Chapter 48: Taught by Lily Again

Both of us let out a sigh. After a brief silence, I thought that was the end of the conversation, but—

"Robbie-sama, there is one last, very important matter."

Lily leaned in close with a serious expression, coming so near that our faces were almost touching.

"What is it? Something that important?"

"Yes. It’s about how to handle Stevie."

"Handle Stevie?"

I didn’t quite catch her meaning and ended up repeating it.

Lily placed a hand on her forehead.

"I knew it. You hadn’t thought about it at all, had you? Robbie-sama is still only ten years old, and while you’ve become quite clever recently, it’s still very recent. Well, this is more of a harem-side issue than something for you to worry about. Honestly, it would have been better if Stevie hadn’t gone around telling everyone..."

She couldn’t help letting a complaint slip out.

"Is it really that big of a deal?"

"Yes. First of all, once a prince has taken a woman to bed, he is expected to leave the harem and live within the main palace. As soon as the palace side prepares the arrangements, he will be moved. Did you know that?"

She drew even closer, glaring at me. I shook my head.

"No, not at all."

"I thought as much. Well, that’s not the major issue. The real problem is where to have the prince’s woman live. Simply put, the normal thing is to give Stevie her own room and have her live there.

However, since this happened so suddenly, we don’t have a room prepared yet. So we must choose between letting her continue living in the dormitory as before, or having her live in this room with you, Robbie-sama."

"What does Stevie say?"

"I haven’t asked her yet. But I suspect she will say she wants to live in the same room as her brother."

"I see."

"Yes. Stevie has very strong feelings for her brother. She even mentioned writing a letter to her brother who’s currently away on the subjugation campaign to tell him about this."

"In that case, should I also write a letter to Stevie’s brother? Something like ’I’m taking your sister’?"

"Haa? There’s no need for that at all. What are you even thinking?"

She looked utterly exasperated.

Lily continued.

"Depending on Stevie’s wishes, once you have taken her, she would normally be given her own room and require a personal maid to attend to her daily needs. The question is whether that girl will accept such treatment."

I couldn’t imagine that scene at all—Stevie mixing in with the other ladies and laughing elegantly with an "Ohoho~".

"That’s why it’s difficult. Everything depends on Stevie’s feelings. The fact that you are only ten years old and the 11th Prince also complicates matters. If you were a candidate for the throne, this would be much simpler."

"In short, they might say they can’t waste money on a prince who might just be a fleeting bubble?"

"I cannot answer that."

"Not being able to answer basically means you can’t deny it, huh... *sigh*."

Lily and I both let out another sigh.

"Anyway, I understand now. Sorry for causing trouble."

When I lowered my head, Lily panicked.

"Not at all! Robbie-sama, this is our problem. You don’t need to worry about anything. What I told you just now is more like post-facto approval... I mean, prior approval, fufu~"

This was the first time Lily smiled during the conversation.

"Normally, when a prince has no knowledge of these matters, we sometimes arrange for a maid to teach him. Of course, the maid chosen for this would be of a suitable age, and even if she becomes intimate with the prince, she isn’t considered his ’bed woman.’ She’s simply the one who taught him, so she receives a special allowance but continues working as a maid. It’s handled privately, so she doesn’t receive any special treatment afterward."

*Heeeh~ So there’s actually an event where maids give princes sex education! You should’ve told me sooner~!*

"It seems you were imagining something strange, Robbie-sama, but that is only for inexperienced princes and is kept strictly private. In this case, since you ordered Stevie to serve you at night and she went around proudly announcing it, we cannot keep it private."

Yeah, that makes sense. This time it can’t be helped. The root cause is probably my lack of knowledge. The biggest problem is that I don’t really understand what should and shouldn’t be said.

"Well then, there are other things I should tell you, but I’m getting tired. Tomorrow afternoon, you will likely hear from Gilmore-sama as well."

"There’s still more?"

"Yes. Normally it isn’t this complicated, but the fact that the one you called was Stevie..."

No matter what topic we started with, it always circled back to that.

"By the way, Lily, haven’t people been saying you look younger lately?"

When I asked, Lily’s face instantly brightened. She touched her cheek and smiled.

"So even Robbie-sama noticed? People have been saying that a lot recently!"

"Yeah. We usually only meet in dimly lit places, but today when I looked at your face properly in the room, the wrinkles around your eyes seem less noticeable, and your skin looks much better. Have your facial spots decreased too?"

I chanted "Light" and created a small orb of light. I was guessing about the spots, but under this light, it really did look that way. She appeared younger than when she first took me into the city.

Lily looked genuinely happy.

"Thank you so much. Ever since I started serving by your side, people have been saying that. Ufufufu."

"Is it because you’ve been drinking my essence?"

"Ha!? You know about that? I thought it was just a folk belief. But ever since I started receiving your essence, my body feels much better, my skin has regained its firmness, and my wrinkles and dullness have decreased. Before, I hated looking at my face in the mirror, but now I actually look forward to it every morning."

I still found it hard to believe, but with two clear examples (Lily and the previous maid), I’ll accept it as fact.

"In that case, will you drink some today too? I’ve decided not to go out tonight."

Lily smiled brightly.

"If Robbie-sama is willing, I would be very grateful."

"Tomorrow I’ll be doing it with Stevie. Is it really okay for me to do this kind of thing with you afterward?"

Lily looked puzzled.

"Royal family members and high-ranking nobles don’t need to worry about such things. There are many who change women every single day."

What are you saying, Lily!? Is that true? Am I really allowed to do that too?

My face must have shown a big question mark. Lily laughed.

"In this world, there aren’t enough adult men. As long as a man has the means to support them, no one will complain no matter how many women he keeps. Women consider it perfectly normal too. Did you not know this, Robbie-sama? I thought you already knew, but it seems there are still many things you don’t know. Fufufu."

Nooooo, I didn’t know at all! Thank you so much for teaching me, Lily-san!!