not to interfere in worldly affairs. Because of that, dirty scandals had even circulated about them for a time.

'Love between a maid suspected of being the Count's illegitimate daughter and a candidate for the next Pope...'

The rumor without even witnesses was serpentine in its cunning and tenaciously persistent. It was obvious that forces opposing Padre's papal succession backed it.

Because of that, Adelheid couldn't send news for three whole years despite Padre's earnest entreaties to write immediately if anything unbearable happened.

Not until this incident erupted.

"Ah. And this. When Lady Charlotte heard I was going north, she asked me to convey her regards to you."

Suddenly, as if remembering something, Padre pulled out an elaborately wrapped package from his chest. Adelheid hesitantly unwrapped the package.

"......"

When the wrapping came off, what emerged was a hair ornament gaily decorated with lace and ribbons. A peacock's tail feather caught the eye, and several roses made by finely twisting velvet cloth were attached. Everything else was black, and black, and black.

It was an ornament for use at funerals. Only then did Padre, understanding the situation, flush with rare embarrassment.

"Oh dear."

He made excuses with a flustered face.

"It's been twenty days since I left Bitzleben, so the only news Lady Charlotte would have heard was of your husband's tragedy. Even in Schleicher Territory, news that the Grand Duke had survived was only circulating as rumor."

"......"

"In fact, if I hadn't received your letter, Adelheid, I wouldn't have believed it either."

"Do you still have the letter? You read it all carefully?"

"Of course."

The priest's warm eyes looked directly at Adelheid.

"I asked you to write anytime things were difficult, but I truly didn't expect to receive such a letter."

"......"

"What I read in your letter was fear, Adelheid."