Chapter 5

“More importantly, an intestinal disease? What kind of disease is it? Does it damage the intestinal lining, or does it affect the stomach?”

“…It’s closer to damaging the intestinal lining.”

“Really? Then what happens? Does it cause vomiting? Or diarrhea? Chills?”

“…Are you interested in medicine too?”

Adelia let out a small “Ah!” and smiled shyly.

“A little. But please don’t misunderstand. I’m only curious about how fungi, viruses, and other microorganisms affect the human body.”

Siern couldn’t bring himself to ask, “Why?”

If he did, this strange student might look at him with those sparkling eyes and answer,

“For human experiments!”

How was he supposed to respond to that?

As Siern remained silent, Adelia’s excitement disappeared in an instant.

Her mind immediately went blank.

W-What on earth have I done…?

This was always the problem.

Whenever the conversation turned to microorganisms, she became so excited that she couldn’t control herself.

Even my teachers at the Academy were shocked several times…

She was an adult now.

She was officially a research student.

She should know how to behave better than this.

Cold sweat ran down her back.

“I-I’m… I’m sorry, Professor.”

Adelia quickly bowed deeply.

Siern looked surprised again.

“Uh…”

“…”

“What exactly are you apologizing for?”

“W-Well…”

She bit her lip nervously before answering, her face turning bright red.

“I… I got too excited and made things difficult for you…”

“Wait. Hold on. Let’s stop saying things that could easily be misunderstood.”

Adelia immediately closed her mouth again.

She looked up at him with tears gathering in her eyes.

“…Why are you crying?”

“I-Is… is this because you’re going to throw me out?”

“What? No. Of course not.”

At once, Adelia let out a huge sigh of relief, as though someone had come back from the dead.

“Thank goodness…”

Siern found this student strangely amusing.

Normally, he hated troublesome people.

That was why he had never accepted any research students before.

Yet somehow…

Watching this squirrel-like girl, who had wandered in on her own and kept jumping from the highest excitement to the deepest despair every few minutes…

Wasn’t unpleasant at all.

“If you’ve calmed down, let’s move to the next room. There are some important things you need to be careful about, so pay close attention to what I say. Understood?”

“Yes, I understand.”

Seeing Adelia’s bright, eager eyes, Siern smiled.

***

The government meeting was long and exhausting.

They spent endless hours arguing over a single agenda item without reaching any conclusion.

By the time it ended, Roerston felt completely drained.

Even so, none of that exhaustion showed on his face.

Roerston always maintained perfect composure, no matter where he was.

He was the type of person who did everything possible to avoid giving others anything to criticize.

But even Roerston…

Collapsed into the carriage seat the moment he got inside.

“…This is driving me crazy. And I have to do this several times every month?”

He almost lay flat as he complained.

The man sitting across from him, his secretary and trusted aide, Rudolph, looked at him sharply over his monocle.

“Your Grace, please remember the dignity of House Ipsel. That posture is inappropriate.”

Roerston looked at him with complete boredom.

“Are you serious, Ru?”

“I am always serious.”

“I just spent several hours trapped with a room full of old men listening to pointless arguments.”

“Whatever the reason, someone who bears the Ipsel family name should conduct himself properly.”

Grumbling, Roerston sat up and glared at him.

“If it weren’t for Father’s last request, I would have thrown you out a long time ago.”

Rudolph adjusted his slipping glasses and snorted.

“You should have tried living without me back when we stayed in the Academy dormitory.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Stop acting like I depended on you for everything.”

“Didn’t you?”

“If you say that in front of Adelia, I’ll cut your salary.”

Even after the threat, Rudolph only shrugged.

He was one year younger than Roerston and came from a scholarly family that had been close to House Ipsel for generations.

His parents had died in an accident when he was young.

His grandfather, an engineering researcher, had also passed away suddenly.

Since no one wanted to take in a young orphan, the late Duke of Ipsel had adopted him.

“Then I will repay your kindness with my life.”

Just as he had promised, young Rudolph became both Roerston’s companion and his closest friend.

As they grew older, he naturally became Roerston’s secretary, managing his schedule and staying by his side at all times.

Rudolph was also the only person who knew the truth about Roerston and Adelia’s contract marriage.

“…Speaking of Her Grace…”

Roerston looked away from the carriage window toward Rudolph.

“There will be many official events for you to attend in the future, but it seems Her Grace hasn’t been paying any attention to them.”

“It’ll take her some time to adjust. Today was her very first day at the laboratory. Do you really think she had time to worry about parties?”

“Even so, it’s already been over a month since your marriage became official. The Duchess has yet to appear at a single formal event. That could become a problem.”

He has a point, Roerston thought.

It certainly was unusual.

A Duchess who completely disappeared after getting married.

But this fake marriage had been arranged for his own convenience.

He never wanted Adelia to carry unnecessary burdens because of it.

As long as she fulfilled only the minimum duties expected of a Duchess, he had been satisfied.

Still…

After hearing Rudolph’s words, he decided they should probably attend at least one social gathering together.

“Ru.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Find a party suitable for a young lady making her social debut. Somewhere quiet.”

“The Princess’s birthday party at the royal palace is coming up soon. That would…”

“Oh, right.”

Roerston rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“…I’ll attend that one alone.”

“But…”

“If Adelia went somewhere like that, she’d probably shrivel up. She’s already so tiny she fits perfectly in my arms whenever I hug her.”

Rudolph was quietly surprised.

His master seemed far more concerned about his fake wife’s well-being than he had expected.

He made a note of it in his notebook.

***

“Haa…”

After finishing Professor Siern’s tour of the laboratory…

Adelia sat on the lounge sofa with her legs stretched out, feeling as though she were floating in pure happiness.

I learned so much today that my head is spinning.

But even that dizzy feeling made her happy.

Knowledge! Knowledge! Knowledge!

Adelia was always hungry for knowledge.

Especially knowledge about microbiology.

Subjects like classical literature or mathematics had advanced courses at the Academy.

Microbiology barely received any attention.

Yet today she had learned so many new things about it that she almost felt overwhelmed.

I’m so happy…!

She wanted to live in this laboratory forever.

She wouldn’t even mind becoming the mold growing on the walls.

Wait… if I became mold, would that make me a newly discovered species? Then Professor Siern would study me and publish a paper…!

She was so happy she felt almost drunk.

Just as her imagination was running wild, the lounge door suddenly flew open.

Professor Siern walked in.

“What are you doing? Didn’t you hear me knocking…?”

“Professor! Will you study me?”

“…What?”

“Oh, not right now. I mean if I ever become mold!”

“…Are you planning to start decomposing anytime soon?”

“Oh! Not that soon…”

Siern stared at her with a very strange look in his eyes.

Taking a small step backward from Adelia, who had already started muttering to herself again, he said,

“You may go home now. Come back tomorrow at eight o’clock, just like today. Occasionally we’ll have busy days and stay late, but most of the time we’ll finish around this hour.”