I’ve been anticipating this day for a long time now. But now that it’s here, I’m a nervous wreck.

Today’s the day when Aria returns.

We haven’t seen each other in many years, and I’m worried that I haven’t made any significant progress. I’m a slow learner, so despite staying by Teacher’s side, I’m nowhere near as good as her when it comes to dealing with territory related stuff. She never overlooks even the smallest of details and makes the most optimal decisions. All of my related skills have leveled up by a level or two, but I’ve still got a long way to go.

I’m afraid Aria might feel disappointed with my slow progress. We’ve been talking with each other almost every day, so I know that she’s been a hard worker. 

I kept my physical training with Betty a secret so that I could surprise her. 

I hope she won’t be too disappointed.

 

***

 

I can see the carriage. We all know who’s in it, and we've all been awaiting her arrival for an hour.

I hardly slept a few hours last night due to excitement. And my legs have been especially fidgety since morning.

Soon the carriage stopped, and Aria leapt out of it.

I was in a daze until I realized that I was being pulled into a group hug. I didn’t want to intrude on their family hug, but Teacher pulled me in as well.

“You are finally back”

 

Teacher gently removed her arm from around my waist and affectionately hugged Aria. Meanwhile, I spotted another figure standing by the carriage. Her face seems a little familiar, but I can’t put a finger on it.

Wait, she must be Lady Sophia Coldheart. I remember that she has been Aria’s friend since the tea party, and they even exchanged multiple letters after their first meeting.

But most of all, she was Aria’s roommate during her time at the academy.

Why is she here, though?

 

As I was lost in my thoughts, Teacher let go of Aria, and she turned towards me.

This feels so unreal. 

Aria is standing right in front of me.

I want to hug her and tell her to never leave me alone again.

And as if reading my mind, she pulled me into her arms and said,

“I missed you so so much. I promise that from now onwards, I’ll never leave anywhere without you”

 

‘Hehe, she always knows what I want’

This is real.

She is really here.

I missed her head pats so much.

Although I thought I’d have matured enough in the past few years, I bawled my eyes out in her embrace. How disgraceful to greet her with such a pathetic sight as soon as we meet.

A thousand calls through Mana-comm couldn't compare to the sensation of having her physically present.

+50 SP

 

***

 

Soon, we made our way to the feast. I had personally decided upon the menu with the chef's help to ensure that everything was perfect.

Surprisingly, even I, a maid, a mere assistant, was given a spot on the table beside Aria. It made me truly happy. I feel like I am a part of their family too.

We ate our fill, and Aria talked about her experiences.

Sophia was invited by Aria to be her travel buddy, so she’ll be leaving tomorrow morning.

When she introduced herself as Aria’s best friend and hugged her, I felt a tingle in my stomach.

Hah, why am I feeling jealous? I’ve been her friend for way longer than she is… but that doesn’t change the fact that she has spent more time with Aria as her roommate.

Haha, what am I worried about? I've been her best friend since childhood. I don’t need to feel insecure.

Right?

 

I cleared my mind and carried on with the feast.

After the feast, Aria gave Sophia a tour of the house.

“This is my room, exactly as I remember leaving it five years ago”, Aria showed off her room to Sophia.

Hehe, of course it is, I’ve been taking good care of the room and all her belongings.

 

After the tour, I suggested we take a bath to relax after the long journey.

“Yes, that’s a wonderful idea, Letty. Let’s take a… you know what? Let just me and Sophia take the bath, you can wait for me here while I finish. Will that be okay?”

 

Huh? Why?

I just nodded in response and took a seat while she returned.

 

I don’t get it. Why did she tell me to stay behind while taking a bath with her? Did I do something wrong?

Wait! It can’t be! Sophia is just a f-friend right? Nothing more, right?

No, I should trust Aria to tell me if there is something going on.

 

And either way, what right do I have to tell her whom to be with?

She can do whatever she wants.

 

If anything, she is my master. She doesn’t owe me an explanation.

And besides, they are just friends.

 

Yet, why am I feeling so strange?

If there is anything that reading romance novels has taught me, it’s that the childhood friend often gives up too soon due to some misunderstanding. I think it would be best to talk things out.

I won’t lose to anyone!

 

***

 

After a while, Aria returned.

“We are finally alone, Letty. I missed you so much!”, she said, while pulling my head into a hug, causing me to hug her chest in a sitting position.

I could smell the scent of her favorite shampoo from her hair. It’s just like the old times.

We chatted about all sorts of stuff before she got sidetracked with her latest research topic. I can hear her blab on for ages, even if I don’t understand half of what she is saying.

Hehe, there she is, talking endlessly. She used to do it all the time during our calls.

 

“Speaking of which, you had a little surprise planned for me, didn’t you? Show me”, she said.

“Before that, take a look at all my new skills”,  I showed her my progress.

 

"Woah, Letty! Mom wasn’t kidding when she said you've made a good progress", she said.

 

"Teacher said that?", she barely praised me, though. 

 

"Yes, she wouldn't stop talking about you during our calls. She would never express her emotions to someone directly, but I could tell that she meant it when she spoke about you. I told you she's a real softy, didn’t I?" she continued, "Compared to you, I was lazing around all day, and sometimes helped the professor with his research. You did a great job, I’m proud of you"

 

Upon hearing her words, I felt a wave of satisfaction and contentment wash over me.

 

-------------------------------------

Quest Completed –

Learn the basics of territory management.

 

Rewards:

30 EXP + 5 EXP (bonus)

Doubled SP Candy (6 hrs)  x1

-------------------------------------

 

Aria saw the prompt on her system as well,

“Nice job! You even got a bonus. That’s rare, considering how stingy they can be”

+100 SP

Yes, the bonus is probably the result of training my legs off with Betty.

I saved the candy for later.

 

Then I took her outside, to the courtyard, and asked a guard to spar with me.

Aria caught on quickly and yelled, “Good luck, Letty!” while giving us some distance to spar.

 

The guard attacked me with his sword, which I skillfully dodged and countered with my own dagger. We exchanged a few blows, and I stretched out the fight in order to show off my newly acquired skills to Aria.

I slashed, dodged, and made full use of my supreme agility to close the distance and avoid his sword.

The fight went on for a couple of minutes, until I was cornered and ultimately lost.

Even so, to hold off on my own against a trained guard was enough of an accomplishment for little ol’ me.

I expectantly looked at Aria, waiting for a praise, just to be greeted with her anxious face.

“You fought well and all, but why are you learning to fight? It’s so dangerous, what if you get hurt? Moreover, didn't your system prevent you from learning any combat-related skills? How did you learn these skills?", she barraged me with questions.

 

“I know it’s dangerous, that’s the very reason I wanted to learn some basic fighting skills. It’s so that I can protect you and myself in case of an emergency. It’s like Teacher often says, ‘We should only depend on ourselves and our family’, so I want you to know that you can count on me”. Now that I hear myself out loud, I totally sound like a romance novel's protagonist. 

I am a little embarrassed, but I meant what I said.

“And I didn’t get any system skill for these. I just manually trained my body, like people in your previous world used to”, I continued.

“Jeez, unlike your matured body, your sweetness stayed the same. Thank you so much, for doing all of this for me”, she said, giving me a quick hug.

 +200 SP

 

“Aria. Can I ask you something personal? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to”

 

“Sure, you can ask me anything”, she said.

 

“A-are you and Lady Sophia, a-a-a… t-thing?”

 

“Huh? Sophia. What do you me-?”, she tilted her head to the side, and jerked as it finally clicked “Oh! I get it. Oh no, I’m so sorry. It’s about the bath incident, isn’t it?”

I silently nodded my head.

 

“Hah, I knew this could happen, but I forgot to bring it up in the joy of seeing you again. It’s not what you think”

I can see her face going red.

“The truth is, I got embarrassed about my breast size when compared to yours. We used to bathe together every day, but after seeing you today, I felt that I wasn’t quite ready to be naked in front of you”, she explained.

Oh, I see. Thank God, it wasn’t anything regarding Sophia.

But to think that she was concerned about something so silly. Hehe, now I am not the only one going red during our conversations.

Good job, my lovely breasts!

“And we used public baths quite often during our time at the academy, so I didn’t care about her seeing me naked. So don’t worry, Sophia is just my friend”, she continued explaining.

 

“How-ever, why does my dearest best friend care so much about my partner? Was she perhaps... jealous?”, she asked in a coquettish tone.

+50 SP

 

“No! Of course not! I was just curious is all”, now I am feeling embarrassed.

 

“Hehehe, I missed these conversations so much. I am feeling a little tired, so let’s head inside. We can continue our conversations while resting on the bed”

 

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