Irene has been a member of Fairy Tail for a month now.
Since she had already adjusted her mindset on the way to Magnolia, and through Mavis's words, gained a certain level of understanding regarding this era—the Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia, and Fairy Tail—she didn't need to spend extra time adapting to her new environment.
On her second day at the guild, Irene began working, and she exclusively took on S-class missions, the top 1 difficulty in the guild!
With Irene's speed and strength, even S-class missions were nothing to worry about.
In just one short month, she completed over thirty S-class missions—averaging one per day—and each was finished perfectly, earning high praise from the clients.
Such terrifying efficiency deeply shocked the lazy bums of the guild, those who spent all day doing nothing but chatting and bragging.
Only then did everyone realize that this new partner was not just a lady with beauty, but a powerhouse whose strength rivaled Weston's, perhaps even surpassing him!
Just as they were fantasizing about using their "unparalleled" masculinity to win the beauty's favor, a piece of news arrived like a bolt from the blue, completely crushing their hopes—
Irene suddenly stopped her daily streak of work, claiming that she had earned enough money for the time being and needed to "rest and nurture the fetus" for the coming days.
"What?!"
"Nurture... nurture the fetus?!!"
In a corner of the guild.
Upon hearing Irene announce this news, the guild members swarmed around her, eyes wide with disbelief.
No one expected that this woman, who possessed both strength and beauty, was already "a flower with a master."
"Miss Irene... is already pregnant?!"
"You can't tell at all from the outside!!"
Irene gave a gentle smile to the guild members.
After deciding to embrace a new life, her temperament had undergone a massive change. No longer was there the gloom, coldness, or madness of before; it was replaced by a tenderness and maternal love.
"It's true."
"I am indeed pregnant, so I will be resting for a while."
Having said that, she picked up the coffee on the table, took a light sip, set the cup down, and picked up a nearby book to read quietly.
She wasn't looking at magic books, but rather titles Rita had recommended: "Precautions for Pregnant Women," "The Pregnancy Handbook," "A Guide to Raising Children," "Bedtime Stories for Kids"...
"Impossible!"
"That's absolutely impossible!!"
"Aaaaaah—!!"
"Miss Irene having a child or whatever... I don't want that—!!"
Reiya grabbed his hair forcefully, stood on his tiptoes, and began spinning frantically in the guild like a top.
His expression was hideous, looking like a certain giant from a specific series trying desperately to control himself from eating people; clearly, the blow was significant.
On the day Irene arrived at the guild, Reiya had fallen in love with this mature, elegant, and beautiful woman at first sight.
According to his own words, it was as if at that moment, his entire world was lit up by sunshine and paved with flowers.
Who would have thought that reality would deal him such a heavy blow in the blink of an eye?
The others looked at each other, observing a silent two-second prayer for Reiya in their hearts.
While they also felt a sense of loss regarding Irene's pregnancy, they weren't broken enough to act as disgracefully as Reiya.
Seeing that Irene didn't intend to elaborate, the guild members eventually drifted apart.
However, although they stopped bothering Irene, they gathered elsewhere to whisper.
"Dammit! Which lucky man did this??!!"
"Uwaaah... my Miss Irene... farewell, my youth!"
"Aren't you already quite old...?"
"Shut up!"
"Do you think it could be the Master's doing?"
In the mindset of these men, beautiful women were always meant for the strong, and beautiful, powerful women would only fall for strong, handsome men.
Weston was undoubtedly the strongest, handsomest, and most outstanding man they knew.
Coupled with the fact that Irene was brought back to the guild by Weston, everyone immediately viewed him as the prime suspect.
However, as soon as this thought was raised, it was rejected.
"Impossible!"
"If it were the Master's child, Mavis and Zera couldn't possibly have no reaction!"
"I don't think so either!"
"Look at Miss Irene's belly; it looks about three or four months along. I think she was pregnant before she even joined the guild!"
"But three or four months ago, the Master was busy with his wedding. The timing doesn't match at all!"
Makes sense!
It really doesn't seem to be Weston's!
But if it isn't his, who else in this world could have won Miss Irene's favor?
"Go ask Mavis or Zera. They're close with Miss Irene; maybe they know the inside scoop..."
"They wouldn't tell us Miss Irene's business!"
Just then, Yuri popped up from nowhere and joined the conversation.
"Are you discussing Miss Irene?"
Everyone's spirits lifted.
"Yuri, you came at the right time!"
"Do you know anything about Miss Irene?"
In the eyes of the guild, Yuri was one of the founders and was very close to Weston, Mavis, and Zera. He had to know something they didn't.
Yuri scratched his head: "Well... I actually don't know much. Rita told me; it seems Miss Irene's husband is already dead."
When Irene was registering, Rita had tried to pry about the child and the husband, but the answers she got were "The child is 300 years old" and "I killed my husband."
Rita thought those answers were too absurd, so she assumed Irene was just making up lies to avoid telling the truth.
However, even without the answers she wanted, she picked up some info from Irene's tone.
For example: Irene's relationship with her husband seemed quite bad?
And: Her husband probably—maybe—really is dead?
So, when Rita went home and spoke to Yuri about it, the two of them "speculated" a few plot points.
"What?!"
Reiya, who had been acting like a human top, stopped instantly upon hearing Yuri's leak and zoomed over.
"Miss Irene's husband is dead?!"
"That's just too gre—ahem, I mean, that's such a tragedy!"
Tragedy, my foot!
The corners of your mouth are about to hit your ears, okay!!
☰