CH 39

It seems that the new meat dishes and sweets that we served had been so well loved by the aristocrats that we had even signed commercial contracts with some of them.

My father and Alphonse-san were handling it with cheerful faces.

I was looking on with happiness and relief when I heard my name being called out.

“Alice-sama, Alice-sama!”

When I turned around, there were three potential aide candidates lined up in a row whom I had met prior to the birthday party.

From left to right: Johann, Yulena, and Matilda

I had already greeted them during my time as a greeting machine earlier, but perhaps this moment would be the true unveiling of our relationship.

The three of them, all of them my age, each took a curtesy or knightly bow and straightened their posture.

“Lady Alice, please allow me to stand by your side as your aide from this day forward.”

“I accept, Matilda.”

The name of this girl, who was the first to speak to me as my aide, was Matilda Auenmuller.

She was a striking girl with reddish brown hair and beautiful green eyes. She was also the fourth daughter of a Count family.

“I, too, wish to risk my life to be by your side, Alice-sama. I sincerely hope that you will accept me.”

“I accept you, Yulena.”

A little shy, but still polite, Yulena Lilienthal was the next to greet me.

She was a doll-like girl with long wavy blonde hair and blue eyes. She was the child of a baronial family.

“Alice-sama. I hope to protect you from this day forward. I beg you to accept me.”

“I accept you, Johann.”

The last one who greeted me was Johann Duker, who was giving me a knightly bow with his hand on his chest.

He was the child of a senior knight family, with silky blue hair and black eyes.

The Duker family wasn’t exactly a noble family, but a semi-aristocratic a knight class. However, they were said to be a prestigious family of knights who had produced a number of barons in their lifetime of military service. He was the fifth son of that family.

After everyone had finished their greetings, Brother Will, who had been spending his time in business negotiations alongside Aunt Felicia, suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

And then he promptly knelt down before me.

As a matter of fact, Brother Will had also been chosen to be one of my aides.

“Alice-sama, I wish to entrust my entire life to you as one of your aides. Please accept me.”

“I accept you, Wilhelm…wait, Brother, please don’t do that—it’s embarrassing!!”

In a very knightly manner, he took my right hand into his own and kissed the back of it.

“Fufu, if you are a real young lady, you’ll have to take these things in stride. You still need more training, don’t you?”

Yulena’s cheeks flushed with a smile at Brother Will who had said that in a casual manner.

Well, I can understand. Brother Will was quite handsome after all, and because he was older, he also had a knightly presence about him.

In contrast to Yulena, the serious Johann raised his eyebrows at Brother Will’s friendly attitude. Matilda was saying ‘hmm~’ while grinning about something.

…Hey, what are you fantasizing about there, Matilda?

As I was chatting with my aides in such a way, I heard another voice calling out to me.

“Alice-sama, you look like you’re having fun.”

The one who walked over while saying that was Laurier-sama, who had become my friend just recently.

She was the eldest daughter of the Einzschutt margrave family—a rather tall girl with purple hair and pale peach eyes.

At the tea party held a week ago, where children of the same age were gathered, there were many young girls gathered.

Among them, Laurier-sama was the one who seemed the most mature for a six-year-old. She was easy to talk to in my ’30-year old’ way, so I was the first to talk to her and become her friend.

“Alice-sama has already decided on her aides, right?”

“Yes, more people than I could ever hope to have. I hope Lady Laurier also finds nice aides as well.”

She spoke to me with a cool smile and mature manner for a girl so young, so I smiled back. She was my first friend in this life, so I wanted to take good care of her.

I shifted my eyes to the girl that Laurier-sama was holding hands with.

“Hello, who are you?”

When I asked this question, the cute pink-haired girl opened her mouth.

“I’m Letitia Lawrence! It’s nice to meet you, Alice-sama~!”

“Hello, nice to meet you.”

Leticia-sama smiled and waved her hands in the air as she introduced herself as such. Laurier-sama chided her.

“Leticia-sama, at a time like this, it is proper that I introduce Leticia-sama to Alice-sama, and then Alice-sama to you.”

“Oh, yeah. Haha, I’m sorry…”

“No, don’t worry about it. I hope you’ll get along in the future?”

“Yes!”

It seems that the relationship between Letitia-sama and Laurier-sama was like a straight-man comedy act. Or perhaps they were like pseudo-sisters?

When I asked her about it, she told me that Leticia-sama, who liked the sweet bread, insisted that Laurier-sama introduce her to me.

“I’m glad you liked it. I will serve them at tea parties and so on, so let’s get along well!”

“Wow! That’s right! Let’s have fun!”

Lady Letitia’s eyes were sparkling. Apparently, she loved to eat.

According to Laurier-sama, Leticia-sama was the third child of a marquis family like ours…but was it really okay for her to be so puppy-like?

Somehow, I could picture a future where I would have to take care of her too.

After gaining a new friend in this way, Alphonse-san’s voice suddenly echoed through the hall.

“We will now begin the entertainment. First up is the duel!”

……Eh?

A duel?!