A land where the rain never stopped.
It had always rained a lot since long ago, but it was said that in the past two years it had grown even more severe.
Because of that, it had become difficult for carriages to travel to the Valencia territory.
Naturally, House Capanteni was absolutely opposed to Edith traveling to that region by carriage.
So what had been prepared was a scroll.
They had brought two magic scrolls, each costing an astronomical amount just to obtain, to be used for the round trip.
Edith, who knew nothing, simply blinked her eyes in fascination and fidgeted with the scroll.
“If I tear this, I will be transported immediately?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, if something this good exists, why does everyone use carriages?”
When Edith asked in disbelief, Theo avoided mentioning the price and instead said they were difficult to obtain.
“I was actually a bit worried.”
When Edith laughed softly, Theo looked at her with dissatisfaction, as if resentment still lingered.
“I will be back safely.”
She wouldn’t be staying long anyway, just a few days.
“If it’s dangerous, you have to tear that scroll immediately.”
“Okay.”
“…Tsk.”
He briefly considered having her travel by carriage and following along himself, but he hated the thought of Edith being placed in a dangerous situation, even for a moment.
Moreover, it was a region that had recently fallen into chaos due to record-breaking heavy rains.
However, the scrolls were so expensive that the price was whatever the seller demanded, so even House Capanteni couldn’t manage four of them.
In the end, he had no choice but to send Edith alone.
If that hadn’t been the case, he would have followed immediately.
Not knowing that fact, Edith was delighted, thinking they were sending her off more coolly than she had expected this time.
“Then I will be back!”
She had already sent word in advance to House Valencia that she would be traveling by scroll.
They had seemed quite flustered at the mention that she would be sent using a scroll, but they permitted it anyway.
Edith smiled brightly and tore the scroll before Theo could say anything more, and her figure soon disappeared completely.
“Wait…! I haven’t finished saying goodbye yet…!”
Theo cried out regretfully, but Edith had already vanished.
At the same time, the door burst open, and Ellos, the Duke, and the Duchess appeared a moment too late.
“Oh my, has she already left?”
“…Yes.”
“Oh dear.”
The three who were left behind sighed in disappointment.
But it was hardly surprising, since they had already come to see Edith several times since yesterday to say goodbye and tell her to return safely.
Edith had torn the scroll without knowing they would come again.
***
“Huh?”
Before she could even fully register that the ground seemed to ripple, dizziness struck her, and the place she had just been in changed in an instant.
It seemed the scroll’s coordinates had been set near the entrance of the Valencia ducal manor.
Before she could recover from the dizziness, someone ran into her arms and hugged her.
“Edith!”
“…Ugh…!”
But due to the side effects of the scroll travel, she couldn’t respond properly.
Because of the nausea surging up from inside, she had to quickly push Jeron away and retch.
“What’s wrong? Are you sick?”
“N-No…”
As Jeron grew restless, Luzbel spoke.
“It’s a side effect of using the scroll.”
“A side effect?”
“It just makes you feel sick, like motion sickness. She’ll be fine after a while.”
“She is not sick or anything, right?”
“No.”
Phew.
Only then did Jeron let out a sigh of relief, and after retching for a while, Edith, who finally felt a bit better, sat down as she was and caught her breath.
So magic wasn’t perfect either.
After being harshly punished by the experience, Edith was slightly dazed.
Because of that, she hadn’t even registered where she was.
“Are you okay now…?”
At the voice she heard, Edith startled and quickly lifted her head.
“Jeron…!”
“Yes!”
“Ah…”
Fortunately, she hadn’t eaten much, but the vivid traces still made Edith’s face flush.
Moreover, quite a number of people had come out to welcome her.
“I-I am sorry. I showed an unsightly appearance.”
As Edith hurriedly stood and apologized, Luzbel shook his head.
“It is alright.”
“…I, I will clean this up…”
“No. You came as a guest, so we cannot have you do such a thing.”
“Yes, Edith.”
Luzbel firmly cut off the matter, and Jeron, blinking as if he didn’t quite understand, grabbed Edith’s hand and pulled it.
“Come inside and rest! I’ll guide you!”
“…O-Okay.”
She gave a small bow to the servants as well, conveying her apology, and walked down the corridor while holding Jeron’s hand.
Being inside the Valencia manor in someone else’s body made her feel strangely unsettled.
It was a place she had walked freely when she was Aisha.
“By the way, where are we going?”
“To the place where you will stay for a while. I chose the prettiest place.”
Jeron’s expression was bright, as if he was truly happy that she had come.
Seeing him look so happy made Edith feel that coming here had been the right decision.
***
After ordering them to clean up the traces Edith had left behind, Luzbel went inside, and Monet followed behind him.
As a result, only the servants remained gathered at the entrance, but none of them could bring themselves to move.
Because they were far more shocked than expected.
“I thought she’d be around his age since she’s the young master’s friend, but her age is…?”
“…No, more than that, he seemed so happy. I haven’t seen the young master smile like that since… I mean, in a long time.”
A servant who had almost said Aisha’s name without realizing slapped their own mouth and quickly changed their words.
But no one reproached the mistake.
“They said her name was Edith, right? Do you know her?”
“Edith…”
“I don’t know…”
In the Capital, even the servants of House Capanteni’s vassal families had been in an uproar over the young lady awakening, but House Valencia was too busy struggling just to survive to pay attention to such rumors.
Especially since Luzbel wasn’t the kind of Master to make a fuss over such things.
The geographical conditions couldn’t be ignored either.
Because it rained so much, House Valencia rarely received visitors from outside.
In any case, for various reasons, the only servant who properly knew Edith’s identity was Flora.
But Flora was naturally stuck by Jeron’s side, so she couldn’t answer them.
“What does her status matter? Our young master is that happy.”
“That’s true. Just at a glance, she looks like someone of very high status.”
Although she had collapsed and vomited on the ground the moment she arrived, Edith, with her soft pink hair cascading down and silver eyes, radiated both cuteness and nobility.
“…She really was beautiful…”
One servant murmured quietly, as if completely enchanted.
“Let’s make sure she isn’t uncomfortable while she stays here.”
“Yes.”
Having come back to their senses after a few exchanges, the servants chatted quietly among themselves as they began cleaning.
They were thinking they should quickly finish cleaning this up and then see what the young master would do for fun.
“More importantly, weren’t they only in the Capital for a very short time?”
About a week, maybe?
“Yes.”
More than anything, they were curious about what she could possibly have done in that short time to captivate their young master so completely.
***
After being shown to her room, Edith was unpacking her luggage.
Jeron, standing beside her, asked this and that, as if he had many things he was curious about.
He wasn’t originally this talkative, so he must have been bored all this time.
“But how did you get here so quickly?”
“I used a scroll.”
“A scroll? What’s that?”
“You could call it a teleportation magic circle.”
Of course, vomiting the moment she appeared would remain a dark history, but since a person had suddenly appeared out of thin air, it must have been surprising.
Edith herself had also been quite surprised by how effective it was.
But unless it was truly urgent, she didn’t want to use it again.
One such disgraceful display was enough.
“Isn’t that expensive?”
“Is it?”
Jeron also said it would be convenient to go back and forth to the Capital later if he had one, and he seemed pleased.
“Why didn’t I know something like that existed?”
“They did say it was hard to obtain, so maybe that’s why?”
“Ah… I see…”
Jeron, who seemed a little disappointed upon hearing it was difficult to obtain, soon gave up, thinking it couldn’t be helped.
“Should I ask my parents and have them get one for you?”
“Really? Yes, I want to try it too.”
Seeing Jeron smiling happily, Edith also giggled along.
If the Duke and Duchess had heard this conversation, they probably would have turned pale.
It had cost quite a lot of money just to obtain two of them.
“I finished unpacking.”
“Please give it to me, I’ll organize the rest.”
“Okay. Thank you, Flora.”
“It is nothing.”
She hadn’t brought that much luggage.
Since she only planned to stay a few days before leaving, she had only brought two dresses and some sleepwear.
When she tried to bring more, her family had stared intensely, asking how long she planned to stay, so this was the limit.
On the other hand, Jeron seemed disappointed when he saw how little luggage she had, and the corners of his eyes drooped.
“How long are you staying?”
“…About two days?”
“That short?”
“Sorry. I’ll come again next time.”
“…Instead of that, can’t you stay longer before going?”
Edith looked at him in surprise, since she had never seen Jeron be the one to express regret first since they met again.
Perhaps because it sounded as though he had been longing that much to see her again, her heart felt heavy.
“I want to do that too, but…”
“Yes, yes?”
“Shall we play for now and think about it later?”
“…Tch.”
When she didn’t answer right away and instead changed the subject, Jeron’s expression became sullen.
But it couldn’t be helped.
House Capanteni was far too doting, and if there was no news from Edith, they were the kind of people who would immediately storm into the Valencia estate.
