Thank You For The Confinement, Grand Duke! - Chapter 68.1

“This is…!”

A glass bottle that could hold milk, just like the one from ‘The Dog of Flanders,’ though it was much smaller. Moreover, what was inside, while white, wasn’t milk.

“Is it pudding?!”

I’ve had a lot of jelly, but I haven’t eaten pudding very often. I’ve seen it for sale at convenience stores, but it’s quite pricey, so I never really bought it.

‘It’s so tiny that it doesn’t fill me up, yet it costs too much…’

As I leaned in to sniff, a vanilla scent wafted up. When I was younger, I used to think banana and vanilla were the same thing. I remember buying vanilla ice cream and wondering why it didn’t taste like bananas.

I once asked my grandmother about it, but she just said,

—Just eat it as it is. If you don’t want it, give it back.

After that, I stopped asking questions, even when I was curious. I figured I could always look it up on the internet anyway.

“It looks delicious.”

“Have you already finished the dough, Miss?”

…Huh?

I turned around at Tambor’s voice. She was looking at me while brushing aside her slightly disheveled hair, which was unusual for her.

Did she rush over because of me?

“Yes. I’ve put it in the refrigerator.”

I was a bit surprised that this world had refrigerators.

After all, the quality of the female lead’s food would vary greatly depending on whether or not refrigeration was available. Without proper storage during transportation, not only would prices soar, but some ingredients might not even be available at all.

It might have been a natural choice for the writer, especially since this world conveniently includes magic.

“Magic is really amazing. To think you can make food cold on such a hot day.”

“Right? It hasn’t been around for that long. To create such magical tools, you need something called magic stones, which are quite expensive. Moreover, it’s not easy to create them either. I’ve heard that many wizards have dedicated themselves to researching this.”

Hmm.

So, magic wasn’t as easy as it seemed.

“Can you use magic, Tambor?”

“Of course not! Only a very small number of humans can use magic. That’s why, even if you’re a commoner in the Empire, if you have access to a magic conduit, you can receive state support from a young age. However, that means you have to work for the Empire when you grow up.”

Still, they must receive incredible treatment. I wish I could use magic too. If I could, I could dominate completely with this physique…

But I wouldn’t…

With my personality, I wouldn’t do something so bothersome. Besides…

In an instant, the scene from that day resurfaced in my mind.

Blood vividly splattered across the floor. The remnants of what used to be a person. If I were ever to create such a scene with my own hands, I’d rather find a cozy spot somewhere and live a peaceful life, just being myself.

“So, what about Enfrise…?”

“His Grace… has a magic conduit, but he possesses almost no magical power. Most wizards can generate a certain amount of magical power used for magic, but I’ve heard that’s impossible for him. If he could use magic, perhaps things would have been different.”

This must be a ploy by the author.

Enfrise mentioned that when someone else’s magical power enters a body, it causes significant pain, and in severe cases, it could even be fatal.

Due to the nature of this depraved genre, a substantial portion of the story was filled with R-19 scenes.

No matter how you look at it, the idea that magical power was transferred through mucosal contact seemed like a setup designed specifically for those scenes. So, all these setups were likely to provide some justification for the scenes between me and Enfrise.

That frustrated me a bit.

No, I understand. As a writer, it was only natural to craft characters in such a way that they faced torment and pain to create catharsis and drive the plot forward. Stories of mutual healing, where each person helped heal the other’s pain, were quite popular.

But…

The problem was that all of this was a reality for me—and for Enfrise as well.

Thinking about the pains Enfrise shouldn’t have to endure makes my heart churn. Unlike real people, the characters in this world, where a god-like author clearly existed, had their fates manipulated based on how the author set things up.

It could have been… a little less painful. If that were the case, he would be a bit more…

“But surely, everything must have been to meet the Miss.”

“Huh?”

Tambor, who had been gazing at me lost in thought, suddenly broke into a wide smile. The suddenness of that smile left me momentarily speechless.

“His Grace had to endure all those hardships. There must be a reason for the experiences he had gone through.”

The statement was so textbook-like that I momentarily couldn’t react. I could simply laugh it off as just that.

“Because His Grace went through all of this, the Miss is here. And both of you have given your hearts to each other. Surely, these were all processes leading to meeting the Miss.”

If I hadn’t realized that this world was a fictional one, could I have replied to Tambor? As she said, all of Enfrise’s misfortunes were created for the sake of meeting Chaperil—to create a justification for loving her.