Pointing to the heaping fruit basket, Elsa said,
"Persica is packed with nutrients. The apulul and citran are also great for your health, so please eat them later."
Ingrid bowed her head once more in gratitude for her thoughtfulness.
"Thank you very much, Elsa-sama."
Elsa made sure to remind Melia Caret as well:
"All the fruit I brought is very nutritious, so please be sure to include it in her meals."
"Yes, Elsa-sama."
Melia gave a firm nod.
Once things had settled down, Elsa asked a lady's maid to arrange the bouquet in a vase.
"My, thank you so much for the lovely flowers as well."
Lying in bed, Ingrid gave her thanks with a happy smile.
"Come to think of it, have you decided on a name for the baby yet?" Elsa asked.
However, Ingrid shook her head.
"No, not yet. I believe the Master will decide when he returns tonight."
Moritz had only just begun his service at the palace. Apparently, he was doing everything he could to secure some leave and return home.
"With the autumn-sown grain harvest finished, he is terribly busy preparing the ledgers for tax collection."
Even so, he was determined to manage his schedule and come home.
"...That sounds just like Ani-sama."
Hearing that brought a fond smile to Elsa's face as well.
The baby seemed full and was sleeping soundly, and since it was clearly best for Ingrid to get some rest too, Elsa quietly left the room.
Melia Caret remained behind.
"I'm relieved to see my elder sister-in-law looking so well."
Having returned to the living room, Elsa was enjoying tea with Marlene. Yuu and Mio were there with them.
Yuu sat on Marlene's lap, nibbling on a cookie.
Mio was perched on Elsa's lap.
"Yes. As I mentioned before, we have Cecil and Melia to thank for that."
Marlene added that the delivery itself had not been particularly difficult.
"Besides, I was a bit surprised when you called Ingrid your elder sister-in-law, but it made me very happy."
To that, Elsa replied,
"I really want them to be formally married, after all. It was just a natural reflection of how I feel."
Hearing that, Marlene smiled warmly.
"You're right. Remaining a lady's maid simply won't do."
The real question was what Moritz thought about the matter.
When they had spoken the previous month, her brother had claimed he had no intention of marrying.
Had he said that simply because of Ingrid's position, or did he genuinely have no desire to take a wife at all, including her?
Elsa could not help but feel a touch of worry.
Deciding to set that aside until her brother returned home, she brought up another matter close to her heart.
"How is Father doing?"
Since she was visiting her family home, it was a question she could not omit.
Elsa's father, Georg, had been left with brain damage following the aftereffects of a stroke.
While his speech impairment had mostly improved through rehabilitation, his right side—which had shown signs of hemiplegia—was still not fully recovered, despite having gotten considerably better.
"Yes, he's doing much better....Will you go in to see him?"
"...Yeah."
Now that she was married to Jin and had children of her own, her past awkwardness around her father had almost entirely vanished.
If anything, it was Georg who now felt a lingering sense of guilt toward his daughter.
Elsa also understood very well how much he looked forward to seeing his first grandchildren, Yuu and Mio.
Just last month, playing with the twins had proven to be wonderful rehabilitation for him.
Because the twins knew nothing of their mother's past struggles, they simply saw Georg as an affectionate grandfather who wasn't feeling entirely well.
When Elsa knocked on Georg's door and stepped inside, she found him waiting.
"Oh, welcome. Elsa, Yuu, Mio."
There sat Georg in a wheelchair, his face lit up with a broad smile.
"Father, it has been a while."
"Granpa!"
"Grandpappy!"
Yuu had taken to calling Georg "Granpa," while Mio called him "Grandpappy." Elsa recalled how both of them had simply used "Gramps" last time. She wondered if this, too, was a sign of their budding individuality.
Furthermore, both of them had started addressing Marlene as "Grandmother" instead of "Granny." Elsa found the subtle difference amusing.
Georg himself seemed completely unfazed by the titles, doting wholeheartedly on his two grandchildren. They were, without question, the absolute apples of his eye.
Sitting on the sofa beside her mother and watching the twins cling to Georg, Elsa felt her expression naturally soften into a smile.
Whether the twins sensed that Georg's right side did not work properly or not, they never acted roughly, snuggling up to him with natural sweetness.
To any onlooker, it looked like a pair of kittens or puppies frolicking around a retired gentleman.
She let Yuu and Mio play to their hearts' content for a couple of minutes, but worried that too much excitement might strain her father's health, she called out to them.
"Yuu, Mio, come over here for a moment."
"Okaaay!"
"Okay!"
The twins listened obediently, trotting over to sit neatly between Elsa and Marlene.
They could easily climb up on their own thanks to the sofa's low seat.
"Father, I'm glad to see you looking so well."
"Yes. Lately, I've, been feeling, much, better."
Even so, he still could not put full strength into his right side.
According to Elsa's diagnosis, lingering damage remained in the neural pathways stemming from his brain.
She was currently researching therapeutic methods to properly treat it.
For now, Elsa wove a spell to provide what relief she could.
"'Fully Heal.'"
"...Mm, it might just be my imagination, but my body feels lighter. Thank you as always, Elsa."
"You're welcome....Also, congratulations on the birth of Ani-sama's child."
"Ah, thank, you."
Georg's face softened into a wide, tender smile.
Elsa's children were external grandchildren, while Moritz's child would be an internal grandchild carrying on the family line.
To Georg, both seemed equally precious, Elsa realized.
Even so, she could not help but wonder if Yuu and Mio might end up at a slight disadvantage, seeing as Moritz's child would be living with him constantly while they could only visit from time to time.
"Elsa, are you lost in thought?"
After finishing the treatment, Marlene spoke up as Elsa settled back onto the sofa.
Yuu and Mio had already gone back to playing with Georg.
"Yeah, just a little....By the way, around what time do you expect Moritz-niisama to get home?"
"I sent word by pigeon the moment the baby was born. I imagine he'll manage to secure some leave and arrive by this evening."
"...Will that be all right?"
Moritz had only just begun his service at the Royal Palace on July 1st.
It was a position of considerable importance, and an elevation to baron was promised if he served a full year without incident.
Elsa could not help worrying whether requesting time off so soon after starting might reflect poorly on him.
"The Ministry of General Affairs is terribly busy this time of year, but as long as he follows the proper procedures, he should be allowed to come home."
"If that's the case, then that's a relief."
If push came to shove, Elsa figured she could always ask Jin to put in a good word for him.