The Little Girl Who Called Me “Mom”
Haa... If I had just peeked a little more and hid it right away, I wouldn't have been caught.
Lobelia's grumbling echoed through the bathroom, and Hestia replied with a sweet smile.
"Well, at least you reduced the bathroom cleaning to once a week. If it had been a month, it would've been terrifying."
"Well, that's true, but even so, cleaning the bathroom from morning..."
"Hehe, even though it's been a while since it's just the two of us, it doesn't sound bad. Let's finish quickly and eat together..."
"Wha—?! Eek!"
Hestia pointed at the toilet bowl with her hand and shouted.
"Bug—! There's a bug!!"
Lobelia opened the toilet lid, and a single fly was fluttering right above the spotlessly cleaned bowl.
"Hestia, don't tell me the bug you mentioned is that fly..."
"B-Burn it right now! No, we have to incinerate the entire bathroom! I'll tell the headmaster right now and come back!"
Lobelia flicked the fly out the window and gave an incredulous look.
"Haa, Hestia, you're great at everything else, but that bug phobia of yours is the problem. Last time you mistook a hairball for a bug and set off the fire alarm..."
After confirming the fly was gone, Hestia returned with her usual flustered, giggling expression, as if nothing had happened.
"That was an emergency bell... Thanks for letting it out, Lobelia. Yesterday was a good day seeing Lady Serenia, and today this horrific thing happened again."
"Well, life is full of ups and downs. Then, what's next? Another good thing?"
The moment Lobelia and Hestia finished their conversation, a girl with sky-blue hair burst through the bathroom door.
"You two—! Huh, whew, I have big news for you."
The two of them, still cleaning, didn't stop despite how urgently Ophelia had rushed over.
"Ophelia, stop playing around and finish the cleaning right away."
"Seriously, from now on, only Ophelia cleans the bathroom."
Ophelia had gone on a quick errand and returned midway.
Seeing her like that, the two of them were certain she had been slacking off and was making up an excuse to enter now.
"No, really! If you hear this news, you'll be genuinely grateful to me."
"Really? Tell us already. What is it? Did Lady Serenia come to visit the orphanage?"
"Eh, how did you know...?"
"???"
The playful remark turned out to be true, and Lobelia's usually composed face went blank in surprise, while Hestia dropped the mop and shook Ophelia's shoulders.
"I-Is it true? Lady Serenia is visiting our orphanage?"
"Wait a second... I just heard the dean on the phone in the staff room. She said she'll visit this afternoon."
"Finally, my lifelong wish to meet Lady Serenia will come true..."
"Just meeting her?"
Ophelia gave a mischievous smile as she asked them.
"But the countess is so busy..."
"No, today Lady Serenia is coming for adoption purposes. The dean specifically told the other teachers she's considering three of us!"
Adoption.
The word referred to permanently forming parent-child relationships without blood ties.
After confirming that their understanding of adoption was correct, Hestia, overflowing with joy, hugged Ophelia tightly.
Parents.
That was the one thing Hestia had always wanted most.
Though not as much as Hestia, Lobelia couldn't hide the expectation of having parents on her face either.
"Finally, we can have parents too? And they would be Lady Serenia's children?"
"Calling Lady Serenia my mother... I can't believe it!"
"Wait, hold on."
The one who briefly shattered the joyful atmosphere was Hestia's worried voice.
"But there's no guarantee Lady Serenia will adopt us."
Thinking about it, they had been jumping the gun.
"The ones with outstanding looks in the orphanage are us three. Lady Serenia probably thinks the same."
"Even so, what if she hears about our behavior in the orphanage...?"
As the joyful mood shifted to worry, Lobelia spoke up.
"Let's try something like this..."
---
"Milady, we're almost there. You can start getting up now."
Huh. Had I really fallen asleep?
Gazing out the window, the orphanage looked tiny in the distance, so I must have slept for a while.
With so many things to handle lately, sleep had been hard.
I thought that once I became the countess, I could do whatever I wanted, but the past few days had mostly been spent at the desk, and as a result, my sleep schedule had to suffer.
"I must have worked too hard lately. I feel tired suddenly. Someone is working their bones off for the countess's sake, while another is constantly finding faults and can't rest, it's so sad."
"Milady, if you hadn't been secretly reading those strange novels while pretending to process paperwork, you wouldn't have lost any sleep."
"Strange novels? 'I Became the Underlay of the Adopted Imperial Princess' is such a well-written story."
"Just the title sounds weird."
"Selena, you wouldn't know, but that book is hugely popular in high society these days. I don't want to read it either, but as a countess, I can't just sit idly like a broken rice sack in the social circles."
"You started that trend, milady."
It wasn't that easy.
As the youngest head maid, she wasn't someone you could easily push around.
"Instead, try reading it too, Selena. The timid princess ends up developing feelings for the princess consort and eventually..."
Ehehe.
"One more recommendation like that, and I'm serious..."
Boom!
With a loud crash, the carriage gave a big jolt and then stopped moving entirely.
"Milady, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"
"I'm fine, but what a surprise. Recommending a novel to me breaks carriages now?"
"I wouldn't do that. Stop joking and get out quickly."
I stepped out of the carriage along with Selena.
"Kyaa—!!"
The sound of me stretching enthusiastically added to it.
"It's so tense I can't believe the sound of stretching comes out in serious situations."
"Haa, Selena. From now on, stretch a little quieter?"
"?"
As we stepped out with Selena, we found the coachman looking flustered.
"Ah, Countess. Actually, the carriage wheels are completely broken. I've never had an accident like this while pulling it. I'm so ashamed."
The moment he saw me, the coachman's face turned pale, and he bowed his head like a criminal who had committed a deadly sin.
How could I get angry at someone making such a sorry face.
It probably wasn't intentional.
"No one is hurt, so it's fine. More importantly, can this be fixed?"
As soon as I finished speaking, the coachman's expression brightened slightly.
"Yes, there are spare parts in the rear compartment. It can be fixed, but it might take about fifteen minutes."
Luck of the draw.
If there had been no spare parts, I would have had to ask the orphanage for help, and if the orphanage couldn't fix the carriage, it would have been quite troublesome.
"Then, while I walk to the orphanage with Selena and come back, can you fix the carriage? The orphanage is right ahead, but it would take at least fifteen minutes to walk."
"Yes, of course. I'll fix it better than new."
After reminding the coachman to take care, Selena and I headed toward the orphanage.
A little farther, and under the road, there was a building that looked so clean and grand it would be hard to believe it was an orphanage.
This was the Persen Orphanage.
"Dad, you donated all the allowance you gave me to this place..."
"Instead, don't you think you've been receiving too much already? Donate the remaining allowance to the orphanage this time too."
"I don't have any money left in my pocket because of this nasty head maid. But my father planned to continue the donations he made, didn't he?"
Why is there no money because of me?
"Instead, you should donate some of the macarons you're carrying to the orphanage, Selena. If you keep eating like that, you'll get fat."
"I-I can't believe that kind of thing! You don't stop saying ridiculous things to girls!"
Selena was about to walk ahead with a pout, so I hurried after her to match her pace.
Though it might seem troublesome to others, to me it was adorable, so perhaps that was one of Selena's charms.
"Selena, sorry. Come on, cheer up, okay?"
"No need. You're walking with such a slim and pretty maid."
"Selena is still pretty enough."
"Eep..."
As Selena and I walked along, chatting and bickering, not long after, when the orphanage gate was almost in sight, we had no choice but to stop.
Someone was running hurriedly toward us.
"Milady, step back. I'll check."
"Okay, but you don't have to worry. She's small, and from her appearance, she looks like a child."
"Just in case..."
Before Selena could finish her words, the voice of the child running toward us came through.
It was also a very loud voice.
"Mom—!!"
Mom?
Did she just call me mom...?
*IMAGE:1*