Chapter 22
It’s finally the long-awaited summer break!
Or not, I’m not that eager for it .
During vacations the school is closed so I can’t study in the library . I did borrow some book, but it’ll be tough to spend summer with just these . Maybe I could say that my scores are pretty bad so I can get Father to make Wolf-sensei teach me again .
“Astrid, how’s school treating you?”
“It’s very fulfilling, father . I have made some friends, and I have been invited to the Round Table, so I had widened my connections . ”
I told my father thus to make him not worry as he and I sat around the dinner table .
I’ll just keep quiet about me commuting to the library to convince him that I’ve got a pretty bad grades .
“Hoo, that is a very good thing . I, too, gained friends from the Round Table . It is the gathering place for people from the upper class, so go ahead and make yourself some friends from the Round Table . That personal connections will be useful for you in the future . ”
“Y-Yes, that is true . ”
I hated the members of the Round Table though . I generally hated conceited nobles, but they even had Freidrich in there on top of that . Usually I’d bring some books from the library and read it in the Round Table, but the high school senpais and even Friedrich are constantly looking at me so I couldn’t concentrate .
Aah, I think I should be done fulfilling my obligation to be present at the Round Table, so I guess I’ll go back to read at the library .
“And? How’s his Majesty Friedrich?”
“T-There is nothing particular happening between me and his Majesty . I do not act rudely towards him, so please do not worry . ”
I’m fed up that you kept asking about Friedrich even at home, Father .
“Is that so? I heard from Prime Minister Stefan that his Majesty Friedrich is very interested in you . ”
Silviooo! So youuuu are the cause of the leakage of information!?
“I-It’s just their imagination . There’s no way that he would be affectionate to a magic idiot like me . ”
“That won’t do . Your future partner must be no other than his Majesty . Our Oldenburg lineage was originally from the imperial family, so we should return to the Imperial Household . You didn’t come to like some other men, did you?”
Dad, you’ve got no delicacy! You can’t ask this to a girl!
“T-That’s not the case, but…even so, it is discourteous for me to go out with his Majesty . A magic idiot like me is not worthy of him . I think a more graceful, modest lady is more appropriate for him . ”
“Well, that’s true…You’re uh…”
It’s nice that I could slither my way out of this with my excuses, but I kind of want you to at least deny it . Am I such a barbaric, non-modest girl? That on itself is kind of undesirable .
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“Well, you still have years ahead in school . Do your best to become a girl worthy of his Majesty . You have no problems with social position to get close to him after all . ”
“Yees . ”
Absolutely nein¹! I am refusing it with all my heart!
Well once the heroine comes out and father sees them getting romantic with each other, he’ll give up . Besides, if I recall correctly, the heroine is actually a hidden child of a duke from somewhere, so he probably won’t say anything against it .
“Oh and by the way, Iris is going to come play from next week . ”
“She is!?”
Iris is a younger cousin of mine . For a single child that I am, she’s like a younger sister to me .
I remembered about my previous world when she came to play and I did a face dive rushing down the stairs, so it seemed that I loved her that much . She’s two years younger than I am and she possesses quite some mana, so she would probably enroll into the academy too .
“That’s right . That’s why we’re planning to go to a summer home next week together . What do you think?”
“I think it’s very good! I agree to that!”
Uhyaa~! Our summer home is built next to a lake, so the scenery is so beautiful . Not to mention we can go hunting if we enter the forest nearby . It’s a perfect place for a firing range!
…no wait, if Iris is coming, firearms would be bad, huh . She’s still 4 years old, so I think it won’t be possible for her to understand about the dangers of firearms . I’ll have to be sure to put my handgun and shotgun in a place Iris can’t reach . I recalled that we had a suitcase with a lock .
There was a lot of talks in America where children accidentally discharged a gun, so I need to make the necessary precautions . In fact I was thinking of leaving my handgun and shotgun behind, but I there has been monster attacks recently .
I encountered a Gryphon during our hunt, and there was also a Cockatrice in the freshmen orientation camp, so maybe I’ll see something else in the summer home .
“Alright . If Iris’ family had no problems with it, we shall spend our summer in the summer home . It’s cooler over there after all . ”
Since this world got no air conditioners, the people rely on magic to create wind flows for cooling . It is merely a stopgap measure though since if you keep using it and spent your mana dry, you’ll die, and I don’t want to die for air conditioning .
Since I’m not good with heat, I agreed to the suggestion of escaping the summer heat by going somewhere cool .
“I’m looking forward to the summer home . ”
“Yeah . You should try to forget about magic once in a while . ”
As me and father came to an agreement, mother is staring at me with her usual oriental smile .
Did she figure out that I’m planning to bring my shotgun already…?
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And so, we arrived at the summer home .
Although even if I said it’s a summer home, it’s still a pretty huge mansion . I should say I wouldn’t expect less from a duchy .
It’s so coool~! It’s hard to believe that the planet is so hot when I’m here!
I’m telling you, you best go to the mountains in the summer . The seas are fine, but the mountains are way cooler .
“Astrid-onee-sama!”
As I was thinking that way while looking at the scenery of the lake, a cute voice echoed .
Oh my . This voice must be…
“Iris!”
“Onee-sama!”
As I turned around, a little girl charged at my abdomen with all her strength .
Boof!
“It’s been a while, onee-sama!”
“Yeah, it has . We last seen each other on the Yule celebration² didn’t we?”
The girl that buried her face in my abdomen is certainly my cousin Iris . Her full name is Iris Maria von Braunschweig³ .
She’s two years younger than me . Her ash-blonde hair is cut neatly like a doll’s, and her charming smile was enough to make me smile just by seeing it .
She’s just two years younger than me but she’s so small that I can’t help but to worry about her .
“I’m happy I can meet with you again, onee-sama! Let’s make a lot of memories over the summer! We can ride a boat on the lake, or we could explore the forest!”
“That’s right . Both options are interesting . ”
Seems like Iris is really happy to see me . She looked really excited, so it made me really happy too .
“Oh by the way, onee-sama, where is your fairy?”
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“She’s right here . Come out, Blau, meet Iris . ”
I pat my breast pocket after Iris asked while tilting her head .
As I did, Blau crawled out with a rather unpleasant expression .
“H-Hello, Iris-sa—”
“Waaahh~! It’s a fairy~!”
Before Blau even finished her introduction, Iris already held the little fairy with both hands and rubbed her against her cheek .
“UWAAAH! THAT HURTSS! PLEASE BE GENTLER IN HOLDING ME! AND PLEASE STOP RUBBING ME AGAINST YOUR CHEEK!”
Yeah, Iris is really interested in Blau . To be fair, for a little child, she’d look like a moving doll, so they’ll definitely be interested . I thought to myself; ah, seeing a little girl playing with a fairy really brings a smile to my face, while I averted my gaze from Blau .
“M-Master! Please save me! This girl is more brutal than a dragon!” said Blau, surrendering as she flailed about .
“Alright then . Iris, please leave it as that . Blau is very surprised by your actions . ”
“Okaay…bye bye, fairy-san…”
Blau immediately flew back into my pocket the moment Iris let her go . That’s how much she’s scared of Iris .
“Iris, shall we go greet our mothers and aunts together?”
“Yes! Let’s go together!”
Iris’ family, the Braunschweig, is also a duchy . It’s a duchy at the same level of our Oldenburg house, so I’d prefer to build a friendly relationship with the Braunschweig in case when my house gets taken down .
And when our house did get taken down, I hope father and some soldiers could lead a revolution .
“Onee-sama, I wonder how school is like . Is it fun?”
“It is . It’s full of dangers, but you get to know a lot of new things every day . The library had a superb collection of books as well, and the teachers are also excellent . I also made some friends there . ”
“Full of dangers…?”
Iris tilted her head to what I said .
She won’t understand if I told her, but there are dangers hiding in every corners in the academy . There’s a lot of landmines that would explode if I don’t tread carefully . For example, there’s Friedrich, Friedrich, and Friedrich .
“But Iris is your number 1 friend, right?”
“Of course . Iris is my number 1 friend, my cute little cousin!”
Iris asked with a lonely expression, so I gave her a tight hug as I answered .
I was an only child in the previous world, and I still am in this world, so I’m really happy that I got a little sister figure . Iris is cute, she’s honest, she’s cute, she understand my pursuit on sorcery, and she’s cute .
But wouldn’t Iris be going towards a rebellious phase after this…? Once she did, would she not hug me or call me “onee-sama” anymore? That’s a bit sad…
“Onee-sama?”
“It’s nothing . I was just thinking about something . ”
Please stay pure as you are, Iris .
“By the way, I heard his Majesty Friedrich is in your class, isn’t he, onee-sama?”
“Y-Yeah . He is, but he’s got nothing to do with me though . ”
There’s a certain someone who’s been spreading rumors, huh . I’ll have to find them and remove them on sight .
“I’m a bit worried…if onee-sama gets married with his Majesty Friedrich, you’ll be the next empress, so we won’t be able to spend our time together like this again…”
“Don’t worry, it’s okay . His Majesty Friedrich won’t even be interested in an eccentric magic idiot like me anyways . There’s also a lot more charming girls in the school too . ”
Ooh, I finally found someone who’s also against the idea of me getting betrothed to Friedrich . Sasuga my imouto . You really understand me well . Alright, I’ll let you play with Blau later on .
“Onee-sama is charming, you know? It’s fun being together with you, and you can get along with anyone, and you also excel at your studies . That’s why I was worried that his Majesty Friedrich might be interested in you . ”
My cousin is really cute . I want to rub her cheeks .
“Even if I somehow accidentally get to be an empress, you will still be my precious little sister and my friend, Iris . That won’t ever change, so you don’t have to look so sad . ”
“Thank you very much, onee-sama . I am sure you will be a fine empress . ”
Not that I want to be . Or rather, I won’t ever be . The heroine is eagerly waiting for that spotlight after all .
“Alright, let’s go and greet our mothers and aunts . After that we can play on the boat!”
“Yes, onee-sama!”
Haa…I’m being healed just by being with Iris…she’s really the best little sister…
She’ll be entering the academy in about two years, so I have to do my best to show her my cool side as an elder sister!