The one who became my maid was Nomariola, a maid with connections to Duke Lukaios.
She's been taking half-days for the past few days.
The reason being for her younger sister, and to monitor the effects of the Imperfect Elixir.
Apparently, the Imperfect Elixir was nearly bargained down from three gold coins to two.
If you think of it as 30,000 yen being haggled down to 20,000 yen, that's quite a rip-off.
Of course, Nomariola didn't sell it, but took it back and had her sister drink it while monitoring her condition.
I did make it, but I haven't tested its effects, and I don't know how long they last.
So, I allowed her the half-days and ordered her to report on her sister's progress.
Of course, I promised to give her more Imperfect Elixir if it seemed necessary.
"I was surprised when she said she wanted half-days to observe the condition for reporting purposes. She could have just said it was because she was worried about her sister."
"I have an older sister too, but when I had a slight fever, I was thrown into bed and left alone for a whole day."
Helkov muttered something about a sad sibling relationship.
By the way, right now I'm in the middle of lessons with Wold.
Helkov is accompanying me, or rather, keeping watch.
"I told you I haven't learned the four arithmetic operations..."
For some reason, Wold already seemed on the verge of giving up on his first day as a teacher.
"Sorry, I didn't know what the four arithmetic operations were. So it was addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. I understand those. I use them for measuring in alchemy."
"By the way, it's true that no one taught me. I just realized I could do them naturally. Probably learned by watching someone else do it."
Helkov misunderstood, but that's a gift from my previous life, so I'll keep it to myself.
Even if I told him it's from another world, it would be less convincing than Helkov's assumption.
Wold remained silent, seemingly trying to come to terms with something within himself.
Then he wrote something on the paper in front of him and looked at me.
"Do you understand this?"
What was presented were numbers with decimal points, and fractions with separate numerators and denominators.
So I explained decimal points by drawing lines and writing scales, and explained numerators and denominators by drawing circles and dividing them.
Yeah, this is still elementary school math.
Middle school math is probably fine, but I don't quite remember high school math.
No, if I were given problems I might remember, but what's the square root again?
Since my knowledge is only at that level, I had asked him to teach me calculations if he was going to teach me, but...
"Um, there's nothing to teach as part of Your Highness the Prince's education. Basically, Finance handles purchasing and management of goods, while the department that mainly performs calculations is Accounting."
"Eh, really? I see, Finance doesn't require such difficult mathematical knowledge."
Wold was already waving the white flag at me, who had been bracing myself.
Come to think of it, in my previous life too, math was necessary for fields like engineering and astronomy.
And in companies, the Accounting Department and Finance Department are treated as separate divisions.
As I was recalling such things, there was a knock from outside.
This is the salon in the Golden Room, the room with the grand piano that I'm using as a study.
Ikuto is on half-day leave, so Helkov is here instead, and Wearel is on lunch break so it's still too early for him to return.
"I wonder who? Though by process of elimination, it must be Nomariola?"
"Yes, Master."
"Hmm?"
The one who entered with permission was the maid Nomariola.
It's a bit early for her to start work since she's on half-day, and she usually only works exactly on schedule, so I wondered what was going on?
As I was thinking that, our eyes met.
Even though she had only been looking down until now.
And in those eyes was an emotion I had never seen before.
When our eyes met, the corners of her eyes softened.
"I have come to give my greeting upon taking up my post."
Nomariola, who smiled softly, suddenly changed from her originally cool beauty to a gorgeous impression.
"Buho!?"
"...Eh?"
Helkov sprayed out in surprise, and Wold rubbed his eyes doubting his vision.
"Um, what's wrong Nomariola? You seem different from usual? Are you tired from nursing? Should you just adjust your schedule and take a full day of rest? Your half-day is for resting, or rather for nursing, right?"
"What compassionate and deeply benevolent words. However, as I am Master's maid, your concern is unnecessary."
Yeah, this is way beyond my expectations.
What's with this maid behavior I've never seen before?
It's actually kind of scary.
"Um, so, how did your sister turn out? Even if you think she's settled down?"
"Yes, after using the medicine filled with Master's wisdom, by the first day her breathing was already without abnormal sounds, and observing her the next day there were no abnormalities. By the third day, she woke up refreshed without her sleep being shallow due to distress, and by the fourth day she finished her meals completely without coughing and vomiting her food."
No, it was more serious than I thought...
I heard childhood asthma isn't fatal, but it's not like it isn't painful.
We looked at each other at the smiling Nomariola.
Then there was another knock, and from the slightly open door, Wearel's ear was visible.
"I could hear from outside, but is everything alright?"
"Well, I guess I understood that your sister got better."
Nomariola yielded her place to Wearel in a maid-like manner, something she wouldn't have done before.
She used to leave the room immediately after finishing work, but now she's still here.
Wearel offered a speculation to us who were bewildered.
"That must be the cause. Because she got better thanks to Lady Asha's medicine, she feels gratitude for saving her sister's recovery?"
"If you command it, I will apologize countless times for my previous discourtesy."
Her expression is as stern as usual, but her words are different from before.
"That thing is still imperfect, so you don't have to go that far. Besides, even if you acted as before, if you asked I would give you the medicine. If my hobby can help someone, I'd be happy."
"What noble aspirations. In contrast, I am ashamed of my own pettiness. I could not immediately understand that you possess such a pure heart that cares for the weak even while in difficult circumstances. I apologize repeatedly for my discourtesy."
I sought help from Wearel with my eyes.
"Um, difficult circumstances are merely worldly noise to a true genius. Lady Asha does not like attracting public attention and becoming a spectacle. In that regard, you are a very modest and rational person, so Lady Asha is fond of you."
When Wearel indirectly told her not to worry about it, for some reason Nomariola knelt.
"Understood. As before, to the Duke of Lukaios's household, I will report only on Master's modest living conditions. Furthermore, please allow me to investigate whether there are any signs of them troubling Master more than necessary."
"Don't overdo it. Your sister isn't fully recovered yet either. Just take it easy while monitoring her."
"Yes, understood."
Huh, is this okay?
Does she really understand?
I looked around at my surroundings.
Wearel shook his head as if to say it was impossible to do more than this.
Helkov was still laughing at the incredible change in her.
Wold was staring at her as if looking at something mysterious.
*(Understanding that the master's evaluation is correct. The significance of seeking improvement is unclear.)*
*(Sephira, maybe you should stay silent. It's not good for me to stand out either.)*
I'm not interested in the imperial throne, and I've been trying not to stand out to make them recognize that.
I know that Terry, even though he's seven, is surrounded by more tutors than me and working hard for the imperial throne.
I want to avoid interfering, so I'm thinking of catching people who would assassinate him for that purpose.
But treating Nomariola, who is thanking me like this, poorly would also be...
No, she seems to be considerate, so maybe it's okay to leave it like this?
"Nomariola, I understand your feelings so stand up. Act as you have until now so as not to be noticed. Is that painful for you?"
"No, I simply tend to show my interest or lack thereof prominently on my face. Until now it was only my sister, but I revealed my feelings toward Master and must have caused confusion."
"Ah, yeah. Then definitely act as you have until now. You can do as you like here. Just be careful not to let it show outside."
When I drove the point home, Nomariola immediately complied.
I'm not used to that reaction either, but it doesn't seem like it will become a big problem, so I guess it's fine for now.
"Ah, right. How was the peppermint oil? If you're having trouble disposing of it since it's oil, I'll take it back."
"No, my sister seems to like that smell. She applies it every day saying it makes breathing easier."
"I see, that's good."
"It is a presumptuous request, but if possible, I would like to ask for your consideration again."
"Sure. Ah, or would you like to try making it, Nomariola? If your sister likes it, I think it would be good for you to know how to make it too."
Nomariola's eyes widened at my invitation, but it's not something to be thanked for.
Actually, peppermint oil takes a lot of effort to make but the amount that can be extracted is small.
So having her make it herself would save me the trouble.
For that reason, I wanted her to stop kneeling again.
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Next Time: Criminal Guild 1
Updated 10/1
Side Story 12: Diora