Chapter 48 - Liza and Who?

“Oh, welcome back, Lumina. You’re quite early today.”

When Emilia and I arrived at the garden behind our house, my mother greeted me warmly.

“It’s because some guests are coming, Mama.”

“Guests?”

“Yes, one of my servants is moving into our home.”

“Is that so? Then I’d better tell the maids to prepare a room beside Emilia’s.”

By the way, Emilia’s room is located right beside mine. It was formerly a vacant room, so when Emilia moved in, it was decided that it would be hers. There are also other vacant rooms nearby, so finding a use for them was convenient. Even though our status is relatively low, as nobles, having that many vacant rooms is normal.

“Thank you, Mama. Then, I’ll meet up with the guests.”

The three of us then headed to the living room.

****

Emilia prepared tea for my mother as we waited. I wondered why she didn’t prepare some for me as well. However, Emilia noticed my thoughts and subtly indicated through her eyes that I had already had tea earlier. As a result, I simply watched as my mother enjoyed tea and cheesecake that Emilia had baked.

Knock* Knock*

The sound of the door meant that the guests had finally arrived, so Emilia and I went to the door. My mother, not wanting to leave unfinished food behind, stayed in the living room.

When we reached the door, I opened it without hesitation.

“Liza, is it tru—“We finally meet aga—“ Bam!*”

I quickly slammed the door shut again when I saw the man standing at our doorstep. He had blue hair and a handsome face. The reason I slammed the door shut was due to his gender.

“If I remember correctly, wasn’t Liza a girl?”

“What do you mean, Lumina-sama?”

“The person at the doorstep wasn’t Liza, but someone else. He had blue hair and blue eyes… so I’m pretty sure he wasn’t Liza or any of my servants.”

“Is that so? Let me open it then.”

Emilia stepped in front of me and opened the door. Behind it was a girl with blonde hair fashioned into twin drills, with black ends and black eyes. This meant she was indeed my servant.

“Huh?”

I stared dumbfounded at Liza, who was standing on the doorstep.

“It has been a while, Lumina-sama. How have you been?”

She greeted me with a curtsy, her high-pitched voice carrying warmth. She wore a high-class dress and had a blue brooch with a rose symbol on her chest, almost identical to mine.

However, those details weren’t important at the moment.

“… huh? I was pretty sure there was a man standing there a moment ago.”

“Weren’t you just hallucinating, Lumina-sama?”

Emilia chimed in from the side of the door.

“I-I see… so I was just hallucinating.”

“You weren’t, Lumina-sama… actually, that person is—“

“Oi! What you just did was quite rude! Why’d you suddenly slam the door right in my face!?”

The person I thought was a hallucination appeared from the side of the door and entered our house without permission. He began lecturing about manners and etiquette, but Emilia and I were so shocked by his appearance that his lecture went through one ear and out the other.

After a while, I snapped out of my shock and pointed at the man. I then asked Liza who he was. She gave a bitter smile and answered.

“That’s Carlos Melykek-sama, Lumina-sama. The person you dueled against two months ago.”

As she spoke, I placed a hand on my chin and recalled our previous duel. I remembered that he had tried to pin false accusations on me.

After recollecting these details, I narrowed my eyes and asked Carlos-sama why he was here. Despite his actions, he was from one of the four prominent families and thus deserved a respectful title.

Now that I think about it, that serpent insignia with a blue background is their symbol. Why did I forget about it?

“I’m here because I bear a gift for you.”

“A gift?”

When I heard this, I raised my guard.

“First you accuse me, and now you’re giving me a gift?”

“That’s right. Consider this a token of my apology for my previous behavior and for insulting you by calling you trash. I, as one of the heirs of the four families, am deeply embarrassed by my conduct at that time—”

Blah blah blah blah

“You think a simple gift is enough compensation for what you did? You do realize that my reputation would have been ruined if I had lost that duel, right?”

I lowered my voice and observed him from head to toe. In the corner, Emilia had already formed three funnels and was concentrating mana to prepare a sword. All that was left was to materialize them.

“For that, I ask for your forgiveness. It was a folly of my youth.”

“…”

I was too busy concentrating on the mana to answer him. However, he interpreted my silence as encouragement to continue.

“And so, I present to you my gift.”

Two people with blue hair styled into drills—one on the right and the other on the left—entered, carrying a chocolate cake. Emilia glared at Liza as the scene unfolded.

“What’s more, I announce that our house will form an alliance with your faction.”

As Carlos-sama spoke, Emilia created a mana screen in front of me.

“Lumina-sama, please ignore the cake for now and listen to what he’s saying.”

“Cough* What’s he talking about?”

“He’s saying that his house is going to form an alliance with yours.”

“Why?”

“That’s why I told you to listen…”

Emilia sighed and let the mana screen dissipate. I looked at Carlos-sama, who was still talking. Realizing this might take a while if I left him to his own devices, I decided to interrupt.

“Why don’t we move elsewhere and continue this discussion?”

“Un, that’s a fine suggestion. Let’s go quickly. Though drinking tea in a shabby villa like this isn’t worthy of my stature, I’ll allow it for now since it’s where you live.”

Fuu~ Just how long-winded is this guy?

I turned around, estimating that it would be a while. As we passed through the living room, I quickly told my mother that we were heading to the garden where I usually practice.

“I see, so you’re having tea in the garden behind your house? Though there may not be many flowers, if this is where you prefer to have the tea party, then I see no reason to stop you.”

When we arrived in the garden, Carlos-sama continued his speech. I chose to ignore him and informed Liza that we would be having tea in the sky. Hearing this, the twins behind her looked puzzled and asked why.

“Lumina-sama has always liked to drink tea in the sky, Krisha, Misha.”

“But Liza-nee, is it even possible to have a party there?”

“Misha also thinks it’s impossible.”

“Well, it’s a bit hard to explain, so it’s better to show you.”

Liza gave a bitter smile as she answered the twins. They nodded obediently, like good little sisters. Meanwhile, I glared at them with a touch of envy, thinking of my own little brother.

As I was glaring, I noticed a small puff of pink behind Liza. When I focused on it, I saw that it was a girl, around 3 or 4 years old. When the girl noticed my gaze, she hid behind Liza and began to tremble. Emilia also spotted her and stared curiously.

Liza, seeing my attention on the girl, made a thoughtful expression.

“Lumina-sama, this is the daughter of Duke Mearess. Since she’s a hostage of your faction, it’s been decided she’ll stay in your home.”

“Eh?”

That cute little girl—who instinctively invokes a protective response—is a hostage? Hmmm… if I remember correctly, Duke Mearess’s daughter was kidnapped, so that means…

Eeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?

Although I struggled to keep my face composed, I was shocked to learn that this child was our hostage.

With a forced smile, I asked Emilia to prepare a second room for the little girl while we headed to the sky.

“Liza, would it be alright if you brew the tea while I slice the cake?”

“Gladly! It has been two months since we last had a tea party together, Lumina-sama.”

“Fufufu, I can’t wait to see what tea you’ll brew today.”

With slow steps, I ascended to the sky. Behind me were Liza and her younger sisters. As we neared the clouds, I suddenly remembered that we had forgotten about Carlos-sama. Luckily, when I looked back, I saw him heading this way with Emilia.