“More importantly, you said it causes intestinal disease? What kind of disease is it? Does it damage the intestinal lining, or does it affect the stomach?”

“…It’s closer to damage to the lining…”

“Really? Th-Then what happens? Do you vomit? Or have diarrhea? Chills?”

“…Are you interested in medicine as well?”

Adelia let out a little gasp and smiled sheepishly.

“A little. Ah! But please don’t misunderstand. I’m only curious about how fungi, viruses, and things like that affect the human body.”

Siern couldn’t bring himself to ask, Why?

Because if he did, and this strange disciple of his answered with those beautiful eyes sparkling, “For human experimentation!”

How on earth was he supposed to deal with that…?

As Siern’s silence stretched on, Adelia’s excitement abruptly cooled.

The next moment, her vision went black and her head spun.

W-What on earth did I just do…?

This was exactly the problem.

Whenever microorganisms came up, she got so excited that she couldn’t control herself.

Even the teachers at the academy were horrified by me several times…

Now that she was an adult and an official research student, she ought to know how to conduct herself, but this was…

A sudden cold sweat trickled down her back.

“I-I’m sorry, Professor.”

Adelia abruptly bowed deeply and stepped back.

Siern was flustered once again.

“Uh…”

“…”

“What are you sorry for?”

“Th-That…”

Adelia pressed her lips together, nervously biting them before her face turned bright red.

“I-I got so excited that I made things uncomfortable for you, Professor…!”

“Wait, wait. That’s enough of the statements that could be seriously misunderstood.”

Adelia immediately clamped her mouth shut again and looked up at Siern with teary eyes.

“Why are you crying?!”

“D-Does this mean you’re going to kick me out?”

“What? No. Of course not.”

At that, Adelia sighed in relief, sweeping a hand over her chest as though a dead person had just come back to life.

“That’s a relief…”

Siern found this disciple, whose mood swung wildly from one extreme to another, strangely amusing.

He had always hated troublesome things. That was why he had never even attempted to take on a research student until now.

Yet for some reason, watching this…

…squirrel-like creature who had come to him of her own accord shoot up to the heavens one moment and plummet to the ground the next wasn’t particularly unpleasant.

“Now that you’ve calmed down, let’s move on to the next room. There are some things you need to be careful about, so stay alert and listen carefully to what I say. Understood?”

“Yes, understood.”

Seeing Adelia’s eyes shining brightly, Siern gave a small grin.

The meeting of government officials was boring and exhausting.

They had engaged in an endless, disjointed debate over a single agenda item.

As a result, Roarston practically staggered out of the meeting hall half-dead.

But none of that exhaustion showed on the outside. Roarston was meticulous about maintaining his composure at all times and in all places.

He was the kind of man who made every effort to ensure there was never anything about him for others to gossip about.

And yet even Roarston collapsed onto the seat as soon as he reached his carriage, practically sprawling across it.

“…This is driving me insane. How many times a month am I supposed to do this?”

Roarston grumbled from an almost reclining position.

His close aide and secretary, Rudolf, sitting across from him, gave him a rather sharp look over his monocle.

“Your Grace, please think of the honor of House Ipsel. Your current posture is unbecoming.”

Roarston looked up at him with an expression that practically screamed I’m sick to death of this.

“Are you being serious, Ru?”

“I am always serious.”

“I just spent several hours sitting among a bunch of old men listening to pointless armchair debates that went absolutely nowhere.”

“Whatever the reason may be, it is unbecoming for a man bearing the name of House Ipsel to conduct himself in such a manner.”

Grumbling, Roarston sat up and glared at him as though he couldn’t stand the sight of him.

“If it weren’t for Father’s wishes, I’d kick you out on the spot.”

Rudolf snorted and pushed his slipping monocle back into place.

“Then perhaps you should have tried living without me when you were staying in the academy dormitories.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Don’t make it sound like I depended on you for everything.”

“Isn’t most of that true?”

“Say that in front of Adelia and just watch. I’ll cut your salary down to nothing.”

Despite Roarston’s threat, Rudolf merely shrugged as though to say, What are you going to do about it?

He was a year younger than Roarston and came from a family of scholars that had been acquainted with House Ipsel for generations.

Rudolf’s parents had died in an accident when he was young, and his grandfather, who had been researching engineering, suddenly passed away as well.

After that, no household was willing to take in the young orphan, but the late Duke of Ipsel took him in.

—Then I’ll repay your kindness with my own body.

True to those words, which had nearly made the late duke fall backward in shock, the young Rudolf did his best to act as Roarston’s brother and playmate.

And as they grew older, he remained by Roarston’s side, even managing his schedule like a secretary.

Rudolf was also the only person who knew about Roarston and Adelia’s contract marriage.

“…Since we’re on the subject of Her Grace…”

Roarston, who had been looking out the window of the slowly moving carriage, turned toward Rudolf.

“There are many events you will be expected to attend in the future, but it seems Her Grace hasn’t given them any thought at all.”

“It’ll take her some time to adjust. She only entered the research lab today. Did she really have the time to worry about social events?”

“Even so, it has already been over a month since the two of you were ‘officially’ married. It could become problematic if the Duchess continues to make no appearances at any official functions.”

I suppose he has a point, Roarston thought.

It was certainly unusual.

A duchess who never appeared in public after getting married.

But this fraudulent marriage had been arranged for Roarston’s own convenience, and he didn’t want Adelia to bear any unnecessary burdens because of it.

He had thought that as long as she fulfilled the bare minimum expected of her as the Duchess, that would be enough…

But after hearing Rudolf’s point, Roarston began to think that perhaps it was time for him to attend a party with Adelia at least once.

“Ru.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Find a party suitable for a young lady making her debut in high society. Something with a relatively quiet atmosphere.”

“There will soon be a birthday party for the princess at the royal palace. As for that…”

Right. There was that, too.

Roarston pinched the bridge of his nose with a troubled expression.

“…I’m going alone.”

“But—”

“If Adelia went somewhere like that, she’d probably get crushed. She’s so tiny that she fits perfectly in my arms even now when I hug her.”

Rudolf was surprised to discover that his master was unexpectedly concerned about the well-being of his fake wife.

He quietly made a note of it in his notebook.

“Haah…!”

After finishing Professor Siern’s tour of the research laboratory,

Adelia stretched out her legs and sank into the lounge sofa, filled with an almost euphoric sense of happiness.

I learned so much today that my head is spinning.

But even that dizzy sensation felt wonderful.

Knowledge! Knowledge! Knowledge!

Adelia was perpetually starved for knowledge.

And when it came to microbiology, there was even more to say.

Subjects such as classical literature and mathematics had advanced courses at the academy, but microbiology was merely something they touched on in passing.

Today, however, she had learned so much new information about microbiology that she felt dizzy from it all.

I’m so happy…!

She wanted to just live in this research laboratory.

She wouldn’t even mind becoming a mold growing on the wall…

Wait. If that happened, would they discover a brand-new species of mold called Adelia? And then Professor Siern could study it and publish a paper about it…!

She was so happy that she felt as though she had become a drunken person.

Just as Adelia’s imagination was about to spiral out of control, the lounge door flew open and Professor Siern walked in.

“What are you doing that you didn’t even hear me knocking…?”

“Professor! Would you study me?”

“…What?”

“Ah, not like this! I mean, if I became a mold!”

“…Are you planning to decompose anytime soon?”

“Ah! Not quite yet…”

Siern’s eyes, visible beneath his black hair, took on a strange light as he stared at Adelia.

He took a startled step back from Adelia, who had once again begun muttering to herself, and spoke.

“You can go home for today. Come back by eight tomorrow, just like today. Sometimes we may have to work late when things get busy… but normally, we should finish around this time.