CH 104

In order to get to know each other, the first step is to ask a lot of questions about the other person. I ask what I’ve always wondered.

“So you’re a noble lady from the Demon Country, aren’t you?” I asked. “Could you be a princess of their royal family?”

“H-huuuh…?! W-Wha-Wha-Wha-Wha-What pr-pr-p-pr-pr-proof do have for that?” Mikoto said.

She’s far too upset… isn’t that the same as confessing?

“No, I mean I guessed it?” I said. “Mikoto you act rough and don’t look like a young lady, but the etiquette and behavior are ingrained in your body still. Although it’s only a small part of you, I could tell that you had received that sort of formal education.”

The current Mikoto seems to care about public appearances and behaves in her own way, but when I met her a long time ago, I thought she was already a mischievous girl. Even so, every part of her gestures and words mixed with what seemed to be a highly educated person. I have my doubts as to whether a princess can come out to such a place so easily, but I can tell right away that she was raised in a fairly high-ranking family.

“Haaah~~~…” Mikoto sighed. There are times when I don’t really know if you’re perceptive or just naturally lucky… well, I didn’t mean to hide it from you, Floto, so it’s fine… as you already realize, I’m the Second Princess of the nation you humans call the ‘Demon Country’.”

I figured as much. When I tried to ask another question, she interrupted me.

“Hey, can I ask you a question next? Let’s take turns asking questions,” Mikoto said.

“Well… alright?” I said.

The questions are connected, so I feel like I want to ask them one after another, but Mikoto must have a lot of things she wants to ask me, in turn. It’s not good that I’m the only one bombarding her with questions. So I accept Mikoto’s proposal.

“Now then! Now then! Umm, uhhh… why did you lie to me about being Flora, Floto? Did you not trust me?” Mikoto asked.

Hmm? I think there is some misunderstanding. I guess she’s looked into me, but she doesn’t really know the situation. It would be better to explain this. From now on, calling Flora in a Floto situation, or even calling me Flora in a Floto situation could be confusing.

“There is no doubt that I was born as Flora Charlotte von Carruthers, daughter of Margrave Carruthers, but… I was personally granted a knighthood, a new name, and a new family name. That’s why I’m called Sir Floto von Caan, a Landed Knight. I use my identities for different purposes. So, Mikoto, don’t make a mistake when you call me by name.”

“Ah! I see now!” Mikoto said.

Well, Mikoto isn’t stupid, either. If I say this, she will probably think about how to properly use Flora and Floto. If you are the Second Princess, you should be able to guess without hearing much more than that.

“Then next is my turn,” I said. “Why did you borrow the name of Del’s royal family”

“There’s no way I can be in public with my real name and appearance like that, can I?” Mikoto replied.

Hmmm… did I not say enough? Let me add a little more.

“That’s not what I’m asking…” I said. “The Kingdom of Del looks like a human country, but I think it’s a middleman for the demons to negotiate with humans.”

I think it was just a front, but I can’t say that outright, so I just thought that it was a middleman friendly to them, or something like that.

“Ah! It’s as you think, behind the scenes, it also has the role of mediating between human nations and the demon nations, but it is undeniably a state on its own,” Mikoto said.

“So is the Kingdom of Del like a vassal state or a protectorate of the demon nations?” I saked.

“It’s not like a vassal state… I don’t really understand what you mean by ‘protectorate’… well, I think it’s probably that kind of place. But it’s not like we’re ruling over them by force or anything!” Mikoto said.

“I know that,” I said.

It seems that the Kingdom of Del is a country under the protection of the Demon Country. In other countries, the heavyweights and top executives probably know that the Kingdom of Del and the Demon Country are connected behind the scenes. However, since Del is generally recognized as one of the human nations in this world, it seems better not to raise too much fuss about it.

“My turn next!” Mikoto said. “Umm… the place where we were meeting is Carruthers territory, right? Why did say it was your territory, Floto?”

“Huh? Is that what you want to ask?” I said.

“What do you mean by that?!” Mikoto snapped. “Come on, come on! Why did you?”

Do you want to know such trivial things even though you are asking each other questions in turns? No… it doesn’t matter. Demons and humans are at odds with each other, so it’s important when it comes to the territory that’s right next to theirs. I’m the one who doesn’t need to care about this.

“Shortly after I was knighted as Sir Caan, I was given a territory. Even though it was not given to me by the royal family, I was given a portion of the territory owned by my father, Margrave Carruthers. That’s why the area around that forest became Caan territory,” I said.

“Huh! Is that how it was!? Then it really wasn’t Carruthers territory, you really were its Lord, Floto!”

It didn’t seem like Mikoto was trying to find out what was going on in the neighborhood or something behind the scenes when she said that so cheerfully. It just looks like she’s just asking about whatever she’s simply wondering about. Apparently, my heart was too suspicious. It’s not good to think too much into things, but I found out that even Mikoto wouldn’t have ulterior motives like that.

After that, we keep asking each other questions. I also asked Mikoto something that didn’t seem to matter, and just when I was thinking it would continue like that, I asked her something serious:

“That’s right, Mikoto! Can we grow tea trees in Caan territory? You can import it, can’t you?”

“Wouldn’t a tree grow if we plant it?” Mikoto asked. “I think we can prepare seedlings or seeds, but unlike before, I’m in the royal capital of Ploiss right now… I don’t think we can do it right away.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s the next time we can return there, or if you ask someone to act as a representative, I can have a representative of House Caan receive it instead.”

If you can cultivate tea trees, you will make progress in various ways. I have no intention of stealing the trade goods of the Demon Country, so it would be better not to cultivate them on a large scale and export them, but I can’t stand it anymore. If possible, I would like to drink coffee, but if that is not possible, at least I would like to drink black tea. Enough green tea and dandelion coffee, I’m sick of both!

“Hmm~nnnn… representatives, huh…?” Mikoto said. “It might be difficult… I’ll try sending a letter just in case.”

“Mmm. Thank you,” I said.

It’s not that it’s difficult to prepare a single tea tree even though she’s the Second Princess. Mikoto is in a complicated situation. It’s also related to being able to study in a place like this while being a Demon Princess.

Mikoto is a Princess of the Demon Kingdom, but apparently, she was said to be the worst off among her siblings. She is constantly compared to her other siblings and even ridiculed behind her back by her own vassals. Her parents dote on their other children, and even her siblings despise Mikoto, too. She seems to have grown up in such a family environment.

Well, this is Mikoto’s one-sided opinion, and I can’t know for sure unless I listen to what the other party has to say. But at least Mikoto grew up feeling that way. That’s why she ran away from home without any friends and ended up alone in that forest.

I know all too well that Mikoto, who had no friends and no place at home, met me and gradually became dependent on me, the first friend she made. After I realized that and decided to break up with Mikoto, Mikoto cried a lot. She said that she often cried and suffered in that time.

Anyway, after that, Mikoto tried desperately to make friends, just as I had told her and started making efforts to talk to the other kids around her. Also, Mikoto believe she was so ridiculed and friendless for her lack of skills, so she started studying hard and practicing magic, and they eventually began to recognize that effort.

Thanks to her hard work, the number of vassals who gossip behind her back has decreased, and she can make friends of the same generation, and the environment seems to have improved in various ways. However, if Mikoto is able to do it, there are people who will be blown away by her tailwind. Haven’t her siblings constantly mocked Mikoto? It seems that her family was afraid of Mikoto’s sudden rise to prominence.

Mikoto decided to study abroad in order to avoid conflicts between siblings, as it would lead to fights over inheritance rights and succession to the throne. Until then, the siblings who had thought that she would not have the right to inherit and would never succeed suddenly watched her gain enough power and influence to have a fighting chance, and the people around her would not just leave that matter alone.

So when she decided to go to where I was, I wasn’t in Carruzan anymore. What’s more, the search for Mikoto, who only knows Floto’s whereabouts, seems to have quickly come to a dead end. In the end, it seems that it took quite some time before she realized that I was Flora and studying in Berne Academy, in the royal capital of Ploiss, and enrolled in this school.

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As soon as she found out about it, she had the Kingdom of Del prepare her an identity and documents that would let her study abroad in a human country, and she came to the royal capital of Ploiss and forced herself to enroll in Berne.

Since Mikoto is in such a position, it might be difficult to take things from the Demon Country and leave it at that. But she seems to have made friends and vassals she can trust, so she said that she would ask around, just in case. If I can make black tea, let’s drink it together with Mikoto. The least I can do in return is to make delicious tea for her to drink.

“So you’ve also got a lot of troubles on your end, huh, Flora…?” Mikoto said. “But I can’t believe you’re going to be married off to a Prince you don’t even love! I’ll burn down the Kingdom of Ploiss to the ground if they try to take my Flora away from me!”

“Hey, hey, hey…!” I said. “Calm down! It’s not funny when you say it, Mikoto…” I said.

It could really become a diplomatic issue! Thanks to Mikoto’s status, it’s not a joke. If anyone asks, it’s a diplomatic issue. 1

There are still many things I want to ask and talk about. But we can’t talk like this forever.

“Ah, that was the bell… we have to go back to the classroom,” I said.

“Huh~…?” Mikoto whined. “Anyway, it’s all boring classes for children, and if you’re going to listen to those classes, wouldn’t it be more meaningful to talk with you, Flora?”

Well, about that……. The scope of what we are currently doing in class is very easy. If it’s just what I’m doing now, I learned it from my tutors a long time ago. But it would be the same for the other students in the class. All nobles should be highly educated. I don’t know about other people’s tutors, but there is no doubt that they are studying with tutors.

In a crowd of people like that, if you want to keep your grades to the extent that you don’t damage your family name, you might end up being left behind if you don’t take classes properly, study, and review.

“I’m more hungry than that. Let’s have lunch,” Mikoto said.

“…………Ah!” I cried.

Oh no! I completely forgot!

“What happened?” Mikoto asked.

“I forgot something serious…” I asked.

I always eat the boxed lunch that Katharina brings. But today, right after the lunch break, Mikoto called me and we talked until now. I didn’t say anything to Katharina. In other words, Katharina is waiting in vain in the dining hall.

Oh no, oh no, oh no! What should I do?! Should I go to the cafeteria from now on and just explain to Katharina?

“Wh-Wh-Wh-What should I do?” I stammered.

“It seems like a terrible thing for you to be so upset, Flora… Okay! Leave it to me, Mikoto!”

Whoa! She’s so cool! Mikoto, who used to be so unreliable, now looks like a dependable older sister.

I always eat my lunch in the dining hall at noon, but I forgot about it and talked with Mikoto. When I explain to Mikoto that the maid who brought my lunch is probably tired of waiting, she says, “Let’s go now!” and the two of us came to the dining hall.

The bell has already rung, so there are almost no people. It’s all staff who clean up, butlers, maids, and cooks in some person’s House. There are no students. In the midst of that…

“What in the hell are you to Flora?” Mikoto asked.

“I am Miss Flora’s maid,” Katharina said. “What are you doing here all of a sudden? This is a matter within our House. No matter who you are or where you came from, you have no right to interfere.”

The cafeteria has now turned into a war zone… why did I come here with Mikoto…? If Mikoto and Katharina met at such a time, shouldn’t I have been able to predict what would happen? I’m so confused that I made the wrong choice.

“Awawawa…” I whimpered.

Between Mikoto and Katharina glaring daggers at each other, all I could do was shrink.