But, well, depending on the definition of having children, I do have them. I raised Uni and created Fem. Seis calls me her father too. Well, the only person among them who was Simone's acquaintance was Uni though.
"But there is no need to be hasty. The House of Oubeniel will be inherited by your twins after all.."
"Sir Tullius......"
My words made her eyes moist, as if she was feeling very emotional now.
Her son would eventually inherit the Oubeniel Count family. I have made preparations to announce that publically. In place of my brother who was sent to a monastery, I would temporarily take the position and responsibilities as the interim head of this family. However, as long as the blood of a legitimate son exists, it was the right thing to do to return it eventually.
"Are you sure you want to do this? You can treat it as my thanks to you..."
"Don't worry about it. The head of the Count's family is too much for me to handle...... Brother, ah and Father, when he was alive and well, had always been saying that. I’m fully content with governing Marlan. Of course, I am willing to serve as a substitute so that your child would not have to face too much hardship in the future."
"I'm so sorry. I’ll leave everything to you then."
"Please don’t feel this way. This is like atonement for my sins. I'm sure what happened to brother was partly the stress I caused him, so please let me do at least this much."
Really, there was no need for her to worry about this and that. Even I stood to gain by having my brother's child take the reins.
If there were a formal heir to the Oubeniel family, I would be able to avoid the greedy people who would try to force me into a political marriage. Aside from the faction’s members who were at my beck and call, the rest of the nobles were apparently excited by the prestige that comes with the Count's family and the territories that came with the rank, even if the Oubeniel name was tarnished. Surely this baby would be able to suppress such people from drawing near. Even if I am related to him, it would be my brother's child who would eventually hold authority in the future.
What I don't like about political marriages was the fact that they add new relatives to the family. The number of people I have to interact with would increase, and if I ever slight them, it would be one heck of a pain. Even if I tried to suppress it with my own methods, the effort and cost would not be zero.
I'm going to be very busy with how brother ended up. I shall gladly rely on the baby in her belly as a dam against all the trivial matters.
"Conversing for too long is not good for your health. I'm sure you're still tired, so why don't you take some time off and rest?"
".......Yes, I will do that."
Simone stood up somewhat regretfully and walked towards the door.
Oh, yes. I have to check one thing before I do that.
"Miss Simone."
"What is it?"
She looks back at me curiously.
"Do you think you are in bliss now?"
To her current plight, this might seem like an absurd question to ask. A slave has cuckolded her and he has gone mad. She was young with a growing belly. No matter how much her brother-in-law guaranteed the future of her child, the situation was not light enough to make everything fine.
And yet...
"Yes, I'm happy."
She smiled brilliantly, as if she were a large flower blooming.
"My new family is right here...... so close to me. If I don't call this happiness, what should I call it?"
She then affectionately caressed her belly, showing her affection to the beloved child she carried within her body. There would be nobody who would think that she was deserving of pity with how happy she looked.
All mothers become this strong, huh? This explanation seemed to connect the dots for me.
"That's good to hear. Well, take care of yourself—"
※ ※ ※
Victor Delacroix Lorge entered his lord’s office, switching places with the former countess. There, the lord, Tullius Shernan Oubeniel, was being served tea by his prized slave.
"Your Excellency. Did you not serve tea to the Madam?"
"......I was not trying to be inhospitable. Stimulants like caffeine and herbs are too strong for pregnant women and can be harmful. I wish for her to give birth to healthy children."
As he said so, Tullius took the cup from Uni's hand and brought it to his lips. The way he was enjoying the aroma and taking it easy... It appears that Tullius was completely relaxed.
In other words, things must have gone well.
"Was your treatment of her a success?"
"Otherwise, I would be somewhat more panicked."
Treatment? Of course, brainwashing treatment.
Where else in the world could give such happiness to a woman after such an ordeal? When she arrived in Marlan, Simone was in a terrible state. She looked so devastated and ghostly that Victor thought it would be better to send her to the monastery alongside her husband. It would be impossible for her to recover from such a situation in a short time, unless she was messed up in her head.
And that kind of external method was the trademark technique of this, casually drinking tea, alchemist.
"It's a piece of cake compared to the procedure I did on Drei and you guys. Simone is a lonely person, you know. I biased her view on things a little bit and redirected her loneliness and hunger for affection towards the child in her belly. That's how we end up with a young and strong caring mother."
As Tullius sipped his tea, he blurted out atrocities as though they were nothing.
......Victor had heard how she cried out to Tullius that summer day, the morning after Linus did something to her. She had said, "Let me go home, let me go home to my parents."
However, no matter how good an alchemist he was, he couldn’t bring her parents back to life when they were already dead. Perhaps he has ideas on how to do so, but the world would not tolerate it. So instead, Tullius gave her a new family.
Children were the perfect recipients of affection.
"It is ironic then, isn't it? To be impregnated in the same manner as the slave involved in an affair with her husband."
Victor was slightly amused.
The reason for the events this time was the pregnancy of the female slave. This was all arranged by Tullius. And he used the same method to give Simone a child as well.
"Being impregnated in the same manner is an odd choice of words, isn't it? There's usually not that much variation in the way children are made."
"Certainly. But the measures you have taken are not the obvious ones, are they? Then I think it's appropriate to describe it as such."
"Well, that's something you and Laubert would say...... Well, I don't hear of any artificial insemination technique being used anywhere but here, huh."
Artificial insemination. A technique in which the sperm of a man and the ovum of a woman are extracted to produce a baby entirely artificially.
This was the technology used in the production of the EE series and Opus 06, Seis. With this technique, the population of the long-lived elves could be increased as easily as sowing seeds in a field. There was no reason why it could not be used for humans.
The surprise visit to Volden's mansion and the hospitality. That was done in order to secretly collect Linus's semen. In order to do this, the couple were treated to an ‘energy boosting’ meal. Hopefully, the couple, despite their cold relationship, would get down to business and the following day, the relevant cells could be extracted from the laundry.
And while Linus was stuck at his post in Volden with his political duties as lord, the slave he had kept was kidnapped. And then, an offspring is planted in her.
In order to secure the target, Drei, who possesses the eye of mind control and had the flexibility to move with teleportation magic, took action. Even if the opposing party were aware of Tullius’ brainwashing techniques, there was no way they could prevent everybody from being affected. The cost of protection against brainwashing was very high. The important servants of Linus came along to Volden. The protective gear would have been given to them. Even though she was the mistress of the head of the family, there was no way that a mere slave could be valued enough to be given an amulet to ward off brainwashing or be given security protection. Linus Oubeniel was a person who could not act against common sense. Unlike his...... brother, Tullius.
