Volume 3 Chapter 7
The next day.
The appointed time with Enrique was at 8 am. Considering I couldn’t greet guests with a sleepy face, and I needed to delegate tasks to the members of Anna’s Support Team, I woke up punctually at 6 am.
After getting ready, I went to the dining room, where I found Christiana already elegantly enjoying her breakfast.
“Good morning, Lady Christiana.”
“Anna… answer me.”
Christiana put down her bread, looking unusually serious.
“Why… did you switch back to your old, plain maid outfit?!”
“It’s because I have to entertain guests today, so the other one was a bit embarrassing…”
“Hmm… No! Nora, help me change Anna’s clothes back!”
Under Christiana’s domineering demand, Nora dragged me into a small room. After my strong insistence, we at least added length to the skirt.
I changed back into black silk tights, but Christiana didn’t make a fuss about that.
I won’t change the maid outfit, after all, it’s my charm point.
“Lady Christiana, you…”
I noticed that Christiana was dressed in what she had proudly shown me yesterday as the “otherworldly school style.”
Christiana, at the tender age of seventeen, was already at the age for school, but her father hadn’t arranged for her to attend a noble magic academy. The uniform highlighted Christiana’s slender figure without being overly provocative, striking just the right balance.
“I’m just trying it on. I’m planning to leave the Mikhail Kingdom and go elsewhere, so I’ll wear what I like.”
Christiana rested her chin on her hand, looking affectionately around the castle. Although she advocates not liking to stay in one place for too long, she’s not someone who is completely indifferent to her home.
“Of course, I plan to go with Anna.”
Christiana apparently had already informed the maids of End about her departure the night before. She prepared a letter, bidding farewell to her father.
“Is it really okay for you to leave like this? You are, after all, the daughter of a great noble.”
“Many nobles are happy to see their children go out and gain experience, you know? Father probably won’t think much of it, I’m a girl, after all, so there are indeed many risks out there. But Father won’t stop me or send people to look for me, at most he’ll worry about my safety, as long as I send him letters regularly.”
Christiana explained that her father didn’t have high expectations for her. For a noble family with a male heir, it wasn’t a problem if the females in the family grew up to be nothing more than ‘decorative vases.’
Perhaps this is one reason for Christiana’s personality. She doesn’t have an excessive attachment to her homeland.
“Caro Cat came back last night for a while, she asked me to tell Anna that the leader of Anna’s Support Team will be here in End Baron’s territory around six-thirty. They should be arriving soon.”
“…The very air of End has begun to stink with their presence.”
Nora gave a bluntly negative review.
After breakfast, the members of Anna’s Support Team arrived as promised.
Most of the team members were placed as lookouts around End, and only Hornheim and a few other adventurers came inside the castle.
“Greetings, Lord Hornheim. Thank God, you are safe and sound.”
“The real blessing is Anna-chan’s safety, but… whoa…”
Hornheim adjusted his glasses.
“Anna-chan is… wearing high heels?!”
“Black silk high heels… oh, oh, Strategist, my friend says he’s cured.”
“There are no outsiders here, no need to hide.”
“Anna-chan! Please trample me mercilessly with your high heels!”
Hornheim knocked on the head of his excited companion and pushed his glasses up with a resigned look.
“We suffered considerable losses in the battle against the Black Hawk Mercenary Corps. Many members of our team are a bit, well, after reviving, their revival time is longer. But many who were imprisoned in Obey are now out, and several members disguised as Tequila Girls successfully infiltrated here. If Anna-chan needs anything, just ask us.”
“Thank you…”
Speaking of which, why does the adventurer who wants me to trample him have a look of urgency? Where exactly does he want me to step on… No, I won’t step on him.
“So, you’re the leader of Anna’s Support Team? Hmm, you seem decent.”
Despite Nora’s claim of “Lady should not breathe the same air as them,” Christiana cheerfully greeted Hornheim and the others.
“Adventurers bringing the otherworldly school style…? It’s been a while since I’ve met a noble lady who understands the beauty of absolute territory.”
“Hm? I don’t understand, but you’re praising me, right? I am Christiana Montferrat. I look
forward to working with you.”
“Please do… But it’s really not good.”
“Where?”
“You seem like the type with initially high favorability, but you failed to capitalize on being the childhood friend, allowing a bunch of diverse heroines to swoop in and steal the protagonist, even losing the position of the main wife.”
Hornheim earnestly gave a long speech, unfortunately lost on both Christiana and me.
“Rest assured, Lady Christiana, they are not bad people,” I explained, “Even if they sometimes say absurd things, they’re not really like that.”
“Absurd things? Like what?”
“Like during the fight against the Black Hawk Mercenary Corps, I understand it was a tactic to lower the enemy’s morale, but even if it’s a lie, please be more thoughtful…”
“Tactic? Lie? Like when we said 80% of our team are into married women…?”
“Wasn’t it a tactic?”
“No, no, that’s all part of my brilliant plan…”
Hornheim looked away, his companions also suddenly finding the scenery very interesting.
Wait, wait, don’t tell me you just told the truth???