Chapter 726

So Much Good News!
While I was chatting with Oniisama about life at the academy, Miria came to inform us that it was time for dinner.

“Then shall we head to the dining room as we are?”

Oniisama said that and held out his hand to escort me.

“Yes. Let’s do that.”

The dining room wasn’t very far from the sitting room, so we arrived almost immediately.

When we entered, Otousama and Okaasama were already seated.

“My apologies for keeping you waiting.”

I apologized and took my seat.

“No, we only arrived ourselves a moment ago, so it’s no issue. Norman, I had assumed you would report in as soon as you returned.”

“Ah, my apologies. I hardly get to see Tea at the academy these days, so I ended up prioritizing Tea.”

W-wait, Oniisama!?
Communication is important, so shouldn’t that come first? Right?

Otousama looked exasperated at Oniisama’s casual reply.

“Honestly. The moment you stopped trying to hide your feelings, you became like this... So? What is it you wanted to report?”

When Otousama prompted him, Oniisama glanced at the servants around us, so we waited until all the dishes had been served before having the servants withdraw for the time being.

In the meantime, I cast a soundproofing spell over the dining room.
No need to worry about eavesdropping now.

“My dear. Let’s enjoy the meal first, shall we?”

“Hm? Ah, yes. My apologies… can you manage to eat?”

“Yes. I think I’ll be able to eat properly tonight.”

“I see. That’s good. Don’t force yourself, just eat what you can.”

“Yes, thank you. I shall.”

Seeing the two of them, the rest of us decided to start eating as well.

Tonight’s menu had been prepared specifically for Okaasama, whose morning sickness was making things difficult. Everything was light and free of strong odors.

After boiling udon noodles, they had been chilled in cold water. Shredded boiled cockatrice breast meat, tomatoes, cucumbers, and other summer vegetables had been cut into bite-sized pieces and arranged on top. Sesame sauce and ponzu had been provided so everyone could season it however they liked.

Cold udon. Warm dishes tend to release their aromas with the steam, so we had gone with cool, refreshing food that wouldn’t chill the body too much.

We had also made a tokoroten substitute using agar jelly, with sweet vinegar and syrup available for people to add as they pleased.

Since we didn’t have a tokoroten press, I had asked Kurogane to cut it into the thinnest strips possible.

… I wonder if the woodworker I commissioned today to make the tofu molds could also make a tokoroten press?

“Ahh... I’m so glad Cristea is here. Even with the morning sickness, I think I can somehow finish this.”

Apparently it was even easier to eat than expected. Once Okaasama had made it through over half of her meal, her complexion seemed a little better.

She was doing her best to overcome the morning sickness by eating at least a little.

… The problem was that despite being too nauseated to eat, her mana was being depleted at an incredible rate, so she had to find some way to replenish it.

“I’m glad to hear that. I’ll share a few more light menu ideas with the head chef later.”

“Thank you. That would help a lot.”

“Please make sure to eat properly, even if it’s only a little at a time.”

“Hmm... when I was carrying you, my mana drained away like this too, and it was quite difficult... I wonder if this child will also be born with an unusually large amount of mana.”

Waaah... thank you for your hard work back then!?
I see~ If this child ends up with enough mana to cause mana rampages like I did, maybe they’ll have to live in the territory too.

If it comes to that, I’ll do my best to help keep things under control.

“If that happens, the royal family will start making noise again... especially that fool. We’ll need to think about how to handle it.”

“Could it not simply be that her mana is being depleted more quickly because she is carrying two children? Though admittedly, either way they will probably possess above-average mana.”

“Yeeah... the mana feels similar, but there are definitely two different mana signatures.”

““““... Huh?””””

Kurogane and Mashiro’s bombshell statement completely froze the entire family.

“W-wait a second. Two mana signatures... does that mean twins!?”

“Indeed.”

“Humans can have more than one baby at a time too, huh?”

““““WHAAAAAT!?””””

A minor panic broke out, but fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, the soundproofing spell prevented our screams from reaching outside the room.

“... Ahem. Well. I understand now that Anrietta is carrying twins. What I would like to confirm is whether there are any problems with either Anrietta or the children.”

“The mana within the womb is strong, so there is no issue. The mother appears exhausted because of it, however.”

“Hmm... if you're worried, why not feed her some Mana Amplification Grass?”

“Eh? Mashiro, what did you just say? Mana Amplification Grass? There’s a medicinal herb like that?”

“There is.”

“There is indeed, though... it is less a herb and more something like a mushroom that grows from the corpse of a powerful magic beast.”

Uwaaaaaah, from a magic beast’s corpse!?
… Wait, isn’t that basically fantasy cordyceps!?

“Kurogane, Mashiro, where can we get some!?”

“Because of its nature of growing on the corpses of powerful magic beasts, it is exceedingly difficult to obtain. To begin with, the flesh of beasts retaining that much mana is usually devoured completely, leaving nothing behind.”

“Aaaah... I see...”

Well, when you put it that way, it makes sense.
Powerful magic beast meat is delicious.
And any remains would become nourishment for other magic beasts’ mana, so they’d be eaten clean.

A fantasy cordyceps substitute wasn’t going to be that easy to find...

“Kurogane-sama, Mashiro-sama, would there be any way to obtain some?”

Eh, Oniisama joined in too.

“To keep this confidential, Her Majesty the Queen is also expecting a child. Apparently she is currently suffering from symptoms similar to Mother’s.”

Eh!?

“So I was entrusted with a letter requesting, in the strictest confidence, advice on how Mother coped when she was pregnant with Tea.”

With that, Oniisama handed a letter from His Majesty to Otousama.

EHHHHHHHH!?
Her Majesty is expecting too!?

What do you think about this chapter?