Chapter 40

Lately, I have a worry. It is the fact that the distance between Miel and me hasn’t budged even a single centimeter from friends to lovers. Naturally, the biggest reason is the fact that I am a woman, not a man. For a man to like a woman and a woman to like a man is, in a way, the natural order of the world.

Because humans are born with the instinct to want what they do not possess—men lack what women have, and conversely, women are born without what men possess.

That is why mutual attraction comes naturally, but the problem is that biologically and objectively speaking, I was undeniably a woman. Moreover, I was a perfect woman with a much more stunning appearance than ordinary people.

On top of that, Miel was a woman even more beautiful than I was. No matter what others might think, to me, Miel was an unapproachably angel-like existence. Since both of us shared the same gender and possessed the exact same things, it was impossible to feel that natural pull toward each other.

And in case you might have forgotten, Miel and I are cousins. That makes the difficulty level even higher. Isn’t dating your cousin illegal, you ask? In a fantasy world where swords and magic exist, and monsters and people die left and right, looking for the law is a foolish endeavor.

“Haa.”

Just thinking about how to get closer to Miel made me sigh all on its own. They say that when you sigh, your good fortune flies away, but would there be any fortune left to fly away for someone like me who was already hated by this world?

“Wow, this is fun.”

At that moment, the voice of Ahre reading a picture book drifted over from afar. Perhaps because she had been eating so well lately, her skin was radiating a healthy glow. The arms and legs that had been skin-and-bones and painfully thin when we first met had now grown delightfully plump and soft, making it deeply rewarding to touch them.

Ahre’s skin was so charming that touching it just once made you feel happy enough to spend the whole day simply kneading her flesh.

It suddenly made me wonder what Ahre—who repeated the cycle of eating, sleeping, eating, and sleeping every single day—was actually thinking about.

“Ahre.”

“Yes~ Mom.”

At my call, Ahre closed her picture book and scurried straight over to me. Glancing down at the title, I saw it was . Was it the story about a brother and sister who got lost and ate a candy house built by a witch? Seeing that even her picture book was about food made me all the more curious about what went on inside Ahre’s head on a regular basis.

“What are you thinking about right now, Ahre?”

Hoping she might be reflecting on her gratitude toward me for constantly buying her snacks, I shook my head at Ahre’s reply.

“Today’s lunch menu!”

“……….”

Well, it wasn’t as if I hadn’t anticipated an answer like that. Back when I was in elementary school, I felt like I used to obsess over what the side dishes would be as soon as lunch period rolled around, too.

I decided to alter my question slightly. Surely, at least after eating lunch, she would have other things on her mind.

“Then what do you think about after you finish eating lunch?”

Looking like she was pondering my words for a moment, Ahre answered brightly with a wide smile, as if she had just figured out the correct answer.

“Today’s dinner menu! Oh, wait. Dessert thoughts! Ahre thinks about dessert first before thinking about the dinner menu! Hehe. Ahre is smart.”

Seeing Ahre puffing out her chest with pride made me instinctively want to rap her on the head and smack her palm, but I held back. Just because I was feeling emotionally distressed right now didn’t mean hitting a child was an acceptable thing for a parent to do.

And besides, Ahre turning out like this wasn’t anyone else’s fault—it was entirely mine. She had ended up this way because I spoiled her and let her eat whatever she wanted. Shouldn’t I try to correct Ahre’s eating habits starting right now?

Hmm….

I quickly dropped that thought. If I took eating away from Ahre, what joy would this child have left in her life? In a place like this that lacked computers and smartphones compared to the modern world I used to live in, if I even stripped away Ahre’s favorite thing in the world—eating—she would surely wither away and die.

Unless this Celion ducal house went bankrupt, I figured I should just let her eat whatever her heart desired.

“Thanks for telling me, Ahre. You know Mom loves you, right?”

“Hehe, Ahre loves Mom the most in the whole wide world too.”

She probably meant she loved the mom who bought her snacks the most, though. Anyway, after sending Ahre back to look at her picture book, I resumed worrying over ways to grow closer to Miel. Seeing me like that, Yul—who had been diligently waiting in my room today as usual for my orders—finally spoke up.

“Why don’t the two of you go on a trip together?”

To offer an answer without even being asked, as if she had read my mind. Unable to hold back my curiosity, I asked.

“Yul, do you know what I was just thinking about?”

“Yes, weren’t you worrying about how to grow closer to Lady Harmiel?”

Gasp! How on earth did she know that? Stunned by Yul’s words, which hit the bullseye as if she had genuinely read my mind, I briefly wondered how that was possible, but then figured that since it was Yul, it was probably doable, and simply accepted it. Yul pulled off so many absurd things on a regular basis that I felt like I wouldn’t even be surprised anymore if someone told me she was actually a dragon.

“Hmm, you guessed it. That’s amazing, Yul.”

“It was simply because you usually wore a similar expression right before sending communications to Lady Harmiel, so I made an educated guess.”

She truly was a capable maid. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why someone like Yul was working as Armienne’s personal maid. Given her capabilities, she could have easily pursued any other path she wanted; I wondered what kind of past events had led her here. While I was certainly curious, I figured that asking right now wasn’t the right timing, so I immediately turned my attention back to evaluating the plan Yul had proposed.

“A trip, huh? That doesn’t sound bad at all, but where should I go with Miel? Winter is just around the corner, so traveling around might be a bit chilly.”

“Knowing that, I have already reserved a hot spring inn in advance, available all four seasons. I made sure the Young Lady could visit the hot springs whenever she pleases. I’ve secured plenty of rooms as well, so there will be no issues even if we bring others along.”

“Oh, I see. As expected of Yul.”

…Or rather, how on earth could someone make reservations at a hot spring inn available all year round? Was it possible Yul was embezzling money behind the Celion ducal house’s back?

Yet once again, as if reading my mind, Yul spoke up.

“It is certainly not money earned through any malicious deeds, so the Young Lady may enjoy it with a completely relaxed mind.”

“I-I see.”

I felt a sudden wave of embarrassment for doubting Yul out of nowhere. Despite how attentively she looked after me on a daily basis, I had still gone ahead and suspected her. Even so, I was still terribly curious about how she managed to earn all that money. However, looking as though she had zero intention of answering that question, Yul kept her mouth shut.

Well, it wasn’t like she was selling pictures of me to make money, right?

The moment that thought crossed my mind, it looked like Yul briefly turned her head away, but I quickly dismissed it as my own imagination and spoke.

“Then what if I just casually ask Miel to come with us to the hot springs? Do you think she’ll tag along?”

“If the Young Lady had happened to be born male, Lady Harmiel might have actually been put off by the idea, but since the two of you share the same gender and are close friends, there should be no problem whatsoever. Moreover, if you mention that you are also bringing along Ahre, whom Lady Harmiel adores, she will undoubtedly tag along without a second thought.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Phew, I’m so glad I was born a woman. Come to think of it, if I had been a guy, I wouldn’t even have been able to go to a hot spring with Miel. Even if I had ended up as the male lead, bad luck might have caused me to lose Miel to some other punk. Considering all that, I realized that becoming the villainess Armienne was a stroke of divine genius.

To think that just moments ago I was regretting being a woman, only to suddenly consider it a blessing right now. Is this what they mean when they say a person’s heart is fickle?

“Then I should contact Miel right this instant.”

Using the communication magic crystal, I reached out to Miel.

-Remind me of our~ first kiss~-

Listening to the BGM of a song that sounded great no matter how many times I heard it, I waited for Miel to pick up the communication while imagining what it would be like when we finally went on our hot spring trip.

Gasp! But even without actively trying to picture it, the imagery was far too stimulating, leaving me completely at a loss for words.

“Young Lady, your nose is bleeding.”

Are you kidding me?

A nosebleed, just from imagining things? I quickly forced my thoughts over to my own body, which I gazed at in the mirror every single day. Um, while it was somewhat stimulating in its own right, the nosebleed stopped the moment I pictured my own physique. Was it because it was my own body, after all?

Right then, Miel picked up the communication.

Click.

[Oh, Armienne. Perfect timing. I was just about to reach out to you myself, so for us to contact each other right at the exact same moment—could it be that we’re destined? Hehe.]

Gasp! Could it be that Miel, too, considered me her destined soulmate? However, knowing that she was probably just joking, I suppressed my fluttery heart and made a silent vow to ensure those words actually became her true feelings next time, before asking:

“Huh? Is something wrong?”

Since she had planned to contact me first, I wondered if maybe she had come to see Ahre or something.

Yet the next second, I bolted upright in sheer shock at the bombshell declaration dropping from Miel’s lips.

[I ran away from home, Armienne.]

What on earth was going on here?