After Lottie and Rachel finished their run, we headed inside again, and everyone was smiling. Mother and Father, who were in tears just a few hours ago, reverted to the happy couple they always are.

 We are about to have dinner. I glanced to the side, and Lottie was beside me. She was, for some reason, intensely looking at the food. Probably noticing my gaze, she, too, glanced at me.

 “U-Umm…Leon, what’s on your mind?” she inquired.

 “…well, I sort of noticed, but…”

—she’s gone down in weight, hasn’t she?

 It wasn’t all that noticeable, but I could tell her face had gotten a little smaller…or am I imagining it? It’s been over a month since we last met. So…perhaps?

 “Leon…?” She curiously peered into my eyes. “No-Notiece? What did you… Notice?

 I wasn’t sure of what to say, especially to such a young and fragile girl as Charlotte.

 “I just thought you’ve gotten prettier since we last met.”

 The room went silent, and Mother and Father dropped their utensils. Rachel looked at me with bewildered eyes while softly sighing.

 “I-I see…th-thank you…” Lottie shyly said. “I-I’ve been working hard…for Leon…”

 Adding those few words. My brain completely stopped.

 “Huh?”

—for…me?

 I tilted my head and asked, “Why?”

 Lottie fidgeted and glanced at my parents. I followed her gaze and noticed that they averted their eyes from mine. For some reason…they’re hiding something from me.

 That was until.

 “—we’re e-engaged.”

 …what? Engaged? Lottie…and I? Oh? I see…

 “Huh…?”

 

— :::: —

 

 Apparently, when I was passed out, our parents discussed the possibility of an engagement when they last met. Mother and Father did ask me what sort of girl I liked. Hence, they judged Lottie to fit the criteria.

—that was, someone compassionate and hardworking…

 Lottie seems to be both of them, and Charlotte was definitely one. Well, to say she was compassionate would be difficult to justify. But she was kind to everything that wasn’t others or her father—speaking of the original Charlotte. She was a hard worker… She worked super hard to change herself and became admired for her beauty…

 Now that I think about it. That was a very general statement, huh? I wonder, why was it Lottie who was chosen? Not that I’m against the notion. It’s a hypothetical inquiry.

—though, I would’ve turned it down had it been the original Charlotte.

 Anyhow. It was The Flame Sage Atlas who suggested the idea. And now that they’ve met again, they relayed the information about what sort of girl I liked to him.

 With a smile, The Flame Sage exclaimed, “Hahah! My daughter is the one, then!” or so they told me. After that, it became official.

 “…are you against the idea? Leon?” Father asked.

 I shook my head. “No, Papa and Mama decided it would be the best for me. I have no complaint.”

 Lottie looked sad for some reason, and Rachel pouted.

—she left her vegetables again…

 For some reason. It has become very…very quiet.

—did I say anything strange?

 Lottie got up and thanked us for the meal. She left the dining room while being teary-eyed. Her maid Emma bowed down and left. Rachel looked like she was in a bad mood. She suddenly got up and ran out.

 Left with the servants and my parents, the scene looked exactly like it used to before we left for the capital. But for whatever reason, I felt this gloomy feeling in my chest.

 Mother and Father let out a deep sigh. “Sorry for deciding without you, Leon,” Father said.

 I shook my head. “No, don’t worry about it, Papa. I like Charlotte, too. Hence, I’m not against the engagement.”

 The two had a look of surprise. ““…huh?”” they uttered.

 “Can you elaborate…?” Mother hesitantly asked.

 Lottie’s face briefly appeared in my mind, and my lips naturally curved upwards. “What I said. I like her. When I see her face, my chest gets warm, and I feel at ease. When I see her sad—as she was now. I wanted to run after her right away.”

 “…then why didn’t you?” Father asked.

 “Because it’s bad manners to the chefs to leave the main dish unfinished…?”

 I heard a chuckle, and it was from the head chef, Roy. He glanced at Father and then shifted his gaze at me. “Excuse me, Master Leon. I and the others would not have minded at all.”

 “You heard him,” Father said.

 “…..”

 I got up from the chair and walked toward the door. My body still ached. It wasn’t that bad, however. I thanked Roy and the others for the meal and tried to find Charlotte.

 When I arrived at the guest room and knocked, there was no reply. Strange…? I don’t sense a presence inside.

 Even if my magic wasn’t functioning properly, I could still sense magic, as I am quite sensitive to mana.

 “Sif…”

 I called Sif’s name, and after a few seconds, he was before me, wagging his tail. “What is it, Master?”

 “Can you track down Lottie?”

 “Hm? The blond human girl?” he asked while tilting his head.

 “Yes,” I replied.

 Thus, Sif began to walk toward my room. However, we did not enter and continued walking down the halls. And there, we met Emma, standing outside a door.

 “Lord Leon?” Emma called out to me with a surprised look.

 “I’m here to see Lottie. Is she inside?”

 Emma glared at me and said. “My Lady is not feeling well currently. And it isn’t appropriate… Please visit her another time.”

 Sif growled. “Human! How dare you…!”

 “—Sif, it’s okay,” I said and picked him up by the neck.

—hmm, I’m still strong enough to lift a wolf of his size…

 Emma, who’d been struck with fear, clenched her chest and uttered, “I-It spoke?”

 “Don’t worry about it.” I again looked at her and said, “Move.” 

 Despite being in fear, she shook her head. “I-I cannot!”

 The atmosphere was getting more tense as I kept glaring her down—suddenly, Rachel peeked out of the door behind Emma.

 “Rachel…?”

 She was pouting—wait, that’s not it, why is she in a towel…?

 “Brother, Lady Charlotte is inside and is taking a bath. You are not allowed inside,” she said with a deadpan look. “Or is Brother a pervert who wants to see his bride-to-be so badly he threatens the Lady’s maid?”  

 I glanced at Emma, and she had a complicated look on her face. “E-Even if Lord Leon is Lady Charlotte’s fiance… Y-You shouldn’t!”

 …I looked around and noticed that we were in the bathing and sauna area…

 Rachel let out a heavy sigh. “Brother is always so single-minded and forgets things like this. Brother, did you notice where you were before threatening Emma?” Rachel asked.

 “…no.”

 “I thought so,” she said and closed the door.

 Emma fell down on her knees and was shaking. She probably felt relieved that all the tension disappeared.

 “…I’m sorry,” I apologised to Emma.

 She seemed relieved and shook her head. “I-It was a misunderstanding…don’t be…”

 “Could you tell Lottie to meet me out in the garden after they finish their bath?” I requested.

 Emma seemed reluctant. “…I will relay that to Lady Charlotte… However, might this lowly servant ask why?”

—lowly servant? Oh? I see…it’s different around those parts.

 “I wanted to ask why she seemed so sad. I…was happy it was Lottie who became my fiance, but perhaps she doesn’t feel the same way…”

 Emma seemed surprised by my words and added, “That’s not it at all, Lord Leon… I can reassure Lord Leon that the Lady likes you very much.”

 When Emma said those words, the image of the older girl inside my memories became more clear. Her soft sapphire-blue eyes, her bright, curly blond hair and her cute smile—it was an older version of Charlotte.

—she really was as pretty as the book described her to be…

 “I see… Thank you. I will be waiting for her.”

—wait…why are they taking a bath again…?

 

— :::: —

 

 I spoke to Lord Leon for the first time. He was…intimidating—despite being a child who’s supposed to be injured. He lifted a wolf that was about to pounce at me.

 From the rumours, he is a shy, introverted child who’s an academic genius. And from what I heard from Lady Charlotte, he was a kindhearted boy whom she was infatuated with.

 But now that I’ve spoken with him. I can tell… Tell that the rumours were not false, but not necessarily true. Leon Shellheart wasn’t just a well-spoken child, but he also seemed experienced in combat.

—I can pretend to be a weak maid all I want, but it didn’t seem my act worked against him.

 Well, as it turned out. All of this was a misunderstanding… I thought that he said all of that and didn’t care whomever he got engaged to. It did enrage me, but that was because my positive image of him was shattered at that moment.

 However… Judging from this incident. I can tell he’s…a bit slow. He says misleading things or things that are very direct with no sugarcoating, even though his intentions are sweeter than they first appear upon closer inspection. 

—in other words, he’s…clumsy.

 

— :::: —

 

 “Lady Charlotte, you really like the sauna…”

 “…yeah…it is relaxing…”

 “I’m sorry for my brother… He has good intentions but is clumsy when it comes to expressing those intentions,” Rachel suddenly said.

 I giggled at those words. “Ehehe, I know,” I replied. “Rachel, you love your brother a lot, don’t you?”

 “I do!” she exclaimed. “But… I shouldn’t be so clingy to him…anymore.”

 “Why is that?” I asked while tilting my head.

 “Because I’m mad at him! He promised, and yet he jumped into danger!”

—Rachel is so smart I sometimes don’t keep up with her, but whenever we speak about Leon, I feel that we’re close… I don’t have sisters, but I’m happy Rachel might become a lovely sister-in-law at one point.

 After that, we continued to talk until we both became light-headed.