Page 95

I returned with Princess Anastasia and my twin step-sisters.

The scene before my eyes was a row of Maids and Butlers setting up makeshift tents for temporary lodging.

My family’s mansion was still in disarray and needed to be cleaned after being left unattended for seven years.

Of the many busy Maids, there was one Maid who stood with elegance and politeness. That maid was Mio, my Personal Maid, who had taken care of me from when I was little until now.

The change that occurred so far was that Mio was able to act like a personal maid in public while becoming a girl who wanted to be pampered when only I was around.

"Mio, have you finished preparing the tent that I will use to sleep in?" I asked Mio who was standing straight beside the entrance of the large tent.

"Ah, Lily-sama. Welcome back, you brought a guest that I did not know about. Should I prepare a cup of hot tea to entertain your guest?" Mio bowed respectfully to me while her warm eyes looked at Princess Anastasia.

"Hmm…" Mio sounded like she cleared her throat lightly and her gaze was locked on the small crown that was on top of Princess Anastasia’s head.

"For the taste of the Royal Princess, I think the tea we have will be bland. May I open the green tea that you have stored, Lily-sama?"

"I don’t mind drinking the same tea leaves as Lily," Princess Anastasia denied with a smile towards Mio.

"That will save you the trouble of preparing different tea leaves, right?" Princess Anastasia continued with her seemingly relaxed attitude.

Mio nodded and made a small sound from her teeth grinding against each other. I could even hear the sound of her tongue clicking after Princess Anastasia said she wanted to enjoy the same tea leaves as me.

"I understand, Princess Anastasia. For the time being, you and Lily-sama will enjoy some free time together. If possible, please take your seat because Lily-sama’s tent is filled with important things that might make you fall."

Mio opened the door to my private tent that consisted of my simple room furnishings.

It seemed that Mio had worked hard to make my tent as similar as possible to the room I usually use. In every touch and arrangement of the furniture, I could feel Mio’s attention to every little detail that I liked.

I quickly dried my wet feet after walking on the snow on a soft mat.

"Princess Anastasia, this may look messy. Please understand because this is an emergency tent for my temporary residence before the main mansion of Marquess Rommel is cleaned of dust and dirt."

"It’s okay, Lily. It’s like inviting a close friend to stay in the same room, right?"

"I’m not sure if Princess Anastasia can sleep in this messy place, according to what my maid said. This place is messy, isn’t it?"

Although in my eyes this looked suitable and comfortable according to my simple interior design taste, perhaps in Princess Anastasia’s eyes this place was more like her horse stable.

I watched every facial expression that Princess Anastasia had.

A twitch on her nose and the gaze that went to every room of my tent made me a little uncomfortable. It was like Princess Anastasia was looking for something or wanted to remember something at every corner of my tent.

[ Your instincts are right, Lily-chan. ]

[ Princess Anastasia who is crazy about you seems to want to copy the design of your tent room for her collection. ]

[ If it were me, I would steal anything closely related to Lily-chan. ]

[ Like the underwear that Lily-chan has worn or the pillow that Lily-chan sleeps every night. ]

"Urkk ..." I unconsciously let out that sound.

The words from my Goddess sounded very dangerous.

I immediately glanced at Princess Anastasia and realized that her gaze was fixed on my bed which was filled with small dolls.

"Princess Anastasia, are you interested in the dolls that I have?" I asked Princess Anastasia.

Princess Anastasia who had been standing still and had just woken up from her fear after seeing the magical power of my twin step-sister who was playing around having a snowball war.

"Eh? Ahh ... was I that obvious?" Princess Anastasia scratched her cheek and looked embarrassed.

"Yes, you were eyeing my bed as if you wanted to lie down on it and hug the doll I have. Is that wrong?" I asked to confirm what Princess Anastasia wanted.

"Uhh… T-That… maybe I was exhausted after seeing the huge surge of magical energy from Alice and Alyssa."

Hmm... this looks very different from before.

"If Princess Anastasia is tired, why don’t you lie down on my bed?"

As a noble who is still treading on the Aurora Kingdom. I must do my best to maintain the good name and dignity of the Marquess Rommel family who are now neutral nobles.

The offer I made seemed to make Princess Anastasia act strangely.

"Huuee? Eh? Eeehhh?"

"Lie down on Lily’s bed?"

"C-Can I do all that?"

Princess Anastasia waved her hands as if she was hot.

I don’t know if the makeshift tent that was in my room was hot or not, but Princess Anastasia seemed hot.

"Princess Anastasia, is my tent hot enough to wave your hands like that?"

"Ah, no, it’s not because it’s hot but I don’t know where to start smelling Lily’s scent from on your bed."

"Huh?"

I didn’t know what Princess Anastasia was saying and could only reply with a confused look.

Princess Anastasia immediately took off her thick shoes that looked like they were filled with thick fur.

Tuukkk... Tuukk...

With a light pressure from her hands that cleaned her thick shoes from the pile of snow, Princess Anastasia immediately dried her feet with a soft mat and ran towards my bed which was filled with dolls.

Buuggghh...

"Ahh... this feels good."

"The scent of Lily’s body odor that I haven’t inhaled for a long time!"

"This is the heaven on earth that I have longed for a long time!"

For some reason, seeing Princess Anastasia like that made me feel embarrassed. My eyes briefly saw my reflection in the mirror that stood hiding my shame when Princess Anastasia openly smelled the sweat that was left on my bed.

Princess Anastasia rolled over and got trapped in the blanket that I often used.

When Princess Anastasia rolled to the left side of my bed, I heard her small mutter like, "This isn’t Lily’s sweat and is more like the scent of perfume used by her personal Maid."

As Princess Anastasia lay back on the right side of my bed, I heard her little murmur again, "It’s like the perfume worn by her twin step-sister, their perfume is the same but it’s not as natural as Lily’s sweat."

I wanted to ask about this, how could Princess Anastasia know it so precisely?

Even for me who was sleeping on my bed, I didn’t know the scent left on it.

Princess Anastasia returned to the middle of my bed and hugged one of the dolls that I often hugged when I slept.

"Ahh… can I buy this doll, Lily?" asked Princess Anastasia as she hugged one of the dolls that I often hugged when I slept.

"Eh, why?"

"Because I feel like this doll is our love affair that has been separated by distance and time. At least let my loyalty waiting for your return be paid for by this doll."

The words that sounded like seduction came from Princess Anastasia who was lying down while hugging my doll.

"If you want that doll, I can give it to you, Princess Anastasia."

"Really? Name the price! I’ll buy it now!" Princess Anastasia shouted as she reached into her thick winter clothes pocket.

"You don’t have to pay for it, Princess Anastasia. I can knit the doll again in my free time."

"Eh? Is this a doll you knitted yourself?" Princess Anastasia immediately observed the doll made by my own hands.

It was a work of art that I created while observing Mio knitting a handkerchief for me to use. Using large yarn that was not suitable for use as a handkerchief, I asked Mio to teach me about simple knitting techniques and the result of that practice was the doll I created to decorate my bed.

Princess Anastasia sank into her little daydream after staring at my doll.

Her pupils were focused on the doll seemed to be thinking about something important to her.

"Hey, Lily, do you think Sofia or Julia is better?" Princess Anastasia asked after waking up from her little daydream.

"Huh? Sofia or Julia?" I replied in surprise because I didn’t know what Princess Anastasia was thinking.

"Yes, for the name of this doll. Do you have any other suggestions for a name?"

"I’m not very good at coming up with names, Princess Anastasia. How about a combination of the name of the person you like?"

"Using a combination of the name of the person I like? Like… Astaly?"

"Astaly? Isn’t that too complicated to pronounce?"

"Yes, that’s much better than Sofia or Julia. Oh, Astaly… welcome to this world!"

I didn’t know Princess Anastasia would like the doll I knitted myself to be like that.

Come to think of it, Alice and Alyssa had done this too.

Some of the dolls that I knitted myself and became my bed companions slowly disappeared after Mio asked for one of my doll to decorate her room.

One by one the Maids who were close to me began to politely ask for my dolls and I eventually ran out of dolls that I knitted myself to accompany me to sleep at night when I was alone.

"Ahh... Astaly... you smell like Lily. Should I not wash you so that Lily’s body odor remains in your body?"

I think... I know her true goal.