“Alstroe?”

“Hmm? Ah…I doze off a little…Ahahaha”

She clearly didn’t doze off just a little. There’s something in her mind that she does not want to speak of. Since coming back in the castle, Alstroe, although showed her usual lively countenance to everyone, started falling into a deep thought once we are alone.

Even as we slept yesterday, Alstroe has something in her mind that she clearly doesn’t want to talk about but it kept bothering her.

It has been three days since Tzari started working under Fonfon to gain his trusts and possibly earn some money because he is broke.

The sly man uses his similarity with Fonfon to his advantage to get on his good side. Note that he blatantly tell us, including Fonfon, that he is just here to mooch us off.

We are down half the list of the city inspection with the help of Miss Cecille. She is too familiar with every cities, towns, and village that just one glance, she immediately knew what’s happening in the place.

Her keen intellect for the local economics proven to be helpful on multiple occasions and her extremely apt social skill fills any questions unanswered with thorough questioning.

I think that Miss Cecille is someone suited better in this job, after all, all I’ve been doing is watching her from the side in the pretext of a royalty.

And even today, I am going to rely on Miss Cecille with the inspection. I know that’s what we paid her for but I feel really useless. Not that I can just walk up to someone and start talking about the city’s economy.

Miss Cecille only told me that there are jobs suited for specific people and that it happens that she is quite familiar with the job. A King cannot do a farmer’s job but a farmer cannot simply imitate a king.

That was a simple analogy that even I can understand.

Setting that aside, my concern right now is Alstroe. She didn’t crack from my question and just replied with a smile on her face. It’s not that I hate seeing her smile happily like that but, deep inside me, I feel like there’s something wrong.

I’ve been with her for several months but, this is the first time that I noticed it, the thing about Alstroe. The only emotion she only portrayed in front of us, albeit willingly, is either happiness or joy. There’s not much difference between those two.

The bottom line is that I never saw Alstroe showed any other emotions other than that one time where she broke down with Nil’s power.

With those thoughts in my mind, I look out at the window where the ashen clouds that hide the glorious morning sun from its curtain. Unlike yesterday where the sun rain down its gentle ray of light, today is cloudy.

Wow…

I do hope so that’s not giving any kind of signs of mishap. I’d be too damned if every jutting guts that I feel are always on point.

I return my sight to Alstroe who looks at me quizzically with her innocent round eyes.

“What’s wrong, Alstroe?”

“No, no, no! What’s wrong, Asagao?! You seem like you are out of it!”

“Isn’t that the same thing I just asked you?!”

“Is it?”

“It is!”

I think she is messing with me, this cheeky brat!

I can’t do anything but heave a light sigh. Seeing how she acts, I cannot force an answer out of her. In the first place, I don’t like forcing people to say something.

There is something inside Alstroe, I just know it. She is…averting her sight from something. I am certain but I don’t know how to explain it.

I continued brushing her hair as she lay on my lap.

Each time I stroke her hair with the brush, her head sways towards my direction. Each time she moves backward, her natural fragrance brought by her youthfulness enter my nose. Each time her back leans on me, her warmness is transmitted to me.

I shouldn’t be having wicked thoughts but I kind of want to play a prank on her. Since turning into this small brat, she became a little bit more mischievous. I guess there’s a distinctive trait such as mischief descended upon this girl.

“Alstroe, you smell nice.”

“Asagao isn’t any less fragrant!”

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“Is that so? I did wash my face and applied some mint moisturizer earlier. Come to think of it, Alstroe, have you brushed your teeth yet?”

“Ayy…”

“Go do it.”

From my command, Alstroe obediently left my lap and hastily rushes to the bathroom with a pitter patter. I am not going to get used to those small but fast steps coming from her in a good way.

About the moisturizer…

My skin doesn’t really get dry or gets crack. I think it’s the work of my own ability and something along the line of being a Transcendental Being’s weird and unfair trait. It’s just that the minty sensation in my skin feels good.

Good thing I have loads of skin care, cosmetic products, and daily perishable necessities from Mimosa. It’s hard for me to survive now in the wilderness without any of these!

…It’s scary to think that as a former guy, this stuff makes me happy.

I see no redemption for my manly ego anymore.

KNOCK

KNOCK

KNOCK

Someone is knocking at the door, huh?

I can pretty much guess who it is.

“Enter.”

Upon my words, the door opens and from there, Daisy appears, good and ready for another day with her fluttering frilly gothic lolita dress with red and black theme that oddly matches with her dry blond hair with her fluffy cub ears and tail.

As I stare at her, she immediately sprouted a displeased countenance.

“I bet you’re thinking of something rude again!”

“I am not! I am really not! I was just thinking how flashy your dress is.”

“That’s what I mean by rude! You are a princess yourself so you should learn how to dress up fancily like this, especially when you are facing the public!”

“I am not that particular with a dress and I like moving around comfortably with light clothing.”

“Grrr! Where’s Miss Cecille anyway?!”

“Ah, she’s probably heading here right now.”

For the past days, Miss Cecille refused to sleep in the castle. I even requested to the maid to give her a vacated room for her use but she profusely refused.

Miss Cecille said that she is not comfortable sleeping in soft and fluffy bed and prefer hard and tacky ones. It’s a bad habit that she has when she was an adventurer.

She prefers commuting from a cheap inn to the castle. I get it that Miss Cecille has an aversion to luxuries but I just hope that she’d spend some time with Alstroe as her guardian.

Though I don’t hate hugging Alstroe as I sleep every night.

“Hey, are you listening?!”

“Ah, sorry! You were saying?”

“See here, you! Listen when people talk!”

“Please don’t be so furious. A refined lady such as you shouldn’t lose her composure.”

“And who do you think at fault here? Anyway, as I was saying, what is the plan today? Sir Tzari said he still has something he needs to do for King Astlan.”

“Ah, yeah! Today, we are going to inspect a small town called Ceres Town.”

Although I called it a town, there’s a huge economic decline for the past ten years in this town that it barely keeps up with the upkeep even with the support from the noble governing the land within his territory.

With such decline, even I can conclude that there’s a factor affecting either their livelihood or something is amiss. But what made me think is that Fonfon and Violetta have been doing this inspection for five years now and for some reason, even if they keep sending help to this specific town, it only slowed down their decline in their economy.

“I see, then, why are you still not prepared yet?!”

“Ah…”

I’m still in my pajamas.

I guess I don’t have anything to say back to her at the very least.

“Ah, Daisy, good morning!”

“Good morning, Alstroemeria. You are as laid back as Asagao! What were you two doing?! Get dress immediately!”

“Eeep! Daisy, you’re such a nag.”

Alstroe sprouted a troubled countenance from Daisy’s scolding. She’s been doing it for the past three days, going to our room as early as she can and start the day by telling us to dress up.

“Now I’m really pissed! Miss Asagao and Miss Alstroemeria, you two need to dress up like a lady after all!”

“Ah… wait! What are you doing!? That’s my cabinet!”

“Exactly! I am going to look for something for you to wear today!”

Upon opening the cabinet, countless dresses and clothes immediately reveal themselves in front of Daisy. She has already seen my collection of clothes so she deftly stroke her hand and started picking out something.

“Um…you really don’t have to…”

“What?! You’d think I’ll let you be in that rugged state you called clothes any longer? Plain shirt, boring shorts without any distinctive design that doesn’t look ladylike at all, and commoners boots, all of those are just plain sore in the eyes!”

“That’s how I want to move around. When a battle happens, I am prepared to draw my sword and swiftly move.”

“Don’t think of battles every time! You have the appearance to stand beside me as a pair of beautiful ladies and you are wasting it!”

This time, I’ll concede from Daisy’s wish to dress me up. I don’t think she wants to dress me up like a doll but rather, she truly sees my value as a girl, that is, if I am really a girl internally.

As Daisy picks a dress for me, Alstroe lightly laughs.

“Hehehe…”

“Ah, don’t think you are not up for something too, Alstroemeria!”

“Eh?!”

“I feel sorry for Miss Cecille! I at least know she wants to see you wearing something nice once in a while!”

“Wait, is that so?!”

“That is so! You should do something nice for her once in a while! Aren’t you two family?!”

From Daisy’s words, Alstroe’s smiling countenance breaks and she fell in a lamenting silence. It was a serene but deafening stillness for me as she once again forces herself to smile.

“You’re right! Big Sis Cecille is a family to me! That also includes Asagao who treated me as one! If I can make them happy, then I don’t have any problem wearing one.”

“You’re surprisingly obedient! Well then, I’ll pick something nice here!”

Daisy resumes rummaging through my cabinet and made us wear her recommendations. As soon as Miss Cecille arrive, we departed shortly for the first inspection of the day.

Again, Alstroe showed another one of those faces. I don’t like that emotion that she keeps spilling but whenever I confront her about it, she’ll just falsify another smile and show her cheerfulness.

Those smile of her…

Sooner or later, those smiles of her will reveal something deeper, those smiles that she uses to mask her ugliest emotions, that smile will crumble.

Ugly emotions not brought by her own but brought by people around her when she was younger…

Soon we will now, as we stand in front of the town called Ceres Town. This town with battered walls and gates that barely hangs on the hinges and land unrefined.

With Miss Cecille and Daisy, we witness it.

“Alstroe…”

I called out to her as she looks at the front of the gate that leads inside the town.

“I’m sorry…! I’m sorry…! Father…mother…!”

Her shrilly and trembling voice rang as she apologizes to no one. Her teeth clatter and her eyes started spilling tears. Together with her trembling shoulders, from the tip of her fingers to her arm, she shakes nonstop.

I see it now…

Miss Cecille could not do anything but showed a default countenance, she who already knew what’s going to happen. She knew it has to happen sooner or later and kept quiet about it.

Alstroe, at one point, needs to confront those feelings.