Lady Demy and I closed the cover to the underground pa.s.sage and quickly left the chapel.
The cheek Ojousama slapped still hurt but thanks to that I was saved.
I don’t know what will become of me if I were brought before Marquis Isky.
But it seemed to weigh quite heavily on Lady Demy’s mind, she’s been moving without saying a single word.
Then as we left the gardens on our way back to the Isky residence.
“Yuuki-san….! …. I’m very sorry…”
Ah–ah.
She finally burst into tears….
Lady Demy apologised to me with tears dripping.
“I! I had no right! to Yuuki-san’s cheek…”
“No no, you saved me didn’t you. It was my fault for being discovered”
I’m alright, I told her again and again but Lady Demy’s feelings show no signs of settling.
I took out a handkerchief from the E:ID phone and wiped her tears.
“I, what was I doing. I’m always making trouble for Yuuki-san. I embarra.s.sed you! I put you in danger!”
“I told you It’s alright already”
“How can it be alright! If you were still caught like that there won’t be anything I can do either as Demy or as Rosé!”
“R… really?”
I thought if it was Princess Rosé she could simply take me out of prison somehow…
“To send out Yuuki-san who doesn’t know anything, what was I doing!? W, what if Yuuki-san d, d… died…”
Ah.
Now it would be better if she didn’t continue to the end.
If you put ‘the worst case’ into words you’ll get emotional. Especially girls.
Knowing that from experience with Arina, I wrapped my arms around Lady Demy to at least calm her down.
“Fuah!”
Lady Demy was startled for an instant, but after a while she buried her head in my chest, seeking comfort”
Next is, to slowly speak to her.
“… it’s all right. I came back thanks to Ojousama”
Aah-.
We’re acting a bit like lovers now, but since we already thoroughly did this and that it’s fine, right?
Lady Demy sobbed for a while, but finally took a deep breath.
Good, she seems fine.
I let her go.
“You’ve calmed down?”
“…. yes. Really, I’ve been causing you nothing but trouble,” Lady Demy said, despondent.
“Yuuki-san. Please don’t involve yourself on this matter anymore”
“Eh, so I’m really fired!?”
“I can’t possibly fire you! I want you to always be beside, I mean, cooperate with me! But the underground pa.s.sage turned out to be me overthinking things, I’m even beginning to think Marquis Isky might be innocent”
“Nope”
I declared.
“You’re not overthinking things”
Lady Demy made a surprised face.
“It’s suspicious. That nun, she appeared right after I took down the monster and started blaming me”
“No way, to even suspect a nun”
It’s probably a gap of religious outlook.
It seems you’re not supposed to suspect clergy of having secrets, but…
“No matter how I look at it, I can only see it as her expecting the intruder to die. But since I took down the defense system, she hurriedly showed herself and made it so that I don’t continue further, don’t you think? If that’s true then there’s definitely something in the residence”
“…. But! If that’s true then I can’t expose Yuuki-san to danger all the more!”
“I can’t possibly leave Ojousama alone! —Also, I made a promise to the knights. I said I’ll definitely protect her. If you fire me now, I can’t look them in the face anymore”
“…………”
Lady Demy groaned as she made a troubled look, but said this after a while.
“If Yuuki-san says so, then… Will you help me just a little bit more?”
†
At the pa.s.sage Lady Demy and Yuuki left.
Only Sister Nikka was left alone in the chilly air.
She looked towards the immobilized suit of armor.
“Impossible, to even defeat the Automata, ” she muttered.
“Off”
She chanted, and the lamps along the pa.s.sage simultaneously turned dark.
Then Nikka, with practiced steps, proceeded in the darkness, and opened a certain door.
The room that would in our world be called 4-tatami, was crammed with desks and bookshelves, and there were also test tubes, beakers, and magic cores rolling around.
There was a person sitting inside.
“Yo, welcome back”
It was Glenn.
Rosé’s fiancé and also Marquis Isky’s son was waiting for her in this cramped room.
“Did Lady Demy’s lover die?”
“No. He’s still alive. He defeated the Automata”
“—You’re kidding? It was as good as 10 soldiers, you know?”
“He used strange words and a shining magic item. I’ll examine more closely later”
“You have other work to do besides that, right?”
“Understood. I will put the study of the ‘bugs’ at the highest priority…”
“I didn’t mean that”
Glenn approached Nikka with a brisk pace, forcibly pulled her towards himself, and took her lips.
Nikka let leak a “Hnnn….” sound, but finally surrendered herself to Glenn’s tongue play.
“Your love to me is your maximum priority job. You promised that we’ll kiss in exchange for greetings, didn’t you?” …. the ‘bugs’ go after that”
“Yes, Glenn-sama… it’s as you say. But please let me finish the ‘bugs’ even a moment sooner”
Nikka tightly hugged Glenn’s hand that was caressing her body.
“Using Princess Rosé, making you Hero—. All that is my love…”
†
“♪hmhmhm~, hm hm—”
In the kitchen, Arina was in high spirits.
She handled the chicken well and had dipped it in boiling water.
In the meantime, she boiled an asparagus-like stalked plant in another pot.
“♪Even without soy sauce, even without dashi! Make it delicious, with ingenuity!”
Singing with whatever-works rhythm and random lyrics, Arina continued her cooking as she danced.
She crushed rock salt with a hammer, added and concentrated flavoring, and made sauce. Not forgetting to add a dash of flour to give it thickness.
The kitchen was occupied by Arina alone.
Just now the food for the four residents and guest of the residence was ready, and the other maids went to deliver them.
The newbie Arina announced that she will clean up the kitchen and used that time to make food.
“♪Love Yuu-kun just wait for it! I’ll make a delicious dinner!”
“W, wait a minute, what are you doing!”
A maid who came back early yelled.
“Don’t use the ingredients on your owEEEEK!”
A food preparation knife grazed her cheek and *SCHING*! pinned itself on the wall.
“I’m so–rry. My hand slipped–,” Arina said and continued cooking.
“Look here, you!”
“Don’t, there’s something wrong with that girl”
The maid still didn’t relax her protests, but another maid came and stopped her.
“But senpai fainted and didn’t wake up, so you should just get out of the way”
Please do just that, you pigs.
I’m preparing dinner for your future master right now.
As she muttered that, Arina cut the chicken apart.
She briskly made chicken skin and oil into soup, and thigh and breast meat into steak.
It’s about time for Tris to come in with a weird face soon, I guess?
I have to speed this up.
While making the calculations she arranged the food on dishes.
Chicken for the main course, and ohitashi for the sides.
Pour the sauce…. but before that.
Talking about the last seasoning, it has to be this.
“Yuu-kun! Love love LOVE ! A・I・SHI・TE・RU ! chuu☆”
She lovingly kissed the chicken and poured the sauce once again.
Arina did notice the maids looking at the spectacle, looking more and more scared, but they don’t matter.
As the food was finally done, Tris showed up.
“Oi! You lot! Get some food ready for the guests right now! I know it’s too unreasonable but Madam—”
“Yeees! It’s do–ne!!”
“—huh?”
Toward the actions of Arina that can only be described as foresight, everyone besides her became astonished.