With Minea having finished surveying the room, it was time to get the conversation underway.

We all sat down on the sofa, and as usual, I was on Minea’s lap.

Now that everyone had taken their designated positions, it was finally time for me to ask what I’d been wondering.

If I looked up, Minea’s face was right there… but still, even I found it hard to bluntly ask her “Why are you here?”

So instead, I decided to direct the question to Seriana, who was sitting in front of me.

“So, why did Lady Minea come here again? And with such a small group?”

“You’re heading to the royal capital soon, aren’t you? I wanted to ask you to take care of the children during that time.”

She said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world, but from the way she said it, it sounded like Seriana had been the one to call Minea.

Still, asking her to take care of the kids because we’re going to the capital…?

“…Seria-sama, are you going too?”

If I were going alone, there’d be no need for that.

Which means Seriana is leaving the estate as well—and at this timing, it must mean she’s also going to the royal capital… right?

“That’s right.”

She answered my question with a single word, again as if it were completely obvious.

That exchange must have struck Minea as funny, because although she made no sound, she appeared to be laughing.

I could feel it from behind me.

“Seriana, knowing you, I bet you didn’t properly explain anything to Sera, did you? That alone isn’t enough to convey it.”

“More like… I wasn’t told anything at all.”

Hearing my words, this time she gave a small chuckle aloud.

Well, at least she’s enjoying herself…

Meanwhile, I was left reeling from the surprise.

“Riesel will represent our family in the royal capital. From the Müller household, Grandpa and Grandma will be there, but the three of them don’t have much connection. Father has returned to the domain, hasn’t he? If something were to happen, you wouldn’t be able to mediate things. That’s why I decided to go too.”

“…I see?”

I didn’t know exactly what she planned to do there, but Riesel seemed capable of handling most things smoothly. So I figured it would be fine.

But as Seriana said, I wasn’t confident in my ability to mediate between the two sides if something were to come up…

Thinking about it that way, I could understand why Seriana would go as well.

But then, that would leave the domain without its lord and lady, and only the children would remain at the estate.

Even with Elena and the others around, wasn’t that a bit too much?

I couldn’t imagine a rebellion happening at our place, but leaving too many openings wasn’t wise either.

So that’s why she called Minea…?

“Around spring last year, I got a message from Seriana. She said that she might be going to the royal capital in the spring of the following year, and if my husband had returned to the domain, she wanted to know if I could come here.”

“Hooh…”

“I needed to resolve the issues in the domain capital before I could leave Riana, but that’s all been settled. So there’s no problem with me heading to the royal capital.”

Spring of last year… I hadn’t been told anything, but that was around the time things started moving regarding the war, right?

So they’d been planning this since back then.

As Seriana said, the issues that could have impacted the domain were firmly dealt with by last autumn.

As always, she’s the kind of woman who likes to plan these medium-to-long term strategies…

While I was thinking that, half in amazement, Teresa, who was standing behind Seriana, spoke up.

“Your Highness’ patrol of the highway a while ago was part of that plan.”

“…Huh? Ah… yeah, we did defeat a good number back then. If she were traveling with a small group, they might’ve been attacked somewhere. Oh… wait, didn’t they come by ship?”

The monsters that live in the grasslands along the highway west of the domain capital, where I patrolled, were a bit slow-witted and would attack without much thought to the strength of their opponent.

And there were a lot of them.

Minea seemed to have traveled from Zelkis with a small group, but naturally, being permitted to move with so few meant her escort troops were top-class.

Even so, large numbers could still pose a threat, and thinking about that, I could understand why she entrusted the highway cleanup to me.

Though, they actually came by ship through the southern route…

Of course, it’s possible they changed plans at the last minute.

What would’ve taken over a week could be cut down to less than half the time, after all.

But that didn’t seem to be the case—Seriana was looking at me with her usual smile.

“I gave you that job to draw attention to the highway. There may be no suspicious people left in the domain capital, but we don’t know about the rest of the territory. There may not be anyone foolish enough to target you, but if a noble from another territory was traveling, we can’t say for sure that no one would go after them, right?”

“…I see.”

If I were patrolling the highway during a time when I usually wouldn’t, someone might assume that an important person was coming.

And then, any remaining rebels in the territory would be drawn to that area…

It had been nearly a month since I started the patrols.

That would be more than enough time for the information to spread within the territory.

And while attention was focused there, Minea and the others could arrive leisurely via the more secure southern route…

…Makes sense.

Once again, I nodded.

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

Sera ・Blessing・【Hideout】+1【Prayer】【Mira’s Blessing】【Wind’s Garment】

Blessed Items・【Floating Orb】+1【Shadow Sword】+1【Scarlet Bee Needle】【Fairy’s Eye】【Dragon’s Lung】【Amber Sword】【Danrem’s Thread】【Serpent’s Tail】【Ankle Bracelet】【Amber Shield】【Purple Wings】【Red Sword】【Monkey’s Arm】・13 cards

Seriana・【Area Identification】・【】・0 cards

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

Alec・【Heavy Strike】・【Red Shield】【Fierce Horned Trumpet】・10 cards