“I’m just worried that taking care of Reunite might be challenging for Nelia. Taking care of a child is not an easy task, you know.”

As expected, Duke Hart seemed to have no significant suspicions.

“I don’t have much to do. I left it to Tone again today…”

Nelia murmured with a slight bow of her head.

“I feel sorry for Tone, who has to take care of an additional child.”

“Don’t worry about that. Tone likes children, so he won’t dislike it at all.”

A robotic person liking children.

‘Well… I guess I don’t know.’

But she wasn’t sure if children would like Tone, who had a frightening face.

“Nelia, if there’s anything related to Reunite that you need, feel free to tell me. I will help you so that Nelia doesn’t have a hard time.”

This Duke Hart was always competent at anything he said.

He would probably be good at parenting later.

While Nelia was looking at Duke Hart with a pleased face, she suddenly felt embarrassed.

‘What am I thinking right now…’

Nelia felt strange as she naturally pictured her future with the Duke.

The Duke gazed at Nelia with a faint smile, but he was just smiling.

During a short break after lunch, Nelia thought of Reunite.

‘I hope he’s doing well.’

She was worried he might cause trouble for Tone.

Although Reunite seemed to be good at pretending to be a child, he was a dragon with zero social skills that had been asleep for thousands of years. She didn’t know what might happen.

Then Duke Hart started talking.

“Nelia, I’m sorry, but can you take this to the lower floor to Mr. Howorth? I have urgent matters to attend to.”

“Of course.”

Nelia stood up and received the documents from the Duke.

If it was Mr. Howorth, he wasn’t far away, and she had run errands for him a few times before.

People were gradually getting used to her presence. Since they often saw her doing clerical work, the strange looks at her had almost disappeared.

People seemed to think of her more as someone who genuinely helped the Duke rather than someone with a personal relationship.

“Hmm… He doesn’t seem to be in his office.”

Nelia arrived at Howorth’s office, knocked on the door a couple of times, but there was no response from inside. Nevertheless, she decided to wait in front of the door for a while.

After waiting for a bit, Howorth’s assistant returned and informed her about his whereabouts.

“Mr. Howorth is currently attending a council meeting. He plans to leave immediately after the meeting, so it would be better to go there directly.”

I see. Nelia thanked the assistant and headed to the council room.

The council seemed to be ongoing as the door was firmly closed. Fortunately, it soon opened, and people streamed out.

Nelia searched for Howorth among the crowd and handed him the documents.

Howorth smiled and spoke.
“Thank you for coming all the way here.”

Nelia, who had safely completed her mission, was about to return to the Duke’s office when she heard a voice stopping her steps from behind.

“Nelia.”

As Nelia turned her head, Carlos was standing there.

‘Ah…’

Although the palace was narrow, coincidences happened frequently.

However, what surprised Nelia wasn’t just that. This might be the first time he called her by her name.

“…Yes?”

Thanks to that, she replied with a slightly surprised face.

“What brings you here?”

“I came on an errand… Because of Prince Reunite, I guess…?”

“I hosted the meeting that just ended.”

Nelia admitted that the question was strange.

‘Right… Since he’s a prince, it’s only natural for him to work at the palace.’

But Nelia asked such a question because she wondered if his retreat had completely ended.

She had seen him outside a few days ago, but at that time, it didn’t seem like an official schedule.

Still, seeing him participate in the meeting smoothly among so many people, it seemed like the treatment was very effective.

“Let’s talk for a moment.”

Nelia hesitated for a moment, but nodded at the word “moment.”

Carlos took Nelia into an empty meeting room.

Nelia felt tense under Carlos’s calm gaze.

He slowly opened his mouth.

“It’s about the medicine Duke Hart gave you.”

The medicine Griff made…? Why is he suddenly talking about that?

Carlos, who had been looking at somewhere on the table, gradually raised his gaze.

“It seems to have side effects.”

Nelia’s face froze for a moment.

“…What side effects are you talking about?”

“I’d rather be careful about saying it here.”

Carlos looked towards the door and spoke cautiously.

“It might become a dangerous topic for Duke Hart if mentioned here.”

Nelia swallowed dryly.

She suggested developing the medicine, but since Duke Hart gave it to Carlos, if there were problems with the medicine, he might misunderstand.

She even proved that there were no issues by eating the medicine herself on that day.

“It’s not confirmed whether there are definite side effects, so get an accurate diagnosis from a physician and tell me then.”

“…”

“At that time, it should be just you, not Duke Hart, who comes.”

Nelia raised her head in surprise. Carlos’s expression was as cold as ever.