It had been a few days since Seriana began her activities as the Lady of the Territory.

During those days, starting with older men and elderly gentlemen, she continued meeting with noblewomen.

As for what I had been doing—well, I just sat on Madam’s lap and listened to her chat for about an hour, repeating that three times a day. That’s all.
But the thing is, the ones I was dealing with were nobles, and not just that—they were all several decades older than me.

Even though Seriana’s status is far above theirs, this royal capital is essentially their home turf.

Oriana-san had been checking everything, and was present at the meetings, but Seriana must have been nervous, don’t you think?

That said, lately Seriana had gotten into the routine of retiring to her room after dinner and receiving my care.

And after that, she would slip right into bed—but this royal capital is a much more peaceful place than Riana’s domain.

Besides, the old men go home at night, so security returns to its usual level, and this area—the noble district of the royal capital—is one of the safest in the entire country.

I think she was able to sleep properly…

I was out like a light too, after all…

Still, perhaps thanks to all that, we were able to get through the days without carrying any fatigue into the next. In fact, we were probably even more refreshed than usual.

Today marked the end of the first half of our schedule here in the royal capital, and I’d say we handled it quite well, wouldn’t you?

Alright then… enough reflecting on the past few days—time to focus on what’s right in front of me.

Sitting on Seriana’s lap, I had been letting my eyes wander, but I stopped moving and looked forward.

By the way, we were in the lounge, and it wasn’t just us—Liesel and August were here too.

Even the old men, who normally would have returned to the mansion by this hour, were here.

And they weren’t the only ones in the room.

“How about you calm down, Miles? Seria and Sera-kun are troubled, you know.”

Apparently noticing the state I was in, Liesel gave a wry smile and spoke across the table to Miles, who was fidgeting suspiciously, looking quite flustered.

“Ah!? N-No… my apologies!”

Miles seemed to regain his composure for a moment after Liesel’s words—but he immediately reverted back again.

Everyone exchanged glances briefly, then reacted in their own characteristic ways: shrugging their shoulders, letting out a soft chuckle, and so on.

◇

It happened earlier this evening.

As usual, after finishing up our meetings, we returned to the room planning to relax. That’s when one of the mansion’s maids delivered a letter addressed to Seriana.

What caught my attention was how pale she looked—obviously quite nervous.

Seriana accepted the letter and quickly dismissed the maid.

“Who’s it from?” I decided to ask.

Well… just from the maid’s reaction, it was obvious that the letter was the cause.

Obvious, sure—but what kind of letter could make someone like that when they hadn’t even read the contents?

“It’s from Her Majesty the Queen. Seems like she wants me to bring you to the castle tomorrow. …Ah, no, not quite. She wants me to accompany you to the castle… I suppose.”

“Oh?”

…Well, that’s what happened.

The letter was addressed to Seriana, and it had been delivered directly to her, bypassing Liesel and Miles.

I hadn’t noticed it at the time, but apparently Seriana could tell from the wax seal that it was from the Queen.

The fact that she could recognize that properly shows how well-educated she is… I was pretty impressed.
But really, if you’re suddenly told to deliver a letter from the Queen, of course you’d be shocked.

Still, even though it was a summons from the Queen, it wasn’t anything particularly formal. She simply wished to receive a 【Blessing of Mira】.

This kind of thing had happened before, so it wasn’t anything new…

And besides, I was going to the castle myself two days from now anyway—so I figured it could’ve waited until then.

So I asked Seriana what the situation was, and that’s when she gave me that answer earlier.

Right now, I hold authority equivalent to a knight in places like Riana and Zelkis, but my status is still technically that of a commoner.

And of course, that’s the case here in the royal capital as well.

Being affiliated with House Lyseria gives me a bit of leniency, sure, but that doesn’t mean I can actually do anything.

Which means, just to enter the castle, we’d need to go through various procedures and present ourselves properly.

If I were a noble, even an adopted one, all that red tape would be reduced and it’d be a lot easier.

However, calling someone from a major house like the Müller family on a whim for personal matters—no matter how high her station, even the Queen has to worry about how that might look to others.

So this time, she chose to go through the proper steps.

Seriana came all the way from a distant territory after giving birth to her grandchild—it’s only natural for the Queen to host her.

And it’s also perfectly reasonable that Seriana would bring along her personal guard—me.

…That’s the general picture, I suppose.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

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

Blessed Item ・ 【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】 ・ 3 cards

Seriana ・ 【Area Detection】 ・ 【】 ・ 0 cards

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

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