Chapter 409: The Marchioness of Mulan

From what Carol said, it seems that Marquis Mulan will return to the mansion in the evening. In that case, should I consult him during dinner?

Causing trouble on the very first day of my visit—surely even Marquis Mulan wouldn’t have expected that. As a preliminary step, should I talk to Carol’s mother first? Yeah, that seems like a good idea.

“Carol, I’m thinking of speaking to the Marchioness of Mulan first. What do you think?”

“Of course, I don’t mind. Gaining my mother’s support would be very reassuring.”

It seems that the influence of noblewomen is strong in every household. Are noble fathers everywhere under their wives’ control?

And so, we all headed toward the Marchioness together. I had said that we would be fine on our own, but everyone decided to tag along for some mysterious reason—apparently, they thought it “sounded interesting.”

Guided by Carol, we made our way to the Marchioness’s room. Is it really okay to visit her room directly? Shouldn’t we invite her to the salon first?

As I pondered this, Carol confidently walked through the mansion and knocked on a beautifully decorated door adorned with geometric reliefs.

“Mother, I have something important to discuss. May I come in?”

“Oh my, it seems you’ve finally made up your mind. Of course, come in.”

“Mother! What exactly are you talking about?”

Ah, Carol, I think your mother believes this is about you and Axel becoming an item. Could it be that, like Axel, you also think no one has noticed yet?

That’s naïve, Carol. Too naïve. You’re sweeter than freshly picked corn in the morning.

Perhaps realizing what was going on, Axel’s face turned bright red. Isidore was desperately trying not to look, but his cheeks were twitching.

“Oh my, everyone is here. Welcome. So, is this about wanting to hold a joint wedding ceremony?”

“No, Mother! Please, let’s move on from that topic already.”

It seems Carol’s mother has quite the free-spirited personality. Even the usually composed Carol was getting flustered. A rare sight indeed.

But this isn’t the time to get caught up in such thoughts.

“Marchioness Mulan, actually, I have a request…”

I explained my plan to the Marchioness. She listened silently, without interrupting, and maintained a smile the entire time.

Is this okay? I waited nervously for her response.

“That sounds great. Go ahead and do it. I already knew Julius was the type to cause trouble, but you’re showing your true colors right away. My children, for better or worse, are all rather reserved, so life has been a bit boring.”

“Ah, um… Thank you?”

Is this supposed to be praise? Fabienne gave a wry smile, so I had a feeling that wasn’t the case. But regardless, the important thing is that I secured permission to create the herb garden. Now, the next step is to see if we can gather the plant seedlings.

Worst case, I’ll have to rely on the knights to collect them. If I had known this would happen, I should have brought the knights guarding the Heine Count family’s herb garden. For some reason, there’s always someone among them who has skills related to cultivation.

With the Marchioness’s support secured, we returned to the salon. Right then, Nero arrived. Nice timing.

“It looks like we’ll be able to create the herb garden. How did it go on your end?”

“Lionel-sama was strongly opposed to the idea, but he reluctantly gave permission, saying that if he refused, you’d just go and gather the plants on your own anyway.”

“……”

Hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement. At times like this, what kind of expression am I supposed to make? So this is how everyone sees me… Huh. Mira, realizing she’d get to go outside with us, was squealing in delight. Right now, Mira is the only thing keeping me sane.

“If that’s decided, we’re going too. Right, Isidore?”

“Huh, me too? Well, I don’t really mind, but…”

“Axel, forcing people to come along isn’t a good idea. There’s no need for everyone to go. Only those who want to should go, right?”

Even though the danger level is low, we’re heading deep into a forest where monsters live. A certain level of preparedness is necessary. Personally, I’d prefer to go alone since it would be much easier, but if Lionel insists on coming along, I guess there’s no helping it.

“In that case, I shall accompany you as well.”

“Huh? Wait, Fabienne, are you serious?”

“Of course I am. Surely, you weren’t planning to leave me out, were you?”

Ugh, Fabienne is glaring at me. All because I said something unnecessary… I was just trying to help Isidore out, but now this.

After that, Nero and Isidore also expressed their intent to join, and finally, Carol declared that she would come too. This is bad.

“Carol, isn’t it a bit much for you to come along?”

“Why is that? Fabienne is going too. I don’t want to be the only one left behind.”

“Well, you see, you have to take care of Mira—”

“Kyuu, kyuu!”

It seems that Mira also wants to come along. She clung to me desperately. This is already a lost cause. If I tell the Marquis of Mulan about this, he definitely won’t approve. What should I do?

Well, I guess I’ll just ask anyway, even if I know it’s hopeless.

If he says no, I’ll just sneak into the forest alone.

Wait a minute… Maybe it’s actually better if he says no? I could roam the forest freely and find some good saplings without any concerns. I could finally enjoy some true freedom after so long.

…Yeah, everyone’s probably thinking the same thing.

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