Part One, Section Two: “Crisis Over My Homeland”
Chapter Twelve
“Lady Philiaaa! I’ve gathered the herbs you asked for!”
Lina, who served as both a maid and my guard, brought the requested medicinal herbs.
When I looked at her, I was reminded of my little sister, Mia, back in my homeland. I had asked the traveling merchants about the situation in Girtonia… and it seemed that thanks to her efforts, public safety hadn’t deteriorated significantly.
“Thank you very much. Now I can develop new medicine.”
After activating the grand anti-evil barrier, I entrusted the extermination of demons entirely to the Parnacota Knights, and now I found myself with too much free time. So I spent my time creating new medicine recipes and constantly refining and improving them.
Time with nothing to do is really uncomfortable, or rather… I’m just not used to it.
“Hmm, what kind of medicine is this?”
“It’s works on corns. You know, those things that can appear on your feet.”
“Wow, you can actually treat them with medicine? Oh, would you like some more tea?”
“Yes, thank you. If you put this on and sleep, they will peel off cleanly in the morning.”
Lina was such an attentive and wonderful girl. She also brewed tea skillfully…
I had been researching this medicine for a while, so its effectiveness had really improved.
“By the way, I’ve been curious for some time… Do you have some hobbies, Lady Philia?”
H-Hobbies? Those, um, activities that one enjoys during their free time…?
Let me think… Mia said her hobbies included watching plays and operas, as well as appreciating music… I joined her a few times when she invited me, but that’s pretty much all…
Honestly, I had been looking for something to do whenever I had free time, so I was really unfamiliar with entertainment.
“I don’t really have anything specific. If I have to say, perhaps reading? I enjoy reading ancient texts and academic books, analyzing and pondering over them…”
“Reading, huh? I love reading too! Especially romance novels and detective stories, I read quite a few of them.”
N-Novels… You mean fictional works, right? That popular literature for entertainment…
Um, I see… When Mia was little, and we were still living together… I used to read her picture books, that’s all.
Maybe when Prince Julius mentioned my lack of “charm,” he was referring to aspects like this…
“Then, I’ll lend you some of my favorite novels. You are reading difficult books so quickly, so you may finish them right away, though…”
Lina gave me a lovely smile and offered to lend me some novels.
Since I had never borrowed or lent anything before, a warm feeling spread in my chest.
“Lady Philia, lunch is ready.”
As we were engrossed in our conversation, Leonardo, a butler and my guard, informed me from outside the door that the meal was ready.
Since coming to this mansion, I had been enjoying delicious meals.
Normally, I could go without eating for about a week or so without any problem, but lately… I had been having three meals a day regularly here. The food was exceptionally tasty recently.
“Lately, Mr. Leonardo has been doing the cooking. It’s his hobby, you see.”
“Oh, really? Was that how it is…?”
It was quite surprising indeed. They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but I could never have imagined Leonardo making such delicious food.
I see, hobbies not only make the person happy, but can move others too…
“I have no idea that you can create such glamorous dishes, Mr. Leonardo.”
“Oh, I’m embarrassed. People often say it doesn’t suit me. But for me, the time spent in the kitchen is the most enjoyable. I’m honored that you liked it.”
“I envy you. I don’t have anything that I find enjoyable like that…”
While savoring Leonardo’s homemade meal, I engaged in casual conversation with him.
Now that I thought about it, it was only since coming here that I had started having conversations during meals.
“Lady Philia, a letter has arrived from the kingdom of Girtonia.”
One of the maids handed me a letter with my name on it. It was from Mia, I believe.
I wonder if it was a response to the letter I sent her…
Yet, the content was unexpected.
Why would our parents go so far as to hide my letter? I must find a way to convey the danger to Mia somehow… But how?
I couldn’t hide my agitation at this unexpected turn of events…
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