Louise ran toward Pellio, who was laughing despite his swollen, battered face, and embraced him.

“Why are you doing this…”

“Well, my face got a little…”

Ermedillin began to speak, but hesitated, reluctant to casually reveal that she had been hit by her father.

“Is it perhaps the work of Count Batistian?”

Seeing that Ermedillin didn’t answer and was looking at Pellio’s reaction, Louise nodded as if she understood and immediately used her holy power.

“The swelling will go down soon.”

“Thank you for coming right away.”

Louise shot Pellio a suspicious glance as he continued to laugh. Judging by his look, he was deeply engrossed in his own world and not in a state to talk to anyone.

In the end, Louise administered basic first aid and returned to her quarters.

‘Beating? Beating his own son?’

The Count Batistian she knew had always been a loving husband and a caring father.

He was genuinely familyoriented, even if his marriage had been more of a strategic alliance like most noble couples.

Louise couldn’t fathom that a man she had known for so long could slap his son hard enough to make him bleed.

Judging by Pellio’s condition, it wasn’t just a mere slap. It was a severe beating; another blow could have knocked out teeth.

‘So that’s why Veronien never talked about her husband?’

‘Does the Count’s violent tendency have something to do with her seclusion months before her death?’

Once the suspicion started, it snowballed.

‘She wouldn’t even meet me towards the end. Was she too embarrassed to be seen?’

Louise didn’t want to think ill of the Count, her friend’s kind husband and a longtime acquaintance, but she couldn’t shake off the ominous thoughts that kept surfacing.

“What, what did you say just now?”

“Countess Bellian is pregnant.”

“Huh.”

Henri collapsed into a chair, letting out a deep sigh.

‘Just one night and a child appears after years of nothing?’

“Are you sure?”

“The royal physician just confirmed it.”

After the maids had been infected with the epidemic and quarantined, Bellian had been receiving medical treatment every two days.

“What about the epidemic?”

“There are still no symptoms. Given the time that’s passed since she was isolated, it seems she’s not infected.”

“I see.”

Despite the news of his child, Henri looked far from pleased.

“What will we do with Countess Bellian?”

“What to do…”

Henri was about to say keep her confined, but then he recalled the scene he had just witnessed.

Ermedillin had stood protectively in front of Pellio.

“First, lift the quarantine.”

“So, you’re just letting the past slide?”

Count Halstein asked as politely as possible, but his voice betrayed his disdain for Henri.

“Don’t you know me yet? If those letters are true, she tried to assassinate the empress. I can’t just let it go. But first, she needs to give birth. Keep the pregnancy a secret, especially from the empress. I don’t know what she might do.”

Ermedillin, however mysterious she seemed recently, was a witch.

Henri wasn’t sure how long the secret could be kept, but for now, he decided to conceal Bellian’s pregnancy.

“But after she gives birth, she will have to answer for her past actions. In the meantime, find more concrete evidence.”

Meanwhile, in the garden, Ermedillin looked at Pellio, who was still snickering, her face a picture of disbelief.
Pellio’s laughter had barely subsided when Ermedillin cautiously asked him.

“Your Highness, it would be inconvenient if you were to lose your mind now. Who else could handle all this if not you?”

Finally regaining his composure, Pellio washed his face a few times, then calmly replied.

“I’m not insane. Don’t worry.”

“Really? You’re truly all right?”

“Of course. It’s not easy for a genius like me to go mad, you know?”

Again, that shameless expression.

Now well aware that he made this face to ease her own heart, Ermedillin let out a small laugh.

“Heh, hehe. Judging by what you’re saying, you’re just as insane as usual, aren’t you?”

“What?”

“I would’ve been more worried if you had suddenly become humble.”

“Ah, as I’ve told you repeatedly, I am humble. Always humbly accepting my own genius.”

“Hehe. I know well. I’m truly relieved that you’re fine.”

Ermedillin wanted to say more but found it difficult to offer comfort.

Having already crossed a line by calling the Count a hypocrite, she couldn’t easily bring up anything that might remind Pellio of his family matters.

Caught in an awkward sense of guilt, Ermedillin looked down at her handkerchief, but Pellio took the lead and candidly disclosed his own state.

“I’m fine. I’m really completely fine.”

Ermedillin, who noticed that the word ‘completely’ encompassed both physical and emotional aspects, slightly nodded her head while biting her lips.

“When you go to the battlefield, you get slashed by swords, pierced by arrows, burned by fire…”

“Ah! Why would you say such things?”

Ermedillin tightened her eyes and sent Pellio a disapproving look at his horrible comment.

“I mean to say I’ve suffered worse injuries. This is really nothing.”