Chapter 35: The Marquis Mullan’s Daughters Appear!

It’s been a few days since brother Alex returned to the Margrave Heine household for his summer vacation. The Marquise Mullan has come to the Heine territory. Of course, the purpose of their visit was not only for a summer vacation, but they also came to see what kind of territory it is.

The Marquis Mullan family is located in the eastern part of the royal capital. Because it is a key point for distribution to the east, it is a golden location where merchants are constantly coming and going, and tax revenues come in even if they do nothing in particular. Nice.

For this reason, many eastern nobles want to get close to daughters of Marquis Mullan, and they can be said to be an important trump card. And yet, it seems that brother Alex and the daughter of Marquis Mullan seem to be on good terms.

It seems to me that there is no benefit in being friends with the Margrave of the Northern Frontier, though.

And so, Marquis Mullan’s daughters came to the Margrave Heine household. Blonde and equipped with vertical rolls, “The Lady” appeared from beyond the front door. One of her servants stood behind her. Next to her was another little girl. I guessed she was about my age. She was quite frightened.

Her appearance reminded me of Miss Fabienne, whom I had just met.

“I am Hilda Mullan. Dear Alex, I have come to visit you as promised! This is my sister Carolina.”

“Hey, I’m Carolina Mullan.”

Hmmm, just as I saw!　It is a composition of a large animal-like older sister and a small animal who had been pushed around by the older sister and had become completely deflated. I kept a social smile on my face, but Brother Cain and Rosalia’s faces were drawn.

Miss Hilda is not the type of person you see around here. I could understand why they had that look on their faces. But as an aristocrat, you can’t do that.

Brother Alex, who seemed to be already accustomed to Miss Hilda, greeted them with a natural smile.

Welcome, Miss Hilda and Miss Carolina. Please take your time. This is the second Son, Cain, and next to him is our third Son, Julius. And this is the eldest daughter, Rosalia.”

After being introduced by Alex, we each exchanged greetings. In the middle of the introduction, Miss Hilda noticed a stuffed animal that Rosalia was holding.

“Rosalia-chan, you have a very high quality stuffed animal. Where did you buy it?”

“This stuffed cat was made for me by my brother Julius.”

She hugged the stuffed animal tightly, as if she thought it could be taken away. At Rosalia’s comment, Miss Hilda’s gaze turned toward us. Her eyes were like she was judging me. I don’t feel very good about it.

“Yes, that’s right. You are the ‘slightly strange brother’ that Alex-sama was talking about, aren’t you?”

What?　Did Alex-sama say such a thing at the school?　I feel a little bad about such rumors in places I don’t know about. I looked at my brother without thinking, and he quickly averted his eyes.

I’ll have to question him about this for a little while later.

That’s how our first contact with the daughters of Marquis Mullan began. Rosalia was wary, and brother Cain was bewildered by the type of girl he had never seen before. And I was already on their radar.

What was Alex’s intention when he called Miss Hilda? Does he have a pulse? Hmmm, I don’t know.

For the time being, we decided to have tea together at the salon. By that time, Father and mother came to say hello. They seemed to be accustomed to dealing with the children of nobles of the same rank and handled it with ease. They were very good.

And soon left. As expected. They may have sensed an air of troublesomeness.

Only the children were left in the salon. I heard that she was a friend of brother Alex, so I couldn’t begrudge her. Should I talk to them about something?　The man in question, Alex, is drinking tea in an elegant manner.

No, no, he doesn’t have time for that. Do something about this delicate atmosphere as soon as possible.

“Rosalia-chan, do you have any other stuffed animals?”

Miss Hilda looked again at the stuffed animal that Rosalia was holding, as if she was really interested in the stuffed animal. Rosalia’s face became tense. This is not good.

“Rosalia, Miss Hilda won’t take your stuffed animal. She’s just curious, so why don’t you tell her?”

Brother Alex said gently to Rosalia. I wonder if Miss Hilda is the type of person who is easily misunderstood.

‘Big brother ……”

Rosalia, sitting next to me, looked up at me. She looks  anxious. I’m sure she wouldn’t behave in such a cavalier manner, though. I smiled at her and she reluctantly listed the names of the stuffed animals one after the other.

“A bear, a cat, a dog, a sheep, a rabbit, and a guinea pig.”

“Yes, there are so many of them. …… Um, would you mind showing me a few?”

The tone of Hilda’s voice has lowered considerably. She must have noticed that Rosalia was frightened. It’s like she’s checking on her.

Rosalia does not reply. What should I do?

“See, would you like to see them too, Carolina?”

“Ha, yes. I want to see it too.”

The younger sister, who seemed to be obedient to her older sister, immediately agreed. she was looking at the stuffed toy that Rosalia was holding, so she might be curious.

No, perhaps it is the other way around?　Maybe her sister, Miss Carolina, is concerned about them, so her sister, Miss Hilda, is giving her a helping hand.

“That’s good, Rosalia. Why don’t you introduce your feline friend to everyone?”

“Okay. I will do that.”

When I said that, Rosalia finally seemed to be convinced. Rosalia told the servant to bring a stuffed animal from her room. My sister, who is obedient to my opinion, seems to be growing up  to be a fine ‘black’ woman.”

……I think it’s time to let her stand on her own, or she’ll be in trouble later on. What should I do?

The stuffed animals brought by the servants were laid out on the open sofa. Miss Hilda and Miss Carolina both looked at them and shouted with delight.

It seemed that both of them had been curious about the stuffed animals. Really, stuffed animals are very popular with the girls.

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