/
At last, evening.
Uncle returned and soon it was people’s report time.
I wandered around Uncle’s office.
The surroundings were more cluttered than usual.
Because Uncle was desperate for Leto.
I, the cause of the reason, had my conscience pricked and my heart thumped.
“I definitely put it here. Jane, did you miss it while cleaning? It was a document about the budget.”
“I clean the desk after His Lordship has finished everything, so I never touch it before nightfall.”
“No, where on earth did that go? I’m sure I left it here, though?!”
“You don’t do things right.”
“No, Your Lordship, I really
”
“I must have said that I had to go down to the manor, so you had to finish it today. Why, it’s too boring for you these days? So you’re making problems too?”
“N-No! Absolutely not!”
I quietly avoided the spot.
I thought that was all it took to save Leto, but when I saw that Uncle was scolding him, I felt sorry and couldn’t look any longer.
‘Sorry, Leto.’
I avoided the spot for a while.
Then I went back to my room and brought out a bunch of newspapers I had put together earlier.
Fortunately, the dining room was full of newspapers, so I was able to get a 15-day supply of newspapers.
Among them, I only collected and cut out bad things like theft.
Mom used to organize it nicely in some kind of a big book.
Apparently, I couldn’t do that, so I cut out only what I needed, gathered them together, rolled them up, and tied them with a string.
Then I went back to Uncle’s office and crossed the scene where Leto was being scolded.
I need to stop Leto from getting further scolded.
“Uncle, look at this!”
I turned my back on Leto and interrupted Uncle.
“Peanut, Uncle is working, so get out.”
While scolding

“Uncle, just look at this! I made this!”
“Hey.”
Then he glared at me like he was going to chew me up and glared at me.
I flinched, but it wouldn’t be Aika if I stopped like this!
“Hm? Uncle, uncle, look at this. Just look at this. I collected them!”
Then Uncle, who was standing, holding his waist, let out a deep sigh.
It was the moment when his anger toward Leto subsided.
“Huh, go and do it again. You can leave after I see it in the morning.”
“
Yes, I understand. I will rewrite it right away and upload it.”
Leto nodded with a gloomy face and left.
All-night work is confirmed. Leto, sorry.
I apologized inwardly and handed the bundle of newspapers to Uncle.
“This!”
“Is Uncle a trash can?”
“It’s not trash, you know.”
When I pouted, Uncle leaned against the desk and accepted the bundle.
As soon as he untied the hard-tied string, I pointed with my finger.
“Uncle, there seem to be a lot of dangerous things these days. It’s scary.”
He fumbled through the stack of newspapers I had cut out.
“You asked for newspapers every morning, and then you were collecting these?”
“Gasp. How does Uncle know that? Zenda brought them to me.”
“Is there anything I don’t know.”
“Just read it. Look at that, Uncle.”
“So don’t think about going out and just stay at home. Huh? Don’t say you’re going to the Imperial Palace unnecessarily.”
“Forever?”
“Mmhm.”
“Nonsense! We just need to get rid of the bad people.”
“That is easy to say.”
Uncle seemed not to be interested in it, so he threw the bundle of newspapers I had been working hard on on the desk.
“Did you look at it closely?”
“I’ve read everything.”
“I don’t think you’ve read it all. They say they go into empty houses, steal things, and injure people. Can’t we tell the mister police to catch all the bad guys?”
I grabbed his clothes and shook them, and only then did Uncle turn his head back to me.
“Okay, so don’t worry about these things and go have a snack and do something like drawing. Do you want to grow old before you even get off your short legs?”
“Old? Why?”
“Didn’t your mom say that if you care about these things from a young age, you’ll lose all your hair and grow old fast?”
“All of this is what Mom taught me, though.”
“Tsk, anyway. Ah, and.”
uncle put his big hand on my head.
I pouted.
Uncle is clearly not interested either.
“Peanut, you’ll go to Grandpa’s from tomorrow. I’ll send your teachers there too, so you’ll be studying there.”
“Grandpa’s? Why?”
“Uncle has to do some work at the territory, so you’re being loved there for about a week.”
“The territory? Are you going to Cartiers?”
Cartiers is the area where the Duchy of Valliot and the March of Leguier are located.
I have never been there yet because I was always with Mom, but I heard that Grandpa and Uncle are in the capital for a certain period of the year and then go back to the territory.
In addition, there is a direct flight to Ponta, the huge island of Warford, in the March of Leguier, and I heard it’s very cool.
“Mm. I won’t take you, don’t pester me.”
As I grabbed Uncle’s sleeve to take him with me right away, I puffed up my cheek.
He smiled and patted my cheek.
“A puffer fish?”
“Don’t do that, take me with you, Uncle.”
“How far does it go? This time is a big no. I’ll be back soon, eat your favorite strawberry at Grandpa’s.”
Although I begged a few more times, this time Uncle was too stubborn.
He even threatened to take me in the winter if I listened carefully this time.
If it’s a week, well

I decided to wait calmly for this time as he said he would bring a magic tool that I could use to contact him at any time.

But it’s too long.
***
Morning, that day.
Leto had to work to the point of straining his eyes to fill out a new document that had disappeared like a ghost.
Of course he couldn’t even go home.
Even after he came back after being scolded by his master and searched the room thoroughly, the papers were gone.
Deciding that it would be better to do it again while he was searching for it, Leto couldn’t even get out of work and had to do the same thing twice for hours.
The good news is that, thanks to having already done it once, the budget planning that took weeks for him to go around the mansion was completed in just a few hours.
Still, it was already past three in the morning.
Leto straightened and stretched his body.
He thought he could close his eyes before 4 o’clock if he finished after a cup of tea.
“I guess I can close my eyes for a while, report back in the morning, and then go home.”
Leto got up from his seat to get the tea and opened the door.
As he stepped into the hallway, something hit his toe and poured out.
Leto tilted his head.
‘
Candies?’
Why is this here?
Why is it the snacks that the Miss eats?
Leto bent his knees and picked up one of the shiny things on the floor.
As expected, it was candies.
What he struck with his foot was a round glass bottle slightly larger than a grown man’s fist.
The glass bottle tipped over, spilling out the candies and chocolates it contained.
As it was completely unexpected, a question mark appeared above Leto’s head.
“Why is this here?”
Even if the maids occasionally handed over snacks, they were usually given along with a confession, so Leto politely declined.
He tended to prepare and eat snacks or tea himself, and that was comfortable.
The other attendants know that he feels burdened with receiving something, so they don’t bother preparing something like this, but

It’s not even Christmas, such a cute gift.
“Ah.”
A memory crept into Leto’s mind.
It was something that happened today.
[Leto, are you going home today?]
[Yes, I suppose so? I have a room here too, but I’ve been busy with work lately, so I’ve been away for a long time. I’m going to stay for the holiday and weekend.]
[Y-You can’t, though
 C-Can’t you not go, Leto?]
It’s not hard to see Miss Aika in the hallway every day.
Probably at least twice a day, or five times at most.
Although noble children of the age of the Miss tend to make groups with friends of different ages and learn to meet, the Miss is a little different.