I Already Know My Magic Power Is Ridiculously High! Now I Just Need a Cute Wife... - Episode 62

Nephthys had a stern face like a grumpy old man, but maybe that was for the best.

If he had been a sleazy-looking man, he might have taken the word thaw as some kind of dirty innuendo.

“…To experience the thaw, it is said that a noble lady must come to terms with something within herself.”

“And what does that mean?”

“…This is often told in noble education.”

Nephthys began to tell a story about a noble man and woman.

On their wedding night, the noblewoman unexpectedly manifested the Mark of Chastity.

The nobleman was deeply hurt, and the noblewoman, feeling responsible, tried to return to her family. But the nobleman did not give up. He patiently talked to her, again and again.

Thanks to his persistence, the noblewoman eventually realized how precious he was to her. And at that moment, the thaw finally occurred.

Thus, the noble couple became husband and wife in the truest sense. A happy ending.

“‘Look, the thawing water dripping from your lower lips forms a thread, connecting you and me like a bridge…’”

“That’s enough, Nephthys.”

“…Huh? Ah, I see.”

Since I had heard what I needed, I decided to put an end to the Nephthys Theater.

Nephthys looked like he still had more to say, as if he wanted to share an epilogue, but I didn’t need it.

“Why do you have such an absurd line prepared?”

“…This is how it is taught to young noble children.”

“…You don’t need to treat me like a young noble child.”

“…My apologies.”

For someone who had already explained so much about noble sexual knowledge, that excuse felt meaningless.

The story was quite sensual, but Nephthys had a clear and articulate voice.

He probably had a lot of experience as a storyteller.

If one listened to only his voice, without looking at his grumpy face, it might have even been able to make a woman’s womb ache.

“Sigh…”

Nephthys suddenly let out a deep sigh.

Just a moment ago, he had been enthusiastically talking about the stickiness of thawing water, yet now his energy had completely vanished.

“Is something wrong?”

“…No, I just remembered that I once told this story to Lord Barbato. That’s all.”

Noble education is generally divided into two parts: practical training, taught by Stellar-class nobles, and academic lectures, handled by Satellite-class scholars.

Nephthys was probably one of the Satellite-class scholars who had been responsible for Barbato’s education.

Unfortunately, it seems that Barbato’s moral education was a complete failure.

“I see.”

“…He was not always like that. He was truly talented, honorable, and loyal…”

“…”

Even if he said that, I only knew the current Barbato, so I had no way to respond.

No matter how many words Nephthys used, my impression of him wasn’t going to change.

“…What do you think about the story, Lord Shalka?”

“Hmm, I think it’s a beautiful story. It sounds like the ideal noble marriage.”

“…This story is often told to instill a sense of moral duty in noble men. But in reality, when a Mark of Chastity manifests, one of them usually returns home, and both end up so scarred that they never appear in high society again.”

So, reality is cruel, huh?

Nobles live for obsessive love, so if they realize their feelings will never be returned, they simply part ways.

Which means…

“Wait… was Barbato the same?”

“…Yes. About ten years ago, Lord Barbato was married to a marquis’ daughter from the Kingdom of Hoberia. However, on their wedding night, the Mark of Chastity manifested on her.”

The Kingdom of Hoberia… it was east of Naia.

Honestly, I didn’t know much about the eastern kingdoms, but I was fairly sure they were neither outright enemies nor particularly close allies of Naia.

Sixty years ago, back when Ortenos was still a kingdom, there had been diplomatic ties, but there were no longer any connections to the current Ortenos.

Things had become complicated since Ortenos was now part of the Empire—the largest power on the continent of Atla.

It wouldn’t be surprising if the eastern kingdoms harbored hostility toward Ortenos.

Anyway, it must have been a political marriage between Naia and Hoberia.

“That… sounds like a disaster.”

“…At first, Lord Barbato followed his teachings diligently and visited the marquis’ daughter frequently, believing that one day, the thaw would come…”

So Barbato wasn’t always that kind of person, huh?

Not that I really wanted to know.

And it wasn’t like my opinion of him was going to improve now.

“But in the end, his wish was never granted…”

“…Yes. But before that, something strange happened.”

“Something strange?”

“Yes. One day, in the marquis’ daughter’s chambers, Lord Barbato murdered a servant from Hoberia in cold bl00d.”

Ah, now this was the Barbato I knew.

Most likely, this happened in Goldasht Castle.

Murdering a servant inside the castle was completely abnormal, but for Barbato, it wasn’t surprising at all.

“What happened? Why did he do that?”

“…The exact reason was never discovered. When asked, Lord Barbato only became furious and lost control, while the marquis’ daughter, frightened, fell into a daze and refused to speak.

But after that incident, Lord Barbato completely changed.”

Ten years ago, that was before the war.

That was back when I was still drinking milk with Roa.

At that time, I was seriously wondering how long I could keep drinking my mother’s milk.

But by the end of the following year, the prophecy had started spreading, and suddenly, I had much bigger things to worry about.