–Rudeus’s Perspective–
That girl Luna really doesn’t care about me at all.
She didn’t tell me in advance that Paul was going to make a move on me, which resulted in me being beaten so hard by Paul.
But I guess she was also warned by Paul.
Or maybe it was her idea to have Paul send me here to work.
Luna wouldn’t make a move on Sylphiette, would she?
This person used to be a man, after all.
I even imagined returning to the village in a few years to find Sylphiette shyly leaning into Luna’s embrace.
“Sorry Rudy, I’m already in the shape of Sister Luna.”
“Rudy, go back and find that beastly young lady.
Sylphiette belongs to me now, hahaha.”
“Let’s go, Elder Sister.”
…
It’s even possible that when I go back, Sylphiette will be pregnant with Luna’s child…
wait, that seems impossible.
Anyway, I have to find a way to notify Sylphiette to be wary of Luna; that person will definitely make a move on girls.
Speaking of which, Luna is the only one left at home.
She also has to help take care of Norn and Aisha.
I heard she’s recently been helping Zenith and Lilia with housework and cooking.
Perhaps one day Paul will forcibly send Luna somewhere to get married, just like he did to me.
I hope she has the strength to resist Paul by then.
I miss her a little.
She hasn’t finished telling me the story of ‘attack on titan’ yet, and there are still many topics I wanted to chat with her about.
It’s rare to have a friend who is so similar to me; I feel a bit lonely.
The carriage finally arrived.
It’s the household of the lord of the fortress city, Roa.
I’m to be the home tutor for the lord’s child.
If it were a normal child, it would be fine, but…
she’s practically a beast.
Fortunately, her father is somewhat reasonable; to correct his daughter’s flaws, he’s willing to cooperate with me in staging a self-directed kidnapping plot.
Anyway, time to sleep.
I’m really looking forward to the young lady’s expression tomorrow.
Hahaha, I’m so excited I can’t quite sleep.
I’ll just replay those stories Luna told me in my head.
–Luna’s Perspective–
“Mom, remember to feed Norn and Aisha.”
“I know.
You and Lilia be careful on the road.”
Today I’m going with Lilia to the neighboring town to buy supplies.
After all, Buena Village is a border village and doesn’t even have a marketplace.
Many seasonings needed for daily use at home can’t be bought here.
Also, as Norn and Aisha grow, their clothes need to be updated, so we need to buy some fabric.
Lilia can’t carry all these things by herself, but Paul is out on patrol today, so this task falls to me to help with.
“Lilia, if your leg feels uncomfortable, please tell me.
We’ll rest for a bit before continuing.”
She told me that due to her previous work, Lilia has an incurable old injury on her calf.
Walking normally is fine, but any exertion causes heart-wrenching pain, which prevents her from running and ended her professional career.
With Lilia’s level as an intermediate swordsman of the Water God Style, she actually didn’t need to come to our house to be a maid at all.
She actually had better options, but unfortunately, as they say in martial arts novels, her ‘kung fu’ has been crippled.
Hearing my concern, Lilia just smiled and patted my head, indicating it was fine.
Ever since she gave birth to Aisha, her feelings for me have become even deeper than before.
Often, she would inadvertently favor me.
For example, once when I climbed down from a tree and tore my clothes, Lilia secretly mended them for me without telling Zenith.
But she would also, like Zenith, give me verbal warnings for my safety.
She has even unconsciously stepped into the role of a mother to me.
Regarding this, I don’t really mind.
Having an extra mother is just having an extra mother.
Look at Thorfinn from ‘Vinland Saga,’ he had three fathers; I don’t mind having an extra mother.
Moreover, Lilia is truly good to me.
After the affair scandal settled, she completely integrated into this family.
I can fully accept her treating me as a mother would.
We needed to take a public carriage to a town three hours away from Buena Village, where we could buy the supplies we needed.
Speaking of which, public carriages are really great—cheap, practical, and relatively punctual.
At least more punctual than German trains.
There was no need to worry about bandits or monsters on the road.
The routes chosen for public carriages don’t have any powerful monsters, and even if there were, it wouldn’t matter; the driver could just speed up a bit to shake off the annoying creatures.
It’s just that the carriage was a bit too bumpy.
It had no suspension and wooden wheels—it’s really too primitive.
If I get the chance later, I’ll design a carriage with a suspension system to sell to the local lord and make some money.
I leaned against Lilia’s chest.
After giving birth, Lilia’s body had become a bit more curvaceous, and she carried a unique milky scent that smelled really good.
However, I didn’t have any improper thoughts about her.
She is Aisha’s mother and my family.
It just felt so warm in her embrace; enjoying her constant stroking of my hand, I unknowingly fell asleep.
…
“Miss Luna, wake up, we’ve arrived.”
After being woken up by Lilia, I rubbed my eyes.
What came into view was a huge town—at least much larger than the scenic Buena Village.
And the city walls were very high, at least six or seven meters.
Sometimes I wonder, in a world with this level of productivity, why are the city walls built so well?
This is just an ordinary town; if it were Roa, the capital of the Fithea Territory, I can’t even imagine how tall and grand the walls would be.
After the carriage came to a stop, Lilia held my hand tightly as we wove through the dense crowd, just like a woman at a market afraid her child might get lost.
We arrived at the commercial district, which was lined with various shops.
Lilia and I first went to a spice shop to buy some essential and even somewhat expensive spices.
Then we went to a fabric store and bought a roll of cloth to make clothes for Norn and Aisha.
Finally, we went to a tailor shop to buy some needles and thread, and today’s tasks were considered complete.
Under my excellent calculations, the shopkeepers didn’t cheat Lilia on the change.
This was probably also out of respect for Paul behind Lilia; after all, offending a maid is a small matter, but offending a knight is a big deal.
“Let’s go, Miss Luna, let’s head home.”
“Mm.”
Lilia thoughtfully bought me a skewer of grilled meat with her own wages.
Although her status was essentially Paul’s concubine, she still had the work of a maid to do, and Paul still paid her a monthly salary.
When I wanted to help her with chores, I always did so under the pretext of ‘learning,’ which was the only way she would reluctantly let me help with her work.
Zenith didn’t object to this either; she just thought I was being very sensible.
As someone who has lived two lives, if I couldn’t even manage this much, I’d be even worse than that NEET Rudeus.
“Lilia, you eat some too.” I bit off a small piece of meat and then handed it to Lilia.
“I won’t eat it.
Miss Luna, you eat it yourself.”
Lilia smiled and politely declined my kindness.
True, a small skewer of meat isn’t much to share, and Lilia bought it specifically for me.
My intention to share it with her was enough to make her very satisfied.
“When I earn money in the future, I’ll buy some for Lilia too.
Of course, I’ll also buy some for Dad and Mom.”
“Thank you, Miss Luna.
I’ll be waiting for that day.”
The smile on Lilia’s face grew even deeper, her eyes curving like crescent moons.
It seems that playing the role of a sensible, good child really does make adults like you.
Someone like Rudy overdoes the acting a bit.
Now I find that pretending to be a child to make adults happy is quite fun.
Since that’s the case, I’ll add a bit more fuel to the fire.
“Then…
can I also call Lilia ‘Mom’ in private?”
My fidgety manner perfectly displayed a little girl’s innocence.
I bet Lilia fell for it one hundred percent.
Lilia was stunned for a moment, then she smiled and squatted down, cupping my face with both hands.
“Thank you, Miss Luna.
But you cannot call me Mom.
If you did that, Mrs.
Zenith would be sad.”
“Mm.” I agreed with Lilia, pretending to be ignorant and innocent, and then the two of us headed to the public carriage station.
The thick stench of horse manure wafted through the air, making me nearly throw up the grilled meat skewers I had just eaten.
Lilia seemed to have miscalculated the time; the next public carriage wasn’t for over half an hour.
Consequently, we left and went to wait on a bench in a fountain square.
???
Then, we spotted a familiar figure.
I rubbed my eyes and realized I wasn’t mistaken.
The other party noticed us as well,
and both sides showed expressions of surprise.
“Rudy, what are you doing here?”
Rudeus was currently in a sorry state, pulling along a similarly filthy red-haired little girl who looked a bit older than us.
“Who is she?!” A massive volume that didn’t belong to a girl her age erupted from the red-haired girl, making my ears ache.
What a rude person.
However, judging by her dirty clothes, I could still tell this girl came from a very well-off family.
Could this be the Lord’s daughter?
Rudy’s move was way too fast, wasn’t it?
He’s already managed an elopement?
I recall it’s only been a few days since he left home.
“Miss Eris, didn’t we agree that you wouldn’t shout?”
Rudeus frowned and immediately reprimanded the girl who had just shouted, telling her to keep quiet.
In response, the girl named Eris just turned her head away with a huff and stopped talking, though she continued to steal glances at me from the corner of her eye.
“Young Master Rudy, what exactly happened?”
Lilia could also see that Rudy and the girl had run into trouble.
“Actually, it’s like this…”
Rudy gave a rough account of what had happened.
It turned out he and the young noble lady beside him had been kidnapped, and the two of them were currently on the run.
I felt, however, that Rudy was hiding something.
I pulled him to the side and hooked my arm around his neck.
“Not bad, Rudeus-kun.
Back in the village, Sylphiette is waiting for you with all her heart, yet you’ve already hooked up with the Lord’s daughter.”
Hearing me say this, Rudy gave a bitter, pained smile.
It seemed things weren’t quite as I imagined.
“You misunderstand, haha.
This girl is way more violent than you’d think.
This was originally supposed to be a self-staged play to correct her personality, but something went wrong, and it turned into the real thing.
Also, she isn’t the Lord’s daughter; she’s the daughter of the Mayor of Roa.”
“So what do you plan to do?”
“Of course, Miss Eris and I will take the public carriage back to Roa.”
I hope you’re enjoying the fanfiction so far!