Chapter 47: Talking with Lily About Stevie

I’m 10 years old and Stevie is 16, but the height difference between us is almost nonexistent. I don’t know who measured it, but apparently we’re both around 5 feet tall.

In this world, nobles come of age at 15, but commoners start working as early as 10. There are no schools, so there are no restrictions on child labor (obviously). If parents say "go work," the children go work. Even if they work at home, they don’t earn money, so most end up working somewhere outside. In that sense, children grow up quickly. Of course, that comes with the condition that they’re well-nourished. Being 5 feet tall at 10 years old seems quite tall to me, but I’ve heard there were princes who were even taller than me. Probably some genetic thing.

Stevie was able to get a job in the royal palace thanks to her older brother being in the knight order (so basically nepotism). She lives with her brother in the palace dormitory. It seems they have a room in the same building where Michelle and the others live. Stevie and her brother both work, and while Michelle and the others are dual-income too, it’s not unusual in this world. Once children are old enough to take care of themselves, it’s normal for women to go out and work.

Stevie lives alone with her brother. She absolutely adores him and is very proud of him. From her brother’s perspective, Stevie is probably a disappointing little sister, but since their parents are dead, he apparently dotes on her like a precious cat. Stevie’s current biggest worry is that she can’t tell her beloved brother that she’s been chosen as my night service partner.

I wonder how her knight brother will react when he hears that his precious Stevie has been called for night service... He won’t get angry and come punch me, right?

Even while we were walking around the city, Stevie was mostly acting normal, aside from being a bit more affectionate and staying closer than usual. But when we visited the church, she suddenly said:

"Lord Robbie, it would be nice if we could have our wedding ceremony here someday!"

That one caught me completely off guard.

That night, the night attendant was Lily. I thought it was pretty early for her turn in the rotation, but apparently she had swapped with someone else. The reason, of course, was Stevie.

Once the inner palace grew quiet and the noise died down, Lily came over to my bed. I was just about to change clothes to go out. Naturally, Lily was still in her maid uniform and wasn’t here to get in bed with me.

"Lord Robbie."

She spoke in a calm, quiet tone.

"What is it, Lily? I was about to head out."

"Before that, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you. It’s about Stevie."

*Yeah, I figured it was about that.* The atmosphere made it obvious.

"Sure, let’s talk. Though I don’t really have much to say on my end."

"I understand. What I want to talk about is, as you guessed, regarding Stevie."

"Yeah, I thought so."

"I have no particular objections to you calling her for night service. The issue is... are you really sure it should be her?"

Well, when you put it like that, even I feel a bit unsure, but it’s too late to back out now, and Lily probably doesn’t want me to either.

"I’m fine with it. She’s been accompanying me as my escort every day, so I feel like I know her pretty well. Or is there some problem if I choose Stevie?"

Lily made a complicated expression at my question.

"No, it’s not that kind of problem. The issue is that Stevie... is very childish."

"Yeah, that’s true. But when we went out to the city during the day, I got worried and asked her directly. She puffed out her chest and said, ’Leave it to this big sister.’"

*Though she didn’t look like a big sister at all at the time.*

"I see... *Sigh*... Lord Robbie, can you really believe what Stevie says?"

*So Lily thinks the same way.*

"No, not at all. In fact, I’m worried I can’t leave anything to her."

"Exactly! That girl is truly a child at heart. Her head is full of flowers. She grew up with only her much older brother after losing her parents early, so she has absolutely no knowledge about what a woman should do when invited by a man."

"Really? How do you know that?"

"Gilmore-sama and I were both worried, so we asked Stevie directly. She was completely clueless. We’ve scheduled to teach her tomorrow — Gilmore-sama and I."

"Eh? You’re really doing that? That sounds rough..."

Having both Cass and Lily teaching her together... I feel a bit sorry for them. Though I’m also kind of curious what exactly they’re going to teach her. I wonder if I could watch...?

"However, even after teaching her, it’ll only be surface-level knowledge. So tomorrow night, please treat Stevie as if she knows absolutely nothing and act accordingly."

"It’s that bad, huh..."

I wasn’t expecting much to begin with, but hearing it confirmed like this still hurts.

"If it were any other maid, we wouldn’t need to worry this much. But of all people, it had to be Stevie..."

When she says "other maids," I feel like none of them even look at me that way.

So Stevie really is a disappointing girl in every possible way...

"I see... that much, huh..." I sighed.

Lily nodded along with me.

"Yes. After talking with her again, I realized it more clearly."

The fact that she said "again" means she had already sensed it to some degree.

Then a question popped into my mind.

"By the way, who usually teaches this kind of thing?"

"Hmm... normally, children learn by watching and hearing what their parents do at home. But Stevie lost her parents early and started living with her much older brother, so she never had that experience. In cases like that, the Head Maid would usually teach them, but even she was shocked, saying ’Wait, Stevie of all people!?’ The Head Maid also admitted she never thought Stevie would ever be called by you or the other royals."

"I see..."

"The Head Maid’s reaction is understandable."

"Yes, it’s perfectly normal. The other maids were also stunned when they heard. Everyone’s reaction was ’Of all people, Stevie!?’ Which is only natural."

"I’m starting to feel really sorry toward everyone for choosing Stevie..."

"No, you don’t need to feel that way, Lord Robbie. This is originally a problem on the maids’ side. Still... it really had to be Stevie, of all people."

""Haaaa...""

Lily and I let out a deep sigh together.

"Also, regarding the day itself..."

"You mean on the actual night?"

"Yes. We will make sure Stevie takes contraceptive medicine, so there is no need to worry about pregnancy. You don’t want a child yet, correct?"

"Ah, that’s fine. Please take care of that."

I ended up speaking more politely than usual because the conversation was so serious. *This is depressing...*

After all, becoming a father in a year wouldn’t be funny. An 11-year-old dad... no thanks. As I was thinking that, Lily continued:

"There was a prince in the past who did exactly that. He indiscriminately slept with maids and got them pregnant."

There was such a legend...?

"How old was that prince?"

"The same age as you, 10 years old."

"I see..."

"Yes. The maids at the time never expected to be targeted, so some let their guard down and were taken advantage of. There were even cases where they got pregnant on the first try."

*Taken advantage of...*

"Was that prince also big for his age?"

"Yes, I heard he was larger than you, Lord Robbie. He was well over 5 feet tall. You are quite large yourself, but he was even bigger and more muscular."

"Then I guess it’s possible if one really tries."

"Yes... You are also capable if you set your mind to it. *Sigh*..."

Lily let out another big sigh.