Chapter 16
A few days later, the carriage carrying Narcissa and Violette came to a stop in front of the Duke of Kegreiner’s residence. Rather than simply waiting for a response from the Mage Tower, the two of them decided to investigate the mysterious egg in their possession themselves.
They searched through every book they could find in the mansion and the estate’s library, but there was nothing particularly helpful. In the end, to find more extensive materials, they visited the Duke of Kegreiner’s residence in the capital. The place they got off at was an annex located near the main mansion. Looking around, Violette asked with a puzzled expression,
“We came straight to the annex. Aren’t we going to greet the Duke?”
“At this hour, neither of them will be around anyway. Let’s just grab what we need and go.”
“Still, it’s our first visit since getting married…”
“If you don’t hurry, I’m leaving you behind.”
Grumbling regretfully, Violette quickly followed after him. She was carefully cradling in her arms a monster egg wrapped in a gorgeous knitted cloth.
On Narcissa’s advice—that the egg needed a warm surrounding temperature to hatch safely—she had personally knitted the covering over the past few days.
Violette thought that even if a monster really did hatch, if she raised it with this much care, at the very least it wouldn’t harm her.
Narcissa had told her that if she was so anxious, she should just smash the egg, but Violette couldn’t bring herself to do that. Killing a life on the verge of hatching with her own hands felt deeply unsettling.
She looked down at the egg in her arms. According to Narcissa, the probability of an ordinary animal hatching from it was less than three percent.
“If it’s three percent at a casino, that’s worth a try…”
The odds were incredibly low, but wasn’t it all or nothing anyway? She didn’t mind at all. Recalling her happy memories of gambling at casinos, Violette followed after Narcissa.
“So this is the annex?”
The annex at the ducal residence, where Narcissa had practically lived before marriage, was massive—far beyond comparison with the annex at the Navian estate.
Of course, since he had moved most of his belongings to the Navian estate after getting married, it wasn’t as it once had been. Even so, just looking at what remained revealed Narcissa’s passion and affection for his work.
The annex was dim due to the lack of light, but strangely, rather than gloomy, it felt cozy. The two of them headed upstairs, where the study was located.
“Whoa…”
Violette, who had expected to see one large room, couldn’t close her mouth at the sight of an entire floor packed tightly with enormous bookshelves.
Even the books in Narcissa’s room in the main building were overwhelming in quantity, but this place was on an entirely different level. Only then did Violette understand why he had chosen to come to the Kegreiner residence instead of the capital’s library.
“Are all of these really books?”
“Yeah. I’ll look around over here, so you start checking from the inner side over there.”
“Got it.”
As instructed, they split up and began searching for books about monsters and rare animals. How much time had passed? Contrary to her confident reply earlier, Violette soon lost her focus and tilted her head in confusion.
No matter how she looked at them, all the books seemed the same to her. Even when she picked out what she thought were decent candidates and showed them to Narcissa, he silently shook his head every time, sapping her motivation even further.
“When am I supposed to get through all of this…?”
Suddenly squatting down, Violette propped her chin on both hands. As she slowly rocked back and forth, scanning the spines of the books, her gaze drifted to Narcissa standing far away.
At some point, he had put on glasses. With one hand lightly touching his lips, he stared intently down at the book he had taken out.
There wasn’t even a sliver of sunlight in the space, yet for some reason, Violette felt as if he was shining. The silver hair that fell along his bowed head looked endlessly soft, and the serious expression on his face as he frowned slightly while reading seemed to prove just how perfectly he belonged in this space.
Come to think of it, she had felt something similar in the laboratory a few days ago. Violette recalled the sight of him, completely absorbed, surrounded by vividly colored potions and experimental tools.
“Ah…”
People shine the brightest when they’re doing what they love. Watching Narcissa immersed in his work, Violette realized that truth. The faint smile that had formed on her lips slowly stiffened.
“Then what about me?”
She startled slightly at the murmur that slipped out unconsciously. She had never once thought of herself as someone who shone.
Not when she was gambling at a casino, nor when she was drinking herself senseless. It had been fun, yes—but she had never looked like this, sparkling the way he did now.
“Slacking off again, huh.”
As she blinked quietly, lost in her complicated thoughts, Narcissa—who had somehow approached her—spoke in a blunt voice.
“I’m not. I was searching really hard.”
Stung by his spot-on remark, Violette sprang to her feet. But unlike her expectation of being scolded, Narcissa hesitated awkwardly, his expression uncertain.
“Well, if being here is boring, you can go get some fresh air. You don’t have to help.”
He didn’t say it outright, but it was clearly consideration, knowing she wasn’t fond of books. She wanted to help him, but it was true that she felt stifled, so after a brief moment of hesitation, Violette said she’d be right back and left the annex.
“How am I supposed to find anything in that mess!”
Stretching lazily, she rummaged through her clothes and pulled out a small mahogany case. Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, she took out a cigarette, put it to her lips, and lit it.
“Ha… yeah. This is it…”
As the scent of tobacco filled her body, her expression brightened almost instantly. Since getting married, she hadn’t been able to smoke nearly as much as before.
Narcissa had said he didn’t mind as long as it wasn’t in the bedroom, but Violette knew well that it was just politeness—he truly hated cigarette smoke.
Especially since he had weak lungs; even a little smoke nearby would make him cough. There was no choice but for her to be mindful of him.
She squatted down and smoked absentmindedly. It felt strange how drastically her life had changed in just a few short weeks. For someone who had always lived amid constant noise and chaos, life at the Navian estate was simply new.
Her husband spent all day holed up in the annex, repeating mysterious research and experiments like a model student. Unlike the people in the capital, who pretended to be close while clinging to her for personal gain, the people of the estate showed little particular interest in whatever she did.
“This is boring…”
Unlike Violette, who always burned brightly, her husband was lukewarm. Unlike the frantic pace of the capital, life at the Navian estate was dull. And yet, ironically, none of it was particularly unpleasant to her.
Narcissa found her troublesome, but he always tried his best for her. The people of the estate didn’t even know how to play a game of poker, but they always served sweet desserts and shared stories of their simple daily lives.
The lush green trees before her shimmered as they caught the sunlight. A cool breeze brushed against her skin, rustling the dense leaves. Amid the acrid cigarette smoke, a faint scent of grass rose up—an aroma that felt as though it belonged to Narcissa.
“It’s only a year anyway.”
After smoking the cigarette down to the end, she brushed off her clothes and stood up. It wasn’t amazing, but it wasn’t awful either. It was a condition she could endure for a year.
“Narcissa?”
Returning to the annex, Violette went upstairs. But perhaps they had just missed each other, because Narcissa was nowhere to be seen.
She sat down to wait for him, but even after some time passed, he didn’t return. In the end, she tucked the egg she had set aside earlier under her arm and went to look for him herself.
“Narcissa—. Where are you?”
She wandered along the upstairs corridor, calling out softly. With the building empty, even speaking a little loudly caused her voice to echo, making her self-conscious.
There were so many doors lining the hallway that it only made things more troublesome. Violette might have been rude and ill-mannered, but she had still received a proper upbringing.
She wasn’t the sort of person to shout in someone else’s house or fling doors open to look for her husband. Calling his name with a troubled expression, she suddenly realized something and murmured in admiration,
“Oh. Wait, this isn’t someone else’s house!”
This was Narcissa’s annex, and Narcissa was her husband. Violette began throwing open doors one after another, calling his name at the top of her lungs.
“Hey! Narcissa!”
But despite her efforts, Narcissa didn’t appear. Most of the rooms seemed to be used as storage, filled with boxes, or else completely empty.
Her irritation slowly building, Violette began opening doors more quickly. It was when she opened the seventh door.
Tilting her head at something she found, Violette stepped inside.
“What is this?”
