Chapter 43

After that, Lord Nazel and I returned to the Sutrena Territory.

We transferred to a wyvern at the city of Roca and gazed down at the Sutrena Territory from the sky.

Looking down at the peaceful frontier, I felt a sense of relief, truly feeling like I had come home.

“We’ve arrived.”

“Yes, the estate should be coming into view any moment now.”

I could see the unusually large lord’s manor and the giant plants growing tall and sturdy in the garden.

By now, our garden was filled with a massive amount of plants that defied the seasons, all bearing large, delicious-looking fruit.

As usual, after dismounting the wyvern, Lord Nazel held out both arms toward me. No matter how many times he did it, I just couldn’t get used to it.

Especially since I had learned how he truly felt, it had become even more embarrassing!

Summoning my courage again today, I jumped down from the wyvern and was caught firmly in Lord Nazel’s arms.

“By the way, Lord Nazel. Are you taking a break from work today? You must be exhausted after such a long journey.”

Since he had been working without a break, I wanted him to use this opportunity to rest.

Besides, if he stayed at the estate, my chances for a confession would surely increase.

At Lord Yarata’s house, I had ended up unable to say anything, and Kelly had been with us the entire way back.

I wanted to say “I love you” properly, face-to-face, not while sitting on the back of a wyvern.

When I thought about it, him being at the estate was the most convenient scenario.

“I suppose so. Perhaps today I’ll take it easy and focus on some work I can do from home…”

Just as Lord Nazel began to speak, Kelly arrived to announce, “Sir Henry has arrived.”

“Agnes, is something the matter? You looked like you wanted to say something.”

“No, please don’t mind me.”

I never imagined that letting Lord Nazel rest—and making my confession—would be this difficult.

Later, when I brought tea to the office, I found Lord Nazel and Henry discussing matters with serious expressions.

“…And so, it’s almost the season when the magical beasts start becoming more active.”

“I see. We’ve completed some countermeasures, but it might be wise to add more fences in areas where damage is frequent. Since I’ve just succeeded in improving a plant with high stem durability, we could build fences over a wide area if we use Agnes’s power.”

If I can be of help, I am ready to cooperate at any time.

I observed the two of them while setting out tea and snacks. That’s when Sir Henry spoke to me.

“Lady Agnes, what is this confection?”

“It’s a new creation from our cook, Meiza. It features a mousse made from the Viola Berries Lord Nazel crossbred, sandwiched between layers of crispy puff pastry.”

Sir Henry immediately took a bite of the sweet, and his pale face lit up.

“Magnificent! Do you have no intention of selling these?”

“Well… we simply don’t have enough hands to manage that right now.”

Sir Henry adored the food and sweets served in our home, often visiting the estate under the guise of work just to get a taste. Today was no exception.

Since he helped out with various tasks during his visits, it was actually quite helpful for us.

“In that case, why not outsource it to the specialized pastry shop in town? You could set up a contract for a recipe licensing fee and a percentage of the monthly sales.”

“I’ll discuss it with Meiza.”

As she was the one who put in the hard work, I wanted to reward her with a recipe bonus and a salary increase.

A few months later, “Meiza’s Viola Berry Pie” would become a massive hit in the city center, but that is a story for another time.

Regardless, the priority now was the magical beast countermeasures.

In the Sutrena frontier, there were several times a year when the beasts became more active.

We were currently entering one of those periods, and the night of the new moon was said to be particularly dangerous.

That day was fast approaching.

“It would be best to have Agnes cooperate with us.”

“Yes. I’d like to request her help with installing the fences and reinforcing the private homes in the high-damage areas.”

Listening to Lord Nazel and Sir Henry, I nodded and said, “Please, leave it to me.”

Simply being useful made me happy.

Following that, it was decided that I would immediately proceed with monster countermeasures using my Material Reinforcement magic.

I traveled around the frontier on a wyvern with Lord Nazel, strengthening fences and houses.

However, given the sheer number of structures, my mana gradually depleted, and exhaustion began to set in. The loss of magical power struck my body as physical fatigue.

Even so, I wanted to reduce the number of people who suffered from magical beast attacks, even by just one person.

As I walked toward the next house, my body suddenly swayed.

…Ugh, my first dizzy spell. So this is how Sir Henry feels all the time.

I was about to collapse head-first into the dirt, but at the last second, I was enveloped by something soft.

With a boing-boing elasticity, a green succulent plant cushioned my fall.

“Agnes! Are you alright?!”

Lord Nazel came rushing toward me from a short distance away, looking frantic.

“Lord Nazel… this plant is…”

“It’s my magic. It doesn’t have a permanent physical form, so it disappears once I release the spell.”

The moment he reached out and scooped me up, the succulent vanished into thin air.

The plant magic Lord Nazel wielded was incredibly convenient.

“I’m sorry. I pushed you too hard.”

“I’m fine. It’s only because you found a use for my magic that I can be helpful like this.”

“Your skill has such a vast range of reinforcement; it still hides so much potential.”

Despite his praise, the verdict was “that’s enough for today”…

And so, I was promptly carried back to the estate by Lord Nazel.