Chapter 683: Life in the Berg House

In the coldest region of Britannia...

Heavy snowfall and blizzards were common throughout the year.

Even the region’s largest cities were not spared, while the smaller cities and towns often faced harsher conditions.

The land was covered in snow, and the cold winds swept across the streets, carrying flakes through the air.

Buildings in Frostmarch were already constructed to be able to handle the weather, and the people who lived there had long grown accustomed to the freezing climate.

At the heart of Frostmarch...

Stood the estate of its rulers.

Within it was Diane’s personal mansion...

"Wake up, My Lady."

A familiar voice sounded softly inside her bedroom.

"Should we keep increasing the temperature, Hermione?"

Another maid asked from nearby.

"Yes. She’s definitely not going to wake up at this rate. It’s far too cold in her room."

Hermione’s voice drew closer as she approached the bed.

"My Lady, wake up."

She called again, placing a hand on Diane to rouse her.

"Hmm..."

Diane mumbled and shifted slightly beneath the covers.

Her bed was cold, with frost gathered across its surface.

Blocks of ice and sharp spikes had formed around the room, the result of her lowering the heat-regulating system to an unreasonable level.

Yet Diane slept comfortably in the freezing environment.

Well, it wasn’t as though she were the only one who could tolerate the cold.

The maids serving her were also accustomed to the region’s climate.

None of them wore winter clothing over their usual maid outfits, which followed the Bergwyn family’s colour scheme of black and light blue, with gold lining along the edges.

Still, there was a limit to how much cold a person could comfortably endure.

And Diane apparently was not in that category.

Even the slightest change in temperature was enough to reach her.

She could feel it through her sleep, and the increase in warmth did not seem to please her.

"Hermione, it’s still morning. Let me sleep a little longer."

Diane spoke without opening her eyes.

Her voice was heavy with sleep, and she shifted her face against the pillow as though that alone might help her escape the unwanted disturbance.

"Lady Diane..."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at her sleeping mistress.

"We’re already past the afternoon."

She spoke with a helpless expression.

Silence settled over the bedroom.

For a moment, Hermione waited for a response.

Diane remained still, her face half-buried in the pillow.

"My Lady?!"

Hermione called again, wondering whether her mistress had already fallen asleep in the middle of their conversation.

"You must be joking, right?"

Diane’s voice came from beneath the covers.

She clearly didn’t believe what she had heard.

"Then open your eyes and see for yourself."

Hermione replied confidently.

"I’m too tired to open my eyelids."

Diane answered as though that were a perfectly reasonable excuse.

She adjusted her grip on the pillow and pulled it closer.

The small snowflakes and pieces of ice gathered around her bed shifted with the movement, but she paid them no attention.

Hermione could only look at her.

She had expected this sort of response.

After all, her mistress had spent close to three weeks undergoing Meditation Advancement, followed by mental training that was usually exhausting even under ordinary circumstances.

Diane had been occupied with both for a long time.

"I know you’re really tired,"

Hermione said as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"You’ve spent almost three weeks on Meditation Advancement, and your mental training is usually enough to drain you completely."

She reached toward Diane’s light-blue hair and began rubbing it gently, brushing away the snow and ice that had settled across it.

Her touch was warm and careful.

Diane barely reacted.

She remained curled up on the bed, apparently more interested in returning to sleep than listening to Hermione’s reminder of what she had just accomplished.

There was a reason she had been left to rest for so long.

Diane was practically the only Alchemist in the entire kingdom who could successfully undergo Meditation Advancement while sleeping.

Even in that state, she could complete the process and achieve the results she wanted.

It was an unusual ability.

However, there was a drawback.

Once she completed a breakthrough or achieved Cognis elevation, her body would be left in a state of complete weakness.

She would be unable to move for a long period, remaining on her bed as though she were dead.

This time, she had spent nearly three weeks in that state, undergoing mental training before finally completing her Alchemist rank breakthrough.

It was no wonder she was exhausted.

"I see."

Diane’s answer came lazily.

Hermione stopped rubbing her hair for a moment and looked at her mistress.

"You’ve already forgotten that you went through all of that, haven’t you, My Lady?"

She narrowed her eyes again.

Diane did not answer immediately.

She simply moved her head against the pillow, seemingly trying to find a more comfortable position.

"Can you let me sleep until it’s time for resumption?"

She asked lightly.

Her eyes remained closed, and her tone suggested that she had no intention of giving up so easily.

"No can do."

Hermione rejected the request without hesitation.

"You need to meet with your mother first. She’s been worried sick about you. After that, you have to meet with the Duke. Finally, you need to undergo physical exercises to help your body assimilate to your current Alchemist rank."

She listed the tasks one by one.

Diane listened without moving.

The more Hermione listed, the less interested she seemed in getting out of bed.

She had only just recovered from her lengthy training, and now she was being told that she had several more things to do before the resumption date.

"That sounds like a hassle, though."

Diane spoke with a troubled tone.

Hermione’s expression remained unchanged.

There was still something else to add.

"You also need to send a message to Mr. Ezra Ashenlocke. The Duke instructed you to contact him and ask him to send his requests."

Diane shifted her face on the pillow.

"Who’s even that?"

Hermione stared at her, not even surprised that she asked that question.

"Mr. Ezra Ashenlocke. Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten him?"

Her voice carried a hint of helplessness.

"Ez?"

Diane repeated the name in her usual tired tone.

She seemed to recognize it, at least to some extent, but that did not mean she was ready to get up and do anything about it.

"I can do all of this when it’s time for resumption, though."

She tried again, hoping Hermione might finally agree to leave her alone.

Unfortunately, her maid had already heard enough excuses for one day.

"Lady Diane, you haven’t bathed or eaten for quite some time. That’s not healthy for a flower like you."

Hermione stood up.

Her expression made it clear that the discussion was over.

"Urghhh... My Cognis is taking care of all of that."

Diane answered tiredly.

She still had not opened her eyes.

"That’s enough."

Hermione’s voice turned firm.

Clap!

Clap!

She clapped her hands twice, drawing the attention of the other maids in the room.

"Ladies, let’s get this lady off the bed. As always... we move to Phase Two."

Her tone carried the authority of someone who had dealt with this problem many times before.

The maids looked at one another briefly before nodding.

They were all familiar with Diane’s stubbornness when it came to sleeping.

It was not the first time their mistress had refused to leave her bed, and it certainly wasn’t the first time they had needed to resort to Phase Two.

They knew what to do.

Several maids approached the bed and carefully took hold of Diane’s arms and legs.

"Damn it."

Diane complained under her breath.

However, she made no real attempt to resist.

Even getting herself out of bed seemed like too much trouble, and fighting against several maids would only make the process more tiring.

She had never liked being forced to wake up.

And today was no different.

The maids lifted her carefully and carried her toward the bathroom, where everything had already been prepared.

While some attended to Diane, the others began cleaning her bedroom and dealing with the frost and ice that had accumulated around the bed.

The room would need to be put back in order before she returned.

As for Diane, she remained unwilling to open her eyes.

Even while the maids bathed her, she kept them closed, leaving the work entirely to the people taking care of her.

Once they had finished, they carried her to the area where they could dry her body.

They applied cream to her skin and carefully dried her light-blue hair.

"Leave the water on my hair."

Diane protested in a tired voice.

The maids ignored her.

They continued drying her hair until it was properly taken care of.

Only then did they dress her and lead her out of the dressing room.

Their destination was the dining room.

The food had already been prepared.

By the time Diane arrived, the meal was ready to be served, and the maids helped her settle into her seat.

She still looked sleepy, but at least she was no longer lying beneath a pile of frost-covered blankets.

Hermione took her place beside her mistress with a bowl of tomato hot chili soup.

She scooped up a spoonful and held it toward Diane.

"Please open your mouth, My Lady."

Diane opened her mouth slightly.

Hermione placed the spoon inside, allowing her mistress to eat before preparing the next spoonful.

Diane did not complain this time.

Perhaps she was too tired to argue, or perhaps the warmth of the soup had finally made the idea of being awake a little more bearable.

Either way, she continued eating as Hermione fed her.

The maids remained nearby, watching over her and making sure she finished her meal.

They had all become accustomed to looking after Diane this way, especially after one of her long periods of training.

Eventually, the meal came to an end.

"Ahhh..."

Diane sighed with satisfaction.

Her eyes were finally open, though they remained in their usual half-closed state.

She looked far more comfortable than she had when Hermione first tried to wake her.

"Thank you for the food."

She spoke lightly.

"You’re welcome, My Lady."

The maids answered together.

They had been watching Diane throughout the meal, and their expressions showed their relief at seeing her eat properly again.

Hermione, in particular, seemed satisfied that she had finally managed to get her mistress out of bed, bathed, dressed, and fed.

Now that those tasks were finished, there was still one matter left to deal with.

Diane turned toward her maid.

"So, what now?"

Hermione looked back at her.

"You have to message Mr. Ezra Ashenlocke."

"Oh, okay... I have to message Ez..."

Diane repeated the words slowly, as though trying to remember what she had been told earlier.

She paused.

Then she tilted her head.

"But why?"

Hermione placed one hand over her face.

Several of the maids looked at their mistress with helpless expressions.

Yet none of them seemed particularly surprised.

They were already used to this side of Diane.

She could forget things with remarkable ease, especially when she was at home, where she felt most comfortable.

And after spending nearly three weeks in a state of exhaustion, it seemed that even the simple task of remembering why she needed to contact Ezra Ashenlocke was proving troublesome for her.