/
Upon hearing the Little Bear’s answer, Gallio sighed briefly and said, “So it’s dark brown.”
Somehow Gallio sounded disappointed.
‘What’s wrong? Does he not like the color?’
Well, I also didn’t like my hair that much. I always thought it would have been nice if it was black like the direct descendants of the Leocardia Family.
‘Or brown like the Big Bear.’
It was such a shame.
“Are you thinking about going out?” asked Gallio, with a giddy gaze.
“Yes. I plan to go to Silver Fork.”
“I’ll send Lavigne to get you ready to go out. From now on, Lavigne will be Dia’s personal maid and etiquette teacher.”
“What is a personal maid?”
“It means she’s the maid who will always take care of you. If you’re unhappy with Lavigne or want to choose someone else, you can tell me.”
“Oh, Lavigne! They helped me get to the lift yesterday!”
There was a smile in Gallio’s eyes, but it was only for a moment. Again, Gallio bowed his head with a heavy expression.
“Then I’ll leave you to prepare. Ruth, let’s go.”
“Yes. Young Master, I’ll see you next time. Dia, Silver Fork desserts are delicious, but the cotton candy sold at the nearby Pink Candy is also very delicious. Make sure to try it if you can. Make sure to try it, my second son loves it!”
“I will! Thank you!”
Ruth smiled and left the room along with Gallio, Lavigne coming in right after.
Lavigne approached me with a smile.
“Greetings Miss. I am Lavigne, your personal maid. Please take good care of me from now on, Miss.”
“Why are you using honorifics?”
“As a guest of the Duchy, your position is much higher than mine.”
“I didn’t know that. I guess guests of the Duke are high up in position. You even have to take care of picking their clothes.”
“They also take care of picking your shoes, you know.”
“Really? Woｗ! I can’t believe it’s true!”
Lavigne smiled broadly and said to the Little Bear, “You’re leaving together with the lady, aren’t you? Won’t you wait outside Young Master, while I get the lady ready for your outing?”
“No problem. I also need to change into my outdoor clothes. See you later, Dia.”
“Okay!”
The Little Bear put me onto the floor and left through the floor.
The two maids I saw yesterday entered the room, holding various items in their arms.
“Leave it to us. We’ll do everything for you.”
“I can do it by myself.”
“How could we let the Duchy’s guest do that?” Lavigne spoke resolutely and took off my clothes.
Before I could even feel awkward, my underwear was stripped and replaced, my socks were also changed by the two ladies in just a few seconds. On top of that, they put me in some thick knit pants as well as a knitted scarf around my neck. I was also placed in a coat, a fur hat, and thick gloves, all of which were pink.
“…You sure do like pink Miss Lavigne.”
“You can simply call me Lavigne.”
“No matter how other guests of the Duchy address you, I must still speak like so since it is a necessary formality.”
“That’s what I’m supposed to be called though. Your position as a guest is very high, Young Miss.”
I didn’t like it, but I still nodded.
“Well… Yes, I understand.”
“Pink was Marciana’s favorite color when she was young. It’s a little big but it can’t be helped. This is what the successor wore when she was just three years old.”
“…Three years old…?”
“Yes. You will also grow tall. You said you were five years old, right?”
“I’m actually seven…”
“Hyuk.”
The two maids standing in the back made a startling noise. Lavigne gave them a look and whispered to me affectionately.
“Don’t worry. There are a lot of instances of children being small but suddenly growing tall. I’m sure you will too.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes! But you have to make sure that you sleep and eat well. Got it?”
“Yes!”
“Well, you’re all set to go. Let’s go, shall we?”
Lavigne took my hand and led me to the door. When the door opened, it wasn’t Little Bear who greeted me, but someone else.
“Wow! So cute!”
It was Marciana.
“Hello…”
“You said you were going out right? Let’s go together!”
Marciana squatted in front of me as she took in my appearance. Her golden eyes shined brightly.
‘How could I say no to that…’
It wasn’t that I didn’t like it.
“Yes.”
“Then can I hug you?”
I nodded my head.
Marciana lifted me up with her hands in joy. However, unlike the two bears, it was strangely uncomfortable. It seemed like she had never hugged a child before.
“Oh my! Sister!”
Little Bear in his outdoor clothes exclaimed as he came running.
“I’m the one who’s going to hug Dia.”
“No, I’m hugging her! I got permission from Dia herself!”
The Little Bear stared at me with disappointed eyes. I had no choice but to endure the guilt.
“When we come back later, please give me a hug.”
“Yes! I will.”
“Kuk.”
The reaction of Marciana and the Little Bear followed.
“Let’s go! I want to eat that thing called cotton candy,” I said, sweating.
“Yes, let’s go.”
She started walking fast. The hug became a little more uncomfortable.
“Sister, you can’t hug her like that. Look at Dia’s expression, she’s uncomfortable.”
The Little Bear snapped as he ran after us.
Marciana paused, and asked, “Really?”
“Uh… Uncomfortable…”
I didn’t want to lie to members of the Duke Family, so I spoke frankly.
“Where are you uncomfortable?” Marciana asked seriously.
In her voice was a firm resolve to hold me properly.
“I’m not sure…”
“Sister, you have to support her butt properly.”
“Like this?”
“Yes, just like that. Dia, what do you think?”
“It’s better now!”
Marciana smiled but still opened her mouth to add, “I’m glad. Tell me right away if you feel uncomfortable again. Got it?”
“Yes.”
“Sister, let’s stop by Father’s office before we go out. I need to get a few body temperature artifacts for Dia.”
“Okay.”
Marciana took me to the Big Bear’s office.
“Count!”
The Big Bear took me away from Marciana with a distinct big smile. The tips of his lips slightly raised. His arms were as firm and warm as ever.
“I’m going to go eat some cotton candy!”
“Okay. Here, I’ll give you some pocket money.”
The Big Bear took a coin purse out of his subspace and placed it in my hand. It was small and very light.
‘There should be around one or two coins…’
It should be a silver coin or something like that, but it shouldn’t be too much.
“Thank you!”
“And I’ll give you this too.”
The Big Bear took a bracelet out of his subspace. It was a thin black band. In its center were orange, red, and yellow buttons.
It looked normal at first glance, but something felt unusual.
“It’s a body temperature maintenance artifact.”
The Big Bear hung the bracelet on my left wrist.
“I know you aren’t supposed to use magic, but it should be okay to use just a little right now. Try it on your bracelet. It’s called imprinting.”
I did as the Big Bear said. Then, the big bracelet shrunk to fit my wrist just right.
“There are other functions too. It will protect you.”
“I still have the protection ring you gave me last time. I’ll give it back. You did just lend it to me after all.”
“I have more, so there’s no need. Give it back to me once you grow up and you can use your mana. You’re not allowed to use magic, so you never know.”
It was a little bit burdensome, but it was reasonable. I nodded my head.
“The bracelet protects the wearer in a different way than the ring. If you press this red button a Disguise Spell will be cast on your body. You’ll be seen through if that person has strong mana, but it’ll still be useful.”
“I don’t think I’ll need Disguise Magic.”
“You never know. If you press the yellow button, you’ll be able to use flight magic for 10 minutes without using any mana. It’s so you can run away in times of crisis.”
“Wow! It’s amazing! What about the orange button?”
“It tells us where you are.”
“What?”
“Just in case. Don’t worry. If anything happens, we’ll find you.”
“Are you worried that I might get kidnapped?”
“Yes. You are a guest of the Duchy. Bad people always want to kidnap people who are treated preciously. But don’t worry too much, the chances of that happening are incredibly small.”
In fact, the situation itself was not worrying. But the bracelet itself was burdensome.
‘It must’ve been very hard to put that many functions into an artifact.’
It had four functions, not two, so of course, the price would have been very high.
‘I think I could get kidnapped just because I have this.’
I thought so.
‘I’m glad it doesn’t look expensive. Well… I can always leave it when I leave later.’
The body temperature maintenance function was permanent, but the other functions didn’t seem different.
“Yes! I won’t worry. Thank you!”
“Okay! Have a safe trip. I would go with you but I’m behind on work. Let’s go together next time.”
Big Bear gave me a friendly pat on the head and passed me back to Marciana. I felt a little disappointed as I left his spacious and comfortable arms.
Of course, Marciana’s arms were also okay.
‘Should I call her the Leopard?’
Helladius and Juliano were called Big Bear and Little Bear, so only referring to Marciana with her name felt a little discriminatory. Of course, I would only call her that in my thoughts.
I made up my mind.
‘Good! Leopard, it is!’
Still, the Duke would remain Duke. If ever it would’ve been Big Leopard for fairness, but I didn’t think it was suitable. The Duke was just that. The Duke.
“I’ll be back, Dad.”
The Leopard and Little Bear laughed and said, before stepping out of the office.
***
“Do you want to eat chocolate pudding or cotton candy first?” the Little Bear asked.
“Let’s start with the cotton candy that I haven’t tried yet!”
“Okay, let’s go to Pink Candy.”
We left the Duchy Castle in a big fancy carriage. Soon it stopped in front of a small store.
Inside the store, there was a glass display with colorful candies arranged by shape. There seemed to be more than 20 kinds of candies, but they were all pretty and unique in shape.
However, what was more amazing than the candy, was the staff working hard on the machines inside. They were forming something.
“Here, try it.”
Little Bear who followed closely beside me held the cotton candy in his hand. I saw various desserts on the journey to the Duchy with the two bears, but this was the first time I had encountered anything like this. The thing Big Bear was holding seemed like it didn’t have any clear shape.
“You don’t like it?”
As I kept staring, the Little Bear came closer.
I answered frankly, “Yes… It looks suspicious.”
“…”
The Little Bear’s mouth shut tightly. Behind me, Leopard spoke with a small smile, “It may look a little suspicious, but it’s very delicious. You’ll love it.”
Little Bear ripped off some of the cotton candy on top.
“Hyuk, it’s melting?”
“Yes, it melts in your mouth quickly, and it’s very delicious.”
“Then I’ll try a little bit.”
“Sister, make sure to use clean hands when you give food to Dia. Dia is frail.”
“Oh, yes. That’s right.”
The Leopard cast some cleanliness magic on her hands and tore the cotton candy into small pieces and brought it to my mouth.
“Ah~”
With a little hesitation, I opened my mouth.
The Leopard smiled and placed it in my mouth.
‘Well.’
Cotton candy had a similar touch to that of the previous bubble bath. But the bubbles weren’t edible, and soon disappeared. The cotton candy also disappeared before I could blink, but it left a sweet taste on my tongue.
“Hmm?”