妈妈的朋友1-5线观

56: Out-of-Place Person

Only one table at the Hen Inn had a different atmosphere than the hustle and bustle of the restaurant... Ah, it’s Roberto-sama.

“I’m sorry someone who doesn’t fit in here came,” I said as I bowed to the master.

I quickly went to where Roberto-sama was sitting and bowed deeply in greeting. It feels out of place to greet like a noble here, you know?

“Hello, Roberto-sama. I see that you received my report.”

“Yeah,” he replied with a single word and drank his ale. How vulgar, not noble-like at all.

He was wearing a plain, cheap-looking mantle and it seemed to hide a little of his glamour, but a weird sort of tension was drifting about this table, and everyone knew that this was Roberto-sama.

I concluded that he wasn’t acting like a noble and couldn’t help but act like a commoner myself as I sat down next to him.

I was closer to him than when I ate at the Edenbach estate, even though our relationship hasn’t changed.

It was hard for other people to hear our conversation on top of all the noise, so it was probably fine to talk about what would happen from now on.

Woah, the side dish... It’s boiled pork giblets. Can this person even eat this? I heard it’s good with tomato and chilli... But this dish never appears on a noble’s dining table. Ouh, I can’t eat it. My mother never made it. And, that. Is that a sausage made out of blood? It’s impossible for me to eat a lump of blood! How can Roberto-sama eat that?!

No one can blame me for half closing my eyes.

“This? As long as there’s no poison, I can eat anything.”

Roberto-sama had an unexpectedly strong side. “They recommended this. It’s pretty good,” he said while rapidly eating the side dishes.

One can eat the same food as commoners if they interacted with them, huh. But, that side dish, I think they recommended it to you to harass you.

I was also offered dinner. I don’t feel like eating that.

(Yay, it’s confit! The soft braised chicken that was cooked in oil and the crispy skin is so delicious. It wasn’t duck, but it was made into cutlets and is easy to eat. Oh, the flavour covers the whole dish.)

Roberto-sama was staring at me by the time I came back to reality. There were no emotions in his almond amber eyes, but they did look a little kinder than usual.

“You’re not wearing a noble mask right now. Your emotions are all over the place. It’s very lively.”

“...”

“Listen to me while you eat.”

Roberto-sama told me about what would happen tomorrow as if he was talking to himself. He was gulping down the ale, but it didn’t seem like he was getting drunk at all... Can he not get drunk?

He finished talking, put the container with the wig in on the table and then left.

I also returned to my room after talking to Ada-san for a bit and thought about various things by myself.

They took into account that I didn’t want the people from the Thousand House to know that I was working under His Highness Ludens.

I will be introduced as a really distant relative of Roberto-sama, and the name that I was given was Ann du Deniswell... Viscount Deniswell was in the noble almanac. He had a small fief at the corner of the Sabolain fief.

I grew up in the countryside and never showed up in high society, the daughter of a noble who has Roberto-sama’s patronage. That was the story that had been prepared for me.

My government residence (this is a weird way to say things) will have my real name, Ayesha-maria Org du Thousand.

The point is that I have two roles.

I will live as Ayesha at the government residence and I will become Ann at the Royal Palace. Both were nobles.

Apparently, I will change my appearance at a room in the Royal Palace. I can’t say it’s troublesome. This is what I want.

“Haah,” a sigh leaked out.

(What is His Highness Ludens trying to make me do? I don’t think it’s just office work.)

I didn’t go to high school and I didn’t have a social life, so I could probably build good relationships within the Royal Palace... First of all, that’s the problem.

The excitement I felt over my new dress was completely gone.

I went to bed early. I’d thought that I wouldn’t be able to sleep because there was so much on my mind, but I fell asleep pretty quickly.

“I think I’ll manage somehow.”

I dressed in my new dress, got ready, ate breakfast, put on my mint coat and headed to the Royal Palace.

◊♦◊♦◊♦◊

I took off the mint coat and asked the knight who was guarding the entrance of the Royal Palace, “Can you call Roberto-sama.” It seemed that he was already ordered to do so, and shortly after, Roberto-sama and his servant Cafule came to pick me up.

First, I went to the right wing of the front building, which was a place for Roberto-sama’s exclusive use while he was doing government work for Fernand Empire. I received a bunch of documents there and headed towards Roberto-sama’s office in the middle building.

Next, Roberto-sama guided me towards another room in the middle building. There were a lot of storage rooms and there were no signs of life here. Then, I was instructed to transform into Ann.

“I’ll come back here in an hour. Keep the room locked. I’ll knock 5 times when I come.”

There was an empty closet and a full-length mirror in the room, as well as well as a small desk and three chairs.

I braided my hair and put on the wig.

I managed to put on the wig and put eyeliner and mascara (they were in the wig container) on to emphasis my eyes. I wasn’t used to it so it was hard to draw with the eyeliner. Putting on mascara was the same.

When I finished tussling, a woman had been standing in front of the mirror for a while now.

(I’m done!)