The Ugly Wife of the Shady Duke - Chapter 122.1

The place they went to after narrowly escaping that awkward situation was the workshop where the furniture was made.

‘It’s… ordinary.’

‘”It’s ordinary.”

Benjamin voiced Grace’s thoughts exactly.

“You said you studied for this, haven’t you been here before, Your Grace?”

“I have. I can’t very well not know how the things you use are made, can I?”

“…?”

“After that unfortunate incident, I went through everything here once in detail.”

‘That’s impressive…’

By that unfortunate incident, Benjamin was clearly referring to the pebble explosion. While it was true that the Magic Tools Association had supplied it, the actual trigger had been Grace herself. No matter how thoroughly Benjamin inspected things, he would never find the real problem.

“Then if you’ve been here before, why are you acting like this is your first time?”

“I thought you might have the same impression as I did, and I wanted us to share that feeling.”

“……”

Grace looked up at him quietly before asking,

“Wouldn’t it have been better to let someone else guide us, then?”

If he really knew the inside of the Association that well, his earlier comment felt oddly out of place. Benjamin replied in an embarrassed voice,

“I… wanted to guide the wife myself.”

“…Ah. I see.”

He had come ahead of time because he wanted to guide her, and now he was pretending not to know things just to build rapport. Grace did love him, but at moments like this, he felt oddly strange.

“Well, in any case, some time has passed since I was last here, so there could have been changes. Since there weren’t any, I said it was ordinary.”

What sounded like an excuse spilled out of Benjamin in a long stream. All Grace could offer in return was a very short reply.

“Yes… I suppose that’s possible.”

Grace’s gaze drifted naturally to his ears. They were faintly red, suggesting he wasn’t lying.

‘Strange… but kind of cute.’

Before she realized it, Grace was already looking at him through rose-colored glasses.

“Anyway, this is all there is to the furniture. As I understand it, they learn techniques from professional furniture craftsmen, then either build the pieces themselves from scratch or reinforce furniture that’s brought in.”

“Why make it themselves? Couldn’t they just hire craftsmen outright?”

Since they were artificers, it seemed unlikely they could produce better quality than true artisans. The furniture Grace used was certainly high quality, but that didn’t mean artificers needed to be the ones making it.

“They say it’s because the materials used are mana stones.”

Benjamin paused his explanation and gestured to the artificer who had been following silently behind them. He was leaving the rest of the explanation to him.

Benjamin knew more about magic tools than most people, but not as much as someone who worked in the field. Once given permission, the artificer hurried forward and continued.

“Yes, yes. All the furniture made for you, Madam, uses mana stones whose magic has already been exhausted. You could say they’re unique in the Empire. They’re the most durable, extremely rare, and have been thoroughly verified as safe.”

‘They were definitely dangerous.’

Grace thought, but nodded instead.

“When people hear that depleted mana stones are used, they sometimes assume we’re simply reusing discarded materials. However, all mana stones are imperial assets, and they’ve gone through multiple rounds of experimentation for reuse—”

“I see.”

Grace had a feeling she was about to hear a string of explanations she wouldn’t fully understand. She pretended to listen attentively, then spoke once the long explanation finally ended.

“So then, is the finishing material made here as well? That’s what I’m really curious about.”

“Oh, the finishing material. So that’s what you wanted to know.”

The artificer hesitated, then asked them to wait a moment before heading deeper inside alone.

“It must be farther in.”

“Have you never gone there either, Your Grace?”

“I’ve seen the finished material and the raw ingredients, but not the production process itself.”

“Is it a restricted area?”

“Honestly, I could enter if I wanted to. I simply don’t care for it.”

“You don’t care for it? Why?”

“…Mm.”

Benjamin paused, choosing his words carefully, clearly trying to phrase things as gently as possible.

“The mana stones used by the Magic Tools Association are usually monster bones or hearts. Before processing, they’re especially large.”

“……”

“Sometimes, seeing them makes me uncomfortable. Well, what’s down there now should be much smaller, since it’s already been used.”

Understanding what he meant, Grace parted her lips, then closed them again. It wasn’t something she could respond to lightly.

Benjamin was the Duke of the North and his duchy was, in truth, little more than a name. It existed as a shield, meant to stop northern monsters from descending upon the capital.