The Villainess Wants to Make Her Husband Slim Down

CHAPTER 21

2-5

"Ahh, if only that girl was around, I could have her do that work for me as well today."

"There's no use, that kid is too much of a handful right now. No matter how awful that person is, there would be a real fuss if she ended up getting hurt, you know."

"Her magical power is really that unstable? Hmph... Well, there's no point in letting it get all pent up. She should be able to use it as she likes... So, how about we do this?"

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About a month had passed.

Just as Alois said, Nicole hadn't visited Camilla even once since then. Now a different maid would come in to attend to Camilla every day, barely hiding their disgust as they did so.

Meanwhile, the problems Nicole was causing in the mansion were only increasing. Her remarkable magical energy was growing ever more rampant, thus breaking more and more things around the manor, so the maids had their hands full just trying to keep Nicole doing as little work as possible.

Her magic power usually rampaged the worst when she was alone. Usually, it would only be ceramics like vases and plates that would be destroyed, but sometimes it would also shatter wood and glass as well.

-She might end up hurting somebody soon.

Alois had even told Camilla that Gerda and the other senior maids, worried about something like that happening, were deciding on whether or not to have her on a long break.

The reason she was thinking about Nicole now was that she had overheard some young maids gossiping about her. As she was passing by, those whispered words broken up by giggles had reached her ears.

She heard all kinds of things when she listened in on the gossiping of maids. There were the typical nasty words about Camilla herself, but there were also talks about how scary Gerda was, how all the senior maids were useless and whether or not the chef in the kitchen was a handsome guy.

There was also a bit of talk about how Alois had gotten thinner recently, but Camilla herself couldn't really see any change.

Maybe one of his excess chins had become slightly less meaty?

"Recently, her flow of magical energy has become unstable. I understand what she's going through, having that kind of magical power myself."

When Camilla asked about what had been happening with Nicole at the daily morning tea they had together, Alois shook his head sadly. He told her all about Nicole's current circumstances but also went further.

"Going by the reports I'm getting from the mining sites, it seems like the miasma is getting thicker than ever. You can't separate that miasma from the magical energy within it. It's causing a lot of instability with the manastones lately, apparently, a lot of magical tools are breaking because of it."

Alois leaned back in his chair as he looked lost in thought.

"Even though we aren't near any mines here, the miasma in the air has been so thick lately. There's always some of it considering the weather around here, but for there to be this much..."

As if to lend weight to Alois' words, a strong wind tickled at Camilla's cheeks.

It was too warm for a brisk autumn wind, the miasma it carried leaving her face feeling numb. Until now, there had always been a slight tingle in the wind, but that was nothing to how it felt now. It almost felt like the air back in Grenze.

The sky is overcast, with grey clouds running between the north and south horizons.

Because of the bad weather outside, they were taking tea in Alois' private room today, instead of out in the garden. The wind had come through the open window.