Abandoned Empress's Survival Manual Beside the Male Lead - Chapter 31

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 31
“Hmm?”
“If people saw an ability like that, can you imagine the chaos? Of course that’s something you only do in dreams. Really, Bridget should learn to be a bit more careful.”
“…Yeah. But how much will the eggs multiply?”
“A hundred times! A thousand times! Ten thousand times!”
With each cry, Ratku’s short front legs kicked up into the air, flashing bright.
I gave up.
Expecting consistent intelligence from this tiny Spirit was hopeless.
“Duchess!”
Just then, a young maidservant who had come out early, trembling in the predawn cold, spotted me and came running over in surprise.
“W-what is it, ma’am?”
“I just came to look around.”
I offered some excuse.
“How are the chickens taking to the new Feed?”
The maidservant wiped her hands hastily on her apron and answered with delight.
“They’re eating wonderfully, Duchess! Look!”
Watching the chickens, now noticeably plumper than before, I fell into thought.
‘Honestly, raising chickens was just putting out a small fire.’
Eggs were eggs, no matter how good they were—making real money from them was naturally difficult.
But unexpectedly, I had become a Contractor of Ratku, and….
“I’ll look alone. Get back to work.”
“Y-yes!”
Once the maidservant had put some distance between us, I asked Ratku quietly.
“How do I do it?”
“Already doin’ it! Just look, dummy!”
“Just look?”
I pressed for reassurance.
“You’re not saying some massive effect like in a dream is going to come pouring out, right? Because if it does, I really can’t handle it.”
Ratku burst into laughter, then flipped backward onto his back, kicking his four legs uselessly in the air.
“You dummy! Just look! Humans have light in their bodies, see! Eye shine! You put Breeding Magic in that, that’s how!”
‘How am I supposed to do that?’
“Easy!”
“…You mean it’s easy?”
“Ratku!”
I gazed at the chickens. Ratku wasn’t wrong about a thing.
I had only looked, yet somehow I understood exactly how to use Breeding Magic—as naturally as if I didn’t have to think about how my arms moved when I moved them.
There was no deliberation to it at all.
I just had to think that I wanted to grant Breeding Magic to that object.
“This is incredibly easy.”
Flushed with satisfaction, that was when—
“Bawk-bawk-bawk!”
“Cock-a-doodle-doo!”
“Bawk! Bawk! Bawk-bawk!”
The chicken coop erupted into chaos.
The chickens touched by Breeding Magic surged toward me all at once.
“Aaah!”
“Duchess!”
The pale maidservants came running. I found myself already sprawled across a pile of straw.
‘Why are these chickens doing this?!’
The maidservants swung feather dusters to chase them off, worried I might be pecked, but I wasn’t hurt at all.
The chickens merely rubbed and nuzzled against my body and hair. Soft down and feathers scattered in all directions, and while their rubbing was a bit too vigorous….
It felt like I had become some enormous mother hen.
“I’m fine.”
“They were always so docile, but it seems they must have missed you, ma’am.”
The maidservants reassured me as they brushed away the feathers, down, and grain kernels clinging to my clothes.
Once I had finally gotten all the chickens off me, I saw they still gazed at me with burning eyes.
Thinking I should divert their attention, I immediately granted Breeding Magic to the Feed trough.
“Squawk! Bawk-bawk!”
“Cock-a-doodle! Bawk-bawk-bawk!”
“Kawk-kawk-kawk-kawk!”
The effect was extraordinary!
The chickens rushed at the Feed trough and began pecking away furiously, chirp-chirp-chirping all the while.
“Stop jumping out! You’ll all freeze to death!”
“There’s no Feed in there—why are you so obsessed with the trough?”
“Have you all gone mad?”
“Can chickens even go mad?”
The young servant girls stood helpless, shifting their weight from foot to foot.
I found myself equally bewildered.
‘I can’t just use this carelessly……’
Feeling like I was controlling some unfamiliar game, I watched the pile of straw where the chickens slept with utmost caution.
And then, as if by magic, the birds abandoned their pecking, turned on their heels, and waddled over to that spot like obedient infants, curling their bodies into tight bundles and settling down.
So this Breeding Magic truly was a Spirit technique after all. They had lain down in the exact spot I’d indicated, not a hair’s breadth off.
Did resting there strengthen their bodies somehow? Drinking in the power of the Spirit bit by bit?
‘It’s almost like a cheat for controlling animals……’
“Rel knows what she’s doing.”
Ratku hopped onto my shoulder and began patting my head with his short front paws—a gesture of praise, though to any onlooker it would seem he was the master and I merely his charge.
I was laughing at this when it happened.
All at once.
“……?”
The world tilted violently.
Strength drained from my legs, and I found myself tumbling backward.
“Aaaah!”
“The Grand Duchess!”
“The Grand Duchess has fainted!”
My vision went black in an instant.
In the last moment before losing consciousness, I wanted to cry out at the vivid new knowledge that had crystallized in my mind.
First. It breeds anything.
Second. It succeeds in breeding anything.
Third. It consumes the Contractor’s stamina for every use.
“……!”
That third point.
The phrase that had seemed little better than false advertising—”You’ll understand once you try it”—had transformed into that.
‘So that’s why I felt so drained. It wasn’t the weight of the chickens pressing down on me……’
My thoughts stopped there.
Ratku’s whimpering voice reached me from far away.
“Eek……”
* * *
“Gasp!”
My eyes flew open.
The next instant, chaos erupted.
“The Grand Duchess’s eyes are open!”
“Physician! Fetch the physician at once!”
“Head Maid! You’ll collapse too if you keep this up!”
Footsteps thundered in confusion—someone dashing out the door, someone clutching my hand, someone steadying Bridget as she swayed.
It seemed Bridget and the servants had taken turns keeping vigil at my bedside.
“Your Highness!”
Bridget’s tears streamed down her face.
“I have failed in my duty to care for Your Highness’s delicate health! Please, punish this Bridget!”
“No, no, that’s not it.”
I shook my head frantically. Beside me, Ratku’s dark, glistening eyes rolled about as he cried out.
“It’s Breeding Magic’s fault!”
I spoke to soothe Bridget.
“I think it’s because I’ve become a new Contractor of the Spirit. I’ve been exhausted lately.”
“Rel is blaming Ratku?!”
Ratku shook his round body in shock. Then, as if to protest, he turned his back and settled on the edge of my pillow.
Yet his tail swayed back and forth in my direction.
Bridget continued speaking through her tears, her words careful and precise.
“Not at all, Your Highness! The crown’s weight has ever been a heavy burden. This negligence is mine alone for failing to attend to Your Highness with sufficient care. From this day forth, I shall devote myself entirely to your service!”
“Thank you……”
“Grant me leave to do my duty, Your Highness!”
After the commotion died down and the physician left, I drained the last of the warm rice porridge, and finally my strength began to return.
From that day on, I couldn’t leave the bed for a full two days. Sleep poured over me so heavily that the moment my eyes opened, I’d collapse back into slumber again, cycling like a cat.
Each time I stirred, Ratku would wag his tail.
“Lerrel!”
“Ratku…… Am I dying……?”
“Don’t you dare play the tragedy card.”
“How blunt of you.”
I pulled the blanket over myself, then reached out and drew Ratku into my arms—the one hovering in midair with curious eyes fixed on me.
I embraced him the way you’d hold a puppy, then covered us both with the blanket.
At that, Ratku’s cheeks flushed red.
“Ratku, you’re getting bashful……”
“Would you rather sleep separately?”
“Well…… maybe a little less bashful like this……”
“Sigh.”
I exhaled deeply.
“I can’t help myself……”
And finally, I gave in and squeezed Ratku tight.
So soft and fluffy! Round little eyes and nose! That pale sky-blue belly and those adorably plump ears!
I hugged and touched and kneaded him like a madwoman before I finally came to my senses.
In that moment, I truly understood why slimes like puppy bellies had been so popular in my past life.
‘And since he’s a Spirit, he’s probably sterile too.’
How could such a perfect, squishy thing even exist?
“Should I just pop you straight into my mouth?”
“……Ratku?”
Ratku’s eyes went wide. Instinctively backing away, he and I began wrestling back and forth. In the end, my victory was assured.
“Hehe. Now that’s satisfying……”
I embraced Ratku again and pulled the blanket up to my chin.
“Spirits sleep too, don’t they?”
“Ratku!”
“Then sleep well.”
“Goodnight, lerrel!”
As sleep began to pull me under, Ratku’s voice followed me beyond my fading consciousness.
“Sweet dreams! Sleep tight! Goodbye!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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