Senior Chloe’s House
“Welcome back~ I’ve brought Joan and Belle with me!”
Bruno announced loudly as soon as we entered the house.
Thump, thump…
“Welcome, Joan, Belle. It’s cold, isn’t it? Come in, come in quickly.”
We were led inside, and the living room with a high ceiling came into view. A large fireplace dominated the space, surrounded in a U-shape by sofas. Several people were seated, chatting amiably.
“These are my juniors, Joan and Belle.”
When Senior Chloe said that, everyone sitting down turned to look at us.
“Oh my?”
“”… Ah~””
““Eh?””
To our surprise, it was the grandmother, Shaun, and Hal from the shared carriage. Apparently, they were returning from a relative’s home and had been telling their family about the events on the carriage.
“Hahaha, I never expected Chloe’s juniors to be their bodyguards. What a coincidence.”
That was Chloe’s father speaking. He looked like a strong man, the type of physique typical for a dairy farmer.
“But such cute girls can be that strong…”
“Not what you’d expect from their looks, huh? Chloe too.”
Chloe’s mother and her sister-in-law were chatting warmly. They apparently helped in the oldest brother’s dairy workshop.
“Joan and Belle were so cool!”
Shaun enthusiastically pumped his fists as he spoke.
“Yeah, and Pearl can grow big too.”
Hal was explaining about Pearl.
““I wanted to go too~””
Chloe’s two younger sisters regretted not coming along.
“Sorry about my noisy family.”
Chloe apologized, but we immediately shook our heads.
“Not at all. It’s lively, which is nice. My family’s like this too—two older brothers, plus twins and a younger sister.”
“My family only has an older brother, but he’s noisy enough.”
“Hahaha, so not much different from my family. Whether commoners or nobles, it’s the same, huh?”
“““Eh? Nobles?””””
The previously lively living room suddenly fell silent.
“Wait, what do you mean by that, Chloe?”
“Yeah, I thought I heard ‘noble’ just now?”
Chloe’s parents hurriedly questioned her.
“Eh? Oh… I didn’t say?”
“““““““You didn’t!””””””
“Sorry, we didn’t properly introduce ourselves either… I’m Joan Lampail, eldest daughter of the Margrave Lampail’s family.”
“I’m Belle Burst, eldest daughter of the Count Burst.”
“““““““We apologize.””””””””
While the adults apologized, the children just looked puzzled.
“You’re still Chloe’s juniors, and at the academy, nobles and commoners are equal. So feel free to just call me Joan.”
“Oh, um, please call me Belle too.”
“Um… is that really okay?”
““Of course.””
“Then, if it’s alright… we’ll call you Joan and Belle.”
“Yes. Everyone, please take care of us. We’ll be staying for a little while.”
＊＊＊＊＊
Senior Chloe guided us to the guesthouse. Though called a guesthouse, it was a full building with a mini-kitchen, bathroom, and toilet. There were four bedrooms. It had originally been a dorm for single employees, but everyone was now married and lived in the city, returning here occasionally.
“Sorry, both of you. I thought I told everyone about you.”
“Don’t worry. Just being welcomed like this is enough.”
“Yes. We’ve been looking forward to this.”
“Thank you. Since we have some time before dinner, do you want to see the barn?”
““Absolutely!””
The first stop was the barn. Inside, there were about fifty cows. It seemed to be feeding time, and the cows barely glanced at us before going back to munching.
Next, we visited the workshop.
The workshop had large windows so we could see inside. There, the oldest brother, Dick, was working in a lab coat. Seeing him reminded me of something.
“Oh, that’s right. I need to teach Dick how to make custard cream.”
“Eh? Really?”
“I heard from Bruno that after eating our cream puffs, he’s been thinking about the recipe. But for custard… the yellow cream, eggs are required too.”
“Oh, right. Then we can talk about it later.”
“Got it.”
“Oh, I also forgot to bring souvenirs. This time, I brought lots of sweets.”
“Yay! I’m so happy!”
“Yes, we’ll be staying here, so we’ll help out while we’re here. We won’t forget the hospitality.”
““Hospitality?””
“Um, it means the kindness of being hosted and fed, so we shouldn’t forget to repay it in some way.”
“You don’t have to worry… caring for the cows is early and hard work, and dangerous if you’re not used to it.”
“Then let us help with cooking. We can do that.”
“Oh, then I can help too.”
“Really? I know Joan’s cooking is great… I’ll ask the mothers first, okay?”
““Yes.””
Chloe quickly confirmed with her mother and sister-in-law.
At first, they said a young lady shouldn’t be allowed to cook, but in the end, they agreed that helping with prep work would be fine.
I understood their hesitation—letting someone into their kitchen is a big deal. Even helping with prep work is appreciated.
What do you think about this chapter?
