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Translator: Kazumi
Editor: Silavin
The school that Towa and Mia attend was built on the castle grounds. However, it still took about 20 minutes to walk from the entrance of the school building to the entrance of the castle.
For Mia, she had thought that she would not need someone to protect her for that long, but she realized that she had been naive in her expectations.
Moreover, this troubling event had inconvenienced her older brother, Towa.
Even Mia could no longer smile and say that everything would be all right.
To put it bluntly, it was becoming troublesome to be stopped by something like today. If she could avoid such trouble, she thought it would be better to have at least one or two attendants.
At dinner that night, Mia immediately talked to Floria about having an escort on the way to and from school.
“Escort?”
“Yes. I was wondering if it would be possible to have an escort on the way to and from school.”
Floria stared at Mia.
“Didn’t you deny wanting one before you enrolled?”
Feeling pressured by Floria’s gaze, but holding back, Mia told her what she had been thinking about before dinner.
“It’s just that I wasn’t properly considering it before. I didn’t expect to be in this situation…”
As for Mia, it was out of the realm of her imagination that there were people who would motion to her without an ounce of shame or concern – even with all the eyes around her.
Of course, she had learned the dangers of such issues from her tutors. Even so, she never thought that it would happen to her, the princess.
If it was only one person she was dealing with, she would have been able to handle it, but when there were several of them bothering her, it was discouraging that she could only do so little.
Mia knew that she could not reject them too strongly because of her position as a princess, and that was why the situation had come to this point.
No matter what she said in her own words now, they would not listen to her.
If she used the power of her mother, Queen Floria, she would be able to eliminate such people immediately, but if possible, she would like to refrain from using her mother’s power and influence in the school.
After much thought and consideration, the decision was made for her to have an escort.
Floria nodded her head readily, although she probably did not see through all of Mia’s thoughts and worries.
“I don’t mind.”
Mia’s eyes fluttered when Floria agreed to her request so easily.
“Eh?”
“Why are you surprised? You said you wanted an escort, didn’t you?”
“Well, yes, but…”
Mia was puzzled, while Floria smiled mischievously at her.
Seeing the look on her face, Mia had an idea of what her mother knew.
“If you don’t mind me asking, have you been preparing for this from the beginning?”
“Of course not. But I knew that you would need one at some point.”
There was no way that Floria would be able to immediately prepare an escort to attend to Mia, no matter how much she wanted to, if a request for one was suddenly sprung up.
In other words, Floria had prepared someone in case of an emergency.
Mia, feeling somewhat cheated, sulked.
“Don’t make that face. It was your father’s words, more than anything else, that made me prepared.”
“Father? … Ah? That time?”
Mia finally remembered the last time she had met Kousuke. That was when Floria told her.
“Didn’t everyone already advise you? When Kousuke says something like that, he’s never wrong.”
“…I’m somewhat frustrated.”
“It can’t be helped. I’ve known him longer than you.”
For some reason, Mia’s expression turned a little sour as Floria proclaimed her proud victory.
It was true, but somehow it felt frustrating to admit it.
“Mother, and also Mia. I think we’re getting off-topic again.”
Towa, who had been quietly listening until then, interrupted.
When the two of them started fighting over their father, Kousuke, they would go on and on without end.
But more importantly, they were in the middle of an important conversation right now. This was not the time for such a thing. Though, the same could be said even if it was during a normal, casual conversation.
When Towa calmly asked them, they looked embarrassed and immediately returned to their solemn expressions.
“Ehem. Well, since you put it that way, there is no problem about you having an escort. It’s not going to be today or tomorrow, but we’ll be able to get one ready in a few days.”
“Yes. I’ll take care of it.”
The two easily returned the conversation to the original topic and began talking as if they had forgotten everything that had happened right before.
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A few days after Mia broached the subject of escorts.
On a day, which was a school holiday, Mia was relaxing at the castle when she was summoned by Floria.
The place where she was summoned was not Floria’s private room, but the place where she usually conducts official business.
As long as she was in the castle, Mia never knocked on the door.
Since there was always an attendant by her side, it was their role to do so.
When Mia entered the room, she found a girl about her age standing among Floria and her entourage, who were performing their official duties.
She was a girl with shoulder-length red hair and a face that could be described as pretty. However, her expression hardly changed and she was looking straight at Mia.
After confirming that Mia had entered, Floria stopped her work. She beckoned Mia to come closer.
“Mia, this is Mikage, this girl will be your escort while you are in school. Mikage, this is my daughter Mia. By the way, I heard that Mikage is the same age as you.”
Floria stood between them and introduced them to each other.
“I have been asked to be your escort, my name is Mikage. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
Before Mia could say anything, Mikage bowed her head without a change in her expression.
Mia frowned.
“Um, Mikage.”
“Yes?”
“I wonder if you also use that tone in your everyday life?”
Mia had heard in advance that her escort would join her even in the classroom. Since her escort would be with her for most of the day, Mia would prefer her to not use such an ostentatious tone of voice when speaking to her.
Perhaps Mia’s thoughts were not conveyed, but Mikage tilted her head without changing her expression.
“But I am your escort.”
Mia involuntarily turned her gaze to Floria.
She felt like her mother was somehow smiling. It was a change in expression that would normally go unnoticed, but Mia could tell.
Mia decided that if she could do whatever she wanted with her escort, she would decide to make her speak the way she wanted.
“Since we will be spending most of our time together during the day from now on, such a stiff tone of voice will make me tired. I’m not asking you to lose the honorifics, but could you at least ease up a bit?”
“But…”
Mikage glanced at Floria, as if in a daze.
She must have wondered if she was allowed to do such a thing in front of her employer, Floria.
“Mikage, you are indeed Mia’s escort, but you also have a role as her attendant. It is the role of an attendant to follow your Mistress’ wishes.”
After hearing Floria say this, Mikage lowered her head once more.
“I… I understand. I will try my best to meet your wishes as much as possible.”
“Please do so.”
Mia nodded, as if to say that was more than enough for now.
It had only been a few minutes since they met.
Mia believes she would eventually get used to it.
“Also, you seem to be mistaken, but Mia is your employer, not me. Therefore, from now on, you should follow Mia’s instructions instead of checking with me every time. The wages come out of Mia’s allowance.”
“Yes.”
“What!? I didn’t hear about this!”
Mia’s eyes widened in surprise when Mikage nodded at Floria’s words.
“Don’t be mistaken. I’m just paying out of the budget that has been set aside to allow you to operate as royalty.”
“Mmm, mmm. I’m still not convinced.”
It was the first time Mia had ever heard of such a budget.
Silavin: Just like what happened to my red packets when I was a child. They ‘set aside’ the money.
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