Chapter 9
A Day Off
That day, I visited Lord Braud’s residence, bringing some souvenirs with me.
“U-um…”
“What is it, little lady?”
“Where is Lord Braud?”
“He’ll show up eventually. More importantly, these are delicious!”
The one happily stuffing his cheeks with the cookies I had baked was Lord Gald.
While a maid had gone to fetch Lord Braud from his laboratory, Lord Gald had already started eating my gift.
“If you like them, I’ll bake some more and bring them next time.”
“…You made these yourself, little lady?”
“They’re much easier to make than mixing medicines.”
Sitting beside Lord Gald and drinking tea was a beautiful woman with black hair and black eyes.
She was probably Lord Braud’s mother.
Her appearance reminded me of a Japanese beauty, and I immediately felt a sense of familiarity.
“Ah, I haven’t introduced her yet! This is my wife, Vanessa.”
“I’m Vanessa! It’s nice to meet you.”
“I am Cardinal. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
Vanessa was gorgeous!
Having a tea party with a beautiful woman!
This was so relaxing!
“My lord, Lord Braud seems to be so focused on his research that he cannot hear us calling him.”
The maid had returned with that unfortunate report.
I felt disappointed.
“I shouldn’t cause any inconvenience, so I think I’ll be taking my leave.”
As I stood up, Vanessa suddenly grabbed my hand.
“Let’s have tea while we wait for him to come out!”
“But…”
“I see… Someone like me is too old to have anything in common with you…”
I immediately sat back down.
“You are not old at all! Lady Vanessa is a beautiful woman!”
“My, thank you!”
Lady Vanessa was so friendly.
Beautiful, approachable, and kind—what a wonderful person.
And so, before I knew it, I ended up enjoying a tea party with Vanessa and Lord Gald.
Time passed, and before we realized it, evening had arrived.
“I think I should head home now. My family will be worried.”
“Oh my, is it that late already?”
“I’ll have a carriage prepared. We’ll make sure you get home safely.”
“Thank you very much.”
As we were talking, I noticed Lord Braud walking toward us while deep in thought.
“There you are, Braud! Cardinal is about to leave!”
“…Huh?”
The moment he saw me, his eyes widened.
“…Since when have you been here?”
“The maid went to call you, remember?”
“…That was before noon…”
Lord Braud walked over and bowed deeply.
“I sincerely apologize.”
“P-please raise your head! I can always come back another day.”
After making a troubled expression, he suddenly looked as if he had remembered something.
“The love potion! That’s right! I made something for you.”
Ah!
He must have prepared something for the research on creating an item that could neutralize love potions.
However…
Behind him stood Lady Vanessa, whose face had completely frozen.
In fact, she was radiating enough killing intent to terrify anyone nearby.
The next instant, Vanessa’s right leg shot into the air and came crashing down toward Braud’s side.
Braud dodged the attack beautifully and looked utterly confused.
“Why are you attacking me?”
“Isn’t it obvious?! Giving a love potion to adorable little Cardinal? Are you a lolicon? A criminal? Do you need to be executed?”
“You misunderstand.”
Oh dear.
Lady Vanessa’s speech had become very rough.
I hurried to intervene.
The friendly beauty from earlier was now glaring fiercely.
It was terrifying!
Beautiful women were even scarier when they were angry!
The tears forming in her eyes were probably just my imagination.
“Lady Vanessa, the love potion is only for my research! It’s not meant to be used for that purpose!”
“…Really?”
“Yes!”
Just who exactly was Lady Vanessa?
She seemed incredibly strong.
“My apologies for my mother,” Braud said. “She’s a little careless. Or perhaps rough around the edges.”
“I’m not much different myself!”
“…You have martial arts training?”
“Only as a hobby!”
Braud thought for a moment.
“I’ll also give you the written research materials.”
“Thank you very much! While we’re at it, could I borrow the Great Encyclopedia of Magical Plants?”
“Certainly.”
As Braud returned to his room to retrieve the materials, Kagerou arrived to escort me home.
“Ugh! Captain Kagerou.”
“Vanessa… it’s been a long time. I’m here to pick up the Princess.”
So he really was part of the intelligence division.
Or at least he had been.
“Cardinal, you know Captain Kagerou?” Vanessa asked.
“He’s a captain?”
“Not anymore,” Kagerou replied. “I am now exclusively assigned to the Princess.”
“What? Captain Kagerou left the organization to serve an individual? And such a small girl?”
“Relax. The Princess is stronger than you.”
“Huh?”
Vanessa turned toward me with incredible speed.
For now, I simply smiled.
“Please don’t joke like that.”
“I’m not joking. The Princess is on the same level as the top assassins.”
W-Wait, really?
As I tilted my head in confusion, Kagerou smiled.
“It seems Higurashi has been teaching you more than he should.”
H-Higurashi!
You said Kagerou would kill you if he found out!
“Don’t worry,” Kagerou said. “Higurashi is currently being thoroughly scolded by the Master.”
“My father is handling it? Then everything should be fine!”
“Yes. He was dragged away by the Master while crying and looking completely pale.”
Wait…
Wasn’t that actually very bad?
I quietly looked off into the distance.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Here they are.”
Braud returned carrying several bottles.
“These are five varieties of love potion, ranging from pale pink to deep pink. The darker the color, the stronger the effect, so please handle them carefully.”
“Understood.”
With that, Lord Braud gave me a large collection of “research materials” as souvenirs.
As we headed home, I made a firm vow.
One day, I would create an item capable of completely neutralizing both love potions and charm magic.
And thus ended my day off.
