“Your suggestion?” Damien sneered at Valerie as if he were expecting this outlash.

“I presume it will burden you to improve, so I suggest appointing Camay with a better guardian. Since she has only been here for two days, I expect the transition to be quite seamless.”

If I understood Valerie correctly, she stated that Damien was unfit to be my guardian and proposed that I be under the care of someone else. She probably thought this way because Damien tended to act furtively and in doing so, he made me fearful of him. Preferring to stay out of this, I continued drinking my soup, feigning oblivion.

Damien lifted his jaw slightly off his fist but quickly lowered it back, this time with narrowed eyes. Narrower than usual, at least. It seemed as though he had caught on to her intentions.

“And my replacement will be… you?”

“Well, I would certainly be a most suitable candidate. After all, being raised without a mother figure is immensely difficult for a little girl, especially during the prime of her blossoming. From today’s events, I have undoubtedly proven my capability to foster Camay.”

Valerie gave me a light smile, and after seeing my muddled expression, she continued, “Of course, this is a decision only Camay can make.”

By shifting speaker to me, Valerie had completely barred Damien from responding. If he were to interject now, it would breach decorum, giving Valerie another chance to strike. I could no longer rely on my soup anymore.

“Um…”

Please. Wasn’t this decision worth more than a few seconds of contemplation? I was fine with choosing food or dresses, but choosing a human was on an entirely different scale.

They were both well-versed on my preferences, so I wouldn’t need to worry about their ability to tend me. But in the first place, my fear of Damien arose from a misunderstanding. To leave him because of my oversight felt unfair, but perhaps with Valerie, I wouldn’t have had any such misunderstandings to begin with…

The pressure to respond was scrambling my thoughts. Before I knew it, I was scrunching my dress underneath the table, unable to make up my mind. It was then that Damien spoke.

“I see the bullheaded Valerie has not changed.”

“Whatever do you mean by that?”

“You were questioning my tact and moderation, and yet, you have succeeded in disproving your ability for those aspects.”

“Eh...?”

When Valerie turned over to me, she seemed to have realized the situation she had put me in. “Ah… ahem. Camay, there is no need for you to make this decision immediately. In the future, if you choose to be my ward, I will happily take you in at a moment’s notice.”

Her confidence was radiating powerfully despite being negated by Damien. I found that side of her attractive and gave her a playful smile.

“Valerie,” I said, “If I have chosen you, I will knock on your door.”

“Great! Shall the time come, query Abel for my address.”

“I will most certainly do so.”

Suddenly, a sharp chill pervaded my body.

“Abel.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Report before providing the address.”

“Understood.”

Wanting relief from the bleak atmosphere, I returned to my warm soup. From across the table, I heard Valerie doing the same.

“Delicious,” she said, “To be able to prepare such a delight with only meat, potatoes, and carrots is the sign of an expert kitchen.”

“The food here is really yummy!” I said, following Valerie’s cue to quell Damien’s chilling aura. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of presuming that was her motive.

“It’s a shame that tomatoes were not included. Wouldn’t you have fancied that, Camay?”

Valerie. Stop it please. Shouldn’t we be trying to appease him? If you haven’t forgotten, I’m sitting right next to him.

What made it worse was that she was right. I would’ve enjoyed the soup much more if tomatoes were included. I didn’t even bother to question how she knew that. The problem at hand was me being trapped in a conundrum. There were only two answers I could give—either I preferred tomatoes, or I didn’t.

Lying here was pointless. No matter what I said, one of them would end up looking worse than the other. And to my luck, I was sitting much too close to the wrong human. I felt a cold sweat brewing on my back.

Why was Damien able to affect me so much? Without the slightest budge, he could release an aura and I would immediately become sensitive to it. Did reincarnation truly weaken me to this degree? To think he could overpower me was incredibly frustrating.

If I spoke rashly and enraged him, my life would end by his hands. This was no time to falter. I only had two choices? No. In fact, anything but those two choices were the correct option. I couldn’t betray Valerie, nor could I rile Damien. In a desperate attempt to neutralize the situation, I responded with the second thought that came to my mind, the first being, ‘Yes, I would have enjoyed tomatoes.’

And instead, I stupidly said, “Um, it depends on the day of the week.”

The room became silent. Every passing second, as neither Damien nor Valerie said a word, my face reddened more and more. After having spouted such nonsense, I just stared down at my soup, sullen.

“Pft.”

Before I knew it, the wintry atmosphere had dissipated as if it never existed, and when I timidly raised my head to look at Valerie, she was wearing a shocked expression. Her eyes were focused on Damien, who was looking aside while covering his mouth.

Feeling familiarity with this scene, a mix of relief and resentment grew within me. When I turned back to Valerie, she was goggling at me with damp eyes. Just what was happening right now…?

“Camay, you are much too adorable,” Valerie said with slight sniffles. “Until you make your decision, I shall be frequently visiting you from today onward. I have lots of stories that may be of interest to you.”

I knew exactly what she meant by that. She would tell me all about her past with the late hero Maria. Of course, I was enticed.

“Yes please! I look forward to it.”

Valerie stared at Damien while resting her chin between her two fists as if coyly asking for his permission. When Damien turned over to me and our eyes met, I nodded excitedly.

“Abel.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Until revoked, Dame Valerie Sylph may enter the premises.”

“Understood.”

And with that, I now had an etiquette tutor, a magic tutor, and a… history tutor, I suppose? Thinking back, today was quite eventful. No longer able to envision a boring day, I was so happy.