⦁ Rond de Terra ・ Office

In a room that was not very wide, tables and chairs were placed next to the window. The furniture was not only gorgeous to the eye, the craftsmans.h.i.+p was so fine and meticulous that anyone that looked on it would have their breaths taken away. And on top of this exquisite table was a sea of gold.

「Eri—— Again?」

The girl who walked into the office opened her eyes wide upon seeing the scene where a normal person would shout 「ah, a murder scene!」, but quickly released a sigh of relief upon seeing the rhythmic up and down movement of the body.

「… … Erica-sama…. …. Erica-sama! 」

「Uhh… … Hmm… … Hmm? Emily? What is it? Is it morning?」

The girl, that was forcefully woken up by vigorous shaking, flicked her hair that was on the table forming a sea of gold with a 「pasha」 sound, and lifted her head.  Due to her sleeping sprawled out on the table, the wood grains from the table were imprinted clearly on her forehead. Seeing her beloved master's unlady-like sleeping posture, Emily who had long served Erica as the head of the Rond de Terra duke house sighed heavily, and glanced over at the mountain of doc.u.ments next to Erica.

「… … Did you stay up all night again? Staying up late will adversely affect your health, your beauty— 」

「『 And my work efficiency』, right? You've repeated that many times, Emily.」

Erica yawned, placed her left hand atop her right elbow and stretched. The nineteen year old Erica puffed out her chest, which for her age, seemed pitifully underdeveloped. Such a pity indeed. If one were to use a word to describe it, it would be 「washboard」.

「… … I only intended to finish one part, then I accidentally… … You understand, right?」

「But it feels like I also heard the same excuse yesterday?」

「Yesterday is yesterday. Plus, I was busy with the agricultural reform at the time—」

「That was the day before.」

Erica averted her gaze from Emily's cold stare while awkwardly laughing, 「hahaha」. Emily glared at her for a few moments, and finally sighed heavily.

「… … You overwork yourself, Erica-sama. Please learn to be lazy… … That's not quite right, please learn to cherish yourself more.」

「I will keep that in mind.」

「Don't just keep it in mind, do it. The only person that can control you is you yourself.」

「Yes yes yes, I know. I will pay more attention to it next time.」

Erica muttered 「Emily really is long-winded」 under her breath, and looked at her with puffed out cheeks. She had black hair and eyes that were considered quite rare in Flame, and wore a black maid's outfit with a long skirt. Her black outfit coupled with her cold glare gave out an air of oppressive and otherworldly beauty. This girl- Emily Notesfilt noticed her mistress' gaze, and asked quizzically.

「What is it?」

「No, it's nothing. So? You came here just to wake me? To tell me that I could catch a cold sleeping like this?」

Hearing Erica's words, Emily clapped her hands together, with an expression of 「Ah, I forgot」. Her cute reaction that contrasted her outward appearance made Erica smile wryly.

「It's not that. Just now, the Mr. 『Matsus.h.i.+ro Kouta』 from Rarkia has arrived.」

The wry smile disappeared as her face became livid.

「A-arrived? I-it's that late already? Oh no! I have to meet him at once!」

「You don't have to rush. He is currently taking his luggage out of the carriage.」

Seeing Emily say that as if nothing was wrong, Erica's face darkened once more.

「You let him take his own luggage? Emily, what were you thinking? How could you let our guest— 」

「I felt the same. However… … when I went forward to help, he said, 『I can take care of myself』 and rejected any help. He acted very natural about it, so i didn't dare to interfere.」

As she listened to Emily's explanation, Erica's livid face became normal again, and at the same time, a confused expression surfaced.A person visiting the lord of the land taking his own luggage, is something she had never heard of before.

「… … This arrangement could potentially cause problems, but… … It should be fine. Let's take it as a good thing.」

「At least it's better than him being a useless person who can only point fingers and order other people around.」

Erica nodded her head to Emily's words, and stretched her body. Even though her bones made cracking sounds unbefitting of her age, she took no notice of it, and reached out her hand to grab the hat laid on the table.

「… … Even so, wouldn't it be rude to leave other people waiting? Let's go.」

She carefully placed the hat atop her head, and adjusted its position slightly. Seeing Erica beaming with delight after finding the perfect spot atop her head, Emily seemed a bit reluctant.

「Erica-sama, you're going to wear that again? I apologize if I offended you, but I don't think it's suitable to wear a hat indoors… … Plus, isn't this rude to our guest?」

「This isn't 『again』, though? This hat must be worn during important events. How is it? Does it suit me?」

「Of course it suits you… … But this was not what we were talking about.」

「I know. But then again, this is the one thing that I will never back down on. So, even though this will seem rude… …」

— but you will forgive me, right?

Erica winked. Emily could only sigh in response.

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Best girl appears!!! xD