"However, the casualty rate is also very high. The council has many good witch apprentices, and they don’t want these witch apprentices to die on the battlefield without achieving anything, including me. Actually, before I met you, I hadn’t participated in many battles. Looking back now, I was really naive. How could I release a Blizzard as soon as the battle started? That would make me quickly exhaust my magic." Teresa sat on the side of Laine’s desk, somewhat complaining about her past naivety and lack of magic conservation: "My mother just wrote to me, asking why I’m still not pregnant. I’m too embarrassed to tell her I only started a relationship with you at the beginning of this year, and then I got injured."

"I promised, so I’ll fulfill it, as long as you don’t avoid me." Laine looked up from the scrolls, his expression amused, making the female sorcerer both angry and embarrassed: "Who’s avoiding you! Damn Laine, you scoundrel! Do you think giving me a female courtier’s title is enough to satisfy me? If you were still a Kingdom Knight, whether you’d get to marry me would still depend on whether my mother agrees!"

"Hahaha~ Then I must thank you for your favor, dear Miss Teresa Trovik." Laine let out a peculiar laugh, but the Count didn’t laugh for long before immersing himself in his paperwork again: "When your wings spread, that’s when you’ll be ready to conceive."

"Wings?" The female sorcerer was initially puzzled. After thinking for a minute, her face suddenly turned red, and she instinctively pressed her abdomen, looking away: "I usually only come to see you once a week. How will I ever spread them like this?"

"That’s your bashfulness. Come see me more often, or stay over here, just like how Veronica always comes to find me when she wants to." Laine continued reviewing documents, using a ring seal on an envelope, and said to the witch apprentice Emma standing by: "Immediately take this letter downstairs and deliver it to Kasenberg, have him send it to Winford’s court."

"Yes." The witch apprentice stretched out her hands, took the envelope, and left the room. The female sorcerer saw how obedient her apprentice was and begrudgingly propped her cool and beautiful face on her elbow on the desk: "Really, Emma, is she your witch apprentice or mine? She seems to listen to you more. Maybe I should let her work part-time as your maid?"

"No, at heart, I’m still a warrior and fighter, not a caster. Firstly, I can’t teach magic, and secondly, Surya and I have agreed that the people around me will remain as they are. I already have a wife, two female courtiers, and a dark elf maid. What more do I need?" Laine immediately waved his hand, knowing too much can be counterproductive. He’d already resolved to not let his entourage grow unnecessarily; he had enough women around him as it was, and he wasn’t someone who couldn’t control himself.

The women around him seemed to have reached an understanding. Surya usually took three to four days a week, Mogiana one day, leaving the rest flexible. Meanwhile, Ollica, as his personal maid, would often sneak in.

Laine always felt this distribution had an air of allocating production factors.

Teresa crossed her long legs, satisfied with this arrangement, but still habitually complained: "You probably have no idea how popular you are among those witch apprentices. The little harlots in Veronica’s Dawn Wizard Tower always idolize you. Heaven knows how they’ll find husbands in the future."

"What does that have to do with me? Oh, by the way, how’s the construction of your Wizard Tower going?" Not wanting to continue the topic, Laine turned the discussion to Teresa’s Wizard Tower.

"Wizard Tower? It’s coming along. The foundation is done, and three levels are built. Construction is temporarily halted due to the rainy season. Who knows when it’ll be finished." Speaking of the Wizard Tower, Teresa’s mood shifted from complaining to interest, as she detailed her plans. The female sorcerer planned to build an Ice Element Wizard Tower that wouldn’t lose to Veronica’s Dawn Wizard Tower. Even though she’d only reached the fourth floor, half the budget was already spent.

"Your brother is really free. His Forest Cottage is close to my Wizard Tower, and he often flies around my tower on a Horned Eagle Beast. Plus, those few Golden Corn Stalks like to laze around, camp, and hunt. What are they even doing?" Teresa continued, her expression conflicted: "You look nothing like your brother. He resembles a giant, or even an ogre. Is he from Norsca?"

"Hehe~ A brother is just a brother; all you need to know is that he’s my brother." Laine thought Teresa’s guess wasn’t entirely baseless, as the Northern Barbarian Tribes had a few internal migrations. Many barbarians, unwilling to worship Chaos or tired of struggling on the Northern Wasteland, settled in Nord, boasting exceptionally strong and tall physiques.

Thus, when Laine explained Angerong’s origins, he vaguely said he was from the North, which stopped locals from finding it too odd.

As it approached noon, Surya returned. The Countess walked in from outside with her maid Sylvia, dressed today in a hawthorn-red lace-collared check-patterned long skirt. Upon entering, she cast a sly glance at the female sorcerer and said to Laine: "I’ve solved the matter."