Chapter 98: Parting

Spring, the season of partings and new encounters. Urania and I are clad in a brand new bright green dress. The dress I received required neither a pannier nor a corset to wear. It seems like those are only to be worn after the debut. Though in the first place, these don’t seem to be as chokingly tight as people tend to say.

This dress is also made for travel use, so it’s made ‌easy to move in. Incidentally, my bright green dress not only matches with Urania’s dress in color but in design as well. On Urania’s hair is the blue feather ornament we bought on that date yesterday, while on mine is the yellow feather ornament Urania chose for me. These have pairing designs too.1

Still, while Urania grew taller during this winter, I didn’t grow at all. We were once practically the same height, but now Urania is slightly taller. I’ve been thinking about it for a while but… Will my body ‌grow……? I’m not already fully grown in my current figure, am I……?2

「Tiiijerrrrr~3」 「Oi oi, don’t cry so much, Adan. This isn’t a lifelong goodbye, you know?」 「Uugghh~ But still~」 「My lady, with how you look now, Miss Lily and the others won’t be able to leave out of concern.」

Before we experience the coming new encounters, there is a parting we have to experience first, our parting with Adan and Reina. This time, Hans and Est will come with us as the carriage driver and our attendant, respectively. Est seems to have been strictly trained by Reina during this winter and has now matured into an attendant that can be proudly brought to any event.

「Adan, I left you some homework, right? Study it over until we meet again, okay?」 「Mnm! Okay, teacher! Urania! Stay well! Est, Hans, take good care of them!」 「「Certainly, my lady.」」

Est and Hans replied and bowed in perfect sync. Hans works as both a driver and an attending butler, so his amazing form was to be expected, but Est matching with him shows how outstanding her growth is.

Incidentally, Ces will be waiting for us at the capital. He stayed in the capital after ‌the social gathering season, so we’ll first head to the capital to meet up with him. Naturally, I’m going to have to be rocked back and forth by a carriage again, but this time we’re riding on an Igesio household custom carriage. With this, it’s goodbye to the trips that are literally a pain in the butt!4

As I was gazing upon the said custom carriage, I saw a basket of pastries and a flag embroidered with a pretty design on the driver’s seat. I thought for a moment that it was Hans’ mid-trip snacks, but it isn’t really like him to eat while at work.

「Huh? Hans, what’s this flag and assortment of snacks for?」 「Ah, these are offerings to ask the great spirits for our safe trip.」 「Does everybody do this?」 「Yes, as you’ve traveled from Motsi, they should have the same practice there as well, but have you perhaps missed seeing it?」

The first time I rode a coach, I was pretty excited about the ride itself, and on the way to Gateskeep, I was so busy with making plans to counteract the upcoming butt pain and stuff, so I didn’t have the calm to observe my surroundings both times. Now that I recall it, I might have seen it before, but I can’t say for sure.

「Nn, the great spirits are messengers of gods. They help when asked, so they’re much closer existences than god.」 「Hm~m, so these exist too, huh?」

Gods actually exist (one’s a pig though)5 after all, and angels do as well. Then maybe these spirits acting as messengers of gods might exist too. Since they’re said to watch over travels, there’s nothing to lose from asking for exactly that, I guess.

「Miss Lily, it’s almost time.」 「Hm, I see. Well then, Adan, I’ll come back during the holidays, so take care!」 「That’s a promise, okay! You have to come back, okay!」 「Yeah, it’s a promise.」

Hearing Adan saying so, I answered her with a smile.

「Well then, Reina, you take care too.」 「I’ll be praying for your safe trip. Please greet the master for me‌.」 「Sure, see you later.」 「See you later!」

See you later, huh. As of now, this is the place I’ve spent the longest in ever since I was born in this world. While I ‌have some emotional attachment to the town of Motsi, it’s not as much as the attachment I have to this mansion. Nowadays, I naturally consider this mansion as one of the few places I should return to.