The next four weeks passed in a flash. The Siege has slowed down so much that I can finally sleep through the night without being awoken by cannon fire. The Ibasan forces have decreased so much that a retreat seems imminent, yet they still throw their troops against our walls from time to time without anything to show for it. Their desperation is clearly visible to all. And as far as we know, this behavior stems from the fact that whoever is the leading commander is usually executed for failing to take the fort.
How they are still able to find “willing” commanders for this job is beyond me, but maybe the repeated sieges could be the Ibasan way of getting rid of any unpopular military personnel or politicians.
Now, with Ibasan on the brink of retreat and good news coming out of Aldmoor, you would expect the mood to improve. And it would have if not for the fact that one of House Yuwens’ most loyal knights has chosen to betray them and that the necromancer who raised thousands of corpses is still at large. So, our victory celebrations have been rather meek and would only come into full swing once Janus, Joel, and their father, Wilhelm Yuwen, return.
But what is probably the most harrowing news was the secret information we learned from the Ibasan prisoner who claimed that the elves were aiding the Ibasans in their assault. So far, only Jack, William, the torturer, and, of course, I know about this, and Jack has made us all swear an oath of silence on this matter.
The elves are highly regarded as diplomats and engage in numerous aid packages and disaster funds. They only leave their home, the World Tree, when the world is in peril, always making sure that the world would be in “balance”. Or so they say. Because if what the prisoner told us is true, then the elves might be far more sinister than anyone would have guessed. Their involvement with the Ibasans could potentially shift the balance of power in this conflict, and it raises questions about their true intentions.
But enough of all the paranoia, how about some good news? Felicia has finally formed her magic stone and is now a fully fledged earth mage. As for Matt and Juan, they will be done at the latest next week.
Honestly, our recent lessons had been a bit strained due to my apparent pregnancy. Still, most students thankfully just avoid the topic, except for Benjamin, who keeps hovering around me. There were about two weeks when he would try to stay distant, but he must have made up his mind about something. Because he has been dotting on me for the last two weeks, and while I appreciate it most of the time, sometimes it is just annoying when a fifteen-year-old boy is trying to give me, his female teacher, pregnancy advice.
And he isn’t the only one Rika seems to have made it her mission to find out every obscure “fact” about pregnancies and babies. To the point of her telling me not to walk backwards if I didn’t want a breech birth. A birth where the feet come first. And other rumors of that nature.
I did my best to debunk every one of these stupid ideas, but I have the feeling that she is still not convinced.
Now for Madam Olivia…
She is still not over what Rodrick had done that day, and she keeps staring at my arm as if it would just fly off again. Jack and William have both forbidden her from visiting Rodrick in his cell. Out of fear, it might cause her even more mental anguish. She has told me she has gotten over it, but I don’t believe her. I still remember that when he showed up out of nowhere, she almost ran towards him before remembering what he had done.
Rodrick himself has spent the last four weeks in a cell, and that’s honestly all I know. There is no way I’m ever going down that dungeon again. Especially not if it is only so I can meet a guy who cut off my arm and ruined one of my favorite dresses in the process.
Rosalia had been so friendly and helpful in making dresses for me and my expanding belly, and he just straight up ruined it.
The belly in question was now so big that it started to resemble the beer belly I had in my previous except this one is supposed to be this big. As much as I wanted to complain about looking bloated, two humans are growing inside of me right now. And they need that space. It is supposed to be this big, and it will only get bigger.
Thankfully, the morning sickness is finally gone, though it has been replaced with swollen feet and hunger pangs. My current cravings are for dried tomatoes and salted dried fish. We didn’t have many of these to begin with, and the kitchen's supply is growing thinner by the day. I can only hope it will be enough and that they will keep giving them to me.
But my biggest worry right now wasn’t our dwindling supply of dried fish and tomatoes. It was the fact that tomorrow the troops from Aldmoor would be back, and I would be meeting Janus again.