87 – Handmaid and Bocchan (1)

“Ah… it’s hot.”

Hailey muttered involuntarily as the sun blared high in the sky.

Unlike before, today’s sunlight feels hotter for some reason. Perhaps it was because she had grown up in Merohim, where she could see the snowy scenery all year round, Hailey felt the temperature of Sarham very well, which was getting hotter day by day.

Unlike Merohim, where it always snows, Sarham has four distinct seasons.

It’s already been over two months since Elena and Hailey came to Sarham, so it’s time to transition from spring to summer. It was still some time before summer truly arrived, but the feeling of a change of seasons wasn’t familiar to Haley.

After living in Sarham for quite some time, by the time she feels that she has completely melted into this place, the environment here, which is different from Merohim, awakens her. I still liked this warm lord castle more than a place full of chills every day, but it still took time to fully adapt to the south.

Haley looked at Elena walking in the garden with a curious expression on her face.

“Is the lady okay? The one with weak stamina…”

She wants to hide in the shade right now, but the lady who grew up in an environment similar to hers is walking outside with the boy under the hot sun today without fail. Even though it was okay to go into the room and rest, I was worried and watched, but Elena’s appearance was just as brisk as children running around the street outside.

Hayley is unaware of the fact that even Damian, who is watching her right next to her, doesn’t know that Elena, who has far surpassed the level of the great wizards in legend, will ever get hot.

“By the way, the two of you really don’t want to be separated every day. The weather seems to be getting hotter, but aren’t the two of you hot?”

Haley fanned her hand over her blushing face as she watched the two of them walking around outside close together.

It may not be because the seasons are changing that she feels hot. Being caught between the two of them, who had become closer since the engagement ceremony, it was easy to get drunk on the sweet atmosphere the two radiated.

Haley was Elena’s handmaid, but she was also a young girl still in the middle of puberty.

In order to assist Elena, she mastered all the virtues necessary as a maid, such as administrative work and education, at a young age, but even though she had no experience, Hailey had no choice but to be knowledgeable about affairs between men and women.

As a result, if you often watch the two of them tickling their hearts, there are times when the knowledge you have can progress the situation at will, and sometimes you can imagine crossing the line. So Hailey’s head can’t help but heat up.

In the end, the heat Haley was feeling right now was her own karma.

After watching the two of them for a few minutes, Haley stepped back into the building.

Even if she was a lady-in-waiting, it was no different from watching her master, so Haley decided to step aside for a while. It would be more appropriate to return to the castle in advance and prepare a glass of cold water to cool off.

She knows that it is too early to expect more from the two, who are still blushing all day just from kissing.

So Hailey was able to set foot inside the building, confident that nothing would happen if they were left alone.

“It’s a drink that can be drunk cold~ Come to think of it, I think I saw strawberries brought into the kitchen last time because they were in season. Shall we prepare a strawberry shake? Mister, coffee with ice on it would be enough, right?”

Knowing that the two of them would be back in the building for tea time, it wasn’t too difficult for Hailey, given her knowledge of Elena’s day. Originally, it could have been prepared by a servant, but was it because he had been helping Elena for a long time? Hailey moved her body almost automatically.

“Shake~ Shake~ Sweet and sour strawberry shake~”

Haley hummed and headed for the main building where the kitchen was.

Basically, tools that can be used at tea time are provided in each annex, but what to prepare this time requires the use of the kitchen as well as the ingredients.

Haley’s flushed face as she chanted Strawberry Shake didn’t make it clear whether she was preparing a shake for Elena or for herself to eat.

Normally, she would have walked down the street grumbling that the distance was too far, but Hailey didn’t complain at all as she walked toward the kitchen, probably feeling good about the strawberry shake.

“Uncle Hans! Two glasses of strawberry shake, light coffee with ice, please!”

“You bastard. If you come into the kitchen, you should make and prepare it yourself. What if I ask you to make it? Why does a guy who can make everything ask for such a favor?”

As soon as Haley opened the kitchen door, very naturally she asked Hans for her share. As if to show that this isn’t the first time, Hans replied with a puzzled look at Hailey’s words.

“But I’m exhausted after running all the way from the Isilia Pavilion to here. I have to walk to the Isilia Pavilion again, so please make that much.”

“Okay. Okay. But we’ll have to wait a bit. The passengers are there first.”

Hans points his hand at the kitchen window as if he can’t help it.

Looking back there, I saw the knights who were soaked in sweat as if they had just finished training. The passengers Hans spoke of meant them.

Looking around the kitchen again, the cups on the countertop were filled with ice cubes and several strawberries. Strawberry shake was what Hans was trying to make for them, probably because strawberries were in season.

“Ah. Of course. You can prepare slowly.”

If you turn your head and look out the window, those who seem about to collapse at any moment raise their hands to announce that they are here. How many times have the arms of those who are called superhumans shake like a trembling aspen tree?

Conquest of the Knights Only the soil buried here and there and their sweaty appearance reminds us of the arduous training they did.

Did you think of something when you saw them?

Hailey looked at them with a bit of uncharacteristic envy as they looked at the wrecked men, and then started helping Hans prepare drinks for the Templars. Contrary to her appearance of spending half the time asking Hans to make it for her when she first came to the kitchen, Haley’s movements to help Hans make drinks for the members were swift and precise.

“Here’s the strawberry shake you ordered!”

Haley pretends to be an employee at a cafe and hands out shakes to the members. The members who received the cup through the window thanked her.

It was only after the drivers had finished their drinks and left their seats that Hailey was finally able to leave the kitchen. Following the sight of the knights heading back to the gymnasium through the window with eyes full of longing, she returned to Isilia Pavilion.

***

Dawn that has not yet dawned.

Alphonse woke up in bed before the servants who turned on the lights of the lord’s castle woke up.

“aaa…”

After one long yawn, Alphonse stretched out his arms and legs. Like anyone who has been up at this time many times already, Alphonse’s breakfast preparation was very skillful.

The only light coming in from the window is the insignificant light from the stars and the moon still floating in the sky. The light was still too weak to wake people up.

Even though he didn’t prepare an alarm for fear of making the mansion noisy, the reason Alphonse was able to get up at this time on his own was because he had made an effort to get up early.

That said, Alphonse didn’t intentionally shorten his sleep time and wake up at dawn.

For Alphonse, who wants to grow tall like his father and older brother, the most important thing is to drink milk and have a proper sleep time. I just went to bed earlier than before and controlled the time I could get up by adjusting my nap time.

Alphonse wakes up early in the morning like this after a change in his older brother, Damian’s routine.

Originally, Damian woke up early in the morning to train at dawn, but after several incidents, as work began to increase, Damian’s early morning training naturally disappeared. It was the right choice because forcibly getting up and moving despite lack of sleep was tantamount to making a disease.

Instead, he compensated for this by increasing the amount of joint training with the Knights, so Alphonse could see several knights lying on their backs and singing in the gym because of the increased amount of training.

In any case, this was what caused Alphonse to secretly wake up at dawn.

He wants to surprise his brother with his skills that he secretly practiced where his older brother can’t see, but he has to practice in a place where Damian doesn’t see him first.

However, during training time, my older brother was always by my side, and at other times, Maria never allowed me to lift or swing a sword, so I had no choice but to sneak out at dawn and practice.

Grabbing a wooden sword made of black ebony, Alphonse stepped out of the room.

At first, he walked down the aisle, anxious not to be noticed by others, but now he had a knack for it, and at some point he was able to walk without making a sound.

“Hee hee. Success this time too!”

Alphonse smiled quietly, reassuring himself that he hadn’t run into anyone on the way.

“fire?!!”

But such joy was short-lived. As they approached the gymnasium, Alphonse hurriedly hid behind the wall of the building in the light that came into his eyes.

A look of bewilderment appears on the face of Alphonse, who was confident that he had succeeded in stealth until just now.

If it was a Knights Templar who had trained early, it would be fortunate, but if that was not the case, if the person over there was Damian, there was a high possibility that Alphonse’s secret training had already been discovered in the past.

Alphonse killed the presence and walked carefully towards the source of the light.

If he had already been caught, hiding his presence like now would be useless, but there was a good chance that it wouldn’t. As the distance from the light got closer, the outline of who was in the gymnasium was slowly beginning to be grasped.

“uh?”

In the light of the lamp, you can see the light aquamarine hair.

Alphonse immediately let out a sigh of relief at the non-black hair color, but apart from that, when the light completely illuminated the mysterious figure in the gymnasium, Alphonse opened his mouth wide at the identity.

“Haley?”