Rubica barely managed to think straight again.

‘Did she say that on purpose? Now, that lie is too big to be used as an excuse to get rid of these people. Plus, such a lie will only bring even bigger problems afterward.’

And, she couldn’t even dare to imagine how Edgar would feel at hearing the news. He would be so shocked. Still, they had come too far and saying she wasn’t pregnant now would only cause a bigger uproar.

“Goodbye.”

She couldn’t believe what was happening. The best she could do was to say goodbye to the relatives as they left. After they were gone, Ann brought a blanket and put it around Rubica’s belly.

“You have endured it so well.”

Ann couldn’t have looked more serious. Elise hadn’t even imagined Rubica was pregnant, but she managed to get out from the shock and smiled happily. The news of the upcoming baby was more than enough to delight everyone.

“Ann, why on earth did you say that?”

“Oh, it must have been so hard for you, but there is no need to hide it now. Actually, I knew it from the beginning.”

Knew what? Rubica had never been pregnant.

“Now that it has been some time after your wedding, you will not be dishonored even if we announce the news. Oh my, your husband has no respect for you. He left for the capital after making such a mess… he shouldn’t do this when you are pregnant.”

Ann hadn’t used her wits spontaneously to escape the relatives’ protests. She truly believed Rubica was pregnant, so she didn’t know what to say to her.

“Ann, please calm down for a moment and listen to me carefully.”

She took a deep breath. Calming down the excited Ann wasn’t easy at all, but she had to make it right before the issue got even bigger.

“I am not pregnant.”

“What?”

“If you don’t believe it, you can call the doctor and have him examine me.”

Ann turned very pale.

“But, but…”

“If I was really pregnant, the doctor would have told you.”

Rubica had met the family’s doctor a few times, and he had said there was nothing wrong with her health. However, Ann thought the doctor wasn’t saying anything about the baby because he had been ordered so in secret.

“Oh, my, my.”

She had screwed up. She had screwed up big. For some time, she couldn’t say anything as if she had gone crazy.

“Madam, I am so sorry.”

Thinking about it again, the things she thought only pregnant women would do were things anyone could do. Putting a cushion on the belly, enjoying sweet and sour foods, that could totally happen without being pregnant.

“Oh, how should I take care of this problem?”

Rubica was getting a headache as well. If Ann had announced Rubica was pregnant in front of the servants or Edgar, she would have been able to correct her immediately. She could have said it was all a misunderstanding and Ann could have apologized. However, Ann had announced that in front of the relatives. They must be spreading the news by now as most of them lived at the east annex. The news was now going to spread like a wildfire.

“Your Grace, I will go immediately and tell them it was all my misunderstanding.”

“Absolutely not!”

If she said that, they would immediately request to have her removed from her position for getting such a strange idea.

‘And if a relative like Mrs. Shaynie were to take her place…’

Even thinking about it made her shudder. There was no way every old lady was as kind as Ann to Rubica. Ann was satisfied with giving Rubica advice even when just planning the budget, but any other woman would have nagged her to get her own way. That was exactly what Mrs. Shaynie had tried to do.

“If you do that, you will be in trouble. For now, let us call the doctor first.”

Rubica’s auburn eyes moved quickly. Fortunately, the room’s door was close, so only Ann and Elise could hear the conversation now.

“We should call him, explain what happened, and ask him to pretend that I am pregnant for some time.”

Ann realized Rubica was trying to protect her, and it moved her heart. Tears formed up in her grey eyes.

“I am so sorry.”

“It’s okay, Ann. I can take care of this.”

Rubica was planning to work with the doctor and fake a miscarriage two months later. As she had Ann and Elise on her side, it wasn’t impossible at all. Of course, it would make people question if she would be able to get pregnant ever again, but that wasn’t her concern.

‘Oh, yes.’

Ann was a very positive person, and she quickly misinterpreted Rubica’s confidence.

‘She can get pregnant quickly and the problem will solve itself!’

It would be even easier and there would be no need to make excuses about how the baby was born so soon.

There were many babies who were born after the estimated time. No one would doubt that.

‘I must call Madam Khanna soon.’

Ann recalled the nightdress Edgar had shown interest in a while ago. She then started to work on a plan that was very different from Rubica’s.

***

-Edgar, the number of mana stones we mine in the mountains is decreasing every day.

In the carriage that was going back to Edgar’s mansion in the capital from the king’s castle, he thought about what the king said to him. He was a man with grey hair and liked Edgar since his childhood. Even if it had been for political reasons, he knew how to cherish his kingdom and its people.

-There might be no mana stones to mine after five years.

The king confessed to Edgar what he couldn’t even tell the crown prince. Edgar was his political partner and supporter.

“Then everyone in this kingdom will starve to death.”

And now, Edgar was cursed. The numbness had already come up to his knees, and no one knew when it would reach his heart.

“We must think of a way.”

There was a way. Going up to the higher part of the Seritos Mountains that had more abundant supplies of mana stones. However, that area was Iber’s territory, the sleeping dragon. Its underlings would never let humans disturb their master’s sleep.

“That isn’t possible.”

The second way was to exploit the Golden Land right next to the Kingdom of Seritos. However, the Golden Land was the territory of the greedy and fierce dragon Ios. That dragon was famous for its brutality and likes for pretty and good things. It had gotten himself a land with rare and expensive fruits and really hated it when humans wanted them. It was not the kind of dragon that would give the humans a part of his land through negotiations.

“…”

Edgar pressed on his frowning forehead. He only had little time left and the kingdom’s fate was at stake. He had to find a way to save it. He didn’t mind dying, but he didn’t want to let innocent people starve to death. The people in the kingdom were trying hard to live on that barren land, and he knew where the things he was enjoying were coming from.

“Is it the only way?”

Edgar narrowed his eyes. Would it be possible or not, he didn’t know. However, there was one way that would bring a breakthrough to the situation.

Killing the dragon that was in the way.

Edgar clenched his fists. He couldn’t guarantee he could make a weapon powerful enough to kill a strong creature like a dragon.

Dragons were fierce and hostile, but they were territorial animals. They didn’t care about humans as long as they didn’t trespass into their territory. Fighting fierce dragon in a direct fight would only cause casualties. Plus, the dragons’ territories had plants and minerals that existed only because the dragons were there.

Just sneaking in and stealing expensive goods from the dragons was more efficient than using many lives to kill dragons. That was why no one tried to fight dragons.

However, the problem was the dragons’ location. The north of Seritos was blocked by ice, the east by the sleeping dragon Iber, and the south by the fierce dragon Ios. The port in the west was their only way, but that was only if they had things to sell. If they could not mine mana stones any longer, which kingdom would bother to export wheat to Seritos which was in a faraway corner?

‘I must defeat the dragons.’

It was reckless, but it was the only way. Edgar knew he was taking a great challenge. However, so did the first Claymore who made the first weapons to fight monsters. At first, no one had listened to him and no one trusted him. Even his friend, the knight who founded the kingdom, had been half in doubt as he organized the expedition.