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The next morningâ he went to the dining hall with transfer magic and found Violette.\n
She comes to Hydrangea and greets him in the morning, as if challenging him.
âGood morning, husbandâ
She raises one eyebrow and says âhusbandâ with emphasis.\n
It was as if she was implying that although she disapproved this marriage, she had no choice but to do it because of the contract.
âGood morning, my wifeâ
Violetteâs other eyebrow twitched as he replied so. He noticed her fingertips trembling and almost laughed.\n
She must be unwilling to become Hydrangeaâs wife.\n
Hydrangea continues to speak, hoping to pull her further response.
âToday too, you look beautiful in the morningâ\n
âEven though y-you donât think like that at all!â\n
âWhy do you think so?â\n
âYou enjoy making me angry, right?â\n
âYou think you have a way with anger that amuses me? How conceitedâ\n
âW-What did you say!!â
As she pointed out, Hydrangea enjoyed watching the angry Violette.\n
Donât make fun of woman. He grew up being told that by Verbena. He shouldnât talk about these things.\n
He knew that, but he cannot stop.\n
Thanks to this, Verbena, who was standing behind Violette, was also staring at him.
âPutting me aside, please remember that if you do this kind of thing to another woman, you will certainly be hatedâ
He felt that Violette hated him enough. He must reflect on this point.
âI understand. Forgive meâ\n
âEh?â\n
âWhat? I apologizeâ\n
âNo, I just didnât expect you to be so honestâ\n
âI may look like this, but Iâm an adult. I know about such a thingâ\n
âB-By any chance, is your actual age over a hundred years old?â
It is a well-known fact that elves have long life. But, the life span of Duke Laudense family elves who have mingled with humans is short.
She looked at him with the pure eyes of a child listening to a fairy tale, but he told her that his actual age is twenty-six.
âThe first generation lived for several hundred years, but since then their lifespan has been getting shorter and shorterâ
Hydrangeaâs father, who died of illness, lived only half a century.\n
He recalled his fatherâs words on his sickbed, that it might have been a curse for breaking the elf rule of not leaving the forest.\n
Thatâs not true. It must be.\n
Shaking his head, he decided to forget it.
After finishing breakfast, Hydrangea handed the key to the study in the basement where the magic books were kept to Violette.
âRead as many magic books as you like. Although most of them are ancient books that have not been translated into modern languagesâ\n
âIs it okay?â\n
âIâm telling you to do as you wishâ\n
âThank you!â
Violette wrapped her hand around Hydrangea and grasped the key. At that moment, her body changes from a human to a cat.
She spun around once and landed on the floor, then bit the key that fell with her and jumped around.
âIt seems her mood has recoveredâ\n
âMasterâ
Verbena got closer and whispered in a quiet voice.
âYou should tease the madam when you get to know her betterâ\n
âI know. Iâm reflectingâ\n
âI beg youâ
It seems Violette already taken Verbena as her ally.\n
He went to work with transfer magic while thinking that he would have to be careful.
âââ
Â
Today, from this morning, he will accompany a distinguished person of the country with the inspection of the Magic Division.\n
The minister, who is accompanied by about 20 people, is personally guided inside by Hydrangea.
âIâve been thinking for a long time that the Magic Division seems to be doing invisible work, and I havenât been able to hear about their accomplishments. In spite of using a large amount of budget, I wonder whatâs going on insideâ
They go around to the various departments, listening to the ministerâs comments, which in a roundabout way say that they are budget thieves.\n
The minister were stroking his well-groomed beard, rubbing his swollen belly, he was moving his mouth more than his feet and seemed to be enjoying the inspection.
âI wonder if the activities of the Magic Division require so little experience that you can serve as its commander at such a young ageâ
Hydrangea doesnât say anything back, but keeps a smile on her face. Quince next to him let out a short scream, âHiiik!â but he doesnât care.
In addition to the usual course of the office, the education department, and the magic items room, today he decided to take him to a special room.
âThis room is usually off-limits except to the staff, but today Iâm going to specially show it to you. This is the first time it has been shown during an inspectionâ\n
âOh, I see, I see!â
The minister, who assumed that he was being treated specially, followed Hydrangea with light steps.
âHmm, itâs dark hereâ\n
âThis is the forbidden books room. I will turn on the light nowâ
Saying so, he used magic to create a ball of light above the head of the gargoyle who was guarding the forbidden books.\n
Seeing this, the minister opened his eyes wide and screamed.
âGyaaaaaahhh! Monster!â
He turned around and ran. His followers and Quince followed the minister.
âHmph. I was going to surprise him by moving the gargoyles, but I never thought that I just showed it and he ran away. What a cowardâ
The gargoyles, hearing his remark, moved their eyes and spoke to him.
âUwaaa, how nastyâ\n
âPoor uncleâ\n
âIt would be a problem if he was surprised with something as trivial as this. I was thinking of taking him to the sealing department after this and having him go into a state of frozen sleep or something like thatâ\n
âPlease stop itâ\n
âIâm horrified just hearing about itâ
The minister told Quince who came back, that the inspection had been canceled because the minister had suddenly fallen ill.\n
He said that there will be no re-inspection.
He made a small complaint to Quince, who was in charge of coordinating the visit.
âYour Excellency, I wish you would stop looking down on the minister with eyes that says, âdamn, foolish peopleâ. Iâm glad he didnât realized itâ\n
âWhat do you mean by âdamn, foolish peopleâ look?â\n
âSomething like, smiling darklyâ\n
âI donât understandâ
After this, he was summoned by Prince Magnolia. It was a consultative meeting, called a luncheon.\n
Leaving Quince in his office, Hydrangea moved to the dining room where he was invited.
âYaa, hello. Your Excellency, Duke Laudenseâ
Prince Magnolia welcomed Hydrangea with a gentle smile.
âCome, sit down and letâs eatâ
As they eat, they talk about the contents of the letter he sent last night.
âI have been busy for the past month that I have not been able to visit my father, so I was surprisedâ\n
âI knew itâ
Prince Magnolia was smart and sensible, and also has the ability of the King. However, his only fault was his disagreement with his father.\n
The King was a smiling, tolerant man who listened to the opinions of others. In reality, however, he is an indecisive man and flunky who gets along with anyone, and makes decisions based on the opinions of others rather than his own.\n
This is probably the reason why Prince Magnoliaâs respect for his father has been declining rapidly.
To put it bluntly, the current King does not have the ability as a king.\n
However, in his own way, the King has ruled the nation carefully by taking in the opinions of wise men.
âIn recent years, however, I have thought that his judgment has become dullerâ
He says that he only takes in the opinions of those who are powerful and have a big voice.\n
But he did not expect that even in his private life he was listening to the opinions of his vassals.
âI was able to identify the person who urged my father to change doctor. Thanks to the list of suspects that Hydrangea gave. But, where on earth did you get that?â\n
âThe house that the King suggested me to marryâ\n
âOh, I seeâ
He said he would continue his investigation carefully.\n
Prince Magnolia spoke as he cut up the main course of meat dish.
âIf anyone tries to blind my father and make him their puppet, I will not forgive them. If I find anyone who plans to do soââ
Without saying another word, he grabbed a fork and vigorously stabbed the meat that he already cut.\n
The sauce splattered from the plate and left a stain on the white tablecloth.\n
The gentle Prince Magnolia was unusually angry.
âAh, thatâs right. I have a letter from my father for Hydrangeaâ
It seems he was hesitating about whether to give it to him or not. When he thought about it, it gave him goosebumps.
He immediately opened the letter, and inside was a note of gratitude for yesterday written in careful letters.\n
At the end, it was written that he had taken the potion as hard as he could. It was as if he was asking to be praised.\n
Hydrangea used fire magic to quickly burn the letter, which was written in the Kingâs handwriting.
âWas there anything confidential written in it?â\n
âNo, it was so trivial that I burned it without thinkingâ
At his words, Prince Magnolia agreed and says, âI understandâ.\n