CH 287

I called Georg and told him everything… and I felt a little better. For some reason, we’ve been keeping secrets for a long time, but after telling them all, I feel like we’ve finally truly become blood siblings. Well, Georg was surprised and tired by how much I dumped on him, but I was able to spit it all out and feel cleansed.

In the first place, if I had told my family and the Carruthers Vassals about the Caan Knighthood from the beginning, this would not have happened. This happened because I kept it a secret. I guess Friedrich also acted like that without knowing that it was my territory.

Well, it’s okay if it’s Carruthers Territory, but it’s not like it’s fine if it’s my territory, as well… either way, Friedrich’s behavior was unforgivable, but even so, it shouldn’t have developed into such a thorny problem.

It’s no use complaining about the past, but… I can’t help but think that.

Anyway, I’m worried about the wives, so let’s go check them out. It’s not the wives themselves that I’m worried about, but rather that the wives will try to do something…

Georg will be staying with us today, and we’re going to talk to Friedrich together from tomorrow. It’s within commuting distance from Manor Carruthers, but for the time being, it’s fine if he stays the night. I don’t want to treat Friedrich luxuriously, but I want to treat Georg well. He’s going to have a hard time going forward and I want him to relax today.

“How are you all doing?” I said.

I came into the room where my five wives were quarantined… no, rather, under surveillance… wait, that’s not right, either, they were resting here. I opened the door and called out, but…

“Miss Floto! What a relief! We leave the rest up to you!”

“Huh? What?”

When I entered the room, my soldiers started spilling out like a clown car. I don’t understand the situation at all. But at the end, Ignatz said to me, “Good luck!” and then all the military disappeared from the room. The only ones left are the five wives and Isabella. Helmut isn’t here, either.

“Umm……?” I asked.

“Floto! Let’s put him to death right now!” Mikoto said.

“No! Before that, let me have a fair duel with him!” Claudia said.

“I’ll use magic to burn him completely!” Louisa said.

“I will talk a lot about this incident at school!” Alexandra said.

“Hold! Hold! Calm down!” I said.

Everyone rushed towards me. No… not everyone. Only Katharina seems to be calm. While sitting on the couch… is she mumbling something?

“If I’m not mistaken, it’s a poison that causes prolonged suffering… no… that isn’t enough suffering,” Katharina muttered with a shadow over her face. “A poison that makes you suffer much longer… a poison with no antidote, and after it runs its course, you’ll be tormented for much, much longer still…”

“Hii…!” I squealed.

I almost peed myself. No, I didn’t pee myself, alright? It’s just that I was so scared I almost peed myself! Honest!

“Everyone please calm down,” I said.

“There’s no way we can stay calm! We can’t let him go after hitting you twice!” Mikoto said.

So don’t start focusing your spells! Please stop that! The house will be destroyed! If Mikoto and Louisa’s magic explodes, this place is turning to ruins.

Even if it’s not enough to completely demolish it or turn it into ashes in one shot, it’s definitely significant damage. Besides, if Fire magic is used, there is a possibility that the flames will spread to the surroundings.

“Anyway!” I said. “I’m safe and Friedrich will make amends in another way! So calm down!”

“I’m calm, and I’m thinking clearly,” Claudia said. “I just want to challenge him to a duel as a knight. I’m calm, but I don’t think everyone is calm.”

No, no… Claudia… I don’t think you’re calm either…

“It can’t be helped…” Isabella said quietly. “It looks like we’ll have to ask Miss Floto to step up to settle this situation.”

“Isabella… do you have a secret plan?” I asked.

She seemed confident. If you can do something about this situation, please do something about it. I can’t think of a way to calm everyone down. Please save me, Isabella!

“Fuhn ♪ Fuhn ♪ Fufuhn ♪ Fufufufuh~n♪”

Katharina’s humming echoes. She is in a very good mood. I can’t believe that until just now, this is the same girl who was scarier than the vengeful ghosts in horror movies.

“Katarina, it’s time to switch out,” Alexandra said.

“I cannot comply. This is my job as a maid,” Katharina said.

Washya, washya, I hear the sound of bubbles and soap sliding on skin…

“You’re the only one cheating, Katharina-san,” Alexandra said. “Didn’t we all decide to wash Flora together?”

Oh……. To think that Alexandra would speak directly to that frightening Katharina… unexpectedly, Alexandra may also have a strong heart.

“… Understood. Then let’s wash her together with all five of us…”

Oh……? Katharina also seems to have made some concessions. Up until now, she’s done a lot of it herself, so normally you’d think there’s a replacement, but even so, I think it’s a big concession for Katharina to just give it up and share with the other four.

By the way, I think you have a rough idea of what we’re talking about, but let me explain. Isabella’s secret plan was… to have me wear the tiny swimsuit last time and take a bath with the five wives and let them wash me… and now, they’ve decided they shouldn’t be washing me one at a time.

I didn’t think anything could change the mood everyone was in… but somehow, it worked…

When I said, “From now on, let’s all get in the bath together and wash each other,” everyone’s attitude suddenly changed and this is the situation. Isabella told me to say that, I thought it would have some effect, but the result was certainly dramatic. The only problem is that I’m being washed like this by everyone.

It’s not bad, for sure. No, I’m pretty happy, to be honest. But it’s absurdly embarrassing. Having someone wash your body makes you feel awkward, embarrassed, and uncomfortable… and something indescribable.

Well, if everyone who was in that terrible atmosphere could return to their usual selves, it’s a cheap price, but… I’m happy and embarrassed… I felt like I couldn’t say anything.

When I woke up in the morning, my body felt heavy. I thought maybe I was tired or sick, but I was wrong. There are five other people on my bed, or rather, people clinging to my limbs and body, so they were just weighing me down and I couldn’t move it freely.

Come to think of it, we all slept together last night… if I wasn’t watching them, everyone might go off to murder Friedrich, so when I was told to sleep with them, I had no choice but to do so.

I wake up quietly and go to my morning routine. I don’t have my parents with me, but I can train alone. There are ways to do it, whether it’s practice swings or kata practice. My body has become so conditioned that it feels wrong if I don’t move my body every morning. Habits are scary things.

""

After finishing the morning training, I talked to Georg about today at the breakfast table. Today, the two of us decided to go talk to Friedrich first. After hearing my explanation, Georg was convinced to some extent, but Friedrich wouldn’t be able to understand the situation at all yet.

However, I don’t think that even if I went to explain by myself, he wouldn’t even listen to me. Even if I tell him, he won’t understand. Georg believed me so easily that I almost thought he misunderstood, but ordinary people would never believe my story. It’s so outrageous that you’ll probably think it’s nothing more than a child’s tale.

That’s why Georg and I went to the cell where Friedrich was… but he didn’t listen to us at all. He was particularly hostile, or rather hostile to me, or whichever it was, it hit me quite hard.

I was wondering if he could listen to him if I was there, but after that, I thought my presence was of no help, so left the rest to Georg and then left at once. I don’t think it will be resolved in a day or two, so it will probably take a few days at the earliest to settle this matter.

I sent a letter to my father last night. Considering the time it takes to transport it to the port and until the ship goes over there, it will take a few days at the earliest for a round trip. It seems that if I get involved with Friedrich in the meantime, it will only make him more agitated, so I will continue to have Georg try to persuade and explain things to him and concentrate on my work.

Even I can’t just focus on Friedrich. To begin with, my homecoming is like going home to work on something else. And yet, there is no time for this issue to take up extra time. First of all, I clean up my daily paperwork, listen to various reports, participate in meetings, and conduct panels and interviews…

“Miss Flora, if you don’t stay with me, I feel like I’m going to go off to murder that idiot again.”

“… Katharina.”

To be frank, Katharina is just using Friedrich to justify sticking with me, right? No, that’s fine, right? But it would be nice if she said she wanted to be with me without making excuses or justifications like that…

“I’m not going to let you get away with cheating, you know?” Mikoto said. “I’m going to spoil Floto, too!”

“Flora, shall we have some tea?” Alexandra said.

“I brought fresh milk from the ranch,” Lousia said.

""

“I’m in the mood for apple tea today,” Claudia said.

In the end, everyone gathers together. Of course, I don’t mind. Rather, being like this has healed my heart.

I don’t care about being slapped by Friedrich anymore. There wasn’t much damage, and I was experiencing even more injury than that daily.

However, it seems that everyone can’t forgive someone beating me without meaning or reason, and I’m honestly happy that they’re angry because it happened. It seems that everyone’s feelings are being conveyed to me.

My explanation and persuasion to Friedrich didn’t seem to go well, but my work is progressing smoothly, and I’m able to have heartwarming interactions with everyone like this, so I have no complaints or problems.

Anyway, even if you try to charge Friedrich, it won’t be a big crime. Emotionally, I want to give him the death penalty, but the crime he committed is not that serious.

At most, eating and drinking without paying, destroying property, assaulting women, and misrepresenting one’s identity due to a misunderstanding… if you pay for the food and alcohol and damaged property, it’s over, and even if a noble assaults a commoner a bit, it’s not a very serious crime. It’s different if they kill for no reason, but in most cases, they are acquitted if they are just a little violent with them.

It’s a little confusing, the charge of him going around my territory and claiming that he’s the next lord. Normally, it’s a pretty serious crime. For example, if I falsely claim to be a member of the royal family even though I have nothing to do with them, it is normal to have my House demolished or to get the death penalty.

But that’s just a matter of deception invoking the name of the royal family, and in fact, this place was Carruthers Territory until a little while ago, and that fact was hidden as much as possible. Considering the circumstances, it can be said that it can’t be helped if Friedrich misunderstands that this is still Carruthers Territory and that he is the next Lord.

In the end, there are cases where the crimes are not clear enough, or even if they are known, there are only minor ones, and although I want to give them the death penalty emotionally, I come to the conclusion that it’s impossible.

Besides, at that time, my blood was rising in my head, and I even thought about killing him, but I feel like it would be too far after I calmed down after a while. I don’t plan on letting him go without any charges just because he’s my brother, but I can’t let my emotions give him a punishment that doesn’t fit the crime.

For the time being, even if Friedrich is dragged to court, it won’t start unless he first becomes aware of his guilt. It would be nice if Georg could persuade him…

A few days after I arrested Friedrich, there was someone who visited my room early in the morning.

“Lord Floto von Caan, I am truly sorry for this matter.”

“Please raise your head,” I replied.

It seems that my father received the letter and flew back home. I hadn’t expected Father to return. I wonder if the situation at the border with Moscove is okay.

“I am also responsible for asking you to keep Caan Territory secret as much as possible,” I said. “First, let Friedrich himself realize his guilt, then he will be tried for his crimes at court.”

I keep trying to get my father to raise his head, he still seems to think his poor supervision was to blame for this. But the root cause of this uproar was my request to keep the Caan Knighthood a secret from House Carruthers and even the Carruthers Vassals.

“No, this case is Friedrich’s fault,” Father said. “I will talk to Friedrich first. Then, we’ll discuss how to make amends with House Caan.”

“Yes… Big Brother Georg seems to be having a lot of trouble persuading him, so I’m sure you’ll be able to help,” I said.

After seeing my father leave the room, I thought that the discussion was going to progress, so I hurried to deal with the remaining work.