NOVEL WEB Chapter 46
Chapter: 46
“Karen unnie.”
“Uh, hello!”
“It feels like it’s been ages since we last saw each other. Have you been well?”
Karen arrived at our mansion the next day, early in the morning while Ella and Ashley were still asleep.
“Why did you come so early? I thought you’d come in the afternoon.”
“Well… I originally planned to arrive earlier, but my father kept saying to stay a bit longer…”
“I still didn’t expect you to show up this early…”
Under normal circumstances, I would still be sleeping at that hour.
But today, I had things to do from the morning, since I was planning to take some time off soon.
Before departing, I had to handle some important business matters… which is why I woke up earlier than usual.
Still, I genuinely didn’t expect Karen to arrive this early.
“Well… I left late and wanted to see Camelia after such a long time… so I just set off at dawn…”
“Ah…”
“And… it’s my first time traveling…!”
She babbled on enthusiastically.
I nodded along to her words, responding one by one, which made her even more excited to talk.
Truly, she’s so predictable.
“It’s a bit awkward to set out today, so should we just put our luggage in the room? Everyone has arrived, but it’s a bit vague to leave right away.”
“But who’s going along…?”
“Um…”
…It’s a concern, but it’ll probably be fine.
I think…?
*
I showed Karen to a suitable room and let her rest for a bit.
After all, she had set off at dawn.
I decided to let her take a break in her room for a while, and after some time passed, I woke Ashley and Karen for lunch, also bringing Ella out of her room.
“Yawn… Hm…”
“So when are we leaving!”
“Eep…”
Um…
We were trying to have lunch, but it already felt noisy.
Compared to the usual quietness I had with Rosalyn, it was quite lively.
“Is there any food you dislike or can’t eat?”
“Heh! Do I look like someone who can’t eat things like this?”
“Good to know.”
Anyway, it had been forever since I shared a meal with so many people.
On the table lay the food we were going to eat, ready and waiting, and now all that was left was to dig in.
We weren’t rushing to eat immediately, so we chatted a bit.
“The six of us gathered are the ones going on this trip. Um…”
What should I say?
Should I have everyone introduce themselves one by one?
“Well… You all know me, Rize, and my mother, so let me just introduce the others.”
The three of us living in the mansion had all met before.
It was only Ashley that was somewhat of a mystery to them.
“First, this is Miss Ashley. She’s my magic teacher, um… would you like to say something?”
“I’m hungry…”
“Got it. As you can see, she… likes her sleep a lot. Miss? The two over there are Ella and unnie Karen, from the Roseaki and Nieshista families.”
“Uh…”
“…Shall we eat first?”
I had originally planned to have more conversation, but, well… we could always get closer after arriving.
So I decided to let it go for now.
Besides, since Karen set off early and hadn’t eaten after arriving at our mansion, we should fill our stomachs first.
“Yum! The soup is quite nice! It’s tastier than I expected!”
“Thank goodness! Honestly, it’s been a long time since I had a meal with so many people.”
“More importantly, where are we going on this trip? All we got was a letter saying we were going somewhere!”
“Oh, didn’t I mention it?”
“Huh!?”
Um… Thinking back, I had explained everything to everyone except Ella… which seemed a bit off, but isn’t it fine to tell her now?
“Unnie, does it suit your taste?”
“Y-Yes! It’s delicious as always…!”
“But unnie, how’s the Academy?”
“This year was pretty ordinary. Well… now I’m in the second year too.”
“Oh, really?”
That’s certainly the case.
After all, Karen had probably been keeping to herself at the Academy.
It would be even more unexpected if she had been loud there.
I thought perhaps Count Roseaki was agreeing with me on that, too.
“Were there any fun events at the Academy?”
“I mostly stayed alone…”
“Oh…”
“Ah! A new student started in spring, and she caused a lot of trouble…!”
“What kind of trouble?”
“Um… they wrecked a whole building while sparring with magic…?”
Uh…
That definitely sounds like a mishap.
Anyway, we chatted like that over lunch.
It was a little embarrassing with Rosalyn sitting next to me, watching me with a pleased expression.
But since it had been a long time meeting Karen and Ella, I was enjoying it.
Even though Ella was relatively recent, I found our conversations amusing.
Maybe it was her youthfulness that made her the brightest and most entertaining.
“Hehe.”
“Young Lady, you have something on your lips.”
“Oh, thanks. But Rize, do you want to eat too?”
“No, I’ve already eaten.”
“Um… okay.”
Well, for now, Rize might not be joining us for lunch, but I knew she would have to eventually.
We would definitely share meals on the trip, and after that, if Rize came to the Academy with us, it would be even more inevitable.
“Mother, if there’s nothing left to do in the mansion, should we plan to leave tomorrow? What do you think?”
“I’m fine with that. In fact, the staff would probably prefer us to leave sooner.”
“That’s true. After all, it will be a long-awaited summer vacation.”
William wasn’t in the mansion now either.
Wasn’t this basically a huge break for the staff?
Well, I did need to come back to clean up and stuff, but it wouldn’t be as frantic as usual.
Honestly, whether the staff rested or not wasn’t really my problem, was it…?
“And besides, Camelia dislikes the heat, right?”
“…That’s true.”
Hmm.
I couldn’t really argue with that.
In fact, I should have asked Ashley for help, but she had been sleeping so much… I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Aside from her sleeping, I didn’t want to wake her up and bother her too much.
So my room remained hot.
…Well, it didn’t matter since I wouldn’t be staying in the mansion for a while anyway.
“Is everyone okay with leaving tomorrow?”
“Heh! Do you think I’d care about something like that?!”
“Ella definitely won’t care.”
“hehehe!!”
The rest seemed to agree, as well.
Since I had my reasons for wanting to leave quickly, I figured I would keep that to myself.
“Miss, have you finished your meal?”
“Uh-huh…”
“Okay… then please enjoy some drinks. I’ll get them ready soon.”
“Alright…”
Still sleepy, Ashley finished eating alone and dozed off right after.
…How does she eat so little but still have such a big bust?
It’s a bit weird.
Anyway, I left Ashley there, still half-asleep with her drink, and continued chatting with the others since there wasn’t much left to do.
I thought it would be nice to get somewhat closer before our trip.
More precisely, I wanted Karen to get accustomed to everything.
*
“Teacher, please sleep first.”
“Yawn…”
I moved Ashley to the back seat of the carriage using magic.
I didn’t really want to show off high-level magic to everyone, and besides, it was easier to do it this way first.
“Rize, let’s head to Karen unnie now.”
“Yes.”
Next up was unnie Karen.
I went to her room and retrieved her luggage.
“Unnie, is there something you’d like to drink on the way?”
“Just water is fine…!”
“Okay. If you want to open the window, you can, but it won’t be too hot inside the carriage.”
“Really…?”
“Yes. Get in and relax. We’ll bring Ella soon.”
I moved Karen too.
Honestly, it would have been fine for all of us to get in the carriage at once, but it just turned out like this.
Maybe because of sneaking Ashley inside?
“Next is Ella. Ella…”
“I’m going to get in the carriage quickly!”
Ella popped out before I could finish my sentence.
She looked really excited.
“…Should we?”
I kind of expected that.
Just a little while ago, when I was taking Karen out, Ella had been looking at me, eager to leave from the second floor.
Of course, she didn’t know I caught her staring.
“Ella, is it okay if you sit next to unnie?”
“Of course! Do you think I wouldn’t want to sit next to unnie Karen?!”
“Well, that’s not it. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t want to sit next to me or someone else.”
“That… might be a little okay, but wouldn’t it be better to sit with your mother?”
“Hehe, thanks.”
She seemed so bright to the point of appearing thoughtless, but Ella wasn’t dumb.
…Though sometimes she was a little silly when she was younger.
But she’s definitely not a complete fool.
After all, Baron Nieshista was considering Ella as a successor.
“Cool…….”
“Wow…”
“…?”
Anyway, as I led Ella to the front of the carriage and opened the door, Karen was looking around in amazement.
Is the interior of the carriage really that impressive?
Sure, it was a somewhat expensive carriage and quite spacious, but isn’t Ella from a Baron family?
“Ka, Camelia…? Why is it so cool in here…?”
“Oh… it’s thanks to the teacher’s spell behind you.”
“Really? What is this…?”
Hmm.
To be fair, Air Conditioning Magic is indeed fascinating.
Though I’m sure it has a name, calling it Air Conditioning Magic is an accurate description of Ashley’s unique magic.
Anyway, after getting everyone into the carriage, I went back inside the mansion to fetch Rosalyn.
I still had a lot of things to instruct the other staff before starting our journey, and I had a few tasks left.
That’s why I said I had to quickly finish up some work in my room.
Well, it should be done by now, though.
“Mother.”
“Is everyone in the carriage?”
“Yes. Everyone is in and all the luggage is stowed away.”
“Hehe, so now all that’s left is to set off?”
“That’s right. Have you finished everything?”
“Huh? No. I just finished everything a moment ago and was thinking of heading out.”
As I entered the room, Rosalyn got up from her seat.
Just as she said, she must have finished everything now.
“Is there anything else you need to pack?”
“No. I’ve already packed all my clothes and the earrings and necklace Camelia gave me… see? All ready.”
“…That’s right.”
As Rosalyn said, she wore the gifts I gave her around her neck and ears.
…She didn’t have to wear them every day like that, but whatever.
Rosalyn put a light coat on top of the dress she was wearing.
It was hot out, so it was better than letting her fair skin get burned… um.
Without realizing, my gaze strayed toward her skin.