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Hey, it’s me, Ain.
Right now I’m at a beautiful salon that’s connected to the bathhouse. Eh? How was the bathhouse you ask?
Yeah, there’s no need to talk about that.
“The hot water felt nice, right Ain?”
“Yes, mother.”
The mixed bath inside the bathhouse which I entered earlier was the largest of the many baths.
None of the other ones were close to its size, and only this was a mixed one.
I honestly received a reverse culture shock seeing the spacious and beautiful bath with a fully equipped jacuzzi included.
I had a really good time washing my body with great-smelling soap.
Men’s bath? It’s the first time I’ve heard that word……
“I’ve brought you cold drinks.”
Chris-san, who waited for us in front of the bath, handed each of us a drink.
It was cold tea.
“Haaa……That felt so refreshing, how about we take a rest after eating, Ain?”
“I’m looking forward the types of food.”
“Seems like you’re really hungry, Ain-sama.”
Like I said, why do you know I’m hungry, Chris-san?
I’d like you to stop saying it since it’s embarrassing.
“This might be because I missed my early training. Or maybe it will change after he eats his fill……”
Chris-san whispered something, but I didn’t let it bother me.
Ahh, this cold tea tastes delicious in my warm body.
＊
“First of all, it seems you could use some rest, but let me say this first, welcome home Princess.”
“Martha! Yes, I’m home. I finally get to see you again.”
“……Princess, how many times have I told you? ……How many times did I say not to act rashly, and carefully think about your actions in advance, otherwise it would be too late if something unexpected happens.”
After being called by Olivia, Martha finally arrived.
“(Ehh? This is Martha-san? This girl?)”
The person in question was a pretty girl with dark-brown hair with freckles, dark-brown hair and standing at about 140cm tall.
The gap between her appearance and the maid clothes she was wearing was quite something.
“(Ain-sama, I’m sure you’re surprised, but…… she’s a proper adult. Old enough to have taken care of Olivia-sama for a long time and…… and, she’s married.)”
“(M-Married…… this person is! ?)”
Chris, who was standing close to Ain, secretly whispered into his ears.
Ain felt frustrated having his thoughts revealed so easily.
For the time being, he decided to simply give praise to the culture of this country, where a legal loli could get married.
Still, Ain prefered someone older than him.
“Ohh……? I just took the trouble of coming back home and you’re already mad at me. Somehow, this isn’t how I thought it would be.”
“How funny, I’m thinking the same thing, Princess. Because of your sudden return, nothing has been prepared, especially for Ain-sama.”
What did she mean? Like a room? Ain was anxious, but he remembered Olivia’s words.
Apparently, he would share a room with Olivia, so it didn’t seem like there would be any inconvenience.
“Ain-sama, this is the first time we’ve met. My name is Martha, I was the exclusive maid of the Second Princess, Olivia-sama. Right now, I’m serving as the head maid inside the castle.”
“O-Okay……Nice to meet you Martha-san, I’m Ain. I feel like I shouldn’t call myself by my previous last name, so let me introduce myself as just Ain.”
“Thank you very much for your kind introduction. May I ask you just one question?”
When Ain started his introduction, her face suddenly frowned in the middle of it.
”What would she want to know?”, Ain thought.
“What is it? “
“I’m sorry if I may sound rude, but what do you mean when you say “previous last name”? “
”I see, she doesn’t know about the separation.”, he concluded.
That’s right, this because Olivia hasn’t spoken about her separation with anyone yet.
“T-That is……”
I don’t think it’s alright for me to say it.
After thinking thus, Ain stopped speaking.
“Hey, Martha, why do you think I came back? Try guessing.”
Olivia asked Martha, seeming like she was enjoying herself.
“Haaa……I wouldn’t know since I’m just a simple maid, but…… was there an urgent problem in Ishtalika? Or, did you come to introduce Ain-sama?”
Martha answered with a tinge of exhaustion visible on her face.
The reason being, Olivia, who had returned home for the first time in years, suddenly started talking in riddles.
“Nope, that’s wrong, the correct answer is……I won’t go back there anymore.”
“Nope, that’s wrong, the correct answer is……I won’t go back there anymore.”
“(I wonder if Martha-san is a person mother really likes? This is the first time I’ve seen her with such a mischievous attitude.)”
“I see, so you won’t be going back to Heim, but I still don’t know what that means.”
“Hey, Martha. I wonder what kind of food did you prepare for me?”
“Since you expressed the desire to eat meat, I’ve prepared steak as the main dish, and a few soups to help you get rid of your exhaustion. So? Could you explain in more detail what you meant just now? ”
The small and lovely maid, Martha, was getting angry, a vein was beginning to pop on her forehead.
“Mother, isn’t it time to explain it to her……?”
“You’re really impatient, fine, I’ll tell you. I, Olivia, have separated from Logas. There, I said it, can we move on? “
“Is this really something you can just summarize in that phrase, Princess? Seriously, I don’t really understand it.”
Ahh, this is bad, that vein is about to burst.
Seeing that vein turning blue, like the color of the sky, Ain decided to just give up.
“Even if you say that…… Hey, Chris? “
“Princess, even I haven’t heard the details of the separation.”
“Ara…… Ain, won’t you come here? “
Trying to find an escape route, Olivia called Ain to sit on her lap, to which he obviously obliged happyly.
“Don’t think you can use Ain-sama to get away from this.”
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“Chris, you’re being too cold, she’s awful, right Ain?”
“Yes, it’s awful.”
’Whoaa’……Those were the kind of eyes Chris directed at Ain.
After looking at Ain with some pity in her eyes, Martha turned towards Olivia and spoke:
“I can see that your education has been going quite well, Princess. Are you going to talk about it with His Majesty? “
“That’s right, for now I’ll report to Father first, then I’ll tell you all about it. That’s fine, right? “
Olivia’s attitude changed a little, her expression was more serious and the tone of her voice was quite different than the previous one.
And respecting those intentions, the two people backed down.
“……Ain-sama, you’re tired from the long trip, aren’t you? Now, please come, I’ll show you to your room.”
“Thank you very much.”
Martha spoke not to Olivia, but to Ain, saying he‘s have had it rough.
This was in response to Olivia’s answer, and since she was a little hurt…… this was also a bit of her revenge.
“Hey, hey, Martha. Why didn’t you tell me that I too must be tired? ……hey, why aren’t you guiding me too? Seriously……”
“Because it’s been a long time since the last time I got to tease you, come, I’ll guide you too.”
After reaching the castle and taking a bath, Martha, who had served as her caretaker for many years, had shown up.
Thanks to that, he got to see a glimpse of Olivia’s personality she had never shown him before.
＊
“Thanks for the quick response, Martha-san.”
“Not at all, this is nothing compared to your last-minute mission last night, Chris-sama.”
After the emergency pick-up mission from last night, it was finally time for a break for Chris.
Having finished their meal, they were guided to their room where they were taking a break for now. So Chris also had time for a short break.
Chris had a somewhat sleepy face.
For Olivia, who had suddenly come back around noon, Martha had to prepare many servants…… she had to get the meals ready as well as a change of clothes along with the bath. And due to the unexpected appearance of Ain she also had some extra preparations to make.
“For a child of that age……I’m sure Ain-sama had a hard time, but it’s great he can take a short break now.”
The first thing Martha noticed was Ain’s concern and effort.
He read the air and tried to avoid saying anything improper during their conversation.
And although the love he had for his mother was a bit too much, the current situation seemed to be within the range of ‘normal’.
“Indeed, seriously…… rather, doesn’t that take off some work from Olivia-sama? He really is a good kid.”
“You’ve been with him since last night, right Chris-sama?”
“Yes, that’s right, but he truly seemed like a child who really minds his words…… and even when we went to pick them up, he stood in front of her, trying to protect Olivia-sama.”
The conversation between these two, who were currently in a room next to Olivia’s, was entirely about Ain and Olivia.
Last night, when Chris received the message from the steward’s office about Olivia contacting them, she wondered what happened.
On the other hand, just as Martha had stated, rather than speaking, his attitude made it easy to understand his thoughts.
“……I wonder if a picture of Olivia-sama shows up when you look up the word ‘freedom’ in the dictionary? Could she really raise up a child that well……? “
“To be honest I have my suspicious about that…… But seeing Olivia-sama so attached to him I don’t think that’s a lie.”
“A child so great that it makes one doubt if she’s his real parent…… This is the first time I’ve seen something like that.”
“Actually, I’ve wondered about that too.”
Olivia-sama had always been like that, she never really got along with people her age, and the way she thought made it easy for the nobility to look at her with disdain.
In one word, her big fault was that she was free spirited…… to an extreme.
“Chris-sama, what do you think will happen today? “
“Do you mean, in front of His Majesty? “
“Yes, I think they’ll wake up in less than two hours, at that time, what do you think will happen?”
“I think he will get angry. Because, even though she came back home, she went to take a bath, have a meal…… and then she went to sleep with her son, so I think he’ll definitely get angry.”
“Ahh, His Majesty probably doesn’t know Olivia-sama is back yet.”
“Eh? He still doesn’t know Olivia-sama has returned……? “
That can’t be the case, after all, many people have seen her already.
At least, there was that knight that was ordered to call for Martha.
“Yeah, for the time being, I’ve ordered all the people involved to simply say they ‘didn’t know’.”
“Ah, ohh…… I see, so Martha-san has……”
“I think it’s better to not give His Majesty time and let his imagination fly, rather, I feel it might be better to notify him shortly before the meeting .”
It isn’t an exaggeration to say that the words of Martha carry the same weight as those of Chris, the Vice Captain of the Royal Guard, since Martha is the head maid and has been the exclusive maid of Olivia in the past.
“You sure are gentle, Martha-san, thanks to that, Olivia-sama can take a proper rest.”
“……I’d like to continue talking with you, but first, there’s another issue to be discussed.”
Wearing a sad expression, Martha was thinking about a lot of things.
From the day Olivia went out to marry, Martha had worked diligently, all the while thinking about how it would be nice if she returned.
Despite thinking like that, she just couldn’t feel she was “working for Olivia” anymore.
But when she came back, she couldn’t meet them sooner, and in the end, she got to converse with her only after she left the bath and was taking a break at the salon.
“Yeah, that’s true. For the time being, I want to know the reason why she suddenly separated and came back! “
“I’d feel bad about being all angry without hearing her reasons, so I think it’s best to listen to her explanation and think about it then.“
(Ahh, that’s right, even with that body, Martha-san is like that……)
Martha was also part of the educational staff despite her small, unchanging body. She was strict and dignified, and she remained firm in that attitude.
“Ouch, hot! Ahh……I got burned…… uhhh, it hurts……”
Tired and sleepy, Chris spilled her tea over her hand.
(It seems like after the Princess got back, Chris’ airheadedness has also returned.)
The free princess and the ditzy knight, both of which had unnecessarily high specs in their respective quirks, sometimes causing quite the trouble.
Martha looked more tired after thinking about the problems these two would bring, but at the same time, while remembering the fun past, she couldn’t help but smile slightly.
“Ahh, it seriously hurts…… Ahh, but after Ain-sama’s stomach became full, my sluggishness disappeared, so I’m sure it’ll heal soon. Yeah, yeah…… I have to keep in mind Ain-sama’s constitution……”
“Chris-sama? What was that about Ain-sama’s constitution? ”
When Martha called out to her, Chris, who couldn’t afford to take a nap before, since she had been on escort duty, was already asleep.
She had been working all night on high alert after all.
“Chris-sama really is quick to fall asleep.”
Chris has said something that worried her, but she didn’t want to wake her up. So, she decided to ask again later that day.
After taking a break first, they will talk properly later.