Chapter 96

“Did you really get carried by Prince Norfe while being covered in so much dirt?”

The maids said in exasperation . Now that she thought about it, she was covered in dirt . She had been sitting on the ground when he suddenly picked her up and carried her here, so it could not be helped . Chiharu was then thrown into a guest room that was facing the lake .

“I won’t forgive you if you enter the bed like that . Now, go out to the lake and brush off the dirt . Then you can curl up in a corner of the room!”

And then they left her . Chiharu was a little stunned by their treatment of her, but she was comforted by the knowledge that it wasn’t her fault . The only thing that she could be blamed for was chasing the orange . But who wouldn’t chase an orange if it was rolling away?

“Most people would look around them before chasing it . ”

She thought she heard Aaron say . But it was just her imagination . And then Norfe had… No, she didn’t need to revisit those memories . And so Chiharu obeyed the maids by opening the door to the balcony . Then she stepped out towards the lake . Everything between the villa and the lake was covered in beautiful white stones . Chiharu was hesitant to get it dirty .

However, it was better than getting dirt in the room . And so she started to hit her commoner skirt . Two guards stood a short distance away from her and stared with hostile expressions, but she paid them no mind . Were they guarding someone important? Chiharu wondered, but they gestured for her to quickly return to her room .

It couldn’t be helped . Chiharu returned to the room but didn’t feel like sitting on the sofa . And so she sat on a wooden chair instead .

Still, she was carried a lot since coming to this world . Even if she excluded the bird people, there was the merfolk . And Nyran . Chiharu wondered how Nyran was doing, but decided he was probably doing better now that he didn’t have to worry about them . However, that made her feel a little depressed . And then Norfe . It was hard to think about it calmly, but somehow, none of it had been remotely romantic . That was odd . Chiharu sighed and her shoulders dropped .

Knock-knock . She suddenly heard that someone was knocking on the door .

“Yes . ”

“I’m coming in . ”

Said a maid as she entered . She was carrying a tray with a pot and a cup . No, she wasn’t dressed as a maid . This woman was quite tall and looked very out-going . Also, her face looked a little familiar . She seemed amused and also thoughtful .

“Zynis…”

The person raised an eyebrow .

“Oh, they said that a commoner should bring a common child the tea . But, are you what I think you are?”

Chiharu didn’t understand what she meant, but she realized something else .

“Are you Dilon’s sister?”

“Correct! Then you must be a Saintess . ”

The person put the tray on the table and started to circle around Chiharu .

“I see . You’re very small . Just a little creature who is sitting politely in an empty room . I think mother will like you even more than father does . ”

Chiharu thought it was rather rude how she used words like ‘small’ and ‘creature . ’

After circling her several times, the stranger sat heavily into the chair on the other side of the table .

“I’m Ortha . Zynis’s daughter . Isn’t the plan supposed to be put into action tonight? How did this happen?”

She asked . And so Chiharu had no choice but to tell her that Norfe brought her .

“Over an orange? I didn’t know that such stupidity was possible . Ahahahaha!”

She rolled on the floor as she laughed . Chiharu was sure that this story would follow her around for a while . And she had only meant to show the proper respect that food deserved . She sighed with resignation .

“What’s going to happen to tonight’s plan?”

Chiharu changed the subject . Maki would likely arrive soon . She should find out as much as she could before then .

There is a merman five rooms down from here . We will enter from the lakeside and free him . That’s all . ”

“But there are guards out there . ”

“You don’t need to be so nervous around me . We look the same age, don’t we?”

“Uh, um, sure . I saw that there were two of them . ”

Well, she thought they were guards, anyway . Ortha then made a slashing motion over her neck with a finger . No way!

“Hahaha . Just kidding . We’ll distract them and rescue the merman when they are gone . Either that, or we will have them sleep for a little while . ”

Ortha said as she made a fist . Chiharu looked at her wide-eyed . She was better off not asking for more details .

“I would have thought Amia would just leave by himself . ”

Chiharu said as she tilted her head .

“Oh, you know the chief? I thought it was strange as well . But I wasn’t allowed to enter the room . It’s guarded all day long . ”

Ortha stretched her neck .

“I’m sure you’ve seen this with the birdfolk . But the merfolk are just the same . You can’t control them . Oh, did you see father’s transformation?”

“Yeah . He was very big and beautiful . ”

Chiharu said with a sigh .

“Who cares about beauty . In fact, most beastkin think he is a little underwhelming . I honestly prefer people with a more intimidating aura . But that’s just my personal taste . ”

Ortha was very scatter-brained, which Chiharu found amusing . And she also wanted to see what such a beastkin would look like .

“You get stronger after you transform . But you’re already strong before you do . Anyway, you know the chief, so that means you’ve seen merfolk before . ”

“Yes . I saw that them smack around gazers with their tails . ”

“You saw that? You have to tell me about that some other time . Anyway, that’s how strong they are without weapons . So there is no way that the chief can’t escape . ”

“I agree . ”

Chiharu had been thinking the same thing .

“Still, we don’t know what is happening . But if the chief stays any longer, the merfolk will not be silent . And so we bring him back by force if we have to . ”

Declared Ortha . Chiharu suddenly remembered something .

“Norfe said something about that!”

“What?”

“He said he’s going to take the merman to the royal capital . It was an order . ”

“He said what?!”

Ortha stood up .

“What is Highland thinking? The merfolk are not from the beast lands, so we can’t launch an official complaint, but it will definitely cause friction between the countries . Who knows what the merfolk will do . But they won’t be able to attack inland either . What will happen?”

Just then, there was a knock on the door . Ortha shook her head and turned to Chiharu .

“Oh, no . I stayed for too long . ”

However, the person who didn’t wait for an answer and opened the door was…

“Chouze!”

“Norfe . ”

Maki was panting as she held a box of oranges . Several maids were also with her .

“You . You should have said something if your brother was coming . ”

Rebuked the maid who had thrown Chiharu into the room . But Chiharu thought with annoyance that she had hardly been given the time to do that .

“So, your brother is the orange seller that people have been talking about . Did you know that this child came here with sand all over her clothes?”

Said the maid as she rubbed up against Maki . Maki pulled away .

“Uh, yeah . She fell . I am grateful to Prince Norfe, and to all of you as well . Thank you for taking care of my sister . ”

She said politely . The maids squealed and giggled as they stared at Maki .

“My, what dark eyelashes and eyes! It’s just like the rumors said! I’ll bring you some tea . ”

“What about Prince Norfe?”

“The older maids have claimed Prince Norfe, and we aren’t even allowed to help . And so we’d rather be here . ”

This was not the kind of thing to talk about in a place like this . Ortha watched them with amusement . Then she looked at Maki like she was about to say something .

“You can leave now . Take the oranges and go . ”

They said to her . And so Ortha was driven out of the room . And the person who entered the room after she left…

“Brother said that he won’t talk to me until he’s cleaned up . Is it true that the orange seller is here?”

It was the real Chouze .