"So then—my lord husband, Mother, and Aina still haven't come back?"
When Lieselotte asked the question in an offhand way, Ophelia's face turned faintly drained. She let her shoulders sag a little and sighed.
Lieselotte could only tilt her head at that reaction.
She had no idea what Ophelia's expression was supposed to mean, and merely looked at her face in quiet puzzlement.
"If you mean my lord husband, Lady Celine, and Aina, they said they were going to have their twelfth round out at the open-air bath."
"...What?"
Lieselotte blinked, utterly taken aback.
"Wh-... They're still going...?"
Fiona, too, let out a startled cry and clapped a hand over her mouth, her cheeks flushing red.
Even Chloe was left speechless for a while.
Usually calm and sharp-tongued, even she seemed to have lost words at the sheer bottomless excess of the three of them.
"...He's not just a goblin. He's a Goblin King..."
Chloe finally managed to speak, but her voice carried both exasperation and admiration, with the faintest trace of resignation beneath it.
"So... is my lord husband really the hapless noble the rumors made him out to be...?"
Lily tilted her head slightly as she voiced the question in a quiet murmur.
"I only met him for the first time today... but he gave us meat, and he was so gentle with my first time...
I just... can't think of him as a bad person..."
At that, Ophelia went still in shock.
"Come to think of it, Lily, today was the first time you met him, wasn't it?
And yet we threw you straight into the flower offering. I truly am sorry."
Ophelia looked at Lily apologetically and let out a soft sigh.
"No, I came here prepared to enter the harem, and becoming exclusive to my lord husband was something I volunteered for... myself.
So... it isn't a problem."
Lily's cheeks colored a little as she spoke, as though she had braced herself and made up her mind.
Watching the surprise on Lieselotte's and Ophelia's faces, Fiona sighed quietly to herself.
Lily really is trying her best...
She's here only after enduring pain we can barely imagine.
Lily steadied her breathing for a moment, then began to speak as though facing the pain of her past head-on.
"The truth is... before I met my lord husband, I was frightened.
The heir of a marquis house forced his attentions on me...
I went through something terrifying—being treated as though I were an object.
And all my parents ever said was that I should think of it as an honor..."
The faint tremor in Lily's voice struck Fiona sharply in the chest as well.
She wanted to keep Lily from ever being hurt again—to shelter her somewhere gentle and safe.
When Lily's voice fell silent, Lieselotte drew her brows together and asked softly,
"And... when you say you offered your flower to my lord husband earlier...
what happened with the heir of that marquis house?"
Lily gave a small nod and began to form the words one by one.
"No, it never went so far as a physical relationship.
But... he knew I couldn't defy him, and he would force his hands on me, strike me when I resisted,
and treat me like a doll he could play with...
Every time he told me that one day I would belong to him, I was terrified...
I kept thinking... that one day I'd be thrown away like a broken doll..."
The moment Lily finished speaking, Fiona was seized by the urge to say something—
but Lieselotte moved first, slipping her arms around Lily and gently rubbing her back.
"Lily... I'm sorry.
I made you remember something painful."
Wrapped in Lieselotte's gentle voice, Lily let out a small breath, seeming just a little more at ease, and gave the faintest smile.
"Thank you, Lady Lieselotte.
But I'm all right now.
After meeting my lord husband...
I feel as though I can take a new step here."
At the sight of that, Fiona swallowed once.
If I look sad too, Lily won't be able to relax...
Wanting Lily to recover even a little of her smile, Fiona deliberately raised her voice in a brighter tone, as though to blow the gloom away.
"Lily, I thought the same thing at first too.
All that talk in society about him—'A merchant even though he's a noble,'
or 'a useless fool who handed his Gift over to his younger brother'—
had me a little worried, but when I actually met him, he was nothing like that at all!
Rumors really aren't worth a thing, and he's super dependable too, right?"
Fiona laced both hands behind her head and flashed a slightly proud grin.
At her tone, Lily's lips softened into the faintest smile as well.
After watching the exchange for a while, Chloe lowered her gaze and began to speak quietly.
"In noble society, people believe a Gift itself is the pride of the family name.
A Merchant Gift is naturally seen as lacking in dignity."
A faint bitterness showed through Chloe's expression.
"We know better than most what kind of treatment people receive for lacking a Gift.
High society is very much like a lake where swans glide across the surface.
It looks graceful enough from above, but below the water they're furiously kicking at one another."
Chloe brushed back her hair and muttered the last words as though spitting them out.
As she listened in silence, Fiona naturally rested a hand on Lily's shoulder, leaning close in quiet support.
All of them, in one way or another, had suffered the severity and absurdities of noble society—
and Fiona felt that truth sink in all over again.
Twining a lock of hair around her finger, Ophelia let out a shy little murmur, trying to ease the heaviness that had settled over the room.
"There are certainly moments when his lack of noble refinement makes the word 'hapless' feel rather fitting.
If possible... I would prefer him to show just a little more nobility and dignity in bed as well."
As though she understood exactly what Ophelia meant, Lieselotte left Lily in Fiona's care and voiced her agreement.
"I truly feel the same way.
I only wish he would spare a thought for those of us trying to work right beside him."
Perhaps she had remembered what happened earlier, because her cheeks had turned red, and her expression plainly said, "Really, have mercy."
"Still, I am glad all of his 'hapless' qualities are the adorable sort.
Whatever high society may say, there is no doubt my lord husband's renown will resound throughout the world."
Ophelia smiled with quiet pride as she said it.
"Oh? So you've finally admitted it too, Ria."
Lieselotte smiled sweetly, her tone teasing.
"N-not yet... but when I think about his sweets,
that is how it feels."
Ophelia looked away, just a little embarrassed.
"Yes. My lord husband is the savior of this territory.
We face many obstacles, but somehow or other, I want us to make the Luxuriaria Initiative a success."
Lieselotte gave a firm nod, then looked around at the others and continued.
"This territory is drowning in debt,
and the harem keeps hemorrhaging money, so please lend me your strength."
"Why, of course. I shall do my best for the sake of all the delicious sweets still waiting to be discovered."
Ophelia answered with a faint smile.
"For the sake of beauty, I shall spare no effort either."
Though Chloe spoke coolly, there was unmistakable resolve in her expression as she nodded.
"My lord husband is... kinder than I imagined...
So we need to work hard too, so that we can truly be of help to him."
Lily added the words quietly, her cheeks tinged pink.
"Yup! Let's help out properly so my lord husband can spend his time here happily!"
Fiona raised a fist with her usual energy and grinned in agreement.
At last, Lieselotte gave a light clap and looked around at them all before speaking in a calm voice.
"Come now. We haven't much time before dawn,
so let's finish the draft together from here."
At those words, everyone nodded firmly and quietly set to work.
After a while, Yuri, Celine, and Aina returned as well, and the work continued with even less sleep to spare.
Through those grueling days of one all-nighter after another, they all pooled their wits and revised the finer points again and again—
until at last, ten days later, it took shape as the Draft Reberk Barony Reform Plan.