I Secretly Healed the Illness of the Twin Princesses While Wearing a Mask, and Now the Entire Kingdom Is in an Uproar ~Please Stop Trying to Expose the Street Healer~ - Chapter 55

“Asuku. I heard the Emperor asked you to take the First Princess as a concubine.”

It had been three days since we arrived in the Imperial Capital.

My sister suddenly came into my room and said that, looking clearly annoyed.

“Handle it smoothly and dodge the issue. You just got engaged to Princess Victoria, and getting engaged to another country’s princess only days later would be very bad.”

“I know.”

“…Still, I’ve heard the Emperor is a very forceful person.”

“Seems so.”

In fact, the Emperor really was forceful.

She smiled without saying a word and pressured me to stay in the castle. I had no choice but to nod.

“…Asuku. You look way too relaxed. Do you even understand how serious your situation is?”

“I do, I do. Ah, Maid-san, could I get another cup of tea?”

“Y-Yes!! I’ll bring it right away!!”

“Thank you.”

“…By the way, Asuku. That maid is…”

My sister stared closely at the girl pouring the tea and looked doubtful.

Her rare platinum-blonde hair stood out. She looked about twelve years old, a very cute girl wearing a frilly mini-skirt maid outfit. Her friendly smile was charming.

I introduced her to my sister.

“She’s the maid the Emperor assigned to take care of me. Her name’s Ely-chan. She’s really good at making tea.”

“…Asuku. Don’t tell me you really don’t notice?”

“Huh? Notice what?”

When I tilted my head and did not understand, my sister buried her face on the table and groaned.

“I can’t believe my little brother is this clueless…”

“I don’t really get it, but isn’t that kind of rude?”

“…No, you’re the rude one. That girl is—”

“W-Wait!! W-Wait!!”

Just as my sister was about to say something, Ely suddenly shouted.

Huh? What happened?

“What’s wrong, Ely-chan?”

“I-I just saw a really big bug and got scared!!”

“A bug? Where?”

“I-I must have been mistaken!! Please don’t worry about it!!”

“Oh?”

Getting scared by bugs, that’s kind of cute.

She doesn’t seem used to maid work either. She’s probably still a new maid.

“Hey, big sister, do you want some too? The Empire’s food is so-so, but the tea and sweets are insanely good.”

“…I’ll have some. Put in lots of sugar. If I don’t eat something sweet, my head won’t keep up.”

“You became a healing mage for the envoy group. That sounds rough.”

“…Yeah, let’s go with that.”

The reinforcements sent by the Xylica Kingdom to help the Rudelhardt Empire ended up staying in the Imperial Capital as an envoy group for about a month.

My sister was working as a healing mage for that group and treated many people every day.

She must be exhausted.

At least when she’s with me, her little brother, I want her to relax.

And then, that was when it happened.

“Mm. I’m sorry to bother you.”

“Huh? Princess Victoria?”

Right after my sister, Victoria, the younger twin princess of the Xylica Kingdom, suddenly came into my room.

Victoria sat down next to me, wrapped her arms around mine, and pressed her chest against me.

…Soft.

“Asuku, I came today because I need to talk to you.”

“Talk about what?”

“Mm. Let’s go on a date tomorrow.”

“A date? That’s pretty sudden.”

“…I know. But this is an emergency.”

An emergency?

“I heard the Imperial Emperor suggested that you marry one of the princesses. Is that true?”

“Well, yes. I plan to turn her down somehow.”

“Mm. That overlaps.”

“Overlaps?”

“They say the Imperial Princess is a beautiful girl. A beautiful girl who is also a princess, and she’s a younger sister too. That overlaps with me a lot!!”

“Um, I guess so?”

Does it really overlap that much?

Princesses as pushy as Victoria feel pretty rare to me.

“So, tomorrow we go on a date in the Imperial Capital and clearly show my presence again. That’s why you should come to the Imperial Park tomorrow.”

“Alright.”

“Mm. Then I’m going. I need Maidall to help me pick out clothes for tomorrow’s date.”

After saying that, Victoria quickly stood up and left while skipping happily.

Her blank face makes it even funnier.

…Wait, Maidall is here in the Empire too?

Well, both her masters, Christina and Victoria, came to the Empire together, so I guess that makes sense.

Still…

“Hey, big sister.”

“…What?”

“What do you even do on a date?”

“I don’t know.”

That’s a problem.

If Garu were here, I could ask him for advice.

…Oh, right.

◆　◇　◆

“So that’s why you came to me?”

“Yeah. I thought Garu’s big brother might give me some advice.”

“Hahaha, I’m happy a young man would rely on me.”

Garu’s brother, Uru, smiled warmly.

Beside him, the young duke A◯l was twitching his eyebrow in irritation.

“I don’t care about that, but why are you talking in my room!?”

“Because Uru-san is here.”

“My job is to guard Jiluo-sama, you see.”

“Tch!! When you’re done talking, get out right away!!”

Even so, the fact that he allows it means Duke A◯l’s son is actually a good guy.

…It’s honestly hard to believe he once said such cruel things to Christina.

“So, you don’t know what to do on a date, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Hmm. I don’t have much dating experience myself, so I’m not sure, but maybe eating good food together?”

“Good food? In this Empire?”

“…I’m sorry, that was a bad comment. You’re right, that’s not really possible here.”

Uru closed his eyes and thought, his tail swaying back and forth.

That tail looks really fluffy. I kind of want to touch it.

“Another idea. You could look into what the other person likes, then visit places related to that. Like sightseeing spots.”

“Places related to what she likes…”

“…Hehehe.”

For some reason, Uru laughed.

“What is it?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I was just happy because you listened so seriously. Garu told me about you, but it’s true that you don’t look down on beast folk.”

“Look down on them? What do you mean?”

“You didn’t know? Beast folk were treated badly until just a few decades ago.”

“Oh. I didn’t know that.”

Beast folk are being treated badly and abused.

I guess it’s true that I want to pet them and brush their fur every day but…

I’ve never really cared about their looks at all.

“But no one around me really cares about beast folk, you know?”

“Is that so? When I was still going to the academy, there was still a lot of prejudice. It was a lonely school life for me…”

“Were you a loner?”

“…Try to choose your words more carefully.”

I got scolded.

Just then, the young duke A◯l stepped into our conversation.

“Hmph. Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it’s gone. Discrimination against beast folk is still very strong.”

“Eh, really?”

“It is. The border regions are better, but the current king forced reforms, and because of that, many people in the capital still look down on beast folk.”

“I see.”

“That’s probably why Garu was happy, too. He made an interesting friend like you.”

…That makes me feel a bit embarrassed.

“Please keep being kind to Garu.”

“Yeah.”

Alright then.

First, I need to find out what Victoria likes and what her hobbies are.

To do that―

◇　◇　◇

Afterword

One-Point Story

Author: “I wonder who Ely-chan really is.”

F: “Well—”

Author: “No spoilers.”

If you thought, “Who is Ely-chan!?” “Is the tea and the sweets really that good…?” “Volume IV starts now!!” please leave your thoughts, bookmarks, ★ ratings, or reviews.