Chapter 203 I understand, so big brother, you are Anastasia's master, right!

"What? You still want to know about that servant's situation? Hmm... truly incomprehensible, this mindset of an ordinary mortal. It doesn't suit your status as a 'king' in the slightest."

Priscilla snapped her fan open with a flourish, holding it before her face as she shook her head in exasperation at Natsuki Subaru's persistent questioning.

As for the slip of the tongue moments ago, where she'd called Natsuki Subaru a king, she didn't seem to mind it in the least.

After all, the thought of hiding things, of pretending not to know her own husband Natsuki Subaru, filled her with a shiver of distaste!

As a favored child of the sun, she had always acted purely on whim. If she didn't wish to hide something, she wouldn't bother avoiding it—including how she addressed Natsuki Subaru.

Whether it was 'king,' 'husband,' 'Subaru,' or any other title she'd thought up for him in the past, she would simply say whichever one she pleased, whenever she pleased.

For this was who she truly was—the queen consort, Priscilla!

"That servant, of course, has long since been dismissed by this lady."

"Though he was a passably useful tool for handling odd chores, his existence is no longer necessary."

"From now on, there will be only one man's place at my side—and that is you!"

"Well? Feel honored, don't you? Winning my favor is something you'll be grateful for for the rest of your life, you know?"

Priscilla thrust out her chest triumphantly and raised her chin with haughty pride.

But at this, Natsuki Subaru's face twisted into an expression like he was constipated. His personality wouldn't let him say anything sharp back to her, so all he could do was put on a look of utter speechlessness, hoping Priscilla would somehow read his current mood.

It had absolutely no effect whatsoever.

Fine! He was an idiot for ever hoping Priscilla would show any restraint!

Natsuki Subaru pressed his palm against his face.

"So then? Subaru, you said just now you wanted to say a couple of words. What exactly did you want to say?"

At this point, Julius, seeing that the exchange between Natsuki Subaru and Priscilla had reached a lull, spoke up.

He pinched his chin and voiced the question that had been weighing on his mind.

What did he want to say? Of course, it was nothing at all—

That was what Natsuki Subaru wanted to answer, but wouldn't that make it look like he'd been deliberately toying with everyone present?

So instead, Natsuki Subaru answered cautiously.

"It's getting pretty late—why don't we all pick out our rooms and get some rest?"

"No—way—!"

The first to loudly object was Mimi from Anastasia's camp, who threw her hand up high in protest, clearly eager to voice her opinion.

Natsuki Subaru's attention was immediately drawn to her, and he found himself studying her without meaning to.

The thing that had always left him puzzled was this:

Mimi was the vice-captain of the mercenary band Iron Fang, and the eldest of a set of triplet siblings—she ought to have been a reliable, mature woman. And yet both her appearance and her personality made her seem like nothing so much as a willful little girl.

Mimi had emerald green eyes, orange cat ears and tail, and her hair was tied into two adorable little braided pigtails on either side—altogether giving her an air of extreme youthfulness.

As charming and cute as this Mimi was—utterly to his taste—her occasional bouts of willfulness could also leave him at a loss, with a headache to boot.

The one piece of good news was that Mimi and her two younger brothers, along with Ricardo, the captain of Iron Fang standing over there, showed no particular unusual attitude. They didn't seem to share the memories of another world the way Emilia and the others did.

That meant no extra complications to worry about, no extra mental energy wasted—what a relief!

Natsuki Subaru patted his chest and quietly let out a breath of relief.

But at the same time, Mimi still had both hands raised, loudly declaring her opinion.

"It's still so early! How can we just go rest like this? Then Mimi would just have to sit in a room with her idiot little brothers—boring, so boring!"

"Hey, isn't it obvious our idiot big sister is the one who's the idiot here?"

Tivey, the younger brother among the triplets who wore a monocle and looked sharp and clever, crossed his arms and sighed, grumbling with clear displeasure.

"Big sister, you could totally play the game of exploring the manor. We've never been to this big house before, after all—you can run wild all you want!"

"Just... just don't drag me into it. I'm already worn out from riding the ground dragon carriage~ I want to rest!"

Hetaro, the second of the triplet brothers, squinted his eyes wearily at this point, looking utterly drained of energy.

Though he was male, compared to his free-spirited big sister Mimi and his sharp-witted little brother Tivey, Hetaro's eyes drooped slightly at the corners, giving him the softest, gentlest look among the three siblings!

Especially when he was listless like this—even his upright ears drooped down.

The sight was so cute that even Natsuki Subaru couldn't help but give him a mental thumbs-up and a hearty "kawaii!"

Except—he was a boy!

The moment that thought crossed his mind, Natsuki Subaru felt all the appeal drain right out of it.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Mimi frowned at the sight of her brother Hetaro looking so pathetic and said with displeasure,

"Hetaro, look at you, all weak and feeble—how embarrassing!"

"Perfect, in fact—forget resting. Just lying in bed all day, how's your body ever supposed to get stronger? You need to eat more meat! We rushed all this way and didn't even get a proper meal!"

Mimi stood on a chair, hands on her hips, full of energy.

Then, under everyone's gaze, she gave a bold little wave of her hand and declared, in a voice both babyish and clear as a bell,

"So it's decided!"

Mimi turned her sparkling eyes toward Natsuki Subaru—the man who, judging by everyone's reactions, was clearly the core decision-maker of the whole gathering—and said,

"Let's throw a feast! Everyone sitting together happily, drinking hard and eating meat by the fistful, just like back at the mercenary band!"

"Sis... this isn't the mercenary band anymore, sigh!"

Tivey, adjusting the monocle on his face, sighed helplessly, trying to talk her out of it.

"Hmm... a feast, huh?"

Meanwhile, on the other side, Natsuki Subaru rubbed his chin, seriously weighing the feasibility of the idea.

Indeed, it was only just getting dark—turning in now would be a bit early.

And besides, everyone had traveled a long way, all for his sake, really. Throwing a feast to welcome them all properly didn't seem like a bad idea!

Only—

A flicker of hesitation crossed Natsuki Subaru's eyes. Supplies were, in fact, a real problem.

The manor itself had no stockpile of food to speak of—everything had to be bought from the village.

And Earlham Village had only just been rebuilt and had just finished hosting a bonfire feast of its own. Could they really spare enough supplies to withstand this large a group descending on them?

But every problem had a solution, after all...

Just as Natsuki Subaru was mulling over a way to handle it, Anastasia rose from her seat and walked over to Mimi. She squished and rolled Mimi's little face this way and that, teasing her thoroughly like petting a cat, before finally letting out a breath and speaking to her.

"Mimi! You mustn't speak to Su-san in that willful tone of voice, okay?"

"Because Su-san is my husband, so before you go doing whatever you like, you need to ask him too, just like you'd ask me—show him some respect, understand?"

Anastasia spoke to Mimi in an earnest tone, the words coming out so naturally that she seemed entirely unbothered by having just casually referred to Natsuki Subaru as her husband.

Of course, she usually doted on the three triplet siblings quite a lot, treating them almost like pets—but at times like this, she couldn't let them be careless with Su-san.

And Anastasia's behavior here made Natsuki Subaru's eyelid twitch uncontrollably.

He glanced around instinctively, and found that not a single person seemed shocked or even puzzled that Anastasia had just called him her husband.

Well, well... so nobody's even bothering to keep up appearances anymore?

Throwing out lines like that right off the bat—how was he supposed to react, huh? And that Priscilla too, for that matter!

Natsuki Subaru rubbed his temples helplessly, feeling them throb in waves.

"Okay, Mimi understands!"

Having just escaped Anastasia's clutches, Mimi finally recovered from her daze and, faced with Anastasia's request, nodded obediently without a moment's hesitation.

Then she turned to face Natsuki Subaru and said,

"So then, big brother—or should I call you Ana's Master? Mimi wants to throw a super amazing feast, is that okay?"

Mimi asked, putting on her cutest voice.

"M-Mimi, what are you saying? Master, of all things..."

Anastasia's face suddenly flushed bright red, in stark contrast to the snow-white scarf and clothing she wore.

Everyone around them shot Anastasia strange looks, as if silently asking, just how far do you two take things in private?

"Well, of course! Ana is Mimi's master, so isn't Ana's husband Ana's master too? Mimi's so smart!"

Mimi declared, hands on her hips, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, a flicker of cunning flashing through her eyes.

The reason she said it that way... was, of course, entirely on purpose!

But Mimi certainly wasn't going to admit that, was she?

After all, Mimi didn't know anything about anything!

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