Episode 66. Mount Bern (1)

Daria slightly frowned at the intense smell that wafted out as soon as she opened the door. Of course, it took her less than 0.5 seconds to regain her composure. A strange herbal scent mixed with a bizarre animalistic fragrance evoked a subtle unpleasantness and heightened emotions, but it was her specialty not to show such things.

“Huu…”

The state of the room was as chaotic as the smell. Her Young Lady, Vera, and Winnie Melbourne Viscountess were lying side by side on the bed. Both were dripping with a whitish fluid from their vaginas, making it hard to tell if they were nobles or beasts. The only difference was that her Young Lady was face down, ass up, hiding her face on the floor, while the Melbourne Viscountess was sprawled out like a frog.

The person responsible for creating this scene was sitting on the sofa, fully dressed in pajamas, smoking a cigar. His calm face as he inhaled the smoke even looked tired and exhausted. If it’s so hard, why doesn’t he just take it easy? Why does he have to make such a mess?

“…What’s going on?”

“Young Lady-ssi asked me to clean up beforehand.”

“Huu… Okay. Clean it up.”

At Daria’s gesture, the maids who had been waiting outside entered and began to tidy up the room. They moved Vera and Winnie to their respective rooms, ventilated the area, wiped away the semen, and changed the bedsheets. All of them were among the few who had served Vera since she came to the Family, so she could trust and rely on them. They quickly finished cleaning, and all the other maids retreated.

“Kkulheok, kkulheok.”

When only Daria remained to check the situation, Edward started coughing as if he had choked.

“Are you alright?”

He wasn’t a man she particularly liked, but as a noble, she needed to check. More than anything, if something went wrong, her Young Lady would be the most saddened.

“I’m okay, kkulheok! Keoheok…”

Suddenly, Edward collapsed onto the chair.

“Lord Edward has collapsed?”

“Yes. He’s conscious, but he can’t get up because he seems to have a bad hangover. Strictly speaking, Viscountess Melbourne’s diagnosis is needed, but Viscountess Melbourne is also sleeping off her hangover…”

Monica frowned at the butler’s report. She had thought he was drinking a lot, but he was pushing himself so hard that he couldn’t even get up because of a hangover. Monica, who was also suffering from a headache, felt a strange sense of injustice as she drank honey water and worked.

Originally, she had planned to have Edward help with paperwork starting today. Edward’s intellectual abilities, thanks to daily tutoring from Vera, were rapidly improving. Whether it was because Vera, as his mother and teacher, was teaching well, or because Edward was just smart, she didn’t know, but recently she had seen him reading a difficult book that she had kept in her study for decoration.

Originally, she had intended to leave him alone without assigning him any tasks, but his martial prowess as a knight was too overwhelming to ignore. Putting aside Monica’s own position, it was too wasteful to confine and let that ability rot within the County. Since some of the soldiers already respected him, and he could even read, Monica judged that it was a better choice to employ him rather than dismiss him. The fact that she had been slightly hard on him so far… Surely a knight wouldn’t be so petty as to care about such things?

But since he was collapsing as if to say he didn’t want to work, she couldn’t force him to come and do it.

“…What about Mother?”

“Madam Jeon Yulstein-ssi is also suffering from a hangover…”

As autumn approached, there was a lot to do, and every pair of hands was needed. She literally wanted to borrow even a cat’s paw. If it was a cat that could read, that is. Vera could also read, so she occasionally helped with her work, but she seemed to be suffering from a hangover even though she hadn’t drunk much. Thinking that she was paying for her thoughtless fun yesterday, Monica silently reviewed the documents. Then, the head of the guard knocked on the office door himself.

“Countess-sama! A guest has arrived!”

‘Huh? A guest?’

She hadn’t received any prior notice or invited anyone. If the head of the guard came up himself, it must be a pretty important matter.

“Who would visit without notice? Tell them to leave.”

“Well… that is, the guest says they are from another Count Family.”

“Count Family?”

They must be busy managing their own territories, so why would they visit so rudely? Monica accepted the brooch with the Family crest engraved on it, which the head of the guard presented as proof. The brooch had…

‘The Mountberne Count Family?’

Why would they suddenly visit from a place that hadn’t sent anything but gifts for the wedding? Feeling perplexed, Monica began preparing to receive the unexpected guest. It seemed like she would have even more work to do.

“Eueu…”

“Heum…”

Winnie placed her fingers on my wrist to check my pulse, put something in my mouth, and started checking various things. Last night, after intense sex, I was smoking a cigar when I suddenly felt like my penis was shrinking, and I collapsed. I had been so excited while doing it that I had cum like crazy, and it seemed like my balls, exhausted from overwork, were protesting. I think it’s because of the drugs. I should never take two together…

Winnie took another sniff of my face and finally nodded slightly as if she had reached a conclusion, then hit me on the head.

“You smoked again, didn’t you?”

“…I couldn’t even finish one… half…”

“I told you to quit!”

It had been a while since I smoked. Ever since I came back from Retinel, Winnie had been singing about how much she hated cigarettes, so I hadn’t been able to smoke even one. Even after returning, Winnie gave me medicine and told me not to smoke while taking it, so I hadn’t been able to. Yesterday, Winnie couldn’t nag me, and I was tired, so I smoked one after a long time… and she caught me like a ghost. After yelling, Winnie clutched her head as if it was ringing.

“Ah, my head… How many times have I told you to quit smoking? It’s bad for your health.”

“Where else can you find a drug that works as well as cigarettes…”

Before regressing, I used to have a cigarette in my mouth all the time. I used all the money I had saved up to buy those expensive cigarettes. After regressing, I had fewer opportunities to smoke, and my body craved them less, so I had cut down a lot, but when there was a battle, there was no better drug than cigarettes.

“Just quit if I tell you to. If you keep smoking, your breath will smell weird, and I won’t want to kiss you.”

Keung, I’ve never heard her say that before. I was about to say, “So what?” but then I remembered that I only put my penis in her mouth and didn’t give her kisses either. …I suddenly feel sorry.

“I’ll try to cut down…”

I can’t bring myself to quit all at once. I’ve been doing it for decades, it feels like, so how can I…?

“Cutting down doesn’t solve the problem. It’s already interfering with the medicine, and you haven’t smoked in a while, so your body isn’t taking it well, and that’s why you’re so sick.”

“If the problem is that I haven’t smoked in a while, shouldn’t I just smoke every day?”

“If you can’t quit smoking like that, your virility will weaken later, you know?”

“…”

This is a big one. Virility… The thought of quitting smoking suddenly pops into my head. Yeah, I should quit. …Maybe once every fifteen days, or even once a week?

Daria, who had been waiting beside me, spoke. She must have been watching over me since dawn, but there wasn’t a hint of fatigue on her typically expressionless face.

“How should I inform the Countess-nim?”

“Tell her I’ll be up and about by tomorrow. I seem fine now that I’m talking, but just in case…”

Daria left the room to deliver the message. Only Winnie and I were left in the room.

“…But why did only you come?”

Given Vera’s personality, she wouldn’t quietly back down while Winnie was here. Did she have sex more intensely than Winnie yesterday and can’t get up yet?

“I was going to talk about that too.”

Suddenly, Winnie adopted a serious tone.

“A guest came suddenly this morning.”

“A guest?”

I should be out there, even if it’s just for formality’s sake. I didn’t have the strength to get up.

“They came without warning, just showing up out of the blue. From the Mountberne Count Family.”

“…!”

Seeing my wide eyes, Winnie nodded as if to confirm that my guess was correct.

“They probably came because the Head of the Family, Henry Mountberne, was injured. At least half-crippled was certain. Because you pushed him.”

I felt like what was coming had finally arrived. Considering the time it would take to confirm in Retinel, go to Mountberne, and then come straight to Yulstein… it was about right. It seemed like they had moved quickly because it was a serious matter.

“What exactly is going on?”

“I don’t know? I haven’t heard anything either. But the atmosphere didn’t seem that bad?”

…Wasn’t I caught?