“Father, Mother, the confirmation of the delivery is finished.”
“Elnet, you’re back already?”
“Yes.”
When Kent and Elnet returned to the room where the meeting was held, the first thing they saw was the Duke slurping instant noodles. Upon confirming their return, Kent and Elnet put down the instant noodles they were holding onto the table as if nothing had happened.
“Kent, you’ve worked hard. With this, the morale of my Duke’s Army will improve and they will perform splendidly in the next training exercise.”
The Duke swallowed the noodles in his mouth and said as if commending Kent.
“I tried the instant noodles and canned goods that Kent prepared, and they were very delicious with their rich flavor. I can understand one of the reasons why I don’t want to let you go if you’re made to eat such things.”
Kokomet was elegantly sampling the contents of the can, which had been transferred to a plate. She had an air of dignity, but she was eating canned mackerel simmered in miso.
“Hahaha. Kent, you prepare some surprisingly interesting things. Things that can be eaten just by pouring hot water, things that can be eaten immediately by opening a can. This is the first time I’ve seen something that can be carried around and eaten so easily. And as Mother said, it’s delicious! This must be highly rated.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Evarist also gave a very good evaluation after tasting them. Kent humbly accepted the praise.
“By the way, Kent, did you manage to transport all those supplies in just that amount of time?”
“Huh? W-well, I suppose so.”
Since Elnet had reported that the delivery was complete, all the supplies were stored in the warehouse. The instant noodles and canned goods that Kent had left as samples were in considerable quantities, and although some time had passed, it was impossible by the common sense of this world to transport enough supplies for 1000 people in such a short time, despite starting the work after placing the order.
“Evarist, you shouldn’t ask about that in detail.”
“That’s right, I think it’s better not to pry too much.”
Kokomet and the Duke, who knew how Kent had delivered the supplies, said to Evarist in unison.
“If that’s how you put it, it means both Father and Mother know? I’m also interested in the technology for transporting a large amount of goods in a short time. That’s right, Kent.”
“Yes?”
Kent had a gut feeling that this was not a good conversation. However, he couldn’t ignore Evarist’s call and had no choice but to answer.
“Actually, I have a daughter, would you be willing to take her? She’s about the same age as Josette, what do you think?”
“Eh?”
Kent was surprised by Evarist’s sudden offer.
“Brother, you say she’s the same age as Josette, but she’s still at an age where she doesn’t even attend school yet. It’s not good for parents to decide a partner for their child who still has a future ahead of them.”
“I agree with Elnet’s opinion.”
Elnet interrupted Evarist’s proposal, and the Duke agreed.
“What do you think, Mother? Do you think it’s not good for parents to decide who their children marry?”
“Hmm, I did the same to Elnet, so I can’t strongly object, but from my grandmother’s perspective, I think it would be better for her to decide her own marriage partner.”
“Ugh, even you object, Mother. Well, I only said it on impulse, so I’ll retract it. Kent, forget about our previous conversation.”
“Understood.”
Since Kokomet also objected, Evarist withdrew the proposal to marry his daughter to Kent.
“Well, I had intended to disband after the tasting, but since Kent and his companions returned sooner than expected, we ended up talking for a while. Let’s call it a day.”
“Understood. I have plans after this, so I’ll be excusing myself. Father, Mother, it was good seeing you. And Elnet, Kent, see you again.”
When the Duke announced the end of the meeting, Evarist was the first to leave.
“That child seems to be busy too.”
“Ah, he has to take over as the next Duke, so I’m giving him various tasks. By the way, Kokomet, how long are you planning to stay?”
“There’s still work that I’ve left unfinished, so I can’t stay for too long. Therefore, since I’ve managed to meet you, I don’t want to waste any time. Let’s hurry up and get to it.”
“I see. Then, Elnet, Kent, we’ll be excusing ourselves. Elnet, I’ll leave the rest to you.”
“Kent, Elnet, let’s meet again. Ah-na-taaa, let’s go.”
The Duke and Kokomet said that and left the room, holding hands together congenially.
“Elnet’s mother is quite an amazing person, isn’t she?”
“Yeah. I still have some feelings about her arbitrarily deciding my engagement with the Prince, but at the time, she was probably thinking of me. As you can see, she’s a busy person, so I don’t see her often, but I think she’s a great mother with her eccentricities.”
Elnet appealed to Kent that she had a good relationship with her mother.
“Well then, shall we leave the room too? The servants will take care of the cleanup, so you don’t need to worry.”
“The servants will clean up? As expected of such an amazing household.”
The remnants of the Duke and his party’s meal were left on the round table, but Elnet said it was fine as the servants would clean them up. Kent, thinking it was typical of a high-class family, left the room with Elnet.
“Kent, it would be boring to go home now, and since we have time, why don’t you come to my detached building?”
“You mean…”
“Don’t ask for details. You should understand if you just think about it.”
As they left the main building of the Duke’s residence, Elnet invited Kent to her detached building. When Kent tried to ask for the reason, Elnet, blushing shyly, told him to figure it out.
“I understand.”
“Then let’s go.”
Kent had an idea of what would happen there and accepted Elnet’s invitation.
“I’m back!”
“Oh, Young Lady. P-please wait a moment!”
The children of the Duke’s family are each given a detached building that they can use freely. They live in these detached buildings until they become independent, and some continue to live there after becoming independent, or use them as villas or storage. In Elnet’s case, she currently lives on the second floor of Marie’s Bakery, but in form, she still uses the detached building as a base for her life, keeping all but the minimum necessary luggage there, and servants are assigned to manage the building. However, at Elnet’s request, she has instructed the servants to do only minimal maintenance and management when she is not there. When Elnet suddenly returned, she made eye contact with a female servant who happened to be cleaning, and the servant was surprised and quickly went into the back room.
“Did you not inform them this time either?”
“Uh, well, I guess so.”
“If you’re going to return, you should let them know, otherwise the servants will be in trouble every time.”
“R-right.”
Kent gently admonished Elnet, as something similar had happened before.
“Ughhh”
*Crash!*
“Q-quickly clean this up!”
“Where should I put this?”
“Figure it out yourself!”
Noises and voices came from inside the building in a flurry.
“Oh, Young Lady. Welcome back. I am terribly sorry. We are currently preparing your room, so please wait a moment.”
“I’m sorry for returning so suddenly.”
“N-no. It is not necessary to be so considerate when the master of this building returns.”
A butler in black clothes emerged in a flustered manner and asked Elnet to wait a moment.
“Oh, apologies for the wait. I have finished preparing, so please come this way.”
After some time had passed, the building became quiet. The butler announced that the preparations were complete and showed them to Elnet’s own room.
“Please make yourselves comfortable.”
After guiding Kent and Elnet into the room, the butler bowed and left.
“Kent, thank you for everything today. I’m sorry for always causing you trouble.”
“That’s not true. If it’s something Elnet is involved in, I’ll lend my strength as much as I can.”
Kent and Elnet sat close together on the sofa in the room, and Elnet said to Kent with an apologetic expression.
“I’m so happy! Kent, do you have any plans after this?”
“Ah, nothing. No, I do now.”
“Eh? Do I have to go home?”
When Elnet asked Kent about his plans, Kent indicated that he had something. Hearing this, Elnet looked disappointed.
“I’m not going home. My plans from now on are to be affectionate with Elnet.”
“Kent. I loooove you.”
Hearing Kent’s words, Elnet, overjoyed, pounced on Kent and hugged him. Thus, Kent and Elnet spent a happy time, being affectionate with each other.
