Arios And Mail’s Arrival

Ten days later.

Shitoen and I were waiting on the mansion porch for the carriage to arrive.

The rain that had continued falling since morning seemed to have finally stopped after noon. It was not quite clear weather, but the sky, thinly veiled with clouds, was blue, and the sunlight shining through it was highly transparent. Perhaps the wind had blown away the humidity along with the rain clouds, because it felt as if the scent of autumn had arrived a little early.

“Are you cold, Shitoen?”

This much was just right for me, but compared to the past few days, it might have been a little chilly. I had still thought it was summer, but the seasons were gradually changing.

“I’m fine. The sky is high. I wonder if the autumn sky is approaching. I suppose I will wear the glass earrings Prince Saryu gave me again next year.”

After murmuring that regretfully, Shitoen narrowed her eyes and turned her gaze toward the carriage turnaround.

There was a roof directly over the porch, so we could not look up at the sky.

I gazed at her like that for a while, but then.

“Are you truly not forcing yourself? It’s fine even if you only attend the dinner party with the crown prince and his wife, you know?”

I bent down at the waist and asked Shitoen, who was standing beside me, once more.

After all, the one coming now was not only Crown Prince Arios. Mail was coming as well.

She was the reason Shitoen had had her engagement broken off, and, how should I put it, she was an unknowingly abusive woman.

“Thank you for worrying about me.”

Shitoen smiled.

Today, she was wearing a peach-colored dress with puff sleeves.

The waist was set slightly high, and the A-line skirt and lace-fabric sleeves suited Shitoen very well. She had worn the earrings I gave her many times this summer, but they probably no longer matched the season. Instead, pearl earrings and a necklace adorned her.

“If Prince Saryu is with me, I have the strength of a hundred people!”

Shitoen clenched both fists and smiled mischievously.

……She got me……

She was invincibly cute to an uncontrollable degree……

“But, you know, if anything happens, signal us right away, Shitoen-sama.”

The one who twisted her body in from behind, as if cutting in between Shitoen and me, was Roze.

Unlike usual, she was dressed as a man, so I ended up looking twice.

Because she had freckles drawn on with makeup…… For a moment, I wondered what brat had wandered in.

Her hair, which she had tied into twintails, was bundled up and stuffed inside her uniform cap, so somehow…… the upper part had become rounded, making it look like a newsboy cap. Well, this looked apprentice-like in its own way, so it was fine.

In fact, the clothes she was wearing were a knight apprentice’s uniform.

In terms of role, she was Raul’s attendant. Her age did not feel out of place either, and the way she was lively and occasionally scolded by Raul made me wonder whether it was acting or something else.

Actually, not only Raul, but many members of the order also looked at Roze and Mone with stern eyes.

I thought that could not be helped, and the fact that they had accepted them at all was amazing in itself.

Mone and Roze also understood the situation, so they did not provoke anyone strangely and remained calm.

This cross-dressing, however.

It became an unexpected trigger.

Especially Roze.

When she desperately scurried around behind Raul in this attendant outfit and properly handled work in a fitting manner, even though everyone understood that this was only Roze dressed as a man, she apparently ended up looking like “a motivated young newcomer who had joined after a long time—a boy.”

It was extremely well received, and Roze was being treated as if she were a boy, making her far more popular than when she wandered around in her girl form. ……She herself seemed dissatisfied, though……

“You must not overdo it.”

Mone, who was nestled diagonally behind Shitoen, also gently added that.

When she had attacked Shitoen at the hot spring before, I had also mistaken her for “a slender man,” but this guy’s cross-dressing was already perfect.

It surprised me where those huge breasts had gone, but she wore my knight order’s uniform flawlessly, and her long, abundant hair was rolled up and pinned at the back of her neck.

That was…… how should I put it, a man with long hair like this really seemed like he could exist.

Because of that, the members of the order apparently gave her chores normally and also assigned her physical labor. One of the members had wryly laughed to Raul that after talking to her and hearing her voice, he remembered, “Right, this one was a woman.”

She was holding it under her arm now, but when the carriage arrived, she also planned to pull an official cap low over her eyes. I had seen her actually wearing it earlier, and unexpectedly, the upper half of her face was hidden. With that, she probably would not be noticed.

“Yes! When that time comes, please take care of me, Roze-chan, Mone-san.”

When Shitoen smiled at them, not only Roze but even Mone melted……

Amazing. In the end, perhaps the strongest one was Shitoen……

While I was thinking that, the sound of an iron gate opening came from the distance, and the sounds of hooves and wheels gradually drew closer.

Several butlers descended the stairs from the porch, and Raul followed them. Roze and Mone temporarily waited farther back.

Crown Prince Arios and his party had arrived.

They had come to the royal palace several hours earlier.

First, they were to greet His Majesty at the royal palace, and after that, they were to come to my mansion.

My mansion was also inside the royal castle, so it would have been fine for them to walk over leisurely as if taking a walk, but since the rain had just stopped and there was still the matter that “Mail might be targeted,” I had asked them to use carriages for transportation.

From the gate, three carriages and several dozen mounted riders followed behind a two-horse carriage at the front.

The lead carriage slowly reduced its speed and stopped at the fixed position in the carriage turnaround.

How should I put it……

It was a carriage that suited a man like Arios perfectly.

The horses were white.

On top of that, they had some sort of incomprehensible horn-like things attached, making it look like a weird birthday party. The horse trappings were also quite decorative. If I were a horse, I would despair at my own appearance. The carriage itself was also based on white and silver……

It was completely different from our sturdy and practical style.

If things went wrong, His Majesty would choose something that looked like a war chariot, after all.

One of the butlers placed a footstool, and Raul opened the carriage door.

The first one to get down was Crown Prince Arios.

Even the neat military uniform appropriate for this season was…… white.

Are you planning to go to a snowy mountain or something?

Or was this guy’s affiliation actually the navy? Well, either way was fine. A handsome man looked good no matter what he wore. If I pointed it out, it would probably be taken as “envy.”

After stepping down from the footstool, he reached a hand into the carriage to escort someone.

The one who came out was Mail.

“She hasn’t changed at all.”

The words slipped out of my mouth. Beside me, Shitoen was also smiling wryly.

I had seen Crown Prince Arios quite recently at the apology ceremony, so that was one thing, but.

Mail.

I had not seen her in a while, but she was exactly the same. Was the only thing that changed the length of her hair? She had some serious vertical curls going on.

The neckline was wide open, and as for the skirt portion, it spread out in a huge puff. Ribbons and lace were used heavily…… well, if one called it a youthful design, then I suppose it was youthful……

Wouldn’t that get in the way when she moved?

“What’s with that huge pink diamond on her chest? Tacky.”

“Even though she’s still young, too.”

I heard Roze and Mone’s voices from behind, and when I looked again carefully……

Sure enough, a large diamond…… was it pink……? was displayed on Mail’s chest.

……How should I put it, I understood what Mone and Roze were trying to say.

That size really did not suit her age……