Chapter 104 – Lily and the Manners Class

“Ehh? Lady Lily, you’re not dating Prince Miles Debias, the second prince?”

“No way~ Miles is just a friend~”

“But I heard you were brought here from the neighboring kingdom?”

“That’s right! It’s just like you’re a princess from a fairy tale!”

Around me, girls about ten years old had gathered, and our manners class was underway.

Not that it was anything formal—just us clustered on the sofas, sipping tea and chatting away.

I was the only seventeen-year-old adult there, but no matter the age, all girls love talking about romance.

“Come on now, Helen, it’s not sou da yo, it’s sou yo. And Lily, not chigau yo~, but chigaimasu wa yo.”

The teacher chimed in, gently correcting our speech.

“Ehehe, okaaay~”
“……Yes.”

I felt a flash of irritation, but Helen just laughed it off without a care.

Hesitating to make a fuss in front of the kids, I tried forcing a smile and letting it slide—and surprisingly, it wasn’t so bad.

“So, does Lady Lily have someone you’re seeing?”

Everyone looked at me with sparkling eyes, full of curiosity.

The adult in me proudly launched into tales of Heart.

“I just have someone I like. He’s my bodyguard who protects me. Tall, handsome…”

“How wonderful!” “I’m so jealous~” “Kyaa~”

They clasped their hands in prayer or hugged themselves, completely entranced by my story.

“More importantly, what about Christie? You have someone you’re dating, right…?”

Christie, who had been quietly listening the whole time with a somewhat mature air, let out a soft “Fufu” with a smile that was enchantingly seductive for a ten-year-old.

“My boyfriend is the gardener’s son, two years older than me. He’s not the kind everyone makes a fuss over.”

“But he always sends you flowers, doesn’t he?”

“That’s right. When you’re loved that much, how could you not be happy?”

Huh, a gardener’s son, eh. For all her haughty attitude, he’s not below Kirika.

In my mind, Christie dropped a few notches.

“Exactly. He cherishes me so much, and I know he’ll never betray me. He’s the only one who makes me feel that way.”

Yet Christie smiled with such genuine happiness.

Kirika cherishes me too, and he’d never betray me either.

“Indeed. It’s wonderful to meet a man who makes you feel that way.”

Even the teacher was saying stuff like that.

I don’t need to go looking—Kirika’s right here.

Mixing in with the kids for class was more fun than I expected.

Come to think of it, Mina was my only female friend.

But that day, Mina betrayed me, so maybe she wasn’t a real friend after all.

“Lily!”

“Oh, Nia!”

As I walked back to my room, I ran into Nia, the fourteen-year-old daughter of one of the cooks—we’d gotten friendly.

Her age and background were close to mine, so being around her was comforting.

“Hey, I’m in the mood to make soup today. Show me to the kitchen?”

“Sure. They won’t mind if we use the servants’ kitchen for their meals.”

Nia grabbed my hand and tugged me along with a “This way, this way!”

We sneaked into the cramped servants’ kitchen and got to work on the soup—the one dish Kirika always said was delicious.

My one and only specialty.

Dump the potatoes and veggies in skins and all, add water, light the fire, and done.

“It’ll be ready once the water boils.”

Nia peered into the pot with a grin.

“Aren’t you blanching them first?”

“Blanching?”

I had no idea what that meant, but Nia just sat down on a stool in silence and asked about the class instead.

“In the end, whenever girls get together, it always turns to talk of love.”

Nia gazed dreamily and sighed, “I wanna fall in love~”

“What kind of guy is your ideal, Nia?”

Nia thought for a moment, then grinned and held up her index finger.

“Number one: someone who eats my cooking and says it’s delicious!”

I couldn’t help but chuckle wryly.

“Kirika does that too, y’know.”

Honestly, kids these days.

“Ta-da! Eat up, eat up!”

I offered her the soup I’d made with such pride, but Nia grimaced and pushed the plate back with both hands.

“What’s wrong?”

“This is practically raw, and it tastes like mud. Totally inedible. Here, let me have it.”

She took the plate from me, boiled some water, washed the ingredients from the pot, and put them back in.

After adding salt and herbs, she tossed in some seared meat too.

“Almost done. Lily, just sit there.”

She quickly added a few more veggies, and in no time, a wonderful aroma filled the air.

“But Kirika always said it was delicious.”

“Oh? So the famous Kirika-kun ate this and called it good?”

Nia stirred the pot with a sly grin.

“When it failed, he’d say ‘Let’s reheat it’ and make it with me.”

“What~? That’s the best! You’re such a show-off~ He really loved you, huh~”

Of course. It’s Kirika, after all.

“It’s not that he loved me—it’s just who Kirika is.”

“Oh~?”

Kirika always praises me, and he never scolds me for messing up.

“Isn’t it normal for everyone to eat your cooking—even if it’s bad—and say it’s good?”

“No way that’s true. If you were a guy, Lily, you wouldn’t want a wife who only makes awful food, right?”

“Well… true…”

“Guys like Kirika-kun are rare~”

She ladled the finished soup into a plate and handed it over with a spoon.

Even though she’s a servant’s kid, Nia eats properly with a spoon.

Tedious, but maybe I should try it too.

“Oh, it’s delicious.”

As I set the spoon down and looked at Nia, she beamed happily.

“Right? If you’re not gonna peel the skins, just wash the ingredients thoroughly before boiling.”

I see.

I’d been improvising because I couldn’t handle the knife well, but that’s what I should’ve done.

“Still, I’m jealous~”

“Jealous of what?”

“C’mon, who wouldn’t be? Kirika-kun’s like your prince charming. I wanna be loved like that too~”

“Really?”

“Duh! If you let him go, you’ll never get him back.”

Kirika’s pretty handsome among the villagers, but he’s no filthy, ragged peasant.

I want a refined, tall, cool bodyguard like Heart who’ll get hurt for my sake.

“The teacher said something similar, but I prefer Heart.”

“But don’t you love how you look when you’re gazing at other guys?”

Gazing at other guys?

“No, that’s not it. I want him to look at me that way.”

“You can’t see yourself, silly. Fufu. But first, Lily, you should learn to cook.”

Nia pressed a knife and a potato into my hands.

Thank you for reading!

Thanks to everyone who bookmarked, rated, or liked!

Typos reports—thank you so, so much!!