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Chapter 3-1 : Understanding The Situation
Mylia was confused after seeing Robin’s name on the invoices. She was holding her head while sitting on her office chair.
In front of her, there was Chloe, who looked just as confused as she was, and Aria, who looked somewhat worried.
（How…? How did that woman get to the royal capital…?）
Mylia didn’t want to believe the fact that Robin was in the royal capital. She checked the invoices once again one by one.
However, no matter how many times she checked, the purchaser’s name really was Robin de la Atwood, and the recipient’s name was Mylia de la Atwood. They even added Mylia’s grade and department in the Royal Girls’ Academy next to her name, so there was no mistake that those invoices were meant to be sent to her.
Mylia then found a note at the bottom of each invoice that was written with small letters saying, “If Mylia de la Atwood cannot pay, then it will be charged to Chloe de la Atwood.”
（That woman…! Moreover, not only did she buy expensive clothes, but she also bought expensive food, stayed in an expensive inn, and many more…）
The wasteful use of money further proved that it was really Robin.
Imagining Robin shopping extravagantly in the royal capital with her money, Mylia frowned and bit her lip.
「Mylia-san… Is Robin your sister you once told me about…?」(Aria)
Aria asked Mylia with a worried face.
（Aria-san… I might be inconsiderate saying this, but… Ahh~ her worried face looks cute too~…. No, no, no! We’re talking about Robin now. Get a grip, Mylia!）
「Yeah… The sister who always bullied me and Chloe onee-chan back then…」(Mylia)
「I see… But… How did she get here from the Atwood Territory? I heard that it takes two months of travel from the Atwood Territory to the royal capital with a carriage. Moreover, you have to pass through the forest that is full of monsters, right? I don’t think she could have made it here unless she brought an escort.」(Aria)
「Escort, huh…? I don’t think she has enough money to hire an escort… Ughh… I don’t know what is going on…」(Mylia)
Saying that, Mylia put her head on the table.
Meanwhile, Chloe took a deep breath to calm herself, took the invoice in Mylia’s hand, and looked at it.
「…It looks like we need to investigate to find out how she got here.」(Chloe)
Chloe said that with a calm but cold voice.
Chloe’s hate toward the Atwood Family was far deeper than Mylia’s.
Her father was an incompetent lord who couldn’t manage his own territory well, her mother was like a doll who always followed her husband’s order and didn’t even care about her children, her brother in law was a lolicon who always looked at her with lewd eyes and sometimes touched her body, and the worst above all of them was Robin who always bullied her and her precious little sister.
She didn’t want to go back to that mansion no matter what, and she didn’t want to get involved with those people ever again.
「Onee-chan, are you okay?」(Mylia)
Mylia was worried when she saw Chloe’s grim face.
「I’m okay. I was just… recalling when we lived in that mansion…」(Chloe)
「Onee-chan…」(Mylia)
Chloe put the invoice on the table and started thinking while folding her arms.
She never thought that Robin would come to the royal capital. She was relieved and thought that Mylia and her no longer had a connection with the Atwood Family once they left the territory.
She was relieved because all the students in the Adrashelm Royal Girls’ Academy were treated as vassals of Queen Kushana for four years until graduation, and parents couldn’t interfere with the students’ lives.
The reason why there was such a rule was that there were many parents in this kingdom who wasted their daughters’ talents. Most of them thought that daughters were only good as a marriage tool and didn’t realize their talents at all.
Therefore, Queen Kushana built the Adrashelm Royal Girls’ Academy to educate them and give a place for them to demonstrate their talents.
「…I wonder how she came to this city…」(Chloe)
While thinking, Chloe murmured to herself and looked at the invoices again.
「We don’t have much information but… I have a feeling that she did something ridiculous to get here… She’s a cunning fox after all…」(Chloe)
When she said that, the picture of Robin’s laughing face with the lavender field as the background popped into Chloe’s mind.
「Yeah… I have a bad feeling about it too…」(Mylia)
Saying that, Mylia raised her face from the desk and looked at Chloe.
（Onee-chan… She’s probably thinking the same as me…）
They were staring at each other as if they shared the same thoughts, and then they nodded at each other.
Aria felt a tense atmosphere between the two and became nervous.
「Arrghh…! It’ll be a very annoying thing to handle for sure!」(Mylia)
While shouting, Mylia slammed her hand on the pile of invoices.
「Yeah… I can’t believe that person is in the royal capital. We’ll never know what kind of trouble she’s gonna make here…」(Chloe)
Chloe held her forehead and shook her head several times.
「That person was terrible… She always hits me as soon as she finds me. She robbed me and insisted that all my money was hers. She treats the villagers as if they’re her slaves and forces them to do things for her…」(Mylia)
「She won’t be satisfied until she gets what she wants. She acts as if she was the most beautiful and smartest woman in the world…」(Chloe)
「Is she that terrible…?」(Aria)
「She’s a walking hell.」(Mylia)
「I, I see…」(Aria)
For an educated lady like Aria, Robin’s personality was just beyond comprehension.
「We should do something about her before she does something bad, but first, I think we should go to the stores that issued the invoices and pay the bills.」(Chloe)
「Eeeehh… Do we really have to pay…?」(Mylia)
（I’ll spend as much money as I can if it’s for Chloe onee-chan, but even though I have a lot of money, paying for that woman is just… Ewww… No, no, no. There’s no way I will spend a single penny to pay for her stuff!）
Mylia puffed her cheeks, appealing that she really didn’t want to pay.
「Mylia, you just became a baron. Many aristocrats want to get close to you. If you don’t want to pay, they may come to those stores and pay the bills for you.」(Chloe)
「Really? Thenーー」(Mylia)
「ーーHowever! They do that because they want to make you feel indebted to them so that they can ask you to do something for them in the future. I’m sure of it. Aristocrats will never miss the chance to make people owe them a debt after all.」(Chloe)
For some reason, Chloe’s expression looked cold when she said that.
「Is that so…?」(Mylia)
「Yeah. Therefore, I think it’s better if you pay the bills rather than owe a debt to aristocrats you don’t even know.」(Chloe)
「Eeehh… But I really don’t want to pay!」(Mylia)
「Mylia, I understand your feelings. I hate that you have to spend your money to pay for that woman’s stuff too. You risked your life to fight dragons to earn that money after all. But I think it’s a necessary investment to avoid future trouble in aristocratic society. It irritates me too. Trust me. But it’s necessary.」(Chloe)
「…If you say so… Alright, then. But before I pay, we have to confirm if it’s really Robin who bought the items on the invoices.」(Mylia)
Even though she saw Robin’s name on the invoices, Mylia still wanted to believe in the thin possibility that it wasn’t Robin.
「You’re right. Well then, shall we go to those stores now?」(Chloe)
「But we haven’t finished our work here…」(Mylia)
「Well, I guess we can take a break for a while.」(Chloe)
「Really? Yaay!」(Mylia)
Mylia was happy that she finally could take a break from writing invitation letters.
「But we’re not going outside to have fun, okay? We’re going to do an investigation.」(Chloe)
「Hehe, I know.」(Mylia)
「Mylia-san, Chloe onee-sama, can I go with you? My father knows a lot of merchants in this city, so I may be able to help.」(Aria)
Aria asked while gathering the invoices on the table.
「Of course! Let’s go together, Aria-san!」(Mylia)
Mylia seemed so happy that Aria would tag along.