Chapter 90
“Which of the two?”
“…….”
Edenber said nothing.
Asil, who had been quietly watching him like that, suddenly felt a surge of mischief.
Clenching her tiny fern-like front paws tightly, Asil shouted loudly.
“Ppiya, ppiiya ppi ppiya!” (That’s right, between Asil and Lady Erzebet, which one!)
“…….”
Edenber stared blankly at Asil.
Why, what. Why are you looking at me like that. Asil proudly stuck out her belly.
After a long silence, Edenber, who had let out a deep sigh, turned his gaze away.
“It’s difficult to answer right now.”
“What?!”
‘Aigoo, my grandson has really become a casanova’! Elcai clutched the back of his head.
Then, hearing the outrageous words that followed, he turned around in horror.
“Ppit, ppiiya. Ppiyaaa.” (You’re trying to marry both. Asil is going to marry five people.)
“……What?”
In the beastman world, marrying many beastmen meant you were a very attractive beastman.
But Edenber, who didn’t know that, froze completely at Asil’s unexpected remark.
Elcai, equally flustered, hurriedly scolded her.
“You little—! One is enough, why five! Did a marriage-obsessed ghost possess you or something!”
“Ppiiya ppii ppiya.” (Asil’s mom married five people too.)
“……Ahem. Marrying five is possible too. Do as you please.”
Elcai, who had almost committed a fatal family insult without realizing it, quickly changed the subject.
Meanwhile, Edenber, finally coming to his senses, asked earnestly.
“Can’t I just play the role of all five by myself?”
“Ppiyaaa?” (Just the husband alone?)
Asil narrowed her eyes and looked up at Edenber.
Hmmm, I’ve never thought about marrying just one person—?
At that displeased reaction, Edenber hurriedly added.
“I’ll buy you strawberries every day, bring you pretty jeweled rings, and raise an heir too. I can do the work of all five by myself.”
“That’s not a husband, that’s a slave.”
Elcai looked at him with absurd eyes.
“So the thing about being interested in Lady Erzebet was a lie?”
“Ppiya…….” (Oh my…….)
It’s a lie……. Husband lied to Asil.
Asil stared at him with big, round eyes.
“No, what I said back then was sincere.”
“Then why are you saying that to this child! You should only say that to one of them!”
“Ppiya, ppiiya. Ppi ppiya!” (Exactly. Why are you saying that to Asil! You should only say that to one of them!)
“…….”
Edenber once again stared fixedly at Asil.
Why, what, why are you looking at me like that!
Asil stuck her belly out with a brazen face.
At that, Edenber let out a deep sigh.
* * *
After Edenber, who had only been sighing deeply, left first, and Asil also hopped outside following the baby rabbit who kept begging for a walk,
Elcai, now alone, looked straight ahead and spoke bluntly.
“Come out.”
“…….”
“You might be able to fool Edenber, but you can’t fool me. Come out unless you want to taste my sword again after so long.”
At the heavily threatening tone, Ikart, who had been hiding in the ceiling, landed on the floor.
Ikart muttered while looking in the direction Asil had left.
“That divine beast is cute no matter how many times I see her.”
“Cute is an understatement, she’s strong and smart too. Having a granddaughter like that would leave nothing to wish for.”
“She has a kind personality and good instincts—definitely a fine child. Edenber is lucky.”
“If she were human, I would have made her my granddaughter-in-law right away, tsk.”
Elcai spoke with regret, then threw a pointed remark at Icart.
“You still come diligently even though it’s a fake death anniversary.”
“It’s not fake, it’s real.”
“You’re alive, so it’s fake. Do you plan to keep your mouth shut from Edenber for life?”
Elcai’s gaze landed on the fox in Icart’s arms.
The fox, having been out since dawn, was dozing off.
“I promised while I still had my reason. No matter what, I would never reveal that this happened.”
“I wondered who Edenber took after with that heavy mouth—turns out he’s exactly like his father. If you’re going to keep your lips sealed, you should stay quietly holed up in the abandoned tower instead of wandering around like this.”
Elcai clicked his tongue.
“Do you even realize that Edenber is turning a blind eye to you running around like this on your own?”
“If you didn’t call me just to lecture me with old-fashioned talk, why did you summon me?”
“You rascal, living as a fugitive has made you utterly brazen, tsk tsk…… Can’t a father even see his son’s face.”
“If you have nothing to say, I’ll be going. I’ve been very busy lately.”
“Doing what.”
“Investigating Lady Erzebet’s background.”
“What?”
Elcai frowned.
Background investigation.
What was he planning to do to the benefactor of the Monlefe family who had even sent the eldest and second sons of the Payrent Count family?
“I already looked into her beforehand. She’s an incredibly kind and cute young lady—hard to believe she’s the daughter of a heretic inquisitor.”
“There are no records at all from before she came to the capital.”
“If she was recuperating somewhere deep in the countryside, there might be no records.”
“It’s also suspicious that she suddenly appeared as the daughter of someone who was known to be unmarried.”
“She probably didn’t want to talk about it. You also dislike being the subject of rumors, don’t you.”
“They say even when she faced Captain Ark, she didn’t blink an eye. Unlike the prince and princess of Skya who panicked beside her.”
“She must have exceptional courage.”
“There’s talk that the young lady visited the Skya ducal house on the day the prince and princess of Skya died.”
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
Elcai asked sharply.
“Are you saying the young lady killed the two of them or something.”
“There was a rumor that the true master of Skya’s divine beast was one of those two.”
Ickart looked down at the dozing fox.
“The circumstances are similar, aren’t they? To when my covenant with the divine beast was broken.”
“……!”
“At that time, I let an unknown person into the ducal house, and in return, a 500-year covenant was severed.”
Ikart looked at Elcai with deeply sunken eyes.
“Lady Erzebet’s past is hidden, and there are rumors that the Skya ducal house she came into contact with incurred the wrath of a divine beast.”
One person came to his mind.
The magician who, feeling pity for a divine beast with strong power being bound to a human, arbitrarily severed the covenant between them.
As a side effect, his divine beast went berserk and became an idiot.
A few years ago, when he was still the family head.
His fox divine beast had picked up a black snake that was dying in the forest.
At the divine beast’s insistence that it couldn’t bear to let it die, Ikart allowed the snake to be treated.
The problem was that the snake was a half-blood between human and snake beastman.
“It’s possible she changed her appearance with magic and reappeared.”
That person’s magical skill was so high that they could even sever a 500-year covenant.
Right after the covenant was broken, Icart chased him immediately.
But because the magician instantly changed appearance and fled, he had no choice but to let him escape.
And now.
As long as there was even a suspicion that Lady Erzebet might be that magician,
He absolutely had to confirm the child’s true identity.
“Well.”
Elcai, who had been pondering Icart’s words, spoke in a distrustful voice.
“Aren’t you thinking too deeply?”
“That may be. But the more Edenber likes the young lady, the more thoroughly I need to confirm. She might become the future mistress of the family.”
“You’re already jumping ahead when they’re not even engaged.”
Elcai waved his hand as if shooing away an annoying fly.
“It’s like looking for soup at the well. Whether the companion Edenber will spend his life with ends up being that little Asil or that young lady—or possibly a complete third party—is still unknown.”
He clicked his tongue at his son who only had useless suspicions.
Then, looking at the small fox dozing in Icart’s arms, he said.
“So stop doing unnecessary things and take care of your wife instead.”
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