Chapter 55: Beautiful girls and princesses with overlapping attributes

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Translator: Soafp

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“Ask. I heard the Emperor suggested you take the First Imperial Princess as a concubine.”

Three days after arriving in the imperial capital.

Nee-san suddenly came to my room and said so, sounding distinctly displeased.

“Handle it carefully and dodge it properly. Getting engaged to a foreign imperial princess just days after your engagement to Princess Victoria would be very bad in many ways.”

“Yeah.”

“…That said, I've also heard that His Majesty the Emperor is quite forceful.”

“Yeah.”

She wasn't wrong.

The Emperor really was forceful.

She pressured me into staying in the castle with nothing but a silent smile.

I didn't really have a choice but to nod.

“…Ask. You've been extremely relaxed this whole time. Do you actually understand the situation you're in?”

“I do, I do. Oh—miss maid. Could I get another cup of tea?”

“Y-yes!! I'll bring it right away!!”

“Thanks.”

“…By the way, Ask. That maid is—”

Nee-san stared intently at the girl brewing the tea, her expression suspicious.

Her rare platinum-blond hair stood out.

She was a beautiful girl of about twelve, wearing a frilly mini-skirt maid outfit, with a very friendly and adorable smile.

I introduced her to Nee-san.

“She's the maid His Majesty assigned to take care of me. Her name's Eri-chan. She's really good at making tea.”

“…Ask. Don't tell me—you really haven't noticed?”

“Huh? Noticed what?”

Not understanding the question, I tilted my head. Nee-san groaned and collapsed forward onto the table.

“To think my little brother could be this oblivious to the world…”

“I don't really get it, but isn't that kind of rude?”

“…I want to loudly say that you're the rude one. That person is—”

“Wah!! Wah!!”

Just as Nee-san was about to say something, Eri suddenly raised her voice loudly.

Huh? What's going on?

“What's wrong, Eri-chan?”

“N-no, there was a really big bug and it startled me!!”

“A bug? Where?”

“I—I must have imagined it!! Please don't worry about it!!”

“Oh? Okay.”

Getting startled by bugs is kind of cute.

She doesn't seem very used to maid work either, so she's probably a new maid.

“Hey, Nee-san, want some too? The Empire's food is so-so, but their tea and sweets are insanely good.”

“…I'll have some. Put in as much sugar as possible. If I don't get something sweet, my brain won't keep up.”

“You became a healing mage attached to the delegation, right? Sounds rough.”

“…Yeah. Let's just go with that.”

The Kishirika Kingdom's relief forces, dispatched during the Belhart Empire's crisis, were decided to remain in the imperial capital for about a month as an official delegation.

Nee-san, serving as the delegation's healing mage, was treating a large number of people every day.

She's probably exhausted.

At least when she's in front of me, her little brother, I want her to relax as much as possible.

And then—

“Mm. Excuse me.”

“Huh? Princess Victoria?”

Following Nee-san, Victoria—the younger of the twin princesses of the Kishirika Kingdom—suddenly entered the room.

She sat beside me, clung to my arm, and pressed her chest against me.

…Soft.

“Ask, I came because I wanted to consult you about something.”

“A consultation?”

“Mm. Let's go on a date tomorrow.”

“A date? That's sudden.”

“…I know it's sudden. But this is an emergency.”

An emergency?

“I heard the Emperor suggested you marry the imperial princess. Is that true?”

“Well… yes. I plan to refuse somehow.”

“Mm. Overlap.”

“Overlap?”

“The imperial princess is apparently a beautiful girl. A beautiful girl, a princess, and a younger sister. That overlaps with me way too much!!”

“Well… I guess so?”

Do they really overlap that much?

I feel like a princess who comes on this strong is pretty rare, honestly.

“So anyway, by going on a date in the imperial capital tomorrow, I'll reassert my presence. That's why—come to the Imperial Capital Park tomorrow.”

“Understood.”

“Mm. Then I'll be going. I need to have Maidol help me pick out clothes for tomorrow's date.”

With that, Victoria left briskly, skipping along cheerfully.

Her expressionless face somehow made it funnier.

…So Maidol is here in the Empire too.

Well, both Christina and Victoria came together, so that makes sense.

Still…

“Nee-san, Nee-san.”

“…What?”

“What do you even do on a date?”

“I don't know.”

This is bad.

If only Gal were here, I could ask him for advice.

…Oh. Right.

—

“So that's why you came to see me?”

“Yeah. I thought Gal's big brother might give me some advice.”

“Hahaha. It makes me happy to be relied on by a young man.”

Gal's brother, Ur-san, smiled warmly.

Beside him, the duke's son A**hole twitched his eyebrow irritably.

“I don't care about that—but why are we having this conversation in my room!!”

“Because Ur-san was here.”

“My duty is to guard Lord Jiruo.”

“Tch!! Once you're done talking, get out immediately!!”

Despite his complaints, he still allowed it, which really shows he's a good guy.

It almost makes it hard to believe he once said something awful to Christina.

“So—you don't know how to go about a date, right?”

“Yep.”

“Hm. I don't have much romantic experience myself, so I can't say for sure… but maybe eat something delicious together?”

“Something delicious? In this Empire?”

“…Sorry. That was a slip of the tongue. Yeah, that's probably impossible here.”

Ur closed his eyes, tail swishing back and forth as he thought.

I really want to fluff that tail.

“Let's see… Maybe research what the other person likes beforehand, then visit places related to that? Sightseeing, maybe.”

“I see. Visiting places related to what they like…”

“…Hehehe.”

For some reason, Ur laughed.

“What's up?”

“Oh, sorry. I was just happy you were listening so seriously. Gal told me about you—you don't discriminate against beastfolk, do you?”

“Discriminate? What do you mean?”

“You didn't know? Beastfolk were discriminated against until just a few decades ago.”

“Huh. Didn't know that.”

Discriminated against and treated badly, huh.

I mean, I do feel like petting them every day and grooming their fur…

But I've never really cared about their appearance.

“But no one around me seems to care whether someone's a beastfolk or not?”

“Really? When I was attending the academy, there was still a lot of prejudice left. It was a lonely school life…”

“Were you a loner?”

“…You should choose your words more carefully.”

I got scolded.

Then A**hole cut into the conversation.

“Hmph. Just because you don't notice it doesn't mean discrimination against beastfolk is gone.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It's apparently less common in the border regions, but since the current king forced through reforms, there are still plenty in the capital who discriminate against beastfolk.”

“Huh.”

“That's probably why Gal was happy too. He made an interesting friend like you.”

…That's kind of embarrassing.

“Please keep taking care of Gal.”

“Will do.”

Alright, then.

First, I need to investigate Victoria's preferences and hobbies.

To do that—