Primordial Villain with a Slave Harem

Chapter 1095: Teral’s Trouble

The other maid nodded eagerly. Her eyes were practically glowing as well. "Yes! They say Her Majesty couldn’t bear the tragedy while being idle in her home. That Devil and his Vesper Consortium terrorized her capital, and her noble heart is bleeding for the innocent citizens who fell to their vile attack. She left to hunt the disgusting syndicate down herself!"

Both maids let out gasps of awe, as if the very air carried Morgana’s legend.

Indeed, the news has already spread far and wide. Alexios couldn’t proclaim that he banished his own wife from their home, so the tale was spun in a much more positive light. With the usage of communicator artifacts and the always chirping maids, the news traveled fast. Within minutes, a well-off count house like the Vexmores has already been made aware.

"It’s just like her," the first maid whispered while pressing her hands against her chest. "Even though she rarely appears in public, she’s always there when the country needs her most. Remember the legends from the Eastern Campaign? She burned an entire horde of beastkin to ashes right before they assaulted that city... What was it called again?"

"Aldoria!"

"Right, that! It stands tall even after all this time thanks to her wasting the furries!"

The second maid twirled side to side, eyes dreamy, her cheeks flushed pink. "Ahh, I want to be like her! A cold beauty who, instead of parading herself around in silk robes as the country’s most prominent woman, chooses to do what her country needs the most! So dutiful! She’s my hero!"

Teral slowed his steps. He didn’t interrupt them and just listened in silence.

The two maids’ hushed chatter dwindled the moment they realized Teral had been standing a few paces behind them the whole time.

"Ah!"

Both gasped and stiffened, clutching their aprons as if they’d been caught stealing silverware. Maids like them shouldn’t be raving about the queen but dutifully waiting for their charge to finish with his duties.

"M-My lord!" one of them squeaked, bowing deeply. "Forgive us, we forgot our place!"

"Not to worry," Teral cut her off with a flat voice. His tone carried no bite, no reprimand, only a kind of emptiness that weighed heavier than anger.

The maids straightened hesitantly, exchanging a quick glance before one dared to ask, "Did the healing go well, my lord? Are you feeling any better?"

"I am," he answered with words that stumbled out hollow from his dry lips, as though dragged from a pit. There was not a single trace of a positive emotion written on his face despite the favorable words of the family’s best healer.

"There’s nothing wrong with me now."

Neither believed him, not for a moment. It showed in the shine of their worried eyes, in the way they pressed their lips together but chose silence. It wasn’t their place to pry when he clearly wasn’t keen on conversing with them. Instead, the bolder of the two stepped forward and said softly, "Your mother is waiting for you, my lord. Please follow us."

Teral gave a small nod wordlessly. He trailed behind them through the quiet halls of the Vexmore estate until they brought him to his own chambers. There, seated elegantly in a chair by his work desk, the Countess of Vexmore lifted her gaze from a folded letter she was busy reading as she waited for her son’s time with the healer to be concluded.

Her eyes lit when she saw him.

"You’re here, Son," she said warmly, standing at once and putting the letter aside. "Did the healing go well?"

"There’s nothing wrong with my body," he replied with a voice that was weighed down by something far colder than fatigue.

"That’s wonderful news!" she chirped with her features brightening, only for her expression to falter when she truly saw him. His gaze was sunken, his posture hollow. The Countess moved closer and pulled him into a gentle embrace, resting her chin lightly against his shoulder.

This was not a gesture she would’ve done in the past, thinking it to be far too commoner-like for her station. But losing her two sons has made her think much more fondly of her final remaining child. 𝘳𝘈NɵᛒЁ𝙨

The countess was past the age of childbearing; her well has long since dried up. If Teral died, her husband would find other women to carry the future of Vexmore in their bodies, which was something she truly didn’t want.

"I know," she whispered into Teral’s ears while stroking his back tenderly, "I know you’re grieving your beloved brothers. We all do. Take all the space you need. But, Teral... you know that life must go on. As the only heir now, your education will accelerate. You’ll begin following your father into important meetings, shadowing him, learning everything you’ll one day inherit. This is your time, my son. Don’t let yourself fall into the deepest pits of grief."

Truth be told, under any other circumstance, Teral would have leapt at the chance. He would’ve struggled mightily to hold back a wolfish grin during the funeral of his brothers and would’ve followed it up by opening a champagne bottle and visiting the most luxurious brothel of his county.

For who wouldn’t rejoice to leapfrog from third in line to first? To hell with his brothers. Let them enjoy the divine company of the Goddess.

But his heart contorted. Twisted painfully until he could hardly breathe. He could not rejoice, not even for a second, because...

"Leave me alone!" His voice snapped out like a whip, raw and filled with bitterness. "You’re a nuisance!"

The Countess froze, blinking at him in shock. For a fleeting moment, her lips parted to scold him, but then she saw the tortured haze in his eyes and let it slide. He was grieving. Of course, he was grieving.

"... Very well," she murmured after a pause, smoothing her dress back into place with practiced dignity. "I’ll ask the chefs to prepare you a hearty meal. If you feel like you need some female company, you may ask for it any time. And if you wish to speak of the tragedy our family suffered, you will find me in my study."

She turned gracefully, though her shoulders carried the faintest stiffness, and began walking toward the door.

But then a hand reached for her neck from behind.