Chapter 27

A few days had passed since Atsuko and her small entourage had settled down for the time being at the Neville Estate, at least until her father and his entourage had caught up to them. And right now, Atsuko was inside the room assigned to her as she looked outside the window which gave her a rather clear view of the town located close to the estate.

"… I'm bored… I wanna go sightseeing…"

Saying those words to herself, Atsuko slouched on the window as her boredom made her give up on keeping up with her royalty act. She remained slouched on the window for some time until she eventually got bored of that as well.

"I guess, I'll go take a walk around"

Getting up, Atsuko went to the room's door and opened it, leaving the room as she went to take a stroll around the mansion in hopes of finding something to pass the time. As she walked down the now familiar corridor that she had become somewhat accustomed to in these past few days, then as she walked while looking outside of the windows, she noticed two figures at the training field in the back of the mansion.

"Are those… Lady Lysette and Lady Nanako?"

The two figures she was were Lysette and Nanako, with the latter currently practicing her magic with the help of Lysette, seeing the two training sparked interest in the currently bored Atsuko, so with a nod to herself, she began making her way to the training field.

"Huff!"

*Explosion SFX*

"Oh?… *Nods* Hmm… It got stronger again… Very good, Nanako-san"

"Thank you, Lysette-sama! I've been making sure to train every day, just as you instructed me to!"

"*Nods* Very good, very good indeed, Nanako-san"

Even though Lysette was proud of Nanako's growth, she felt a bit angry, mainly from her competitiveness feeling swelling up after seeing her fireball failing to break through Nanako's magic shield spell. And her feelings were slowly seeping into her face, as she began growing while staring at Nanako's defense magic.

"Is something the matter, Lysette-sama?"

"Ah! No, it's nothing… … … Say, Nanako-san… Do you mind if test a few more spells on your defensive spell?"

"I don't, why?"

"Nothing much… Anyways…"

With a reassuring smile, Lysette turned back to face the defense spell, and with a snap of a finger, she invoked a magic circle that then created a flaming spear right above her right. Her face now looked serious, as if Lysette was keen on making sure that Nanako's defense spell would be broken this time around. Lysette snapped her right hand's fingers again as she pointed at her target, flicking the flaming spear towards the defense magic.

*Explosion and glass shattering SFX*

Dust and smoke rose, while the pressure wave made by the explosion, caused the three girls' clothes to flutter wildly, then as the dust settled, the target where the defense magic spell circle was put on by Nanako was now completely gone, alongside the spell.

"Fufu!…"

Seeing her target gone, put a confident smile on Lysette's face, however the sounds of claps coming from the side, caused her and Nanako to look to their left.

"Ara, that was quite impressive feat of magic power, Lady Lysette"

"Ah! Princess Atsuko, good day to you"

"Umu! *Nods* Good day to you as well, Lady Lysette. And for you too, Lady Nanako"

"Ah! Y-Yes, G-Good morning, P-Princess Atsuko"

After greeting the two, Atsuko approached Lysette to talk with her at a more respectable distance.

"So… I see, that you two are training your magic skills, am I right?"

"That is correct, Princess Atsuko"

"Mm *Nods*… Say, Lady Lysette, do you mind if I join you two?"

"Hm? Of course, Princess Atsuko, you are always welcome to join our training!"

"Ara. Thank you very much, Lady Lysette. So may I know what are you two training, right now?"

"Sure, we are currently seeing how much Nanako's defense magic has improved, would you like to try it as well, Princess Atsuko?"

Thank you for the consideration, and yes, I would love to test my magic against Lady Nanako's magic"

"Understood, Princess Atsuko. Nanako-san, would you please make another defense magic spell on that target"

"Ah! Y-Yes! O-Of course!"

Nanako had been quiet due to her continuing nervousness in standing close to Atsuko due to their vast difference in ranks, and because they weren't that close yet. Trotted to the second target, and began creating a second defense magic, one of the magic spells that she had been training the most as a way to help and protect Edward if the need arose.

So as she carefully put a magic circle on the target, Atsuko noticed that Nanako was wearing a slightly modified maid uniform, and so was Lysette, which made her cover her mouth with her paper fan, a sign that she was a bit curious about some matters.

"Lady Lysette, may I ask you a question?"

"Of course, Princess Atsuko"

"*Nods So… May I know why are you and Lady Nanako wearing maid uniforms, when you two are not servants?"

"… Ah!"

Hearing Atsuko's question, Lysette showed a surprised face before realizing that a noble of her rank wearing a maid uniform, was not exactly the most usual thing to see, alongside the fact that she was doing so in her own home. However, due to how used she had gotten to wearing one every day, she had completely forgotten about that matter, to the point that it became natural for her to wear a maid uniform whenever she stayed at the manor or went to visit Edward, which both were quite daily occurrences.

"Well, about this matter…"

When Lysette began trying to explain to Atsuko why she was wearing a maid uniform, she began blushing a little, after all, one of the reasons she continued to wear them was because of Edward's fondness for maid uniforms.

"… Erm… I use it, because they are comfortable to wear, and… … … Because Edward-sama likes it…"

"I-I see"

Atsuko showed a troubled smile as she heard Lysette's motives.

"And for Nanako… That is because she is also Edward-sama's servant, while also being his second fiancée"

"… R-Right?"

Atsuko continued to keep her troubled smile, which only grew more confused, as she discovered that Nanako was also a commoner engaged to a noble, even if her partner was a count. She also couldn't help but guess that Edward liking maid uniforms was also a factor in why Nanako was also wearing one right now.

"Erm… You two must surely love Edward-sama, right?"

"… *Looks away* *Nods*"

At Atsuko's troubled affirmation, all that Lysette could do was nod as her cheeks turned red.

"I-I finished m-making the m-magic c-circle, s-so y-you c-can go w-whenever y-you w-want, P-Princess A-Atsuko"

"Ah… Thank you… Erm… Nanako-san"

Stsuko now felt a little troubled at how she should refer to Nanako, now that she found out that she was Edward's servant, she could just keep referring to her as Lady Nanako, but since that was mostly reserved for nobles, she also didn't want to just refer to Nanako by her name alone, as it could be taken as looking down on her (in the case of Edward, it was just because of how long he knew Nanako already, and also due to how close they were). So instead, she decided to copy the way Lysette referred to Nanako.

Then Atsuko stepped forward, while Hanako stepped aside and went to stand beside Lysette as they both began watching Atsuko. Without saying a word, a light blue magic circle was formed next to Atsuko, and in a matter of moments, something was ejected out of it with great speed.

What followed was the sharp sound of crystals and glass shattering, with the target being thrown back a short distance from where it was before, with a sizable shard of a blue crystal piercing it.

"Oh-ho? Princess Atsuko, do you perhaps have an affinity for ice magic?"

"Ara, very good in noticing it, Lady Lysette. I am quite proud of my magic skills as you can see"

"*Nods* I can see it, it is awe-inspiring indeed, Princess Atsuko"

"Thank you for your kind words, Lady Lysette. But I must say that your skills in fire magic are equally impressive"

"Thank you for your praise, Princess Atsuko"

The two girls smiled at each other, as they praised each other about their magic skills, while Nanako could only remain quiet as she didn't know what to say since she still only knew the very basics for using magic, and all that she could say was that the two were very skilled.

"Nanako-san"

"! Y-Yesh?"

"Your defense magic spell was also quite impressive as well, usually that magic spell of mine doesn't tend to get stuck into a target"

"I-I see?… T-Thank you f-for l-liking it"

At being praised by Atsuko, Nanako blushed a little bit from shyness.

"… *Claps her hands* Well, then. Nanako-san shall we continue with your training?"

"Ah! Yes, Lysette-sama!"

"Very good. Princess Atsuko, would you like to join me in helping Nanako-san train her magic?"

"Of course"

And so Nanako continued to practice her magic skills with the help of Lysette and Atsuko, who both showed to be great teachers.

Meanwhile

"…"

Edward was walking down the corridor of the Neville estate while carrying a stack of papers with him, the reason… He was starting to get too uncomfortable in having too much free time, so he begged for permission from Lysette and Hamilton to help with any task at their state, which the two awkwardly conceded after seeing him beg like that. This was also partly the same for Nanako, as had also requested permission to help the Neville family servants in their day-to-day tasks.

"…" <Hm? Is that Princess Atsuko helping Nanako in training her magic alongside Lysette-sama?>

When he looked outside the window, he noticed the three girls at the training field, then he looked up at nothing as he began thinking.

"Hmm…" <I guess I should prepare something for them to eat, they'll probably be a bit peckish after the training… Yeah, let's do that, and that'll also help me make some good points with Princess Atsuko, which will then avoid angering her or that guard of hers!… Kuku… This is quite idea coming from>

And so having planned his absolutely foolproof plan, that wouldn't cause any misunderstanding from his actions or words, Edward continued on his way to bring the documents in his hands to Hamilton, before asking for his permission to use the kitchen.

Quite some time had passed since Atsuko and Lysette began helping Nanako with today's magic training, and everything had gone smoothly, not only that but due to their constant back-and-forth interaction as they trained, Nanako had managed to lose her nervousness about being around Atsuko, she could now talk normally to her, just like how she talked with Lysette.

"Phew!… Oh, it's rather late now"

"Time sure flies when we are engrossed in something, right Princess Atsuko?"

"Mm *Nods* That is true, Lady Lysette"

"Lysette-sama, Princess Atsuko, thank you for helping me today"

Nanako who was the one, most out of breath of the three, bowed down to the other two as her breathing was quite tired since she was the one who had been using magic the most.

"You're welcome, Nanako-san"

"I'm glad that you found my teachings useful, Nanako-san"

As the two responded to Nanako's thanks, they both heard a growl that also came from Nanako's direction, which caused her to keep her bowed down position to hide her embarrassment for making such a shameful sound.

"Pfft… Ahaha, do not worry, Nanako-san, we all felt like that during our training"

"Y-Yes… I remember a similar thing happening to me when I first started as well"

Both Lysette and Atsuko tried to make Nanako feel less embarrassed for having her stomach growl out of hunger, but at the same time, they were both having a hard time holding back their laughs. But thankfully, one of the Neville family servants walked in and spoke.

"Lady Lysette, Princess Atsuko, Nanako-san, am I interrupting something, or have you all finished your training already?"

"Huh? Ah! No, this is nothing, and yes, we already finished our training for the day"

"I see, then Sir Edward to tell you all that he prepared some snacks for you all, and guide you three to where he is"

"Ara… For him to prepare a tea table for us, that is quite commendable on Sir Edward's part"

"Y-Yes"

"Y-Yeah"

Both Lysette and Nanako couldn't bring themselves to tell Atsuko that it was very likely that Edward would be the one responsible for making and preparing everything, so all they could do was scratch their cheeks while making troubled expressions.

"Shall we get going then, Lady Lysette, Nanako-san"

"… Of course"

"… Yes"

At Atsuko's quite eager look, both Lysette and Nanako agreed to her words again, while making troubled smiles, as they also had the feeling that… Edward would cause some sort of misunderstanding between him and Atsuko. But at the same time…

<Nanako-san, what do you think of Princess Atsuko so far?>

<Hmm… I think she's a good person>

The two were talking to each other with only their eyes, about having Atsuko become Edward's third fiancée.

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