Well, well.

Upon receiving the letter and agreeing to its contents, Seriana promptly wrote a reply and had it sent to the castle via Liesel.

She didn’t know exactly what that would imply, but perhaps dealing with the Duke himself rather than the Duchess would be more advantageous.

Well, since someone from the estate would have to deliver the letter to the castle anyway, Liesel would find out eventually, so maybe Seriana was just saving that extra step.

When Liesel heard about it, she responded casually, saying they could talk about it over dinner with the old men. So I figured it really wasn’t that big of a deal… but this news had also reached Miles.

Even though he’s technically employed here, he’s still the one responsible for managing the estate, so in hindsight, it made perfect sense to inform him as well.

Of course, that’s what I and everyone else thought too.

At this estate, breakfast and lunch were usually just Seriana and me, while dinner included Liesel, making it a group of three. But tonight, with the letter situation and all, the old men and the Miles couple also joined us.

So the letter was brought up at dinner. The old men didn’t seem to think much of it… but—

The Miles couple—especially Miles—reacted very differently.

Though he was a relative of the Queen and had been entrusted with duties in the royal capital because of that connection, Miles himself was apparently a baron without his own domain.

He was more of a civil servant type, someone who’d steadily climbed the ranks through diligent work, and that’s how he got to where he is now.

Naturally, that work must have involved some dealings with people from outside.

And besides, we’re a Duke’s family.

He’s the person in charge of the royal capital residence, so while he may not be as prominent as the old man, he’s probably had people from other noble families approach him with various matters.

So I assumed he’d take this lightly like we did, but man…

Even though there were servants around during dinner, so he didn’t have a total meltdown, he was visibly flustered.

His wife Isabella, who was also present, managed to keep her composure better, but Miles was a mess.

It’s not like this situation required them to do anything specific, but even after dinner, when we moved to the lounge, he remained jittery and couldn’t settle down.

Maybe he’d never actually dealt with the royal family before?

“Excuse me. Sorry to keep you waiting. Dear, don’t you think it’s about time you pulled yourself together?”

While I sat on the sofa, absentmindedly watching the still-restless Miles, Isabella came into the room after having gone to the kitchen with the servants to prepare tea.

At a glance, she seemed to be completely back to normal.

She hadn’t been as shaken as Miles to begin with, and I guess getting the tea ready helped reset her mood.

She issued instructions to the servants and had them arrange the tea on the table.

Then, noticing that Miles still hadn’t regained his composure, she gave him a somewhat firm scolding.

I had thought of her as someone with a gentle demeanor, but maybe she holds the higher ground in their relationship.

Not that it really matters, but… doesn’t it seem like there are a lot of henpecked husbands in this country?

◇

“You seem to have calmed down.”

“Hah… I apologize for showing such disgraceful behavior.”

Miles was forced to sit down on the sofa, and after taking a sip of the tea that had been handed to him, he finally managed to take a breath.

He bowed his head toward Liesel and the others.

“Don’t worry about it. Now then, let’s get back to the topic. …Though honestly, it’s not that big of a deal for us.”

With that, Liesel smiled at Seriana and me, who were sitting across from him, and resumed the conversation.

“Mother wants to meet with Seria and Sera-kun for a talk. Father—His Majesty—was able to make time to meet after we returned to the country, just once. We managed to talk about the territory and the children… but Mother’s schedule never lined up. So, I want you to go speak with her on my behalf.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Following Seriana’s curious head tilt, I tilted mine as well.

Is it harder to meet with the Queen than with the King?

“Yeah. We’ve attended the same parties and exchanged a few words at those, but Mother’s very busy this time of year, and I had a lot going on too, so we never had the chance to talk one-on-one. Aside from notifying her of your arrival, I haven’t sent any other letters either.”

I see…

Even though Liesel, her own son and a Duke, is here, a letter still came out of nowhere. No wonder Miles was surprised…

“Seria and Sera-kun will be heading to the castle tomorrow afternoon. Depending on Sera-kun, it should be over by sunset, I think?”

“Yes. Sera, is that alright?”

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

After hearing my reply, Liesel gave a small nod and began giving instructions to the old men about tomorrow.

“Very good. Arios-dono, Seria and the others will be away, but would you mind staying at the estate?”

“Of course.”

Even while Seriana was away, it seemed the estate’s security would remain tight, and they were planning to host the old men as well.

Watching them, I began thinking about tomorrow on my own.

Compared to last year, I’ve improved a lot. And I’ve seen the Queen a few times now, so I should be used to her by this point.

I’ll handle it swiftly and cleanly!

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

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