Chapter 100: Heading to Mr. Browning’s Place

The next morning, I decided that today I would finally have Mr. Browning teach me, and while I was waiting for my escort to arrive, two familiar faces came walking over from the other direction.

"Good morning," I greeted them.

""Good morning,"" they replied in unison.

One was Section Chief Lake from the Garden Maintenance Division. He was probably my escort today. The other was Mr. Keith Relf. Why was he here?

"Today’s escort is Mr. Lake? Sorry for making you come when you’re so busy."

I used to call him by his last name without honorifics, but that was back when we were arguing about whether or not to remove Stevie from escort duty. I’d been pretty sharp with him then. Today I was calm, so I spoke to him politely.

Lake immediately started complaining.

"Yes, I am very busy. Extremely busy. Yet my superiors ordered me to go, so here I am. My precious time for conversing with the trees and flowers is being taken away. I’m truly devastated. Young Master Robby, this is the only time, alright? Next time I’ll send someone else! Please don’t use my name! My greatest happiness is staying inside among the trees and flowers, so I’m begging you!!"

Lake was practically pleading with me. Still... after I’d already built up a track record with this, I wasn’t sure I could promise anything. Anyway, why had Keith Relf come?

"Um, why is Mr. Relf here? You’re not just here to see me off, are you?"

Relf laughed and answered,

"No, no, it’s nothing like that. I’m going to check on former Knight Order Commander Browning. After he left the Order, we lost track of his whereabouts. But since Robin-sama found him, Cardinal Richelieu ordered me to go see how he’s doing. I’ll be in your care."

Well, if it was an order, there was nothing to be done about it.

We set off walking toward Mr. Browning’s open-air classroom. As we trudged along, Lake suddenly asked,

"Young Master Robby, is this road leading to that delicious pudding shop?"

The unexpected question made me stop in my tracks.

"No, this is the path to Mr. Browning’s open-air classroom."

Lake frowned.

"Oh? So you’re not taking me to the pudding shop?"

"Well... even if I wanted to take you, that shop is mostly frequented by young girls. I felt awkward bringing grown men there, so I was planning to skip it today. Are you actually interested?"

Hearing that, Lake spoke in a slightly angry tone.

"I am interested! My subordinates at work were happily talking about how they went to the delicious pudding shop with Young Master Robby, and I was so jealous. It’s not easy for me to go alone, so even though I wanted to, I couldn’t. I’ve been brooding over it."

"Ah! But does Mr. Relf dislike sweets?"

Relf answered immediately,

"No, I love them! I’d definitely like to go! Robin-sama, please! Take us with you!"

...Didn’t he need to hurry back to talk with the flowers?

Two middle-aged men were bowing their heads and begging to be taken to the pudding shop. That shop packed with cute girls, where the entire interior was filled with a pink atmosphere... and I was supposed to bring these two uncles there... I really didn’t want to.

But it felt cruel to crush the sparkling-eyed expectations of these two old guys. Sigh. Fine, I’ll take them.

And so we lined up at the pudding shop. The stares from those around us hurt. The young girls had zero hesitation in voicing their opinions loudly enough for us to hear.

"What’s this? A pretty boy and two gross old men?"

"Where’s the usual sharp, handsome guy?"

"He brought these uncles... it already stinks."

"Right? If the smell rubs off on us, who’s going to take responsibility?"

Blunt opinions flew at us from both front and back. Deliberately loud, of course. The three girls in front of me glanced back at me and then at the two uncles behind, spitting venom. The same comments came flying from behind us too. They couldn’t even see our faces from back there, but that didn’t seem to matter. As expected, the image of me and Stevie was firmly planted in the girls’ minds. Uncles had to be seriously handsome to be accepted here.

I turned around, curious. Both men were expressionless. The twitching vein at Relf’s temple was definitely because of the girls’ verbal barrage.

After what felt like torture, we finally entered the store. The moment we stepped inside, every girl customer’s eyes locked onto us. The interior was dimly lit, but their eyes seemed to gleam brightly. I decided to stop looking at the uncles’ faces. It felt like the two of them had polluted the shop’s atmosphere.

Thanks to the staff’s consideration, we were seated at an inconspicuous table in the back. However, right next to us was the girl who had spoken to me and Stevie last time. The two uncles were probably acting as a breakwater, but she showed no sign of talking to us. Her gaze was sharp.

The waitress came to take our order. As usual, I said,

"Pudding."

But Lake, who had been staring intently at the menu, declared,

"Special large parfait."

Relf immediately jumped in,

"Oh! That sounds good. I’ll have the special large parfait too."

I was stunned, but the waitress cheerfully repeated,

"One pudding and two special large parfaits. Thank you!"

I was pretty sure the special large parfait cost six large copper coins. Was I supposed to pay for everything since I’m a prince? The allowance Cas gave me was only enough for three puddings... Would I have to take the money out of the lesson fee I was supposed to give Mr. Browning?

Lake must have sensed what I was thinking, because he said,

"Young Master Robby, I’ll cover the payment here. I’m sure Mr. Relf feels the same."

Relf nodded.

"Yes, I’ll pay for my own share. Today’s expenses will be covered as official business, so please don’t worry about it."

He said it so cheerfully. Wait, what?! I was paying for my own portion out of my allowance? When I looked at Lake, he smiled and added,

"That’s right. I can expense mine too, so it’s fine. Though I will need a receipt."

Then pay for mine too! I thought, but he continued casually,

"I’m sorry, but I can’t pay for Young Master Robby’s portion. The departments responsible for expenses are different, you see. If the girls in accounting say ’This cannot be expensed!’ I’d be in trouble. Isn’t your spending coming out of the Rear Palace budget?"

He said it so lightly. I wondered where exactly Cas was pulling my allowance from...