Good morning. Although I slept late last night, the conditions are perfect.
Today is a good day, and it would be fitting for me to make my special equipment. While I was walking around the mansion alone from morning, after quickly getting ready to go out, one of the servants was looking for me.
“Good morning, Yumiela-sama. Are you there? “
“Good morning, is everything alright?”
“I apologize for disturbing you this morning, but there is a messenger from Count Archiam.”
Count Archiam… That’s where I went yesterday with Eleanora. I guess he had a letter from Dorothea addressed to Eleanora. Did she write a letter of refusal in a hurry, because it would be tough if we attacked her when the Dukes’ faction had just been destroyed? It was sooner than I expected.
“Please just accept the letter and it will be all right.”
“No, it appears that it is for Yumiela-sama herself. I have told him to come back another day, but he says he will wait as long as he has to.”
There are quite a few noblemen who want to meet me. I received invitations to visit, parties, and tea ceremonies. But I usually turn them down because they are after the world’s most powerful person.
But what business would it be? It is unlikely that Count Archiam, who is unable to act conspicuously, would want to meet with me.
Although the nature of the business was unknown, so was Elenora’s. Intending to at least urge a letter from Dorothea, I decided to head for the reception room.
When I went to the reception room, I found an old man sitting there with a nervous look on his face. He was old enough to be called an old man, but not that old, perhaps because of his sharply dressed appearance. He somehow radiated the same atmosphere as Damon.
When he saw me, he stood up hastily.
“Excuse me for the unexpected visit. I’m Kevin, Archiam’s family steward. The family head has an urgent request for Count Dolknes.”
He was so desperate that I was a little taken aback. I was tempted to take a few steps back and close the door, though I had already entered the room.
They’re going to ask me to do something outrageous, aren’t they? I’ll just accept the letter addressed to Eleanora and ask him to leave quickly.
“Welcome. My name is Yumiela Dolknes. Before we talk, please allow me to receive the letter from Dorothea-sama.”
“There’s no letter.”
“Huh?”
“There’s no letter! From Dorothea-sama!!”
He says this with unflappable enthusiasm as he raises his voice in odd places. His face and his mannerisms seem quiet, but he is so unexplainably loud.
But more importantly, what do you mean there’s no letter? It doesn’t add up that Eleanora-chan can’t see her old friend.
“The gatekeeper has informed you, hasn’t he? At this rate, I will have to visit you with Eleanora, won’t I?”
Reusing the same threat I made to the gatekeeper yesterday, the volume of my voice rises even higher.
“Do you mean that Count Dolknes and Eleanora-sama are in Count Archiam’s house, where Dorothea-sama is?!”
He then holds his throat and coughs a few times. Why do you push yourself so hard, Grandpa? You’re not used to shouting.
He calls himself a steward, but I wonder if he is all right. Feeling fed up with the arrival of such a strange person, I heard footsteps coming toward us from outside the reception room.
Well, if he were this loud, people would be wondering what was going on… Wait? While he was generally noisy, it was when he called Dorothea’s name that he was particularly vocal.
The only person staying at the mansion who would react to Dorothea’s name enters the reception room.
“I heard Dorothea’s name! Don’t tell me, is she here?”
His target was Eleanora. When I looked up, I saw the Archiam family steward with a wry smile on his face, thinking he had done a good job. I realized that I was dealing with a nasty person, not a loudmouthed weirdo, but it was too late. His smile is meek, filled with composure, and he says in a calm tone.
“It’s been a long time, Eleanora-sama. Do you still remember me? I’m Kevin, Archiam’s family steward.”
“Of course I remember you. How is Dorothea? I was worried when she didn’t respond to my letters.”
“…Yes, Dorothea-sama hasn’t change.”
Kevin looks uncomfortable and smiles awkwardly at Eleanora, who is deeply concerned for Dorothea’s well-being.
If you’re going to be black-hearted, play the black-hearted character to the end. It seriously makes it harder to get rid of him. With a sigh, I stab him with a needle.
“If you feel guilty, please stop trying to deceive us.”
“I apologize. I was trying to make a joke out of it, but at my age I’m not used to doing that.”
“Then, Eleanora will go over there and please take care of her. I won’t be going.”
“Dorothea-sama would be happy if Yumiela-sama could come as well.”
Are you feeling guilty, or are you just acting like it? As I suppress my tongue, Eleanora, who has been sitting next to me for some time, says exactly what I imagined she would say.
“Yumiela, let’s go there together!”
His cunning is evident when he is willing to give up on me, which I refuse to do, and let Eleanora go. Oh, so this is what he is after?
“Is this what you want?”
“I don’t mean to be unreasonable. Master has given me strict orders to bring the Count with me, but I personally believe that Eleanora-sama alone will suffice.”
“If that’s all, why not just send a letter of invitation to Eleanora?”
“Letters may be lost along the way.”
Letters between nobles are delivered to the end by the sender’s side, who is responsible for the final delivery. Even if it is suspicious when crossing the border, postal accidents aren’t something that happens in the capital. In short, he is saying that I would seize it.
How could I pretend that the letter to Eleanora didn’t exist? Oh, I might do that. Although I will give it directly to Eleanora this time, I will look at the contents if I find anything suspicious, and depending on the contents, I may even seize the letter.
Whether he said it in front of me or not, he was right to be concerned.
“You will go, won’t you? Dorothea has a lot of beautiful puppets.”
“I’ll go, I’ll go.”
I immediately responded to Eleanora’s fretting. If I persisted, she might leave me alone, but I was worried about letting her go alone to such a seedy nobleman’s house.
“So when are you going to be there? I’m busy too.”
“How about today or tomorrow? Whether you come in the morning or at night, whenever is convenient for you and the Archiam family will be ready to welcome you at any time.”
For some reason, I knew that the situation was so dire that Count Archiam had to take a risk to get in touch with me. But that far? Was this the kind of situation that would get to a bad point by the day after tomorrow or so?
I frowned as I began to smell something even more suspicious, but Eleanora seemed happy.
“Today is the day Yumiela is going to make her equipment, isn’t it? Will it be too late after that?”
“I think it will take all day. It will probably be tomorrow. Please tell Count Archiam and Dorothea-sama that.”
“Understood. If your schedule permits, please come today.”
“Tomorrow.”
The cunning old man has instigated me to pay a visit to the Archiam residence tomorrow. There’s no way I can just drink tea and go home; now I dread what awaits me.
At any rate, let’s focus on making my equipment today. We can tackle it over the day, and then work on the Archiam countermeasures afterwards. If I discuss it with Patrick, he may come up with a good solution.
Let’s go all out and have fun just for today. I’m going to put all my desires into making the best piece of equipment I can!
If they mess up her outing for equipment, any other issue will be smaller than her…