Varkas, who had already begun preparing another letter for his retainers, suddenly stopped and looked up.
Shrugging, Edrick added,
“The last time I saw her, she told me that if I ever had nowhere else to go, she'd hire me as one of her personal guards.”
“Hah. How long ago was that?”
Varkas shook his head in disbelief.
“You actually took an offhand remark seriously... You're more naïve than you look.”
“She said she meant it.”
Edrick protested indignantly.
“It was only two months ago. I suppose she pitied me for running around delivering letters all the time and asked why I didn't become her guard instead...”
“You met my wife two months ago?”
The knight, who had been speaking so freely, stiffened.
After cautiously studying Varkas's expression, he hurriedly explained,
“I had to visit Kalmor regarding the craftsmen we were recruiting. We just happened to run into each other.”
“My wife spends all of her time inside the castle. How exactly does one happen to run into her?”
At the pointed question, Edrick stared at him in disbelief.
“Who told you she stays inside the castle all day? She goes around with a wolf the size of a warhorse. There's no way she'd remain indoors. From what I saw, she goes outside the castle almost every day because of that beast. I met her on the fields south of Laedgo Castle.”
Varkas frowned.
Come to think of it...
Around four months earlier, he had received a letter from her asking permission to take the wolf outside the castle.
At the time, he had agreed, on the condition that she travel with a large escort.
To be honest, he hadn't wanted her setting foot outside the castle at all.
But it had been the first letter she had ever sent him.
He simply hadn't been able to ignore it.
I assumed she'd only go out once or twice for a change of scenery...
Feeling his nerves tighten, he pressed two fingers against his temple.
He could feel Edrick Rubon watching him intently.
Varkas shot him a sharp look.
“What?”
“No... I was just surprised you allowed Her Highness to keep a magical beast.”
He almost replied that he had never actually granted permission.
Then he closed his mouth.
Silently tolerating it amounted to the same thing.
Leaning back in his chair, he roughly ran a hand through his hair.
When he had first received the report that she had begun raising a Dire Wolf cub, his immediate intention had been to have it disposed of.
A magical beast was still a magical beast, no matter how young it was.
He had never intended to leave such a dangerous creature by her side.
But the moment he saw her holding that tiny animal in her arms beneath the summer sun...
He had turned away without saying a single word.
Because the woman who had looked perpetually tormented ever since losing the child...
Had been smiling.
Truly smiling.
Recalling the sharp ache he had felt that day, Varkas spoke in a restrained voice.
“Did my wife seem healthy?”
“She looked very well.”
Edrick answered with a bright smile.
“I don't remember ever seeing Her Highness look that full of life, even during her time at the Imperial Palace. At the very least... there's no doubt that magical beast is making her happy.”