“A-Are you getting married, Clara?”

At first, both Clara and Fran were confused as to why Rina would come to this conclusion when Fran had told them that the Lumiére family would be attending Clara's Social Debut and twelfth birthday. But then Clara recalled that she had once told her maid, that Eric had tried to get a connection to the Lumiére by marrying Clara off.

So, Clara spoke up in a gentle voice to calm the agitated Rina down. “I'm not getting married. Father has already promised me that he won't bring up that topic anymore.”

“R-really?”

“Yes, so I'm not going anywhere, okay?”

“Mhm.” Rina nodded at her mistress's words and wiped her eyes dry. Then she and Clara stood up and returned to their places, with Clara sitting on the sofa facing Fran and Rina standing diagonally behind her mistress.

“I'm sorry Lady Fran, I have interrupted your important conversation and, once again, showed you an unsightly display...”

“Okay, apology accepted... well, there's nothing to apologise for in the first place. Are you already completely calm?”

“Yes~!” Rina smiled with a bright smile.

“Good, to hear,” Fran said and then turned to face Clara. “... I know what you're thinking, so please wipe that smug look off your face, it's annoying.”

“Or what? Just let me keep my good mood...”

“Haaaah.” After heaving a sigh, the elf looked at Rina again and patted her own lap. “Rina, how about you come here and sit on my lap? Maybe I can calm you further down while I hug you?”

“HAAAH!? Stupid elf, what are you saying!? Of course, it's rejected!” Needless to say, it was Clara who interjected immediately at Fran's suggestion.

Rina, on the other hand, couldn't follow the conversation since Fran had accepted her apology at all. Still, she managed to decline her teacher's offer. “N-no, I'm already calm, but thank you nonetheless.”

“My~ look at this kind, innocent girl, how can it be, that you chose such a feisty mistress?”

Instead of Rina, it was, once again, Clara who spoke up hissing the white flag. “Enough of this already, you win this time, so can we continue our conversation?” It went without saying that her smug expression from a minute ago was now nowhere to be seen.

Having achieved her goal, Fran flipped her inner switch to turn serious again. “Okay, back to the topic... it seems Duke Lumiére himself will come.”

“What? Why should the Prime Minister himself attend the Social Debut of a Viscount's daughter? He has no reason to...” Clara stopped herself during her speech upon realising what Duke Lumiére's goal was and looked back at the girl standing behind her.

“Eh?” Rina was naturally confused by the sudden focus of attention on her.

Noticing the redhead's confusion, Clara asked, “Do you remember what I told you about the Lumiéres?”

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“Yes, you said that Lord Eric tried to connect with them by having you marry one of their sons.” Rina couldn't help but blush, remembering the way she had acted earlier at the thought of her crush getting married.

“Yes, but I told you more about them, didn't I?”

“Hmm... Ah! You also explained that the Lumiéres are looking for people with strong magical affinities... d-don't tell me...”

Seeing that her maid finally understood the problem, Clara was about to confirm Rina's conclusion. But it was then, when the red-haired girl's next words confused not only her but Fran as well.

“... the Lumiéres want you to marry one of their sons, after all?”

“”Ehh?””

“Eh?”

“””...”””

“Rina? How did you reach this conclusion!?” Clara was the one who broke the short, awkward silence.

“W-well, they collect people with unusual and strong magic abilities. Wouldn't they want you with your fire breath?”

This time, it was Fran, who answered the maid's question. “No, if they did, they wouldn't have turned down Eric's marriage proposal in the first place. It's already well known, that the members of the Dragonherz family can breathe fire.”

“Why would they come, then?”

“We have another girl here besides me who has a special magic affinity, haven't we?” Both Clara and Fran looked, no, glared at the red-haired girl. But without waiting for a reaction from her maid, Clara turned back to Fran. “But I also wonder, why they would attend. Did they somehow get wind of the fact that we have someone with Dark magic affinity?”

“I think so,” the elf shared Clara's conclusion. “I suspect you might have a servant here who knows about Rina's abilities and sold the information to the world.”

“Fran, my opinion of you has changed for the better over the last year. You might even say, that I trust you to a considerable extent, so please don't say anything that might diminish that trust in you again...”

At Clara's words, which sounded like a threat, Fran glared at the blonde girl, who returned it. The staring contest lasted for several seconds until the elf raised her arms in the air. “Okay, okay young Lady, I'm sorry for my thoughtless words. I didn't mean to offend any of your staff.”

“As long as you understand.” The expression on Clara's face softened again.

It was then that Rina jumped in again, still unable to understand the root of the problem. “Um... why do you think, that the Lumiéres would come for that reason? Maybe they just accepted the invitation to celebrate your Social Debut and birthday?”

“”...””

“I mean, they are the Prime Minister's family, right? Maybe they are good people.”

Fran shook her head at the nine-year-old's words. “No, they're absolutely not good people”

Only upon hearing those words, Rina remembered that Fran had lost her position as the High Priestess primarily because of the Prime Minister. So feeling bad, that she might have hurt Fran's feelings by seeming to protect the Lumiéres, Rina left her position, approached her instructor, and bowed. “I'm sorry Lady Fran, I have not thought deeply about my words and have hurt you as a result. I hope you can forgive me.”

Not letting this chance slip by, the elf quickly took the small girl her arms and rubbed Rina's cheeks with her own. “Ahhh~... You are so sweet, Rina! Of course, I'll forgive you. If all people were like you, the world would be a much better place.”

Relieved that Fran didn't seem to be hurt, sad, angry, or the like at all, Rina just kept still and let her teacher do as she pleased. After all, it was because of Rina's careless words, so she was simply reaping what she had sown. Yes, it was only because of her guilty feelings for Fran and not at all because Rina liked the scent of the elf and being in close contact with a beautiful woman... definitely not. The only problem was that Rina's not objecting to Fran's actions might upset Clara.

And indeed, when Rina threw a glance at her mistress, she could clearly perceive that Clara's face was twitching. No, that was putting it too mildly, as Clara's entire body was trembling, close to exploding. Fortunately for the redhead, Clara was able to control herself. Unfortunately, this meant that Rina was in for a long scolding session afterwards.

But it was then, when Fran suddenly stopped what she was doing and let go of the maid. This caused both Rina and Clara to look at the elf, only to see a grim expression on Fran's face.

“I-is something wrong?” Over the past year, Clara had gotten a pretty good grasp on the elf's personality. Although Fran seemed to be joking around and teasing her very often, too often to be honest, Clara judged the elf to be a trustworthy person. In her eyes, Fran had a good head on her shoulders and knew the political world very well. It was clear, that Fran hadn't become the High Priestess for nothing. That was why Fran's predictions and analyses of events very often hit the mark. Therefore, when Clara saw her magic instructor's grim face, she knew that something bad was bound to happen.

After all, this meant that Fran had just realised something. And it was undoubtedly bad news for them.

And indeed, the next words that came out of the former High Priestess's mouth, confirmed Clara's bad feeling.

“Clara, I have a question for you, and I want you to think deeply about it and answer me honestly.”

The girl nodded, albeit with obvious hesitation.

“Would you antagonise your father for your maid?”