The Baby Isn’t Yours

It was when the carriage Kalia was in had just left the entrance of the mansion.

Hemmie, who was looking out the window, quickly called her.

“Miss Kallia.”

Kalia, who was pulling out a book to read on the long and boring journey, lifted her head at Hemmie’s urgent voice.

Hemmie opened the curtain that was covering the carriage window and spoke. Her cheeks were slightly red with surprise.

“Please look outside.”

‘…What happened?’

She sensed the presence of dozens of people outside the carriage, but there was no harmful vibe.

She didn’t feel any magical energy, or something like the aura of an assassin.

Kalia slightly lowered her head and looked outside through the window that Hemmie had cleared.

Soon her eyes widened in surprise.

Familiar faces were standing in various places on the road exiting the mansion.

Ellie, who used to be a maid, Tiel, who used to be a butler, the stableman, and even the chief, Ruph…

‘What is this… Ah, did they suddenly lose their jobs and come to protest?’

Kalia, who was surprised, soon nodded.

Yes. They lost their jobs overnight, so they must have been quite disappointed and angry.

Although she asked the butler to write a recommendation letter for the servants she had dismissed, it wasn’t the end. Therefore, Kalia gave all the servants ten months’ worth of wages as compensation.

Considering that the industry average compensation is two months’ worth, this was quite an exceptional amount.

‘But even that might not be enough.’

Kalia stopped the carriage, ready to accept their protest at any moment.

Then, chief Ruph, who claimed to have a dwarf ancestor, ran forward as a representative.

He was carrying a large rattan basket, and when Hemmie opened the door of the carriage, he hurriedly put it inside and shouted.

“I heard you’re going on an indefinite vacation. You’ve made a good decision. Have a good rest and come back! And please hire me again when you return! I’ll be studying more recipes while waiting for your return! So, take care!”

With a smiling face, Ruph loudly shouted, then quickly closed the door of the carriage and waved.

‘What is this…’

Hemmie, who took over the confused Kalia, peeked inside the basket and exclaimed quietly.

“There’s a ton of jerky in the world. Lamb, beef, pork… it seems to have a refrigeration spell on it. The basket is cool.”

A basket with a refrigeration spell is quite expensive.

She felt sorry just for having fired them from their jobs, but receiving such an expensive gift made Kalia not know what to do.

Seeing Kalia’s reaction, Hemmie casually mentioned.

“Remember last year when the chef’s wife was sick and he took a five-month vacation? You not only gave him a five-month vacation, but also a consolation money, so his wife got better. I heard the chef talking with teary eyes. The chef said he wanted to make delicious food for Miss Kalia until the day he dies.”

‘…Uh. I just accepted a leave of absence request because he had an unavoidable reason to take care of his family… Why is that such a big deal…’

Kalia’s face turned red with embarrassment.

She rolled her eyes back and forth and casually scratched her reddening ears.

Whenever she was thanked for doing something that was a given, her ears would oddly itch.

“Please wave your hand instead. Everyone is waiting for Miss Kalia to greet them.”

Considering they were the servants living in the mansion, they would have had ample time to predict the day Kalia would leave.

Kalia, who had been hesitating, opened the carriage window and looked back at the people who were seeing her off.

When Kalia poked her head out, all those who had been waiting bowed to bid her farewell.

‘Have a safe trip.’

As she watched their bowed heads, it seemed as if they were saying so, and Kalia’s gaze became a little complex.

* * *

“She has left.”

At the messenger’s words, Louismond stopped the hand that was signing the documents.

Soon after, he took a short breath and stood up from his seat to stand in front of the window.

The palace, built on the highest spot, had a great view of the capital. Especially from Louismond’s office, the eastern end of the boundary was clearly visible.

His eyes narrowed as he stared at the birch forest surrounding the eastern border.

Once past that forest, one crosses the boundary of the capital’s magic circle.

Kalia would likely teleport from there using scroll magic.

Only then could she avoid the pursuit of Simon that would follow.

This smart woman left behind all her possessions and took off with completely new items.

She must have presumed that the precious things she had were either under Simon’s magic or had some hidden device.

“I don’t know if this is the right thing, but have a safe trip, Kalia. Don’t be gone… too long.”

Louismond muttered, trying to find her carriage that was heading towards the east gate, even though he couldn’t see it.

His head was still foggy, and his thoughts were complicated, but the carriage she had boarded had already departed.

Knowing of her departure, his heart felt suffocated. The thought of Simon finding out tomorrow made him dizzy.

‘…She’s trying to kill me.’

Louismond repeated bitterly. He didn’t send Kalia away because he liked her, but nonetheless, his silence was an admission.

There was one fortunate thing.

He managed to dramatically negotiate Kalia’s ‘retirement’ to a ‘break.’

Despite Louismond’s many persuasions, pleas, and requests, Kalia promised to come back.

Of course, it was conditional, but it wasn’t a bad condition that, if handled well, she could return within a year, or even six months.

So that ‘condition’ must work well, but whether it could be controlled was uncertain.

But what could be done? That ‘condition’ was a self-dug grave.

Louismond let out another long and bitter sigh.

‘Kalia.’

Why on earth was she trying to leave? Not knowing the reason still made his heart feel suffocated.

‘She wants to start a family…’

He couldn’t make sense of what that meant.

He was sure that she didn’t have a new love interest.

Then the only option left was to find her lost parents…

‘Even if she found her parents, she wouldn’t need to keep it a secret…’

Soon, a hypothesis came to his mind, but he immediately discarded it.

It was an absurd assumption with less than a 1% chance.

“Haah…”

He didn’t know.

How could he know what was going on? His only crime was being threatened by her.

Louismond recalled his last conversation with Kalia, with his forehead against the cold window glass.

The last conversation that made him have no choice but to grant her request.

“Your Majesty, do you remember when I was kidnapped from the Runaway Valley and dropped into a cave? I lay in that dark cave, watching the black birds rushing at me, thinking that if I died saving Your Highness, it would also be an honor. But, perhaps by the grace of fortune, I didn’t die and survived.”

“…”

“Yes, two years later, wasn’t it? It was when I blocked exactly twelve arrows on my shoulder to save Your Highness in the maritime battle of Ariaman. Ah! There was also a time when my arm was cut off while going to retrieve the imperial treasure stolen by a monster.”

“Kalia.”

“Yes, what else can I think of? The times I risked my life to save Your Highness.”

“…Kalia.”

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“Who taught you to threaten in such a vile way?”

“Well…”

Kalia replied with more confidence than ever before.

“It was Simon.”

* * *

Wooooo!

The grand sound of the ship’s horn filled the huge harbor.

The harbor was bustling with ships that could accommodate hundreds of passengers, and it was crowded with people departing or returning from trips.

Like constellations, pollen made of confetti fluttered against the clear blue sky.

People were dancing their way through.

The atmosphere of the harbor city, unique in its freedom and artistic vibe, decorated every alley.

But the thing that caught the attention of the many people was not the pleasant atmosphere of the beautiful harbor city.

Clomp, clomp.

Low-heeled boots were walking steadily on the cobblestone road.

It was not the sound of one or two people walking.

“What’s the restoration rate of the magic circle at the harbor base?”

“So far it’s 80%. Basic maintenance should be completed by midnight today. As the depletion of magic power was significant, we replaced it with a magic stone.”

“What’s the remaining schedule?”

“We’re visiting the academy this afternoon, which should wrap up our business trip. However, Tiana’s Magic Branch expressed a desire to have a simple dinner tonight.”

“Pretend you didn’t hear it.”

“I will politely decline.”

Four people, wearing white cloaks with golden embroidery in the shape of tall magic towers.

Despite wearing only simple, clean white uniforms and black leather gloves without any flamboyant decoration, they stood out more than anyone else in the harbor.

Once called magicians of the magician Tower for a long time, but with the Prince’s decree last year, they officially became known as the ‘Ministry of Magic’, a group of magicians under the imperial family.

People looked at them with envy.

It was quite common to see a swordsman or knight, but opportunities to see formal magicians were rare.

Especially, to become an imperial magician, one must pass the exam held once a year, and it was so fierce that fewer than 10 people pass a year.

Every year, over 10,000 people apply, but only about 10 pass!

What a devilish selection.

And was it over once you passed? Not at all.

They had to go through a training period of one year at the magician Tower, and only then they could become a formal member of the Imperial Ministry of Magic, albeit at the lowest rank.

But 2-3 people can’t survive this training period each year, so there are only about 7 passers per year.

Despite such a stingy and meticulous selection process, the number of applicants increased every year.

The imperial sponsorship was tremendous.

They granted the common people a title, and the salary was far beyond an average junior marquis.

On top of that, they were regularly invited to imperial banquets for encouragement.

It was an occasion where both honor and wealth came at the same time, so it was natural that there were overflowing candidates.

However, the reason for the Ministry of Magic’s immense popularity at this point was not only because of these benefits.