MHHC Chapter 56

Rumors

"I'm sorry. I must have been too hasty. If I'd known you'd suffer like this, I would have been more careful..."

What exactly? Even through her fever-addled mind, she could tell he was blaming himself, but she lacked the strength to ask why.

But Valentin continued speaking as if he'd precisely grasped her unspoken question.

"Breaking the seal on your magic so carelessly seems to have affected your body. I should have waited longer until you were ready, but I was too impatient. This is all my fault."

"Mag... ic...?"

"I wish I could be the one suffering instead."

Looking at her as if at something utterly pitiful, Valentin gently stroked her forehead with the back of his hand. It wasn't her imagination.

Each time he gradually infused her with magic, the pain seemed to subside, if only for a moment.

Tears flowed from her heat-flushed eyes at all times, unbidden.

"How... cold, so cold..."

He looked down at her with complicated eyes.

"Relying too much on magic isn't good. Natural recovery is better for humans."

"It hurts... feels like... dying..."

"...If it goes wrong, you might suffer even longer."

"Please, Val..."

When she looked up pleadingly with her fever-flushed face, he sighed and grasped her chin, tilting it up as he sat perched on the bed.

She felt his calloused thumb stroke across her swollen lips.

He suddenly leaned forward.

The moment she widened her eyes in surprise at the shadow blocking her vision, Valentin found her lips at an angle, as if to soothe her, and captured them.

"Mm."

Magic flowed abundantly through her parted lips. She desperately swallowed the icy cold magic.

Feeling an aching thirst, she pressed her lips closer still.

Instinctively, her hand crumpling his collar tightened with force. A little more, please just a little more...

He didn't hesitate, pouring magic generously as much as she desired.

Adelheid lost consciousness in a torrent, feeling the power crash over her like waves.

When she opened her eyes again, it was early morning.

The fever had completely subsided, and the pain that had felt like it was shredding her flesh had vanished without a trace.

Dawn had broken, but the sun hadn't fully risen yet. The atmosphere was blue and cool.

She awkwardly surveyed the quiet bedroom. These past few days, whenever she'd opened her eyes, Valentin had been at her bedside.

It was amazing how quickly his absence had become something that felt strange—as if his presence had become the natural state of things.

"Good heavens. Your Grace! Are you feeling better?"

Margaret, who'd entered silently, made a fuss and hurried over when she saw Adelheid sitting up.

She must have been very worried; shadows lay beneath her eyes. Adelheid smiled faintly at the wild flowers filling both of Margaret's hands.

Unlike the aristocrats who sent ornately pretty flowers adorned with colorful ribbons, these were quite fresh and fragrant.

"I'm fine now. Did you pick those flowers yourself?"

"Ah, His Grace the Grand Duke gave them to me. His Imperial Majesty summoned him on my way here. He had me bring them to you."

"His Imperial Majesty? At such an early hour?"

"The hunting festival begins today. He summoned him to the stables, saying he'd bestow a horse for the hunt."

Margaret said as she removed wilting flowers from the vase.

Unlike a few days ago when she'd been excited that His Imperial Majesty seemed to favor their Grand Duke, her tone wasn't entirely welcoming now.

Adelheid tilted her head.

"Isn't it a good thing for His Majesty to bestow a horse?"

"It is good. Of course it's good, but... there are strange rumors going around lately."

"Rumors?"

"Rumors that used to circulate only among vassals who'd long served Ansgar loyally. But somehow word got out, and now they're being spread maliciously..."

"What kind of rumors? Can you tell me?"

Margaret nodded with a reluctant attitude.

She seemed to have judged that since Adelheid was now also part of Ansgar and would need to deal with other nobles at the imperial palace, there was no reason to hide it.

Margaret pulled a chair close to the bedside and sat down.

"Then where should I start? You must know that the previous Grand Duke of Ansgar—that is, Master Edmund—gave up the position of crown prince and inherited the position of Grand Duke of Ansgar."

"Ah. I've heard about it. It was a famous incident."

The previous empress had been the sole direct bloodline descendant of the extinct Ansgar line.

Therefore, when she bore children, the first was to rule the empire and the second to govern Ansgar.

But Edmund, the firstborn who should have become emperor, had suddenly yielded the crown prince position to his younger brother and demanded the position of Grand Duke of Ansgar instead.

Though it had happened over thirty years ago, such shocking events were endlessly discussed.

"Those of us below were just happy that the master's position of Ansgar had finally stabilized. The previous empress was also secretly relieved that the reliable Lord Edmund would take charge of Ansgar. If only a woman could become head of the family... If that had been possible, she would never have accepted the position of empress, even unto death."

Margaret paused as if recalling the past.

Margaret would have been about six when the previous empress was a young lady approaching twenty, so it made sense she spoke with such an almost worshipful tone.

"In any case, since Master Edmund had been educated as crown prince, he was competent in all aspects. Of course, the land of Bitzleben itself had so many monsters and such barren soil that no matter how excellently he managed it, we were never prosperous. We all thought that was why our master kept postponing marriage."

Margaret took a breath and continued.

"Why would a lady noble enough to meet Master Edmund's standards come all the way to this frozen land to marry?"

"So you're saying it wasn't such a simple matter?"

Margaret shook her head.

"One day Master Edmund brought home an infant. He declared he would never marry, and that this child would be Ansgar's heir. His own blood child, he said. The babe wrapped in swaddling clothes had black hair and golden eyes, bearing the imperial symbol as plain as day."

"...That was Valentin."

"Yes. Correct."

Margaret's expression grew increasingly uncomfortable.

This loyal maid seemed to find it unbearable to speak aloud the secrets of her own household with her own mouth.

No matter that it was at the command of the mistress she served. Her voice dropped even lower.

"Master Edmund resembled the previous empress with red hair and golden eyes, but hair color can skip generations, after all. But then vicious rumors began to circulate."

Margaret made an utterly distasteful face, as if unable to spit out these particular words from her own mouth. She opened her mouth with deliberate slowness, her expression twisted.

"That Lord Valentin was... at that time the Second Prince... that is, the bastard child of the current Emperor Josef."

"Ah."

"They say the Second Prince's lover became pregnant and was abandoned. She was from a noble family, but was disowned because of it. Rumors that the child might be that woman's were quite... noisy at the time. Though such talk died down after our master brought home Young Lord Oskar in the same manner."

Since Oskar had red hair and golden eyes, after all. Adelheid tried to recall the man's face, now blurred even in memory, and failed.

He remained only as the impression of someone who had seemed quite shabby compared to his brother, even in their worst times.

And at that final moment...

She clenched her trembling fingertips tightly.

"Are you saying those rumors are circulating in the imperial palace?"

"In truth, there have always been those who suspected. The current Crown Prince Mikhail takes entirely after the Empress from House Ernst, while Grand Duke Valentin, as you can see..."

She recalled the scene she'd witnessed with her own eyes just days ago.

Standing side by side, the emperor and Valentin would have looked like father and son to anyone's eyes. Just as Crown Prince Mikhail standing beside them had seemed merely the empress's son...

"According to the maids, the issue of Lord Valentin's succession rights was recently discussed at the council. His Majesty apparently said he wanted to leave possibilities open for both of them... Y-Your Grace."

Margaret looked up with a start. Before she knew it, Valentin was leaning casually against the bedroom doorway.

He looked at Margaret with cold eyes, then jerked his chin toward the door.

Though clearly anxious, Margaret hastily tidied up and vacated the room.

"There was no need to be so high-handed. I was the one who pressed her to tell me..."

"Ask me directly. Now that I have all my memories, I could have answered anything."

"......"

"Has your fever gone down?"

Crossing the room with long strides, he placed his hand on her forehead.

His hand, carrying the chill of the outdoor wind, felt pleasantly cool.

Adelheid pulled his hand down and habitually rubbed her cheek against it slightly. She froze the moment she realized what she'd done.

It was a mistake. A habit from when she'd been bedridden...

He drew a short breath, then laughed quietly.

"Acting so adorably, how exactly do you plan to deal with the consequences?"

"...I know you won't."

"I wonder. It would be better not to trust me too much."

When he cupped her chin with his long fingers, heat rose to her lips as if by habit now.

Her pale green eyes, opened wide, trembled unstably. Valentin gazed at her for a long time.

As if every one of her tremors was utterly beautiful and delightful to him.

Soon he leaned down and kissed her lips lightly. Though it barely lingered before pulling away, the magic was definitely transferred.

"Try to endure with just this today. It's going to be a busy day."

He said with a somewhat mischievous smile. He placed a thin bundle on her lap.

Adelheid immediately recognized the seal stamped on the bundle as belonging to the capital's most famous tailor.

How on earth? The cost of commissioning clothes was one thing, but this was a place rumored to be so fully booked that even an imperial princess would have to wait.

"I commissioned it as soon as we arrived in the capital, and it arrived yesterday evening. Open it."

Adelheid carefully unwrapped the bundle. The texture of soft fabric was the first thing she felt.

The dress made of navy velvet was beautifully embroidered with delicate stitching.

Beneath it were gloves, a handkerchief, a fan, and even a small hat adorned with feather decorations. Not a single item looked inexpensive.

"This is—"

"You were worried you might not have enough clothes."

He said in an indifferent voice.

"Actually, I wanted to let you rest until today, but the emperor insists on seeing you."