If You Wish For A Married Couple's Duties

Episode 54. An Unexpected Assistant (2)

“…What did you say?”

— Is that any of my business?

As though it wasn’t anything, Serion licked his front claws meticulously. 

— Leonhart, he’s much stronger than the humans here think he is. Well, it seems to be pretty dangerous if he wrote a letter for reinforcements, but I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it out by yourself. 

After he was finished with his grooming, Serion circled around her with a gracefully raised tail.

— On the contrary, I think the one that you should be paying attention to isn’t him. 

She couldn’t understand.

What else could be more important than the duke’s safety right now?

— You truly are dull-witted. Is the only commendable thing about you that reckless courage of yours? 

“Have you ever thought that what’s lacking isn’t my brain, but your explanation?”

— As expected, the only praiseworthy thing you have is your guts. 

From a while ago, that manner of speech has been grating on her nerves oddly. 

Dooha stared at Serion with furrowed brows.

As such, Serion, who had the appearance of a cat, bared her front teeth that were the size of a grain of salt, as though she was laughing at her.

— Foolish lass, I’m capricious. It won’t do you any good to display your hostility towards me like that, no?

“Then you too, wouldn’t stand to gain anything by engaging in this sort of scuffle with me, would you?”

— What?

Dooha shifted her gaze towards Margaret, who was frozen in place with outstretched arms.

She didn’t want to use such an immature method, but since her opponent was so childish, she had no choice but to use the same method.

“Don’t poke fun at a person that’s grasping at straws. Otherwise, I’ll convey the words that you’d told me to Margaret as they were.”

— W—what did you say?

Serion seemed bewildered for the first time. 

Now, his almond-shaped eyes were as round as walnuts.

— Hmph! What’s the point of that? Margaret likes me the most!

“That might be the case right now. But will Margaret still like you after knowing about the truth?”

Dooha folded her arms and continued calmly.

“Just as you’ve mentioned, I’m Margaret’s granddaughter-in-law, and the Duke is her biological grandson. However, it remains yet to be seen whether she’ll still like you when she finds out about how you called me a foolish lass, and that it doesn’t matter if he dies.”

At her final strike, Serion’s ample tail puffed up in shock.

— Hey! I’ve never said that it doesn’t matter if he dies?

“You asked me if that was any of your business, and that’s what you meant with that.”

— You—!

Serion hissed as his hair rose.

He fumed for a long while before seeming to regain his calm.

— …You wretched lass, you’re pretty skilled at wagging your tongue 

“Serion, my name is Dooha. It’s not wretched lass.”

— Hmph, that’s what I meant!

With a snort, Serion suddenly rose from his seat.

— Fine, I’ll give you a special piece of advice.

He sat with a straightened back and glared fiercely with brightly gleaming yellow eyes.

He looked as dignified as an ancient guardian statue.

— Those insignificant monsters aren’t the true threat to the Duke.

Why would the monsters, which normally wouldn’t have made an appearance, appear now? 

Not everything in this world would progress in accordance to God’s intentions.

— Do you know? There are more humans that were killed by fellow humans, than humans that are killed by monsters.

Serion scrunched his whiskers and stretched the corners of his mouth.

At his grin that was akin to a malicious elf, Dooha’s couldn’t help but flinch and pull away. 

— That’s all the advice that I can provide. You take care of the rest, lass.

“Wait a moment, that’s it?”

— What else do you want then? Don’t you have a conscience?

Serion jumped down from the chair and climbed back onto Margaret’s lap.

“I heard you’re a great wizard! It’ll end easily if you step up—!”

— Unless it concerns Margaret’s safety, I won’t get involved. Also, I’ve never seen a good end to the destinies of the humans that were meddled with. 

He retorted impatiently and wiggled himself into Margaret’s grasp.

“Hey, Serion!”

— Oh, how annoying. If I’ve given you this much information, handle the rest. Even if you’re dull-witted, you should be capable of that, right?

“All you’d said was that more humans were killed by humans rather than monsters—!”

Dooha raised her voice inadvertently and shouted for a moment, before stopping mid-speech. 

Like a person that had come to a realisation.

“Dooha, what’s wrong?”

Just then, the flow of the world’s time returned once again.

Dooha slowly raised her gaze.

Margaret had Muffin, no, Serion, in her arms, and was looking at her anxiously.

At the same time, an urgent voice came from behind.

“Madam! Duchess!”

It was Claude, who’d rushed off to gather wizards from outside the castle.

He panted heavily after sprinting over with all his might from a distance. 

“The situation, the situation has become complicated.”

“What happened?”

“That’s, that’s…….”

He couldn’t speak smoothly, but he managed to enunciate the remaining words with difficulty.

“Well, the Kreuz will be sending reinforcements to the Duke.”

At the unexpected news, Dooha stared at him with widened eyes. 

A letter requesting for reinforcements had only arrived a moment ago, so how can the Kreuz know about it and send him reinforcements immediately? 

No, putting that aside, they mobilised soldiers without the head’s permission?

Although it was to help the duke, it was obviously a violation of discipline to mobilise their family’s private soldiers without permission.

Dooha remained in place blankly for a moment and turned her head quickly.

Her gaze was aimed at Margaret’s lap.

“Muffin, how are you feeling?”

Muffin, no, Serion who pretended to be a cat, let out a cry while accepting the previous duchess’ touch. 

However, his long vertical pupil was aimed at Dooha.

— Right, what did I say?

A sarcastic voice brushed past her ears.

“It’s definitely Sir Nate’s doing.”

Meanwhile, Claude asserted with a calm but anger-filled voice. 

“There’s no way that the other vassals can mobilise their soldiers without the head of Kreuz’s permission. If it wasn’t for Sir Nate’s directives, this couldn’t have happened.”

He pressed Dooha, who was standing still without saying a word.

“If you’ll give me an order, I’ll lead the knights right away. No matter what they’re up to, we have to go and stop them…”

“Calm down, Sir Claude. You were ordered by the Duke to protect this castle. You didn’t forget that, did you?”

“But!”

“And even if you brought out the knights, how are you going to make hundreds of soldiers turn around? Would they, who’d set off without being permitted, even listen to Sir’s dissuasion?”

“What should I do then? Sir Nate has sent soldiers to the Lord’s position without a word! He couldn’t have done that unless he had an impure purpose!”

“I’m also of the same opinion.”

“Yes, you also think that’s the case, right?”

Dooha murmured as she glanced at the red roof of Kreuz that was in the distance.

“That’s why I’m going to confirm it now.”

* * *

“Goodness, how long has it been since I’ve met with my niece-in-law?”

As soon as Nate saw Dooha enter the drawing room, he raised a hand as though he was happy to see her.

He was seated on a long sofa and leisurely sipping chilled alcohol, with two fully armed escorts standing behind him.

“There’s no need for greetings between us, so hurry and take a seat. It must have been a tough journey on foot from the main castle to here.” 

At his words, Dooha sat down, the hand that was holding the hem of her dress tightening.

Claude and Layla stood behind her, their eyes filled with caution. 

Meanwhile, Nate gave a content smile at Dooha’s perfect imperial etiquette.

“You seem to have mastered imperial etiquette since I’ve last seen you. How outstanding.”

“I’m flattered.”

“So what brings my niece-in-law out to this place? All by yourself at that.”

“I heard that Sir has sent reinforcements to where the Duke is at.”

“Ahh.”

“As a matter of fact I was in the midst of discussion with Lord Claude about the issue of sending reinforcements. Even if you were helping, it would have been nice if you’d informed me beforehand.” 

“That’s right. My apologies for not informing you in advance.”

Nate set his glass down without a hint of apology in his expression. 

“But, isn’t the situation quite urgent? Dozens of werewolves have appeared at the same time, so even Esbaden’s Order of Knights would find it tough to hold their own.”

He looked at Dooha, who didn’t seem like she intended to submit to him, and lifted a corner of his mouth as though he found it impressive.

“Therefore, as his only uncle, can I bear to remain in place?”

Nate was excellent at playing the part of a loving uncle that was terribly worried about his nephew.

Internally, Dooha was amazed at his pitiable expression.

“There are some wizards amongst the soldiers from Kreuz. They’ve been working for a long time for the families of vassals in the senior council, so they’re trustworthy.”

“If it’s a wizard, there are many in the White Pagoda, and there’s quite a number outside the castle.”

“No. The wizards of the White Pagoda are scholars that have never even experienced a minor battle, so they definitely wouldn’t volunteer, and wizards from the streets value money over loyalty and their lives more than money, so they aren’t reliable.”

Apart from the credibility of the one speaking, it made some sense on a certain level.

Private mercenaries would certainly have a high asking price when it comes to eradicating high-ranking monsters, and even if they were given a large reward, they were more likely to flee without any regard if the situation became unfavourable. 

“Of course, if my niece-in-law is concerned about the arbitrary decisions this old man made, you can turn the soldiers around right now. I suppose they have yet to travel a long distance.”

Nate crossed his legs and smiled. 

He was in high spirits, as though he was saying, “If you have the confidence to oppose me, give it a shot.”

Dooha looked at him quietly and soon gave a slight smile.

“No, I was just admiring Sir Nate’s wise judgement.”

The completely unexpected response caused Nate to furrow his brows questioningly. 

“I believe in Sir Nate. How can I not trust a person that’s affectionate enough to be willing to use his authority privately for his only nephew? “

With a face that had nary a single doubt and was filled with trust, Dooha continued. 

“But there’s no way of knowing the other vassal’s intentions. In addition, the soldiers would have been sent from various families in order to reach hundreds of soldiers, but it would be a big problem if they wouldn’t unite and worsen the situation, right?”

In the first place, most of the vassals that were a part of the senior council belonged to the anti-Duke faction that supported Sir Nate.

Even a snot-nosed child would have already noticed what it meant for people like them to send their soldiers to a cornered Duke.

“As such, if a reliable person took up the responsibility to lead them, both Sir Nate and I would be relieved, right?”

“And who might that be?”

“Lord Daniel.”