Under the Oak Tree



Chapter 109: Chapter 109

“This powder should be familiar to you, my lady. It is a coagulant made by grinding the dried leaves and roots of a cucumber plant and mixing it with a dash of flour and herbs. I’ve prepared an ample supply, but you could try making it yourself with this recipe if you run out. You must use the scale to measure the ingredients accurately. I’ve also written down other remedies that are not too difficult to make, so please read them whenever you can.”

Ruth placed the parchment that contained the recipes, a small scale, and thin papers used for grinding herbs on the desk. Maxi, who had been hurriedly taking down notes with an ink-soaked quill, glanced at the items with a worried expression.

“D-Do you think… we’ll be needing so much medicine?”

“There is no way of knowing, my lady. As you’ve already experienced, there is a limit to how many people you can heal with magic. It’s always wise to be prepared.”

He shrugged lightly and showed Maxi how to use the scale. Maxi wrote down his explanation on the parchment as meticulously as she could. She was aware that Ruth had a lot on his plate, but it was apparently more than she had imagined. The burden of having to fill his shoes suddenly weighed on her shoulders.

“I think I’ve managed to explain everything to you, my lady. Here, let me give you the key to the tower.”

Ruth, who had been staring pensively at the ceiling with his arms crossed, took a key from his pocket.

“None of the items here are particularly dangerous, but try not to touch anything except for the books and the herbs, my lady.”

“I-I shall keep that in mind,” Maxi replied, cautiously taking the key from him.

An awkward silence fell over the room. Ruth looked embarrassed as he scratched at his messy hair.

“I leave Sir Riftan and the other knights in your care, my lady. They foolishly think they are invincible, so they are prone to recklessness. It worries me to no end to leave them behind.”

Maxi smiled faintly. She knew how much Ruth cared for Riftan and the knights. After all, was it not because of his sincere concern for Anatol that he took the time for all these magic lessons?

“You need not worry about Anatol… and take good care of yourself,” Maxi said as brightly as she could to reassure him. “You will be the one… t-toiling away after all.”

“That is true,” Ruth said, his shoulders sagging as if only just realizing his own situation. “I suppose I will not be sleeping in a bed for a while.”

“You r-rarely slept in one anyway,” said Maxi, shaking her head incredulously. “At least… try to sleep in a w-warm bed tonight, and do not skip supper… I have asked the cook to prepare a special feast… so be sure to come dine at the dining hall.”

“I fully intend to do so, my lady,” Ruth said breezily, turning toward the door. “I don’t anticipate being able to eat anything that would be considered food for a while, so I shall grease up my stomach before I leave. Well, then. Shall we head back?”

Maxi gathered the parchments and stared at his back in pity as she stepped out of the room. She felt both sorry for him and burdened by the responsibility she would take on after he left. It was then that she realized just how much she had come to rely on this meddlesome sorcerer.

“I-I am truly grateful… for everything you’ve done for me, Ruth. It is because of your help… that I have been able to overcome so many-”

“Wait! I would appreciate it if you would refrain from making such ominous remarks,” said Ruth, jiggling up and down and glaring at her as if she had cursed him. “It is like you are bidding me a final farewell.”

“That… was not my-”

“Even so. It is still unsettling, so please stop. Wishing me a safe journey is more than enough.”

Maxi pursed her lips. Was he not being unnecessarily mean when she was only trying to convey her sincere gratitude?

“A-All right. Then… p-please have a safe trip. Will that do?”

“Yes, my lady, it would. I also wish you well while I am away,” Ruth replied flatly.

They were walking down the stairs when he suddenly stopped to look over his shoulder with a mischievous expression.

“And, I shall expect good news to be waiting for us upon our return.”

“G-Good news?”

“News that Riftan Calypse II is on the way, of course.”

Maxi turned beet red, which made Ruth burst into laughter. She glared at him in indignation before rushing past him down the stairs. Honestly, was it always this hard to have a proper farewell?

***

The banquet that evening was grander than any other. A roasted swan and smoked piglet graced the center of the table, surrounded by dozens of dishes richly seasoned with cloves, nutmeg, cumin, and pepper.

The knights said their farewells as they enjoyed the carefully prepared food and fine wine. None of them looked forlorn or showed any signs of worry.

As she watched the knights exchanging jests and obscenities with each other as if they were only leaving for a night, Maxi wondered if she would also have to smile and bid Riftan farewell when he had to depart on a long journey someday.

Just the thought of parting with him made her feel as if her body would split in half.

She looked up at his face, enveloped in soft light, and reflected on how important he had become in her life. She did not think she could bear to spend half a year apart from him.

How wonderful it would have been if he were an ordinary country lord rather than a knight. Of course, if that were the case, their marriage would never have happened.

She sipped wine as she secretly tried to console her despondent heart. Though she wanted to share words of encouragement with the knights leaving for the campaign, it was like she had been struck dumb.

The next day, the campaign procession departed before the crack of dawn. Rows of armed knights on massive warhorses trotted through the castle gates, their sides bulging with sacks of supplies.

Maxi climbed up to the ramparts and watched as they crossed the drawbridge. Sir Ursuline rode at the front, leading his horse down the dark path under the indigo sky. Ruth and Sir Elliot rode close behind him. The steady sound of hooves thudding the ground went on for a long time.

Maxi waved her handkerchief into the cool, dawn breeze until they were no longer visible. Riftan stood behind the battlement and looked on with a rigid expression before he turned to face Maxi.

“You should head back inside now. Something in the wind tells me it’s going to rain soon.”

Maxi anxiously turned her gaze back to the knights whose figures were now as small as ants.

“W-Will they be all right?”

“They will be. Rain will decrease the chances of running into monsters, so it might be for the best. But… I do hope it will cease by nightfall…”

Riftan furrowed his brow and stared up at the dark sky. An irritated sigh escaped his lips.

“The construction site is also a worry. I should head out before it begins to rain.”

Pulling her face toward him, he kissed her cold forehead and smiled softly. He had been doing that more often lately. When that youthful smile lingered on his face, the allure of his already-attractive countenance seemed to grow tenfold.

“Your face is cold. Don’t wander around, go straight back to our bedchambers to rest,” he whispered to her as though he were coaxing a younger sibling. His fingers fiddled with her ear.

Maxi blushed and grumbled with a discontented look. “I am… not a child.”

“Be good.”

Riftan playfully pinched her cheek and planted another kiss above her eyelid. His calloused fingers and moist lips felt wonderful against her skin. She looked up at him with feverish eyes.

She longed for the kisses and gentle caresses to continue, but he stepped away, seemingly content with the light peck. He nudged her on the back in the direction of the castle. Swallowing her disappointment, Maxi trudged back to her chambers.

***

True to Riftan’s words, rain began to fall at noon. Maxi’s face clouded with worry as it drizzled like fog over the lush greenery of the garden below.

The colorful flowers had lost their brightness and drooped from their stems, and even the dark green leaves, now wet with rain, looked dark and dull. Her anxiety grew each time the window rattled in the cold wind. She felt sorry for the knights who had to ride through this weather on the harsh mountain path the first day of their journey.

Even Ludis, who had been quietly sewing by the window, lamented, “I do not think the rain will be stopping anytime soon.”

“Y-Yes…”

“To think it had to rain today of all days…”

Ludis rubbed her cheek before setting down her sewing and getting up to light the fire. Maxi continued to gaze out the window as she listened to the rain tap against the glass. She wondered if all was well at the construction site. Since Riftan had told her that monsters were less likely to appear when it rained, she at least did not have to worry about the site being attacked.

After fretting over several different matters, she pulled her gaze away from the garden view. Now was not the time for needless worrying. She needed to improve her abilities so that she could fill Ruth’s shoes as soon as possible.

Maxi took out the stack of parchments Ruth had given her and began to carefully sort through them. As to be expected from someone so shockingly terrible at organizing, Ruth had not bothered to arrange the parchments in any particular order before handing them to her.

The expositions on herbs, magic, and remedies were jumbled together. Maxi even noticed parchments with unfinished sentences. She had apparently failed to bring all the pages from the tower.

I really cannot tell if he is meticulous or negligent.

Maxi decided that she would visit the tower later to find the missing pages. For now, she would study what she could. She took out a new parchment and roughly arranged the magic runes.

Ruth had prepared two spells for her. One was a spell to increase the strength of her magic by accelerating the flow of her mana, while the other doubled the range of her magic.

Maxi’s shoulders sagged. She had secretly expected to see powerful runes similar to Princess Agnes’s fire magic. Then again, even if she were to learn such amazing skills, she would only be able to summon a spark no bigger than candlelight with her current mana. The only magic she was capable of executing at present was healing, detoxification, and restorative magic. She had not been able to make any significant progress with anything else.

It was evident that learning new things would not be of much use to her. It would be better for her to focus on enhancing the power of the spells she could already do. Begrudgingly agreeing with Ruth’s logic, she began to study the pattern of the runes and started to commit them to memory. Fortunately, it was not difficult for her to understand how the runes worked thanks to Ruth’s explanations.

The problem is actually casting them…

Though she was worried that she would not be able to master a new rune without Ruth generating mana for her, she had no choice other than to try. Gathering her concentration, Maxi began to memorize the intricate patterns.

She was engrossed in her studies for a while when she suddenly felt a heavy pang in her lower abdomen. The quill she had been dipping into ink froze when she felt something flowing between her legs.