CH 12

When I woke up in the morning and got dressed and ready for the day, there was a knock on my door. After answering and inviting my visitor in, Isabella enters.

“Miss Flora, I’ve said many times before that I will help you change your clothes…” Isabella said.

“I am no longer a young child, either,” I said. “I can change clothes without bothering you, Isabella, so wouldn’t it be more efficient to have you do another job?”

Every morning I wake up, we have this same exchange. First of all, I have never been woken up by Isabella. Every day, I wake up early in the morning and move my body until I’m exhausted, so I quickly fall asleep at night and sleep like a log. And when that happens, I naturally wake up early in the morning, so I’ve never been woken up by my other family members. I wake up earlier than everyone else.

I get a lot of attention from Isabella about it. It seems that it is not good to be able to change clothes by yourself, not bother your maids, or be efficient overall.

Even nobles in this world can do most of those things by themselves, like changing clothes. Depending on the item, some dresses cannot be put on without help, but it’s only natural that aristocrats can change normal clothes.

However, nobles have their butlers and maids help them change clothes. It’s not because it can’t be done or because it’s troublesome, but because it’s a kind of work to be done regardless of efficiency or inefficiency.

If aristocrats do everything by themselves, there will be no jobs for butlers and maids. And it’s also time to communicate with my attendants from the morning. It also means casual conversation while helping them get dressed in the morning, talking about today’s schedule, and for those who serve them, it also means checking their master’s appearance and physical condition.

It’s not that I’m letting someone attend to me because I can’t do things on my own, nor that I’m letting them do it just because I want to flaunt my higher status. Entrusting your work and personal affairs also means that you trust the other person. That’s how we show our trust and communicate with each other.

If Isabella doesn’t take care of my personal matters as I do already, or if I don’t show her my skin, or if I’m being defenseless while changing clothes, Isabella will probably wonder if I don’t trust her as my maid. Being able to freely move around the room means that you can prepare for an assassination. You can’t relax if you don’t trust the other person.

So if you ask me if I don’t trust Isabella and Helmut, of course, I don’t mean that. From my perspective, I’m going to trust those two.

Then why don’t I leave changing clothes to Isabella? The reason is simple. I’ve never let anyone change my clothes. Of course, when I was an infant, I had my mother or my mother’s maid, Emma. No matter how much I have memories and ego of my previous life since I was an infant, a baby can’t change their diapers and clothes on their own.

Except for such unreasonable cases and exceptional cases, until now I have not had a butler or maid with me, so I have mostly taken care of myself. I was supposed to be the eldest daughter of a great noble, I thought it was a little strange, but I thought there was some reason for it until Isabella raised protest.

From the time in my previous life and until just recently, I’ve been doing everything Helmut and Isabella do by myself, but even if Isabella suddenly told me to leave everything to her, there’s no way I could change my ingrained habits so easily.

Then there is also the fact that Isabella came so late in the morning. I get up earlier than anyone else in my family. The mansion is mostly asleep, and I am the earliest to wake up, other than the night watchmen and some of the people who prepare things before sunrise. By the time Isabella comes to wake me up like this, it’s been a long time since I woke up, and it’s painful to be told to wait in bed in my pajamas until she gets here.

Of course, if I say that, Isabella will come to wake me up sooner than now. But I don’t need to force her to dress me, so I’m fine with this. Besides, it would be nice to have her change my clothes every other time except in the morning. I can’t make excuses when I’m about to bathe or go to bed.

“So that’s not what I meant, as I keep saying…?” I finished.

“Well, I suppose it’s alright, then?” Isabella said. “Then, I suppose I’ll go.”

While Isabella was still mumbling, I urge her to leave the room. And also, as usual, Helmut was waiting before the door.

“Good morning, Miss Flora,” he said.

“Good morning, Helmut,” I said.

With his brown hair and brown eyes that you’d find anywhere, my super handsome butler bows to me. Helmut seems to be fifteen years old, the same age as my older brother, Friedrich. If I had remained a man, I would never have been able to befriend him. Mainly because of jealousy on my part…

Helmut is a talented and good guy. I know that. He’s a little bad at talking and he’s not good at socializing, but I don’t think it bothers me if it’s between men. Well, even if you say it’s between men, that’s how it works with modern Japanese students. In this world, being a poor talker and not being good at socializing is fatal, and it may not be tolerated in a relationship between a master and a butler. So it seems my brother didn’t get along very well with Helmut.

And above all else, Helmut is popular with women. The maids also seem to say, “If you want to date for fun, go with Helmut, if you want someone to marry, go with Friedrich.”

It’s the same in modern Japan, but if you’re just going out for casual dates, you’re more popular if you looked good. In contrast, when choosing a marriage partner, their place of employment, their future prospects, their annual income, their personality, etc. are often emphasized rather than appearance.

In other words, Helmut looks more handsome, but as Friedrich will inherit the title of Margrave Carruthers in the future, is richer, has status and power, and looks like your future would be secured with him, he’s the better choice for a marriage partner. It’s no laughing matter for my older, and it couldn’t be helped that he did not have many positive feelings towards Helmut… probably.

Still, if the two of them trusted each other, there would have been no problem, but as you can see, Helmut is a poor talker and not good at socializing. Even from my older brother’s point of view, it is difficult for him to be friendly with a butler who is more popular than him. In that case, it is difficult to become close to each other once someone passes the other, and after that, they’d become estranged from each other. If things worked out differently, they might have become best friends, but now that’s just a pipe dream.

Anyway, I headed to the dining room while asking Helmut about today’s schedule. I’m an early riser so Father is the only other person at breakfast. While having breakfast with him, we discuss today’s affairs. Well, my father doesn’t tell me about his schedule, so it might be more accurate to say he’s answering when I ask.

In the morning, I go to my daily sword and magic training. At this time, it’s only me using the training ground at the back of the manor, so it feels good to have it all to myself. After training, Isabella wipes down my body and changes my clothes.

I always wear something that shows less skin. It’s not like I’m embarrassed to show skin, and I don’t think there’s any reason why aristocrats shouldn’t show their skin carelessly. It’s just that I have bruises all over my body, so if I dress too exposed, others can see them.

At first, Isabella told me, “Think of your age, you should be more fashionable as a lady.” But, once she saw my body, she figured out why and didn’t bring me any of those sorts of clothes.

After the self-training is over, the morning ends with a tutor’s class. At noon, Helmut comes to pick me up and then guides me to the dining hall. I can go there myself, but ever since the two of them entered my service, it’s always been like this.

When I entered the dining room, all the other family members were there today. Unless someone has something to do, we usually eat together during the day and night. When I was younger, it was mostly just me or me and my mother, but at some point, I started eating normally with the other family members.

Since my older brother Friedrich started attending school in the royal capital, I think my chances of interacting with my younger brother Georg have increased dramatically. Friedrich didn’t seem to be very interested in me, but I get the feeling that Georg is a relatively normal older brother. They don’t really care about me, but if I talk to them, they respond normally as siblings.

Friedrich and Georg also learned swordsmanship from Father, so I thought they might train with me, but we’ve never been together. Apparently, Father has completely separated me and my brothers. And I’ve been told not to show my swordsmanship and magic to my brothers. I haven’t heard the detailed reason, but I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that I was the only one who was isolated for most of my life since I was young.

Well, if I just keep doing what I was told, Father won’t say anything so harsh, so I should just keep at it. Recently, the content of tutoring has changed from cramming lessons to practical content and solving assignments, so today’s study is already over.

I have a lot of free time because my tutor’s class hours are decreasing. I met Georg’s eyes when he was relaxing at tea time after lunch, wondering what to do this afternoon.

“I’ve heard you’ve got tutors too, Flora, but how are your studies going?” Georg asked. “I can help if you’d like?”

“Huh? Umm, well…”

I was surprised, getting called out so suddenly. We’re not on bad terms, but we’re not on good terms, either. I don’t know what to do if my brother, who I rarely talk to, suddenly speaks to me.

Besides, Father glanced at me was looking at me with a terribly serious expression. This must mean that Georg should not involve himself with my studies. I won’t tell him not to talk or stay with me, but I’m strictly ordered not to train or study together. I’m not stupid enough to break that rule.

“What’s wrong? Do you not like me, Flora?” Georg asked.

Ah, this kid… my older brother, Georg… said that with a troubled, wry smile on his face. Since he was around thirteen, I would normally think he would be impertinent, but despite being an adolescent boy, it seems that he was a good older brother who wanted to take care of his younger sister like this. I didn’t know him because I didn’t have much contact with him, but he seems to have a gentle personality, and if he treated me normally, we might have become better siblings.

“No! Not at all!” I said.

So, I tried my best to deny it. I thought we behaved like we were strangers, but I don’t dislike Georg. It’s just that I didn’t have much contact with him, and Father told me not to interact with my older brothers, so I stayed away from him.

“Is that so? Then why don’t we read a book together instead of studying? Would that be okay, Father?” Georg asked.

Now he’s asking Father for permission. Father seemed to be silently thinking for a while then let out a “Fuuh.” like he’d given up.

“A little bit of recreation would instead of work is good but not too much. All things in moderation, after all,” Father said.

He said this while mainly looking at me, but he gave us his permission.

I sit on the sofa alongside Georg in the living room and read the same book together. There are several butlers and maids with Georg in the room, but I only have Helmut. Isabella is probably cleaning my room and doing the laundry, and since I only have two attendants, he’s the only one left.

Georg holds the book and reads aloud. As for the content, well… it’s not the kind of book that was in Father’s study, it’s totally at the level of a children’s book. There are not many picture books like those in modern Japan in this country, ones with a lot of illustrations and a small number of characters, so this one isn’t for the very young. This book looks like it’s for older kids because it has few illustrations and a decent amount of text.

This is because I know Japanese picture books, and the target age for Japanese picture books is also very young. This children’s book has a higher target age. In the first place, people who can read and write letters must be much older than in Japan, and few people are literate in general.

Even picture books about the modern world were originally fairy tales, but most of the content was quite heavy. Relatively recently, the number of picture books with simple content for young children has increased, and old fairy tales have become bloody conflicts. In today’s sense, would you let your child read or listen to such a thing? I guess, but in this world it’s similar.

Well, either way, from my point of view, the content is for children, but I’ve rarely seen a book for children since coming to this world, and above all, Georg is reading it to me with all his might. I was so happy that I silently listened to Georg’s reading.

At the end of the day, I went back to my room. I played with Georg this afternoon, a very rare thing. It wasn’t a bad experience though. Rather, siblings may be like that. Until now, I had almost no contact with my brothers, but I feel that the atmosphere in the house has become calmer since Friedrich went to school.

If I say something like that, it’ll seem like Friedrich is bad, so let’s stop… I had no more contact with Friedrich than Georg, so I know very little about my older brothers. I have to be careful about saying things that make someone I don’t know look like a bad guy…

Accompanied by Helmut, I returned to my room and listened casually to the schedule for tomorrow. After he finished talking about tomorrow’s schedule, Helmut bowed his head and left the room.

“Erm… please excuse me, Miss Flora. I have plans for tomorrow… ah!” Helmut said.

“Hmm?” I asked.

Helmut had already finished discussing my future schedule and was about to leave the room, so I was thinking of changing into my pajamas, but he seemed to have forgotten something so he turned around and met my eyes.

“Please forgive me!” Helmut cried. “I didn’t think you’d already start taking off your clothes… but at least please wait until I’m outside before you do. If I opened the door while you’re changing, Miss Flora, what would you do if someone was outside?”

I’m not sure if he’s angry or apologizing for something. For the time being, since Helmut is making a troubled face while speaking to me, should I reply to him?

“I’m wearing a camisole, so I’m not naked, and even if someone saw me naked, I’m a girl who hasn’t even developed breasts, let alone experienced my first menstruation, so what is the problem?”

I’m taking off my jacket, but I’m wearing a camisole as inner wear, so it’s not like I’m totally naked. Besides, I’m still eight years old, as I said, no breasts, no period. In the first place, it is normal for nobles to be seen naked by butlers and maids. They may be asked for help with changing clothes, bathing, or even going to the toilet in some cases. In this case, I am normal and Helmut is the one acting strange.

Or maybe Helmut has a propensity to get excited by naked young girls…? So how can this confusion be explained?

“That’s not what I’m protesting about,” Helmut said. “I’m saying that the problem is that you’re taking off your clothes before I can even open the door to leave the room. Even if you knew someone wasn’t outside, such an attitude could cause an unexpected accident in an unexpected place.”

I see. Indeed, I don’t understand what Helmut is saying. Even though you know the door will open, if you get into the habit of changing before that, you might end up with an unexpected crisis somewhere in the future. While it’s normal for aristocrats to be seen naked by butlers and maids, it doesn’t mean it’s okay to expose your skin to anyone.

If by any chance, the moment the door opened, someone was walking down the corridor and I was naked, it could become a big problem. Even if I do my best, there is a possibility that the other person will be punished for seeing me naked, so it’s not just my problem. If it is said that such consideration was lacking, I have no choice but to sincerely apologize.

“I’m sorry Helmut,” I said. “I was being thoughtless.”

“No, I hope you understand,” Helmut said.

Oh? Unlike his usual professional expression, Helmut now appears to be smiling gently. Is Helmut a lolicon after all? Even though I thought that what he was saying was correct, so I thought I would be more careful from now on.

T/N: Next chapter, we have our first female love interest.