Chapter 46: Even Though It Was Supposed to Be Our Usual Walk Around Town

Even though it was just our usual walk around the city, Cass suddenly made a suggestion.

"In that case, Stevie will be attending to you for the night service. Should I call her over in advance?"

Since she brought it up, I thought it might be good to talk beforehand, but—

"Nah, it’s fine. I want to go out into the city after this anyway, so Stevie will be coming as my escort, right?"

"...That’s correct. If you’re going out, Stevie will accompany you. Even if she’s scheduled for night service, it’s for tomorrow, so there’s no real preparation needed."

"Mm, then could you call her?"

"Understood. I’ll have her prepare as your escort and send her over."

"Thanks."

"Certainly. Well then—"

Cass, who had started to leave the room, suddenly turned back, gently held my cheeks, and kissed me. While I was frozen in surprise, she didn’t do anything more and quickly left. As she went, I heard her mutter under her breath, "Of course, I’m already a married woman with a husband, and I’m almost 30 anyway..."

After waiting for a while, Stevie arrived. Unlike her usual expressionless or sullen face, she was grinning. Well, not a full-face grin — just a slight, subtle "nima~" smile. Since I walk around with her every day, I could immediately tell the difference.

"Let’s go, Stevie."

"Yes! I’ll accompany you!"

Her voice was noticeably brighter than usual. This girl... she’s supposed to be my night service partner tomorrow night, but she doesn’t seem bothered by it at all?

We walked in silence until we left the royal palace. Stevie was staying closer to me than usual.

As soon as we entered the noble district after leaving the palace—

"Ufufu~!"

Stevie suddenly clung to my arm.

"Stevie, aren’t you my escort? Do your job properly."

"Yes! That’s why I’m staying this close to Lord Robbie so no one can harm you!"

"That’s not what I meant! Get off! You’re never like this normally!!"

When I raised my voice, Stevie made a shocked "Eh!?" face and quickly let go.

"Yeah, that’s the usual distance."

"Y-Yes..."

"What’s wrong with you today, Stevie? Where’s the usual cold, indifferent Stevie?" ℯℯ𝑙.

"Eh? Am I usually that indifferent?"

"Yeah, you are. Most of the time I can’t even tell if you’re listening to me or not, and you’re always completely focused on eating, right?"

"Eeeehhh~? Do I really act that rude all the time? I don’t remember that at all~!"

"Stevie... you really have zero self-awareness, don’t you..."

"I don’t think so..."

Stevie’s mood dropped a little, and she finally started acting more like her usual self.

Even so, her smile was about 10 times cuter than normal. She usually only smiles when she eats something delicious, so I’d hardly ever seen her smile properly. It felt really fresh.

"Stevie, you seem to be in a really good mood. I thought you’d be depressed about being called for night service."

"Eh? Not at all! Though... I might have been even happier if it was His Highness the Crown Prince or one of the higher princes who called me~?"

*Stevie... with your looks and personality, I really don’t think the higher princes would ever call you for night service.*

"But more than anything, I’m happy because I finally got to show up all the other maids! When they heard I was chosen, they all said things like, ’Why would Lord Robbie call someone like *you* who can’t even tell if you’re a boy or a girl!?’ or ’What’s so good about that flat, curveless body!?’ or ’You have zero feminine charm, so what exactly did you do!?’ They’ve always bullied me, saying stuff like ’Someone like you will never be called for night service no matter how long you stay in the palace!’ or ’No knight would ever want a girl like you!’ or ’You should just keep weeding the garden forever! You’re always getting in the way!’ But now that Lord Robbie called me, I finally got to show them! Ehehehe~♪

I told them all, ’How do you like *that*—!!’ The younger maids all went quiet. It felt soooo good!"

*Ugh... honestly, everything the other maids said sounds completely accurate.* I feel like my taste is being seriously questioned here. Even my mother probably thought, "Is Robbie really calling *this* girl for night service?" when she saw Stevie.

I decided to ask something I’d been curious about.

"Um, Stevie... do you actually know what night service entails?"

Stevie’s eyes widened.

"Eh!? Don’t tell me Lord Robbie called me without even knowing what night service means! It’s okay, this older girl will gently guide you through it."

She declared it proudly while puffing out her almost non-existent chest. *Hmm... Stevie doesn’t exactly look like she has a lot of experience in that area.*

"I see... Then I’ll leave it to you. But does that mean you’re actually pretty experienced in that kind of thing?"

When I asked directly, Stevie’s face turned bright red.

"N-N-No way! This is completely my first time! How can you ask an innocent maiden something like that, Lord Robbie!? That’s incredibly rude! I’ve never even kissed anyone, let alone held hands!"

Stevie shouted this while we were walking down a public road in the noble district, where carriages and people were constantly passing by. Yelling something like that here is way too embarrassing. I’m starting to get scared of what might happen if I actually sleep with her. Can I still cancel this...? No, that’s probably impossible. If I did that, Stevie’s reputation would be completely destroyed and she wouldn’t be able to continue working as a maid. Looks like I have no choice but to spend the night with her no matter what.

Watching Stevie happily eating her usual pudding, even asking for seconds with such an innocent look on her face... it was hard to believe that tomorrow night she’d be getting into bed with me.

[A/N: Hey everyone, thank you for reading and supporting this novel so far.

This novel is planned to be long-term, so the pacing will sometimes be slower to properly build the world, characters, relationships, and future conflicts instead of rushing everything. Small details that may seem unimportant now could become relevant much later.

I also want the characters to feel human, they’ll make mistakes, grow gradually, struggle emotionally, and change over time depending on their experiences.

If you enjoy the story, please consider supporting it with Power Stones, reviews, comments, and adding it to your library. It really helps more than you think.]