Chapter 103: Back to the main topic
Chapter 103: Back to the main topic
"Anyway, going back to Stevie...""Ah, I’m sorry. I got us quite off track."
"Yeah. I can’t make any grand promises about a lifetime or anything, but right now, I feel like I want to cherish Stevie. Oh, and you too, Lily."
Lily made a slightly exasperated face.
"Lord Robby, you don’t have to force yourself to add me in there."
"No, sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. Sorry."
"Fufu, I was only teasing a little. When thinking about my future relationship with you, Stevie will likely be with you much longer."
"Uuuu... sorry."
"It’s fine already."
"Yeah, thank you."
This is complicated...
"So, is what you said earlier about Stevie a normal thing?"
"Normal?"
"Yeah. Stopping her means taking responsibility for the rest of her life, right?"
Lily chuckled.
"Ordinary princes—and even young noblemen—wouldn’t pay that much attention to a single maid. I only said it because it’s you, Lord Robby."
"Eh, really?"
"Yes. I wanted to see just how strongly you felt about Stevie, so I asked."
"I see..."
"Most members of the royal family and high-ranking nobles are fickle. They often say they like a maid one day and forget all about it the next."
"Is that how it is?"
"Yes. Someone who thinks as seriously as you do is quite rare. Truly exceptional. So please don’t overthink it too heavily. Let’s go see Stevie."
"Yeah, let’s do that."
"Stevie also understands that you are still only ten years old. She won’t demand anything like ’a lifetime commitment’ just because you stopped her."
"Right. Yeah, that’s true. If I don’t see her tonight, I might never get another chance."
"Come on, let’s go."
Lily opened the window and jumped out first, quickly climbing onto the roof. I followed and jumped up after her.
"Where’s Stevie’s room?"
"This way."
Led by Lily, we headed toward the wing where Michel and his wife lived. It made sense that palace and rear palace workers lived clustered together.
Tonight, both Michel and his wife’s room and Marin-sensei’s room were dark. No voices leaked out either, so they must have already gone to bed. Even if they were awake and "encouraging" each other, I had firmly decided not to ask Lily for that tonight. Though my resolve is as soft and crumbly as tofu.
"This room below us," Lily said, pointing to a room a short distance from Marin-sensei’s. The room was already dark. No light leaked through the gaps in the curtains.
"It’s already dark. She must be asleep."
As soon as I stated the obvious—
"What are you saying?! Even if she’s asleep, we can just wake her up. Knock on the window!"
Lily scolded me. Following her instructions, I dropped down onto the balcony and tapped on the glass: knock knock knock.