Chapter 30
After sending Lady Mernie away, Aiden let out a low sigh.
“Soon, Lady Mernie will tell you that Reina is trying to drive a wedge between her and Dalia.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s been planting her own people around Dalia without our knowledge. We’ve also found evidence that she received bribes to recommend them.”
“Why on earth would Lady Mernie…?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t know that much yet, but now that we know, it’s best to be cautious. For your sake and Dalia’s.”
When his brother had first warned him, Aiden had been skeptical.
He’d thought it was just a personality clash causing friction with Reina.
Who would have guessed it was actually to install the etiquette tutor she’d chosen herself.
Since she’d been with them from the time Dalia was born, Aiden felt uneasy about it.
It would be fortunate if things passed quietly like this.
If she kept insisting, his brother might step in.
And then, even he wouldn’t be able to stop it.
A short while later, the expected guest arrived.
“Hello, Little Duke.”
Reina greeted him with proper courtesy, and Aiden hurried out in his stocking feet to welcome her.
“Just call me Aiden comfortably, sister-in-law. Ah, that… may I call you sister-in-law?”
“Of course. Aiden. Actually, I’m grateful that you consider me family.”
As Reina smiled brightly, Aiden wore a relieved expression and led her inside.
“I was planning to visit you about the recent matter anyway, but I didn’t expect you to contact me first.”
“I’ve heard you’re the busiest person in the ducal estate after Kaiden. I was worried I might be taking up your time unnecessarily.”
“Not at all. I’ve heard from my brother that you have a deep knowledge of magical beasts, sister-in-law. Though I didn’t expect you’d want to see Goreth’s egg in person. As you can see, it’s not exactly pleasant to look at.”
Aiden pointed to the Goreth’s egg contained in a beaker.
The Goreth’s egg resembled a lung, with half-hatched embryos twitching inside a translucent membrane.
The hatching was completely halted due to the influence of magical tools.
Reina gazed at it with fascination.
The north was the front line in the war against magical beasts.
If the north fell, the entire empire would be plagued by them.
Thus, the emperor didn’t wish for the north to be completely destroyed.
At the same time, he didn’t want a complete victory either.
Reina was the prophetess essential for finely balancing that middle ground.
And now, she was on Crencia’s side, not the emperor’s.
Pointing to one with a red membrane unlike the other Goreth eggs, Reina asked,
“This one looks different from the others.”
“You noticed right away. It seems to be one of the variants. We need more research to determine exactly what magical beast it’s mixed with. We can’t guarantee what might happen if we rashly tear the egg open, so we’ve left it as is.”
At Aiden’s words, Reina nodded lightly.
It seemed they hadn’t yet grasped the nature of this one.
If left like this, they’d miss the timing to properly deal with the variant that would appear later.
Unable to just stand by, Reina subtly provided a clue.
“Wasn’t the area where the Goreth egg was found originally inhabited by Slanders?”
“Yes. I hadn’t overlooked that part, but Slanders are a species that doesn’t mate with other races, so the possibility of a union between the two beasts is slim.”
“Well, I’ve heard that variants aren’t always created solely through mating. If a Goreth was carrying eggs and had been feeding primarily on Slanders, we can’t rule out the possibility of natural genetic mutation.”
“Ah…!”
Aiden then realized he’d been focused only on the typical variant process of mating and had missed other possibilities.
Adjusting his glasses, he murmured,
“Come to think of it, Slander young tear through a red amniotic sac when they’re born. So, it makes some sense that this variant’s membrane is red.”
“Moreover, Slanders are weak to fire.”
When Reina pulled out a match from one side of the lab, Aiden merely blinked his eyes.
“Why the match all of a sudden…?”
He stared at her with puzzled eyes, but Reina didn’t hesitate and lit the match.
The next moment, she brought the flame close to the beaker where the eggs had been left unattended.
Sizzle—.
A loud noise erupted from inside, and the eggs within the membrane retreated far from the fire.
Seeing this, Aiden’s eyes widened in shock.
“Good heavens.”
“Does this prove that it’s a hybrid of Goreth and Slander?”
At Reina’s matter-of-fact words, Aiden’s eyes sparkled.
If it were him, it would have taken him a very long time to even think of bringing fire near the eggs.
He would have prepared all sorts of things in case of any potential risks.
Was that why?
Unlike him, who was slow to act because he overthought everything, her bold action—proving her hypothesis with a serene face—seemed so impressive.
Thanks to her, he was grateful for solving a problem that had plagued him for days in one fell swoop.
“Yes, yes! Of course. Ha, how did I not think of this? I almost ended up digging myself into a hole for ages all alone.”
“Sometimes when you’re too immersed in research by yourself, it’s easy to miss small clues.”
“You’re right. Ha, now I understand why everyone has assistants. If it weren’t for you being my sister-in-law, I’d want to hire you as my assistant right away—that was a perfect idea.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
As Reina’s cheeks flushed, Aiden snorted with enthusiasm.
“With this, even if mutants appear in the future, it’ll be a huge help in finding their weaknesses. You’ve practically saved the northern people just now, sister-in-law!”
“I’m glad I could be of help to the North.”
Thanks to Aiden, who caught on immediately, she felt a weight lift off her shoulders.
Mutants were set to proliferate infinitely from now on.
It was a catastrophe caused by the mutation process becoming overly activated.
Finding the weaknesses of new mutants each time was the North’s ongoing challenge.
Fortunately, she knew the weaknesses of quite a few mutants.
‘With this, we should be able to prepare without any hitches.’
Reina knew that Aiden was a capable alchemist and magic tool craftsman.
With even this much of a clue, he could resolve the crisis looming over the North.
“I heard that Aiden made the magic tool to prevent hatching himself.”
“Yes. It’s a specially crafted magic tool in preparation for the 100-year cycle approaching. Of course, it becomes useless if hatching progresses to 80%, but this time we nearly couldn’t stop it—if not for that oracle, we’d have been done for.”
“Oracle?”
“I heard from my brother. That you came to the North together as her proxy.”
At Aiden’s words, Reina quietly nodded in agreement.
After all, Aiden was the one Kaiden trusted the most.
There was no need to hide the contract marriage from him, which even Bendo knew.
Moreover, it seemed Kaiden had explained her as the oracle’s proxy to keep their secret.
Since Aiden knew a lot about monsters, it was inevitable to explain the circumstances of discovering Goreth’s spawning grounds to him.
“That’s right. The oracle couldn’t move herself, so I had no choice but to come here. The most plausible pretext was marriage.”
With words subtly hinting at the contract marriage, Aiden asked,
“So, you didn’t want this marriage? Don’t tell me my brother forced you into it?”
Reina startled in surprise and quickly waved her hands.
“Ah, no! I proposed first, actually. Honestly, Kaiden is way too good for me. I always worry that I might be holding him back unnecessarily.”
Seeing her noticeably drooping eyes, Aiden said in a light tone,
“Oh come on. From where I stand, it looks like luck came rolling in for my brother, vines and all.”
“Huh?”
“Honestly, I thought my brother would stay single forever, living like a monk.”
Spot on.
Reina inwardly admired Aiden’s sharp judgment.
It was so accurate that she almost suspected he had regressed along with her.
