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Three weeks have passed since the Marquess Rommel Mansion Cleanup Operation began and the Golden King Bear Hunt Operation ended.

During the winter end weather, it was starting to feel warm and the winter snow was melting. I was busy with a sight that made me wonder.

Taakkk...

Putting down the cup of tea I had drink some of, I looked at Princess Anastasia and Hana who were having a small tea party with me.

"I know you are on vacation to welcome the arrival of spring, which is starting to feel warm. Do you plan to go back to work after spring melts the last snow?" I said in a calm tone while peeking at Princess Anastasia and Hana, who were enjoying every sip of tea in their cups.

The reason I questioned this was their overly relaxed attitude as women who had been given a great responsibility by others.

Princess Anastasia who was responsible for taking care of the important matters of the Aurora Kingdom from behind the scenes and Hana who had served as a holy Saintess who worshiped the Goddess Aurora. Those two big responsibilities couldn’t be separated by taking a relaxing vacation like this under the pretext of welcoming spring.

Ciel and Sia, who were aware of their duties and responsibilities as Saintesses, had left to finish some business after I gave them a farewell in the form of a love mark on their sensitive body parts.

Taakkk...

Princess Anastasia put down her cup of tea and looked at me with a gentle gaze.

"I still have a lot of free time because this is just the beginning of a not-so-busy season, Lily," answered Princess Anastasia with a sweet smile that made me absorb every glimmer of her smile.

Taakk...

Hana also put down her cup of tea to reply to my previous words, "I also still have free time to inspect the land around here and take on some work to bless the land of farmers who are ready to plant."

Princess Anastasia and Hana gave an answer that fully held their responsibilities.

I didn’t have a problem with them not returning to work.

It’s just that for the past few weeks, they have been continuously staying in my private bedroom.

All activities such as bathing, eating, and sleeping were always done together.

That made Alice and Alyssa a little fed up with them until I forced by my twin step-sister to chase them away in a gentle way.

However, I was a little awkward and reluctant to chase them away because they had helped clean Marquess Rommel with the help of human power until this Mansion became cleaner and worthy of being a place to live again.

Before the total and deep cleaning was completed, my mother wanted to destroy this Mansion after finding several rat nests and cockroach nests in her bedroom. However, with the help of Aiko and several stealth slimes that were able to hunt such disgusting pests, destruction from my mother’s offensive magic attack was successfully avoided.

I nodded for a moment and looked at both of them, "You girls are busy, huh, after the Marquess Rommel family became a neutral faction. We feel relaxed after doing business cooperation that is not tied to any faction in the Capital of the Aurora Kingdom. Although our income has decreased, it does not make us work as hard as usual and it benefits us in terms of income compared to previous expenses that have to participate in the larger economic wheel."

"Lily, I know that in terms of business, it benefits you. But, does Marquess Rommel not want to return to being a faction that supports the royal family?" It seems that the answer I gave has made Princess Anastasia feel worried and gave a look that hopes that my family will return to being a faction that supports the royal family.

The worry given by Princess Anastasia made me think twice before answering. For some strange reason, my father had refused to return the command baton that had been given by him. So, technically I am still the Matriarch of the Marquess Rommel family, and everything I say will be considered the decision of the entire Marquess Rommel family.

Hiding the fact that I was still the Matriarch of the Marquess Rommel family, I had to be careful with the response I gave to Princess Anastasia.

I shook my head before answering.

"My father still hasn’t decided anything and we seem to be very comfortable with a life that doesn’t get any trouble from any noble factions in the Aurora Kingdom Capital. It’s not like we’re having any major problems in the Aurora Kingdom Capital, right?" I replied, taking up another topic.

"I don’t think that’s quite right, Lily," Hana said, butting in on my conversation with Princess Anastasia.

"In the Aurora Goddess Shrine itself, several donors from various noble factions are competing with each other to force the Aurora Goddess Shrine to take a stance that sides with one of them," Hana’s expression suddenly became serious as she said that.

"It’s taboo for us to get caught up in political conflicts after what those people did in the past who were willing to burn a Saintess for the simple reason of political interests in acquiring the Aurora Goddess’ worshippers," along with Hana’s words, I could see the anger in her eyes and her clenched fists.

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Hana’s words made Princess Anastasia lean back on her chair and support her chin with her hand, "I think it can’t happen again, right? They have even recorded the wrath that Goddess Aurora has given by giving a severe divine punishment such as crop failure and long drought in the past."

"With clear evidence of the divine punishment that Goddess Aurora has given, I’m not sure that the Temple of the Goddess Aurora will side with one of the factions that are corrupt and has committed many crimes that have provoked Goddess Aurora’s anger," Princess Anastasia continued, supported by a nod from Hana.

Has something like that happened before?

I didn’t know that the dark history was triggered by the dirty and deluded nature of humans to burn a Saintess who represented Goddess Aurora in this mortal world.

Was there someone that stupid in the past?

I accidentally put my hand on my chin as if thinking hard about the very stupid incident in the past.

"That was truly a very stupid act. No wonder the current Saintess is filled with fake Saintesses except Hana," I muttered, sounding like I said it in a tired tone.

"Eh? Lily realized it too?" Princess Anastasia replied with a surprised face.

"Yes, how could I not realize it if they only have a large magic core without a blessing of holiness given directly by the Goddess Aurora? Unlike the holy magic core possessed by Hana, the difference that far really made me realize that they were just fake Saintesses with only a large magic core talent," I replied while giving a realistic answer to Princess Anastasia.

"Uuh, it would be a big problem if people like Lily could realize such a big difference. I even planned to select a Saintess with a large and abundant magic core potential so that they could deceive the people of this kingdom," Princess Anastasia replied with an honesty that came from the bottom of her heart.

"Deceiving people who truly understand magic is a big mistake," I replied in a joking tone.

"Especially with Hana who became a real Saintess who received blessings directly from the Goddess Aurora," I continued with a faint smile to Hana.

When I said that sentence, I now remembered the day when the Goddess Aurora asked for my help to kiss Hana’s lips as a sign that Hana was the Saintess who was directly chosen by the Goddess Aurora.

That made my cheeks feel like they were blushing and I turned my gaze away from Hana.

"Uuhh..." I sighed a little after remembering such an embarrassing past event.

My attitude of starting to look away from looking at Hana seemed to make Princess Anastasia curious about what was happening to me.

"Hmm?" Princess Anastasia looked at me and Hana alternately.

Unlike me who realized that I was remembering the past event, Hana seemed to be holding her lips after remembering the day when she became a Saintess who was directly appointed by the Goddess Aurora through the intermediary of my kiss.

"What happened between you two?" asked Princess Anastasia with her eyes filled with black shadows.

"I feel like Lily is hiding something related to Hana," said Princess Anastasia as she moved her body closer, which was originally sitting beside me, and now moved to sit in my chair.

"Did something happen about Hana who has become a Saintess who was directly chosen by the Goddess Aurora?" Princess Anastasia urged with her body now pressed against mine.

"Princess Anastasia, you are too close to me," I said while holding back the pressure of her body that was now touching me until her breasts pressed against my body.

"I just remember the day Hana became a Saintess, that’s all!" I shouted while trying to move Princess Anastasia away from the pressure of her body that had touched me.

By moving my body to release Princess Anastasia’s body, I glanced at Hana whose face was now covered in a red blush that looked like a tomato.

Oh, Hana, if you make an expression like that. You will be in real trouble after Princess Anastasia finds out about your awakening as a Saintess!

I tried to control my emotions after Princess Anastasia was near me. With her face starting to pay attention to every detail of my expression, Princess Anastasia seemed to be guessing about what was happening that day.

"Lily, you’re not trying to hide something from me, are you?" asked Princess Anastasia in a suspicious tone.

I secretly wanted to run away using the Sakura Dash and Sakura Vanish techniques, but what happened next would make Princess Anastasia sure about what she was thinking.

I wanted to hide the secret that kissed Hana’s lips to make her a Saintess.

Uh, what should I do to escape from this kind of pressure?

When I was confused thinking of a logical answer. I suddenly remembered one important embarrassing thing when the incident happened.

"Princess Anastasia," I said in a shy and fake tone.

I did my best to give an act that made Princess Anastasia believe the words I was going to give.

"You know that on that day I made an embarrassing mistake, even though you were there at that time," I said with a vague answer that made Princess Anastasia think hard.

"On that day, I became a little girl who looked rude and had no manners in managing the situation that was happening in front of my eyes," with this acting that I gave, I looked like a girl who was ashamed of my past attitude that often caused a lot of trouble.

Yes, I know that this acting is just pretending and making another answer about what Princess Anastasia is thinking right now.

I hope it will work to deceive Princess Anastasia with another prejudice about me.