Edgar wanted to tear apart the document he was reading. Actually, he was not even reading it. He hadn’t been able to sleep at all last night and, no matter how long he stared at the documents, the only thing he knew was that the black were letters and the white was paper.

It was the first time he had been unable to concentrate this much.

“But why? Why is she not eating? And what is Ann doing?”

“Ann is… at the door now. She says you must go to see your wife.”

“Ha.”

He would have done it a while ago if only it had been possible. No, if possible, he would have stayed with her all night, and he would have apologized and confessed in what great agony he was the moment she opened her eyes.

However, that was the only thing the man, who could do anything, couldn’t do.

“I wish I could.”

“No, Your Grace.”

Edgar was hurt at hearing the immediate answer.

“I know.”

He had no choice but to order Ann to go back to Rubica and take care of her. While saying so, he felt more miserable than anyone else. He felt so weak and useless.

He didn’t know Rubica had always found eating breakfast alone overwhelming. He only knew the Rubica who ate cakes made by Steven at dinner with the happiest look on her face. She preferred grains and fruits grown by diligent farmers to the fruits gathered by adventurers like the dragon’s eye. She also never left any food on her plate.

‘And she isn’t eating at all…’

Rubica had always had a huge appetite, and he made her skip a meal. He felt like he was the vilest villain in the world.

‘And, what is that tradition? No, that’s not even a tradition. It’s just wrong.’

He had thrown away the pride and respect for the first Claymore quite some time ago. He thought he was now suffering because of the wrong custom that his ancestor started. No, he must not have known that what he did would start making people promote their weapon that way.

‘Get to your senses. Now isn’t the time for that.’

Edgar looked back at the pile of documents. The king kept ordering to attend to meetings again, saying he had let Edgar enjoy some time with his wife. Edgar, however, thought that was too small as it had been only a couple of weeks. He grumbled as he went back to work.

Then, he skimmed through the documents and stamped his seal on them. To others, it would have appeared as if he was just leafing through the pages. However, after some time, his hands stopped.

‘This calculation is wrong!’

He solved a math problem which the writer of the report had worked on more than a week in just a few seconds. Then, he marked it with red ink and put it aside.

That problem wasn’t even difficult. How could anyone get it wrong after spending more than a week on it? He felt a fit of unrestrainable anger.

‘So idle.’

It looked like he had been too generous lately. He couldn’t believe such a report with a mistake in basic calculation had been brought to him.

Actually, that mistake was small, and it wasn’t going to change the experiment’s outcome, but it was about basic concentration and commitment.

‘How could they do such a thing?’

Edgar got back to the documents he had leafed through. Then, he applied red ink to his pen and started to make merciless comments. Like a professor teaching young and idle students, he started to point out every single mistake and omitted the facts in those experiments and statistics. It was time for the scholars to suffer because of the duke’s and duchess’ quarrel.

He felt a little better after letting out his anger on the reports. It was good that time passed fast when he focused on his work. Edgar then put his pen down and looked at the mirror. It was time for Rubica’s walk.

He didn’t forget that time even while concentrating hard, and it was now engraved on his mind.

Edgar rolled the wheels of his wheelchair, that appeared like a chair, to reach the windows. He didn’t like moving his wheelchair. He felt like he was a normal person when he sat still on it, but when its wheels moved, it reminded him that he had been cursed.

However, he didn’t hate reaching the windows to see her take a walk, he rather enjoyed it.

He waited behind the drawn curtains. She was going to come out at any moment, wearing a pretty dress and surrounded by her ladies-in-waiting and maids.

‘Is she feeling a little better now?’

Edgar gulped hard. He eagerly wanted to see Rubica’s face, his wife who hadn’t had breakfast.

He was surely going to feel great pain in his heart at seeing her sad, but he still wanted to see her.

He wanted to see her face and, if she was sad, he wanted to see with his own eyes how sad she was.

However, Rubica didn’t come out. Edgar was confused since she liked being punctual as much as he did. He wanted to use his bell to call Carl and ask him what was happening.

But he couldn’t move because he feared Rubica might come out while he went away to call Carl.

He cherished every second he could see her. That time was more precious than anything to him since he wasn’t a normal person and couldn’t be with her during broad daylight.

“Please.”

Edgar pleadingly muttered after about half an hour, staring at the entrance of the garden.

“… Rubica.”

However, Rubica didn’t come out even after an hour. Edgar couldn’t believe it. Rubica was skipping both breakfast and her walk. As she walked, she sometimes looked up to the direction of Edgar’s office.

Although he had to move away from the windows when it happened, it made his heart flutter. She was thinking of him, and it couldn’t make him happier.

But today, she was not coming out. She was not coming out, knowing he was watching her. Was there any clearer refusal?

Edgar knew it was time to give up now, but he couldn’t leave the windows for a long time. It took very long to admit the fact that Rubica wasn’t taking a walk today. Even after he admitted it, he took a long time to return to his desk, and he didn’t call Carl. He feared that sending Carl to Rubica would bring him back replies like she wasn’t taking a walk because ‘she didn’t want to see him’ or ‘she didn’t like it that he was watching her’.

***

One author once said this: when men feel agitated or get hurt by love, they have many ways to forget that pain, like sword fighting or riding a carriage to the local tavern to drink, and drinking a cup of strong coffee the next morning with an aching head. However, that’s not possible for women. The only thing they can do is to take a stroll in the garden.

There was nothing better than taking a walk for a lady in a bad mood. But today, Rubica didn’t feel like taking a walk. So, she decided on the next best thing, and that was embroidery.

Rubica asked Rosa and brought some embroidery tools. She hadn’t done that for a long time, but she still skillfully threaded a needle. Then, she started to embroider without any sketches. Embroidering was one of the things she was very good at.

‘Wow.’

Elise, who was next to Rubica, glanced at her work and was impressed. Rubica finished embroidering lavenders and started to add little butterflies and bees. She was unbelievably good for her age.

‘She is twenty-two years old this year.’

Elise looked down at her own work. She was considered good at embroidering for her age but, compared to Rubica, it was nothing. Rubica was skillful, and she could embroider without a sketch like someone who had worked as a seamstress for at least twenty years.

‘She is really great.’

Elise looked at Rubica with admiring eyes, but she didn’t care about the girl’s gaze and kept working. Her hands were moving regularly with a certain speed like those of a craftsman’s. Elise felt like Rubica was immersed in her calmness. Embroidering like that must require more than just average concentration. She wanted to be like her, so she took a deep breath and started to concentrate.

However, contrary to her guess, Rubica was full of passion.

‘Why! Why! Why do you hate expensive dresses?’

She was letting her uncontrollable anger out by embroidering. She just couldn’t understand Elise.

However, it wasn’t like she could grab the girl and make her do as she wanted, so she was getting rid of her stress by poking the fabric with her needle.

There wasn’t such a thing as a woman who hated jewels. Rubica liked jewels, too. If there was one thing she learned after living so long, it was this: there was no need to save face. Accept what you are given. Moreover, it wasn’t like Rubica was going to ask something in return to Elise. The only thing she wanted was to see the girl transform into the most beautiful lady.

But Elise, her fairy, didn’t like being dressed and decorated with expensive jewels because that was too extravagant. Who on earth had given her that stupid idea?

‘Stupid Kingdom of Seritos.’

Suspect number one was the kingdom that made extravagance something to be denounced. However, it would accept having dragon’s eyes on the plates of the royals and aristocrats and let Claymore have mana quartz. Saying two things with one mouth was one of the basic qualifications to be a royal, but this was too much.