Chapter 7

Shocked by the little girl’s voice, Reina looked around. There wasn’t anyone else nearby. She got to her feet, assuming that she was hearing things.

And then she heard the voice again. It sounded a little more miffed than before.

-I said I’d give you water if you needed it.

“What...?” Reina’s expression stiffened as she remembered her former hallucinations.

She patted her dirt-covered hands on her skirt and rubbed her face. Calm down. You need to calm down.

She didn’t want to shatter her hard-earned peace.

-Stupid! Don’t think scary things! It’s scary! Say you need water, quick!

Reina calmed herself and thought.

One idea came to mind, but she was afraid. She couldn’t be certain of it. If she was wrong, then she had no other choice but to assume that she had gone crazy again.

When Reina stood still, the little girl’s voice grew more agitated.

-Goodness, stop pretending you can’t hear me and speak up!

Reina tried to keep her heart from trembling with nervousness and anticipation.

“If possible, would you fill this with water?” she asked, managing to keep her voice calm.

Water filled the watering can, and the figure of a little child, about the size of a forearm, appeared above it.

The child’s body was clear like water. When their eyes met, the child happily chirped in a bright voice.

-I’ve been waiting for you to call me!

An elemental spirit. It was an elemental spirit.

Reina was flustered. She had no idea how an elemental spirit had appeared before her.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that she had spent an entire lifetime in confinement, but even she knew how rare elementalists were.

They were so rare, so few and far between, that many stories about them were passed down like folktales.

Reina vaguely remembered the bedtime stories that her mother had told her when she was very, very young.

“Reina, you like mages, don’t you?”

“Yes! Mages are like fairies!”

“I think the fairies would be disappointed to hear that.”

“Fairies really exist?”

“Of course. There are always fairies around us, though they’re called elemental spirits and not fairies.”

Her mother’s gentle smile came to mind.

When Reina fell silent, lost in her thoughts, the elemental spirit huffed and complained.

-I’ve been waiting! Why did you take so long to call me?

The elemental put her hands on her hips to emphasize that she was cross.

-Do you know how long I waited for you? I thought I was finally getting a contract after so long, but then you didn’t even call for me. You’re so mean!

The sight of the little child rapidly firing her complaints was very cute, and Reina broke into a small smile without realizing it.

The elemental stomped a few times at that in annoyance. Every time she did, the child’s body reverberated, and a refreshing energy spread throughout the space.

Relieved, Reina finally managed to ask, “What is your name?”

-Undine. You’re Reina, right? Reina, forge a contract with me, quick, okay? Let’s contraaact!

Undine flitted about her shoulders and hurried her.

While Reina knew that elemental spirits and elementalists existed, she didn’t know anything in detail. She was quickly flustered by Undine’s pestering.

-You aren’t going to contract with dirtball or sparky instead of me, are you? Hmm? Are you?

“Dirtball” and “sparky.” Does she mean earth and fire elementals?

Undine’s descriptions worked well with her tone, oddly enough. Undine stomped again when Reina shook her head slightly.

-If it’s not me and it’s not them, then... don’t tell me... you can’t mean... the windy gramps?

“Windy gramps?”

-What, seriously? Egh! You have to reconsider! That grandpa’s personality is really, really awful!

Reina chuckled at Undine’s innocent nickname for him. She had thought that elemental spirits would be majestic and dignified, but she felt like she was watching a child.

Will Ell be like this?

She hoped so. Her expression naturally softened at the thought of Ell.

Undine, who had been sitting on Reina’s left shoulder, jumped in surprise and drifted down to her stomach.

-Wow. There’s a squirmy in here. Hi, Squirmy.

“Squirmy?”

The corners of Reina’s lips turned up when she noticed Undine’s eyes on her belly. “He’s not called Squirmy but Ell. Will you call him Ell from now on?”

-Ell? Ell, Ell. Okay, Ell!

“Yes, he’s my very precious child, so I hope you’ll get along with him.”

-Okee. Squirmy has a pleasant smell!

Reina didn’t see the need to correct Undine’s nickname for him. She was a spirit, not a human. What did it matter what she called him?

As long as she likes him, that’s enough.

After indulging Undine’s pestering for a short while, Reina squatted down again to resume planting seedlings.

-Hmmmmm, dirtball is good at this sort of thing. Ah! But that doesn’t mean you can contract with them. Squirmy said he likes me more too!

“I don’t plan on contracting with anyone, so don’t worry.”

-What? Why not?

Undine was visibly dejected.

-I finally got summoned for the first time in a hundred years. I wonder how much longer I have to wait now. Water spirits just aren’t popular.

She was chattering to herself, but it was obvious that she was speaking loudly on purpose.

Reina’s eyes curved with her delicate smile.

“If not for my pregnancy, I would definitely forge a contract with you, but Ell is growing in my belly right now.”

She’d heard that contracting with an elemental spirit and summoning them would take energy.

“I don’t want to do anything that might harm Ell, so won’t you understand, sweet Undine?”

-Well, I am sweet, but... still!

Reina gave the indecisive Undine a smile and turned back to a sapling. It only came to her waist now, but it would grow alongside Ell.

I should mark Ell’s height every year.

Would her child try to stand on his toes then? Her memories of Ell stopped at the age of six, but now she would be able to watch him grow.

Her heart swelled and tightened.

After planting all of the saplings she had planned for, Reina got to her feet and stretched her back. She felt sore all over after sitting for so long.

Undine flitted over to Reina’s side with a grumpy expression.

-I really don’t usually do this for just anyone, you know. I’m doing this for Squirmy, so you have to forge a contract with me later! Okay?

Before Reina even had a chance to ask what she meant, Undine pressed a kiss to Reina’s forehead. A cool, refreshing feeling enveloped Reina’s entire body, and a swirl of water shot up from her feet.

The stream of water spun around her body and, after covering her from head to toe, disappeared.

Interestingly, the water felt as though it had been absorbed through her forehead.

“What was that just now...?” Reina reached up to touch her forehead.

She didn’t feel physically different, but it seemed like something new was with her now that hadn’t been there before. She gave Undine a look that asked for an explanation.

Showing off her abilities, Undine answered:

-I left my mark on you. Now I can appear at your side whenever you call my name.

“That wasn’t a contract, was it?”

-No! You said you didn’t want one. It’s not a real contract, so I can’t display my full power, but you should be able to water trees and stuff?

Reina wasn’t completely satisfied with the answer. What if it drew from her energy?

As if she’d noticed Reina’s concern, Undine added:

-I planted my power in you, so it won’t use any of your energy. You can relax and call for me all you like! But this is only until we forge a contract! This uses a whole lot of my power, okay?

Undine’s kindness came entirely unexpected to Reina.

Reina continued to feel her forehead and answered, “Thanks... and I’m sorry.”

-I’ll think of it as an investment in Squirmy—no, Ell. Squirmy really, really smells good. So you have to contract with me first, okay?

Reina gave as genuine of a smile as she was capable of and nodded. If she could, she wanted to forge a contract too.

She would find independence if she was one of the empire’s few elementalists. Not to mention, she wanted to repay Undine for her kindness.

“Okay, I promise.”

-Nice! You promised! Well, I better go. I used way too much power. I don’t use a whole lot in the greenhouse, so call me again!

After confirming several times that Reina would call her later, Undine disappeared as suddenly as she had appeared.

Reina touched her forehead once again. It felt like she had just had a dream. Undine may have disappeared, but the feeling of someone at her side was still there.

Reina picked up her shawl and left the greenhouse.

Yuzu and a few of the knights stationed at the estate were waiting for her. Judging by their red ears, it seemed that they had been waiting for a while.

She had taken longer than usual thanks to meeting Undine.

“You must have had a hard time waiting for me. It would be best to get warmed up together.”

Reina had warm stew with them. Donovan was displeased that their venerable madam was seated at the same table with the staff, but Reina was the mistress of the estate.

No one could say no to her.

After the meal, Reina returned to her room and stroked her stomach.

It was quiet. Perhaps Ell had fallen asleep.

She had so many things she wanted to do for her child. She wanted to watch him grow from the closest possible position.

For her to suddenly discover her talent as an elementalist was an unexpected stroke of fortune.

An elementalist, but only now...

Perhaps if she had become an elementalist sooner, her father wouldn’t have thrown her away.

That thought tormented her.

When would she be able to discard these burdens?

Will I be able to when Ell is born?

She had a sleepless night.