Today, I invited Kiira to my room for a tea party.

That said, it wasn’t anything too grand—just something to pass the time while Liesel and Luban were having their meeting.

Liesel had a strong older brother like Luban around, so I figured they could just train together since they were going into dungeons as a team, but apparently, things weren’t that simple.

Luban was seen by those around him as someone from Seriana’s faction.

Since Alec had scouted him and considering the circumstances of how he arrived in Riana, that wasn’t entirely wrong… But, as was often the case, factional disputes were involved.

For reference, the 1st Unit of the Knight Order and the city’s Merchant Guild were under Liesel’s faction, while the 2nd Unit and the Adventurer’s Guild were under Seriana’s faction.

Additionally, since Seriana was a princess of the Müller family, she was well-favored by the residents.

And more than anything, while Liesel’s faction controlled almost all the financial and territorial administration, Seriana’s faction had overwhelming military strength.

With Alec, Elena, Luban, Zighart, Fiora, and the seasoned adventurers mainly operating in the Magic Lands…

The only ones in Liesel’s faction who could possibly stand against them were Liesel and August.

I had never seen Luick fight, so I had no idea about him.

Even if it was just at the training grounds, having them cross swords wasn’t ideal.

The people involved didn’t care about it, and I wasn’t sure who exactly did, but someone did.

…It was a hassle.

A hassle, but since there was no harm in being cautious, they decided to stick to just the meeting.

Even if they trained together, I would like to think no one would carelessly leak the information. But even if just a fragment got out, there was a chance it would spread like a twisted game of telephone.

So, I guess it couldn’t be helped.

Since I got along with both sides, it apparently wasn’t an issue for me, but having to be wary of people who may or may not exist… That’s rough.

◇

“This is a lovely room.”

Kiira, who was looking at the various decorations on the walls, said that without any apparent flattery.

Seriana, meanwhile, had a wry smile on her face.

Well, the room was full of my stuff.

After that, I had also gathered some landscape paintings of Riana and put them up.

There were no large pieces, but the collection of paintings made it feel like a small gallery.

I hadn’t intended it, but since most of the subjects and artists were from my own domain, the concept worked well for the room of the Lady of Riana.

She must have understood that.

“Most of the things here belong to Sera.”

“Oh? Is that so? But there are many things that don’t quite seem like what Sera would own…”

What kind of things would be “like me”…?

As I tilted my head in thought, I felt a presence behind me, as if they had caught on.

“Like stuffed animals.”

They had picked up on my reaction, but the answer didn’t make sense.

Stuffed animals?

I’ve never collected anything like that…

Where did that even come from?

Seriana also seemed taken aback and hesitated to respond for a moment.

That was surprising.

“She doesn’t collect stuffed animals, you know…?”

“Really!? But I heard that Lady Sera likes cute things…”

She sounded surprised, but I was the one more surprised here.

“Hey.”

Until now, I hadn’t joined the conversation, focusing instead on brushing Kiira’s hair, but I peeked out from behind her and spoke up.

“Where did that even come from?”

“…Who knows? The only stuffed animal you own is that big snake, right? You always use it as a pillow when you sleep…”

“Yeah… my body pillow.”

I had been given a huge stuffed snake a long time ago, and since its size was just right, I often put it on my bed when I slept.

That’s about the only connection I have with stuffed animals.

Sure, I’ve received some as gifts along with other things, but I always passed them on to workers at the estate who had children.

It shouldn’t have led to rumors about me liking cute things.

“…Maybe it’s because I’ve been ordering cosmetics for the princess?”

As we all stood there confused, Teresa muttered as if something had clicked.

That seemed to trigger something in Seriana and Elena, as they suddenly started discussing various possibilities.

I didn’t choose most of the things I wore—except for my jinbei—Seriana and the others handled that for me.

And I never complained about what they picked.

As a result, my belongings ended up being a bit on the cute side—not exactly girly, but still leaning that way.

It wasn’t just the three of them. Even Minea from Zelkis and Oriana from the royal capital had been doing the same.

Looking back, I had received stuffed animals before, and a lot of my personal items were somewhat cute.

…So that’s how it added up.

At the same time, I realized there were still many clothes and accessories in this mansion that were supposedly mine, yet I wasn’t even aware of their existence.

Where were they?

“…Even Elisha might be stocking up things for you.”

This was a serious situation.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Sera・【Hideout】+1【Prayer】【Mira’s Blessing】【Wind Cloak】・【Floating Orb】+1【Shadow Sword】【Scarlet Bee Needle】【Fairy’s Eye】【Dragon’s Lung】【Amber Sword】【Danrem’s Thread】【Serpent’s Tail】【Ankle Bracelet】【Amber Shield】【Purple Wings】・15 cards

Seriana・【Area Identification】・【】・28 cards

Elena・【】・【Green Fang】【Amber Sword】・4 cards

Alec・【Power Strike】・【Red Shield】【Fierce Horned Trumpet】・8 cards