CH 176

While Flora was out, Katharina entertained the guests as ordered and so took everyone out into the town. However, Katharina found Caanburg has changed dramatically since she was last here, so there are many places she doesn’t even know about.

“Huh?!” Claudia cried. “There are so many hand pumps everywhere I look!?”

While walking around town, Claudia was surprised to find that all the wells here and there had hand pumps installed. The hand pump is famous as the newest device sold by Kruck Trading Firm. Speaking of places where hand pumps are installed, they’re only ever funded through the support of the kingdom or a feudal lord, such as in the mansions of influential high-ranking nobles or wells that are very important to the region.

It would cost too much to install it in all the wells around an area, and they don’t know how long it would take to deliver even if they could have ordered that quantity. In the first place, neither the kingdom nor the lords have enough money to provide such a subsidy, so the best they can do is to set up important wells that are shared by the surrounding residents.

And yet, in this town, hand pumps are installed at every well that can be seen everywhere. They can’t hide their surprise not only from the available budget and upfront cost issues but also from the fact that the town was able to get that many.

“The hand pump is Miss Flora’s invention, after all,” Katharina said. “Before Caanza Trading Firm was established, we only taught the craftsmen of Kruck Trading Firm how to make them and commissioned them to sell it, so for Miss Flora, it is possible to manufacture as many as she’d like.”

“Huh?! Is that why?!” Claudia said.

Fufufuhn, Katharina chuckled with vain pride. Claudia was frankly surprised and everyone who didn’t know about it was also surprised, but Katharina didn’t forget to tell herself internally that this wasn’t something she should be proud of.

“The size and population of the town are still small, but the townscape is so wonderful…” Alexandra said.

She and her mother Gabriella look at the town in awe. It’s true that there are almost no high-rise buildings made of bricks, but there are many elaborately designed buildings, and there are many low-rise wooden structures. The structures and facades of the buildings are like works of art.

“There are a lot of things that I don’t understand,” Mikoto said. “And I’ve never even seen so many things like this in the royal capital.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. They felt the same.

“Mr. Helmut, what is that?” Christa asked.

“Ah, that would be…” Helmut said.

And while the women were sightseeing among themselves, there was a couple separate from them that made a world all to themselves.

“Ah! Is that what it was?” Christa said. “By the way, where is your parent’s home, Mr. Helmut?”

“My family, House Royce, were originally servants of House Carruthers,” Helmut said. “Therefore our house is in Carruzan… it’s in the direction of the walled city we passed by to get here.”

While guiding the women, Katharina eavesdropped on the exchange between Helmut and Christiane. And from Christiane’s words, she read the words between Christiane’s lines and her true intentions. She casually asked about their parent’s house. In that case, there is only one path for Katharina to take: she will support Christiane in introducing her to their parents as Helmut’s fiancée.

She would eliminate all the foul insects that try to land on Flora. Even if Helmut is her brother by blood, he was no exception. She knows her brother is a capable man. And that Flora needs Helmut’s ability…

That’s why she can’t force him out of the picture. But she has to keep Flora away from his hands. Then the solution will come naturally: Helmut gets married quickly while staying Flora’s butler. That way, he can’t do anything untoward toward Flora.

“…………”

“…”

Christiane and Katharina realized that they had the same interests as they made eye contact with each other. There is no stronger ally than Katharina to fill Helmut’s outer moat to his heart. The difficulty of the mission will change overwhelmingly just by helping Katharina to clear up any issues with their family. The two of them just nodded at each other, recognizing they were on the same page already.

“I want to go sightseeing in Carruzan, but would it be too much to ask?” Louisa asked.

“Let’s not do it today,” Katharina said. “We’ll do so later…. though, I suppose you’d be fine on your own even without a guide, Louisa…”

Going sightseeing today was originally an unplanned action. They must be tired from their trip and you don’t want to hang around for too long.

As they were originally from Carruzan, they had expected that Louisa, Gabriela, and Alexandra would want to go back there. However, they persuade them to put up with it today and go out again at a later date. Of course, at that time, Helmut and Christiane will also go to Carruzan. They would not want to force her to go today because of the arrangements necessary.

However, without noticing Katharina and Christiane’s tactics, everyone agreed and decided not to go to force going to Carruzan today.

After eating a lot of Flora’s delicious homemade dishes, everyone was very satisfied. Some people knew that Flora was developing new things one after another, but they never thought that such unknown dishes would come out one after another.

Miso, miso soup, mayonnaise, cheese, pizza, French toast, most of them had never eaten anything like most of them. Mikoto had brought the miso and rice so she knew about them. Even Louisa, who works at the ranch, knew about cheese. However, the way they were prepared and eaten was new and unexpected.

Mikoto didn’t know that there was such a simple, yet delicious way to eat raw vegetables just by spreading miso on them. Even Luisa didn’t know there was such a new way to eat the cheese she always just chomped on it raw. Even with the same ingredients and the same dish, when Flora gets their hands on them, they become like entirely different food.

The only thing was… white rice was not popular with everyone. Only Flora and Mikoto can eat it. They had asked Mikoto questions about what was delicious about it and how to make it delicious, but Mikoto didn’t have a clear answer. If you ask her again… she can only say that it’s just something she always ate.

And the ultimate surprise is the bath. There was a bath in the Carruthers Residence n the royal capital, but it’s not comparable. A large bathtub, luxurious interior, a full suite of facilities, a huge full-length mirror, and because the bath at the Carruthers Residence was still temporary, the facilities and functions of the bath at Manor Caan stand out.

“Ha~…… the hot water was so good,” Mikoto hummed.

Bohuh! No one pays attention to Mikoto as she sits on the bed and it makes a noise as it compresses. There are only 5 people here: Katharina, Louisa, Claudia, Alexandra, and Mikoto. From now on, the secret talks between these 5 will be held.

“So, why’d you gather us together this time, Katharina?” Claudia asked.

All eyes turn to Katharina. After a short pause, she said,

“Yes… while we’re all here at Caan territory for this long vacation, I thought it would be a good idea if the 5 of us try various things with Miss Flora, so I’ve gathered you all together to discuss it.”

“Are we trying to set up Flora as one?” Mikoto asked, tilting her head.

There were those who somehow understood what Katharina was trying to say, and those who didn’t, so everyone waited for Katharina to continue.

“To be clear, Miss Flora is rather obsessed with ‘waiting’. To be more specific, she’s ‘useless,’” Katharina said. “So, if we wait for Miss Flora to attack any of us, she will never approach even if we’ve all become old ladies. That’s why we’re going to take the first move on her.”

“Hey! Isn’t that different from our previous agreement?” Louisa cut-in.

But, Katharina doesn’t stop:

“Are you certain about this protest? If we wait for Miss Flora to choose one of us, it will never end, will it? I’m not saying that we’re going to rush to push down Lady Flora and compete for control of her. I’m just suggesting that we set up rules that we can both all agree on and use to approach Lady Flora on an equal, fair, and competitive footing.”

““Hmmmnnn…””

Katharina’s words are probably correct. If they continue to wait for Flora to choose which of these 5 girls will be the best, they will never reach a settlement. In that case, as Katharina said, it would be quicker to decide on a method that everyone can agree on and approach Flora from there. Other than that, there is no solution.

The only problem is whether there is a way to attack Flora from here that everyone can agree with. Considering Flora’s personality, if someone attacks first, they’ll be able to steal Flora’s first time. And that’s what everyone wants. They believe they all want to be Flora’s first and win her over.

There is no way that the opinions of those five people can be harmonized. Rather, that’s why it was decided, “If that’s the case, let Flora choose without any grudges.” There was no need to decide on the previous rule if they allowed themselves to forcefully pursue her from their side.

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“That’s about it….” Katharina said. “Anyway, we’ve all already decided we will all be married or otherwise tied to Miss Flora, right? You’ve all accepted that, right? The question now is, ‘Which of us 5 wives will be the best for Miss Flora’ isn’t it?”

““““…………””””

Everyone looked at each other at Katharina’s sharp words.

That’s the thing. They all already think that the 5 will be tied to Flora. At least these 5 already think so. Flora is the only one who doesn’t admit it. In the first place, polygamy and bigamy are commonplace for high-ranking nobles in this country, and since homosexuality was already heretical here, there’s no reason for them to follow the rule that there should only be one committed partner. If all 5 of them married Flora, everything would be fine.

However… even if all five of them could be allowed to become Flora’s wives, who would be the best among them? More to the point, everyone wants to be told that they are the best. That’s why this ranking is to clarify, “Who attacks Flora first?” from “No one is to attack Flora until she makes the first move.”

“So all 5 of us will approach Miss Flora at the same time to clarify that,” Katharina said. “We will be able to take her at the same time. We can all share Miss Flora’s first time. And the 5 of us will be ranked at the same time. Does anyone have any other good ideas?”

Certainly, in the way of thinking so far, there were only two extremes such as 0 and 100. There were only two options: being chosen by Flora and serving as her first, or someone else being chosen being left out with the other 4.

However, as Katharina said, if the 5 of them approached at the same time and the 6 of them had their first experience together, all 5 of them would be able to steal Flora’s first. If that’s the case, it’s better to be able to participate than to play a 0 or 100 game, where some people around you might get in the way but it’s better than feeling like you’ve missed your shot and getting nothing while the winner takes all.

And at that time, if they set the order in which Flora would put their hands on them, their ranking would also be determined. It’s not necessarily the order in which Flora touches first, but it may be possible to use that as a guide on the day itself.

Just waiting for Flora to move without doing anything will not be clear. In that case, they can understand why it would be better to follow Katharina’s words and attack as one.

“I’m fine with that,” Mikoto said.

“Me, too……” Lousia said.

“There’s nothing in it but good things for me, I’m in!” Claudia said.

“I don’t think I would have done such an act, but…” Alexandra said, “I can’t say I’m going to be the only one left out when everyone else already is for it, I am in as well.”

With the 4’s consent, Katharina lowered her head slightly, the corners of her mouth lifting in a grin.

“Then, everyone has already agreed. Now then, let’s discuss how we’re going to attack Miss Flora during this long vacation.”

“”Ufufufu.””

The 5 continued to discuss further to work out their devious plan.

“Hekchu!” Flora sneezed.

After relaxing in her room for the first time in a long while, Flora felt a sneeze as well as a chill running down her spine.

“Huh? Is it a cold? … Or is a beautiful girl talking about me? As if! Fufu…”