– Clatter, clatter…
The carriage that left the Count’s estate rattled as it traveled along the dirt roads of the territory.
“Every time I come here, I feel it again—your family’s domain is truly insignificant.”
“Haha…”
“Other than the fact that it’s right next to the capital, there’s nothing appealing about it.”
Meredia, who was frowning at the shaking, grumbled, and I turned my gaze aside with an awkward smile.
‘And yet, it’s precisely because of that one advantage that so many people are scheming to take our land.’
Well, to the daughter of the Embergreen Duchy, which owns the largest and wealthiest territory in the empire, this place might indeed seem insignificant.
But that’s only until Parsha arrives.
If she manages the land for just a few years, Lingard, a strategic location for both transportation and mana stones, has limitless potential for growth.
Of course, that is—assuming Parsha doesn’t do something insane like pouring all our funds into the nearly abandoned Levertaine Mine.
“By the way, who is the maid sitting next to you?”
Just as I was putting aside my needless worries because I trusted Parsha’s abilities, Meredia turned her gaze toward me and asked in a cold voice.
“Hik.”
At that, Sasha, who had been frozen beside me for some time, began trembling with a tearful expression.
“Sasha is my personal maid. She’s very kind and innocent.”
“…Y-Yes, that’s right. Hehe.”
I hadn’t expected to end up riding in the same carriage as Lady Meredia, so I had no choice but to bring Sasha along.
But at least now, I no longer have to worry about Lady Meredia harming her.
After all, she and I are now in the same boat.
If it were Runiel or Parsha, maybe—but she wouldn’t bother picking on an ordinary maid like Sasha.
“Your bodyguard is a woman, your butler is a woman, and now even your personal attendant is a woman.”
However, it seemed Meredia was annoyed about something else entirely.
“Uh… is that so?”
“Yes. I understand your tastes very well now.”
Wait, this is unfair.
I chose my personnel purely based on ability.
And besides, Runiel might be one thing, but Parsha and Sasha are so young that touching them would be a literal crime.
“……”
Still, seeing Meredia turn her gaze toward the window again with an icy expression, it was clear I needed to take some kind of action.
“…What are you doing?”
“I was rude to my fiancée by looking away, wasn’t I?”
So, I quietly stood up and moved to sit beside her.
Meredia, who had been glaring at me, now gave me an incredulous look.
“I didn’t tell you to sit next to me so presumptuously.”
“Haha. Well, does it really matter? We’re engaged, after all.”
“…Tch.”
As I joked with her, Meredia clicked her tongue and turned her gaze away again.
‘Did her mood lighten a little…?’
Judging from my past experiences with her, her expression seemed just a tiny bit softer, which was a relief.
“By the way, our engagement… it’s still intact, right?”
“What kind of question is that?”
“Well… it’s just that, last time… I thought you would be utterly repulsed by what I said.”
I cautiously brought up the past incident, and this time, Meredia fully turned her gaze toward me, tilting her head.
“You said it yourself back then, didn’t you? That you despise foolish men who fall for you simply because you’re beautiful.”
“……”
“Honestly, I was worried you’d break off the engagement.”
As I spoke in a worried tone, Meredia frowned slightly.
“That was about idiots blinded by my power or appearance.”
“Oh, really?”
Fortunately, her response left some room for interpretation.
“And honestly, while I don’t understand your attitude, this is good news for me.”
Just as I was about to sigh in relief, Meredia continued, her lips curling into a cold smile.
“I don’t know what it is about me that you like, but that’s none of my concern.”
“……”
“The important thing is that it just got easier to use you.”
Ah, yes. That’s the Lady Meredia I know.
In a way, it’s reassuring to know that she won’t suddenly try to kill me for being rude.
“So, don’t go having any useless fantasies. The only reason I overlook your lecherous thoughts is because you’re still useful to me.”
Still, it stung a little that my heartfelt confession had zero effect on her.
“Are you not going to respond?”
Maybe I should risk my life and tease her just once?
“Your eyes are truly beautiful, Lady Meredia.”
“…What?”
“Haha. Didn’t you ask what I find attractive about you?”
I threw out the joke on impulse, and when Meredia, who had been glaring at me, suddenly whipped her head away, I instinctively lowered my gaze in defeat.
‘Yeah… it’s painfully obvious I’ve never been in a relationship before.’
If I try this kind of joke one more time, I might not survive—even if I had seven lives to spare.
– Swoosh…
As I reflected on my behavior, slumping my shoulders in the now awkward atmosphere, something suddenly appeared before me—a box wrapped with a ribbon.
“Lady Meredia? What is this?”
“If you’re curious, open it and see for yourself.”
It turned out that Lady Meredia was holding it out to me.
“Oh?”
Curious, I opened the box and let out a gasp at the sight of the colorful papers inside.
“They’re leftover sheets from a misordered batch. I don’t need them, so take them if you want.”
But upon closer inspection, these didn’t look like ordinary sheets at all.
Even at a glance, the materials and craftsmanship were high quality, and some even had gold foil embroidery.
“If you don’t want it, forget it.”
“Haha. Thank you. I actually have a hobby of origami.”
However, since it suited my taste too well to refuse, I shamelessly accepted the box she offered.
“Do you know the legend that says if you fold a thousand paper cranes, your wish will come true?”
“……”
“Look, I’ve already folded one. Haha…”
Picking out a platinum-colored sheet similar to Lady Meredia’s hair, I demonstrated my skills.
Still turning her head away, Meredia, who had been glaring at me from the corner of her eye, muttered in a blunt voice.
“I didn’t know you could smile so innocently.”
My smile had always been full of innocence—what was she talking about?
I almost felt a little hurt, but since she had just given me such a wonderful gift, I decided to let it slide.
“How did you end up with such a childish hobby?”
“Oh, that…”
As I carefully closed the box and tucked it into my coat, I momentarily fell silent at Meredia’s question and began reminiscing about the past.
“Actually, there was a time when I was sick and bedridden.”
That was back in my previous life, when I was too young to play video games and could do little else but lie in bed.
“Then I heard somewhere that if you fold a thousand paper cranes, your wish will come true. So, filled with childish hope, I folded them diligently.”
To be honest, I can’t quite remember who told me that foolish tale.
I had no friends back then, and my parents barely paid me any attention, so it was probably the kind nurse who took care of me.
“In the end, even after folding not just a thousand but ten thousand cranes, my wish never came true.”
“……”
“But since there wasn’t much else I could do at the time, it just naturally became a hobby. Haha…”
Now, it’s just a hazy memory that I can laugh about, but back then, my younger self cried for days.
“…I see.”
For some reason, Meredia’s expression darkened slightly.
‘Oh, right, she was bedridden as a child too.’
I suddenly recalled that her past was quite similar to mine.
Wondering if I had unintentionally dampened the mood, I glanced at her cautiously.
“Thinking about it… I suppose it’s not such a childish hobby after all.”
Instead of her usual sharp tone, Meredia quietly corrected herself while observing my face.
“I used to…”
She trailed off and turned back toward the window, but I could guess what she had left unsaid.
Even though it was only briefly mentioned in the setting materials, I knew that as a child, she had a habit of talking to dolls.
Since I was a devoted fan, I had memorized even those little details.
However, if I brought that up now, the mood would surely turn cold, so I decided to express my gratitude instead.
“Thank you for the gift, Lady Meredia.”
“…It’s not a gift. I was just throwing it away.”
Although she said that, no one in the world wraps up something in ribbon before discarding it, especially when it happens to suit the recipient’s taste perfectly.
‘If someone saw this, they’d think she was a tsundere.’
Of course, considering that I had never once mentioned my hobby to Lady Meredia, this was likely her way of warning me that she could easily gather information about me.
Even so, I couldn’t help but feel happy.
“Lady Meredia, actually, I prepared a gift for you too…”
“…?”
“But now doesn’t seem like the right time, so I’ll give it to you later.”
If I had known this would happen, I would have taken the time earlier to prepare and bring the gift.
But handing over such a heartfelt present in a rattling carriage didn’t seem ideal, so I decided to save the moment when she would be surprised for another time.
“Still, since I shouldn’t just receive something, would you like a paper crane I folded?”
“No need.”
Just from the expressive reaction she had shown earlier, I could probably live off that satisfaction for years.
*****
“Wow, chatting really made the time fly—we’re already here.”
Since the Lingard County was so close to the capital, by the time Meredia and Whitney finished their conversation, the grand scenery of the academy was already visible outside the window.
“Shall we get off now?”
As the carriage slowed to a stop at its destination, Whitney, seemingly in high spirits from receiving a gift, hummed a tune as he stepped out of the carriage.
“Come to think of it, I don’t know much about that guy.”
Meredia might have furrowed her brows at Whitney’s complete lack of escorting etiquette.
“…I really despise things being unbalanced.”
Still seated quietly inside, she murmured in a low voice, fiddling with the platinum-colored paper crane Whitney had placed in her hand.
“Hey, maid.”
“Why aren’t you getting off?”
She turned her gaze to Sasha, who had been sitting there with her head down, covering her ears with both hands just as Whitney had taught her.
“Ah, yes! I-I’m sorry!”
“You could hear everything anyway, so why were you covering your ears?”
“Hik!”
Caught by an unintended leading question, Sasha started trembling.
Letting out a quiet sigh, Meredia asked her another question.
“Enough with the nonsense. Just answer my question.”
“A-ask me anything!”
“Is it true that your master was sick as a child?”
At those words, Sasha hesitated, glancing at Meredia’s expression, then replied in a timid voice.
“U-um, I only started working a few months ago as a new maid…”
“…A new maid is his personal attendant?”
“I-I’m sorry?”
Meredia, who found the staffing situation unthinkable by Embergreen Ducal standards, momentarily looked baffled before deciding to let it go and changed her question.
“Let me ask something else. Has your master done anything suspicious recently?”
“Um, well…”
But that question was far beyond Sasha’s ability to answer.
“There are too many things to know where to start…?”
“…I just wasted my time.”
Realizing this, Meredia abandoned further questioning and prepared to leave.
“…D-do you have any more questions?”
“Why don’t you take care of your master instead?”
“Ah, y-yes!”
Shrinking under her gaze, Sasha quickly stood up and scurried outside like a startled squirrel at Meredia’s words.
“Why did he bring along such a clueless girl…?”
Muttering as she watched Sasha’s retreating figure, Meredia soon picked up the paper crane she had been holding and followed her out of the carriage.
“…Huh?”
Suddenly, her sharp eyes narrowed.
“Greetings, Sir Whitney.”
“Hello?”
“I am Pierre, an officer of the Academy’s Commoners’ Association. I was told that you specifically requested me as your guide for today, so I have been waiting here.”
The man addressing Whitney at the academy’s entrance had a face that Meredia found particularly displeasing.
‘Of all people, he chose this radical as his guide? What is he thinking?’
The Commoners’ Association was a self-governing organization that had existed since the academy’s founding, maintaining the principle that education should be equally accessible to all.
Although the influence of the nobility had diminished its impact in recent years, the current emperor, who valued talent over lineage, had intervened and granted the association unprecedented authority.
‘A mere commoner daring to veto the board’s decision—how ridiculous.’
In fact, ever since the decision for a rematch in the Young Talents Selection Tournament, Meredia, who had applied as a judge, had been unable to finalize her position until this very morning due to the Commoners’ Association exercising its veto power.
‘Trying to cover up the stain of her illegitimate claim to the throne with these petty gestures, is that it?’
And everyone knew that the mastermind behind the association’s growing power was none other than the emperor herself.
“May I ask why you specifically requested me?”
“……”
“I’m a very busy person, you see. If you need someone to serve you, I think you’ve got the wrong guy.”
Just as Meredia was glaring at him with open displeasure for his insolent attitude toward Whitney, something unexpected happened.
“O-Oh? Big brother?”
Sasha, who had been hurrying toward Whitney, suddenly froze.
Then, eyes wide with surprise, she stared at Pierre and called out to him in a trembling voice.
“…Sasha?”
At the same time, the boy who had just introduced himself to Whitney looked just as stunned and called her name in return.
“I-I missed you… Hic…”
Already looking pitiful after enduring Meredia’s scolding earlier, Sasha’s face crumpled, and tears began streaming down her cheeks.
“Haha… Honestly, our Sasha cries way too easily.”
“……”
“By the way, Pierre, was it?”
As Whitney watched the emotional reunion in silence, he casually placed a hand on Pierre’s shoulder.
Then, narrowing his eyes, he lowered his voice and whispered into his ear.
“How does it feel to see your little sister again after so long?”
Meredia, observing the sinister smile creeping onto Whitney’s face, shook her head internally and muttered to herself.
‘…So that’s why he brought her.’
Cliche Novel 
🏳️
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