Page 146

"Interview for military reporting?" I tilted my head after hearing the words of one of the female military soldiers from Earl Timoti’s territory.

"What should I do in this interview?" I asked further while moving my sitting position towards her.

"L-Lily-sama only needs to answer a few questions related to the cooperation between Earl Timoti’s military and Marquess Rommel’s military. Maybe some of the interview questions will sound like they are prying... but Lily-sama can refuse to answer them," replied the female military soldier while lowering her face because she felt awkward with me.

"If the questions are about military cooperation to hunt the Golden King Bear, wouldn’t it be better to talk directly with Earl Timoti and Marquess Rommel directly?" I continued while directing my gaze to Earl Timoti and Marquess Rommel.

"A-Actually, I have tried to interview Earl Timoti and Marquess Rommel. It’s just that, they said that the highest authority lies in your hands, Lily-sama."

Hearing such an answer, my eyes accidentally glanced at the command baton that my father had given me.

Who would have thought that a small command stick like this could make a decision that would give me a higher status than Earl Timoti and Marquess Rommel?

With the decision in my hands, it felt like I would have to go through some troublesome things like this in the future if the position of Matriarch was given to me.

"I understand, before that..." I put the cup of tea that had cooled down on the table.

Taakk...

"I have to tell you that if the interview question concerns a secret that must be kept by both parties, then I don’t need to answer it and you should skip to the next interview question. Do you understand?" I asked while giving her a cold glare.

"I understand about that, Lily-sama. Even if it is the most sensitive question, I can understand if Lily-sama doesn’t want to answer it."

The female military nodded and began to open the small paper that she had been holding.

Noel who had removed all her small disguises immediately stood behind me as if she was an Exclusive Maid who was ready to serve me at any time.

The movements made by Noel who moved as my Exclusive Maid had shown that she had known that Mio was away from me and had taken her place as my Exclusive Maid.

"You can take advantage of this gap, Noel," I whispered to Noel who was starting to stand behind my body.

"Lily-sama? I don’t know what you’re talking about," a reply accompanied by a smile, of course, showed that she had just lied and preferred to go with the flow that Mio had given.

"Make sure Mio doesn’t know about this and you leave immediately after Mio returns," I said to warn Noel about this important thing.

I don’t have a problem with this, it’s just that... in the past, there had been a small war between two maids who were experts in sword techniques and maids who were experts in surprise attacks using her thin presence and were good at disguises.

At that time, Noel even dared to make herself disguised using Mio’s appearance to approach me while trying to keep Mio busy with other maid work.

The incident had made the temporary residence of the Marquess Rommel family who were on vacation even more tense after a small bloody fight broke out that made me step in to solve the problem that concerned me.

Your next chapter is on Lokepub

"Of course, Lily-sama. I understand the guidelines of the temporary Exclusive Maid very well. If the real Exclusive Maid returns, then I will disappear like the wind," Noel replied while giving me a small smile.

I turned my gaze back to the military girl who was standing in front of me with her hand holding a magic pen that allowed her to write anywhere.

"Alright, what is the first question for your military report?" I asked while lifting a cup of cold tea to finish the rest of the tea in one gulp.

As I enjoyed the cold tea flowing down my throat, I heard her interview questions.

"Before we start the interview for Earl Timoti’s military report, I will introduce myself first. My name is Monika, one of the military soldiers under Earl Timoti’s authority. Because I come from ordinary civilians, I only have one name without any last name following me," said Monika in her introduction.

"Monika, huh? Quite a nice name for a commoner," I said with a short compliment that sounded cold to her ears.

"Thank you for your compliment, Lily-sama," Monika replied while bowing her head in respect.

My current sitting position and her standing position had given a clear indication of our vastly different social statuses.

A noble girl and a commoner woman, those two big differences had shown that I had full power and responsibility for every word of mine that would become her military report.

I immediately nodded slightly and looked at her with a cold gaze like a strict military girl.

"So, are there any important questions that I have to answer in this interview?" I said to shorten the small talk that Monika would do.

"Ah! That’s right! Several important questions need your answers, Lily-sama," said Monika while opening the first page of the list of interview questions that would be given to me.

"The first question is... is it true that what Earl Timoti is doing right now is to fulfill the curse that you have given as a subject who has become the sword and shield of the Marquess Rommel family?" Monika asked with a question that made me smile sarcastically.

"Of course, it is true because all of Earl Timoti’s family assets are under my control," I said with a smile and loud words.

As a result of my words, I could hear some small whispers that were talking about the curse that I had given to Earl Timoti.

"Does that mean, for the next few hundred years, Earl Timoti’s family will continue to be in full loyalty to all descendants of the Marquess Rommel family?" Monika asked further by writing down what I had answered.

"Isn’t it obvious, that the curse I gave has no end. The Earl Timoti family will remain the sword and shield of the Marquess Rommel family. Actually, it will end if all of Earl Timoti’s descendants die, in other words, the mass extermination of all of Earl Timoti’s descendants," the answer I gave had a slightly dark nuance and my gaze felt cold when I said it.

"O-Oohh... is that so," said Monika who suddenly felt awkward and her body seemed to tremble when writing my words on her military report paper.

"Maybe that will happen if there is an extraordinary event in the future. However, if we look at the current situation, the Marquess Rommel family is not following any noble faction, and Earl Timoti is forced to be neutral like us. I hope this will make us experience peaceful days without join the power struggle between nobles," in my words which were filled with all the possibilities, I tried to give a picture of two great noble military families working together in this peaceful atmosphere.

My family has been in a neutral position, which means we don’t have to bother taking care of the nobles who are in the faction that supports the royal family and the faction that doesn’t support the royal family.

My family’s choice as a neutral faction has been proven by our absence from the Aurora Kingdom’s noble event after going on vacation.

"I hope there are no political movements that cause chaos to the point of deploying the military in each faction," said Monika while moving her hands that were busy writing her military report.

"I hope so too, Monika," I said while exhaling my breath which began to emit thick cold steam.

Seeing that my breath had emitted thick cold steam, Noel immediately took out a paper that looked like a heated stone.

"Lily-sama, if you don’t mind. May I give you this warmed magic stone to tuck into your elegant and beautiful military uniform?" asked Noel while showing the magic stone that was emitting hot steam.

"Isn’t that your heating magic stone? If you give it to me, you’ll feel cold," I replied while trying to refuse Noel’s gift.

The magic stone used by Noel was an everyday tool that was often encountered by commoners in the winter. A magic stone that had absorbed magic energy to make it hot. This magic stone technology was basic magic technology and the beginning of the creation of the magic stove that would become a commodity needed by everyday civilians.

The information I had learned from the notes left by the Great Hero in his magic book turned out to be very helpful.

"I’m still not too cold," I said, showing my body’s toughness that had become strong in facing this almost-ending winter.

"Besides, it seems like I have to ask Ciel and Sia to clean up the snow that has fallen again. I will ask them to make the Marquess Rommel’s residence entered early spring again," I said in a slightly joking tone to Noel.

Noel only lowered her eyebrows after hearing my refusal.

"Lily-sama... thank you for the concern you have given me," Noel put the magic stone that was the source of heat that warmed her body back into the paper ball and put it back into her tightly closed maid uniform.

I turned my gaze back to Monika who seemed curious about something.

"Umm, Lily-sama, if you don’t mind answering a personal question that makes me curious... Does Lily-sama know Saintess Hana and the two Saintesses from other races very well?" Monika asked while lowering her voice for her personal question.

"You mean Saintess Ciel and Saintess Sia?" I replied while covering my mouth to answer her personal question.

"Unn!! Unn!!" Monika nodded her head quickly and began to act cautiously around her.

"As fellow Saintesses, of course, we have to be close to each other, right?" I replied in a small tone that was only intended for Monika to hear.

"W-What does that mean, Lily-sama?" Monika replied, confused by the answer I gave.

Before Monika’s curiosity continued, I immediately made a gesture that silenced my mouth from saying other words.

"Shuushh..." I said while closing the movement of my lips and making a small gesture that locked my mouth from giving another answer.

"Continue to the second question," I said, giving Monika a small code to continue her second question."

The little secret that I had given a hint made Monika scratch her own cheek and give a cute confused expression.

"Unng?" Behind Monika’s confusion, Noel looked like she was digging for more information but gave the same response as Monika.

If only they knew that I was a Saintess too, then that ambiguous answer would have shocked them and made them faint.

Luckily... they didn’t realize it.