Calling Her a Crazy Bitch on First Meeting Is a Bit Much
The next morning.
Click.
“Huaaam……”
Chloe’s door swung open.
Her red hair stuck out in every direction like a bird’s nest as she shuffled into the living room, rubbing her eyes with small fists.
Still half-asleep and drowsy, she looked so much like a hamster that I couldn’t help but smile.
I was already dressed and sitting on the sofa, so I greeted her with a soft laugh.
“Sleep well?”
“……Huh?”
Chloe blinked a few times, spotted me fully dressed for going out, and jumped in surprise.
“Huk! Y-Your Highness! You’re already awake?!”
She ruffled her messy hair in a panic.
“What do I do! I-I’ll get ready right now! Just five minutes!!”
She spun around to dash back into her room.
For a kid, she was showing real responsibility about earning her keep. It was honestly adorable.
I waved my hand lightly to calm her.
“Take your time. We’re not heading out immediately, so wash up and comb your hair first.”
“Really? You’re not kicking me out?”
“Why would I kick you out? There’s no rush. Go wash up slowly.”
“Okay!”
After we finished our morning routines, the two of us left the Grand Ducal Castle together.
The road leading to the outskirts of the territory on horseback.
“But Your Highness, where are we going? Who are we meeting?”
Chloe asked, pressed snugly against me in the saddle.
“A business partner. Filthy rich, excellent information network, slightly twisted personality.”
“Oh? Then I’ll go in first and establish dominance. I can spot trouble at a glance. I’ve rolled around the back alleys long enough to know.”
Chloe clenched her little fist and puffed out her chest with confidence.
“Sure, sure. Very reassuring.”
I chuckled and ruffled her red hair.
A short while later.
Inside the underground secret room of Viola’s Tavern.
“Oh my, if it isn’t Your Highness?”
As soon as I opened the door, Viola greeted me with a sly smile through the thick haze of incense smoke.
Then her eyes sparkled when she noticed the tiny guest glued to my side.
“Oh my my? Who is this adorable little thing?”
Viola rose from the sofa with a pipe between her lips.
“Your Highness. Don’t tell me… this is your type? Luring around young children? Wow, I’m seeing you in a new light. You really are trash, aren’t you?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. I recruited her as my personal bodyguard knight.”
“Bodyguard? This tiny kid?”
Viola laughed softly as she approached Chloe.
But suddenly.
“……!”
The face of the girl who had boasted about her back-alley experience stiffened. She grabbed my arm tightly and began tugging.
“Hey, hey. Your Highness……”
Chloe whispered urgently, yanking at my sleeve.
“That person looks extremely dangerous! She’s smiling on the outside but I can feel a viper-like aura pouring off her! We need to leave right now!”
Oh, her instincts really were sharp.
She had sensed that Viola was a major player at first glance.
Still, the sight of her trembling while clinging to my sleeve was so cute that I let out a small laugh.
“What’s there to be scared of? Weren’t you going to establish dominance when we arrived?”
“No, that woman is on a completely different level! She’s seriously scary, I’m telling you?!”
Chloe squirmed behind my back, using me as a shield. Viola apparently found it adorable too and burst out laughing.
“Ahaha! Little one, do I look that frightening? People usually call me quite the beauty, you know.”
“……”
When I kept grinning, Chloe got annoyed and punched my side.
“Ah, why are you only laughing! You told me to be your bodyguard! Aren’t you going to listen to me?!”
“All right, all right.”
Still chuckling, I pulled Chloe forward.
“Chloe, say hello. This is my reliable partner, Viola. Viola, this is my new bodyguard knight, Chloe.”
I formally introduced them.
“Hello, little one.”
Viola waved with a sweet smile.
“W-what? So that’s what it was……?”
Chloe finally realized her misunderstanding and her ears turned bright red.
Even so, as a newly appointed bodyguard knight, she felt she had been too sharp with my partner on their first meeting. She fidgeted, trying to apologize.
“Um, about earlier… I was too on guard, so… s-s-s……”
“Chloe. No matter how shy you are with strangers, calling someone a crazy bitch right on first meeting is a bit much.”
“……What?!”
Chloe’s mouth fell open.
Viola’s eyes widened as she stared at me.
“I-it’s not!! I was trying to say sorry! You idiot!!”
Chloe hopped furiously and kicked my shin.
“Ow! That hurts!”
“Your Highness said something weird first! Um, it’s really not what you think! I was going to apologize!”
As Chloe bounced around looking wronged, Viola finally caught on and exploded with laughter.
“Pfft—ahahahaha!! Oh, Your Highness, you really are wicked! You just wanted to tease this cute child that badly?”
After the cheerful uproar died down.
Once we sat side by side on the sofa, I casually revealed Chloe’s true identity to Viola.
“Don’t treat her too much like a child. She may look like this, but she’s a mage.”
“I already knew.”
Of course. Two days had passed since the orphanage incident.
There was no way Viola wouldn’t have heard.
Soon her gaze sharpened.
She set her pipe on the table and looked Chloe up and down again.
“Hmm, a mage, you say? This little kid?”
“I’m not a little kid!”
“As you know, she took down five bandit thugs all by herself. She’s quite talented.”
At my praise, Chloe’s shoulders lifted with quiet pride.
Viola’s eyes glittered with greed. She leaned across the table and pushed her face close to Chloe’s.
“Hey, kid.”
“……What.”
“Instead of working under His Highness, how about working with me? Big sis here is a pretty big deal in these back alleys. I’ll pay you three times whatever salary he’s offering. How about it?”
Viola’s outrageous scouting offer.
However.
Chloe silently tightened her arms around mine and only peeked her face out.
“I-I don’t want to.”
“……Oh my.”
Chloe rubbed her face against my arm to drive the point home.
“And I only met you today, ma’am.”
“M-ma’am……”
Clink.
For a moment, I could almost hear Viola’s sanity cracking.
“Ma’am…?”
Viola’s lips trembled.
No matter that she was a mafia boss of the underworld, she was still a beautiful woman in her prime.
Watching her stunned expression, I cleared my throat repeatedly to hold back the laughter threatening to burst out.
“Ma’am?! Hey, kid! If I take off my makeup I look incredibly young!”
“You put on really thick makeup though. And your perfume is overpowering.”
“This little—!”
As Viola shook with rage and clutched the back of her neck, I quickly stepped in.
“All right, Viola. Calm down. She doesn’t know the world very well yet. And you, shorty, apologize to her too.”
“Don’t call her ma’am either, Your Highness!”
Still chuckling, I picked up one of the chocolate macarons from the refreshments Viola had prepared and popped it straight into Chloe’s mouth.
“Here, eat this. It’s from the pretty big sis, not ma’am.”
“Munch munch… Mm, delicious!”
Once the sweet touched her tongue, Chloe’s eyes sparkled as if nothing had happened. She began devouring the dessert.
After the situation had calmed somewhat.
I watched Chloe stuff macarons into both cheeks with satisfaction, then turned back to Viola.
“All right, let’s get to the main topic. How are the construction preparations I mentioned last time?”
Viola switched back to her businesswoman face as if she had never been angry.
“Just as you asked, the ondol materials, lumber, and workers are all on standby. Our organization can deploy them anytime.”
She unfolded a sheet of parchment and continued.
“So, Your Highness. The materials are ready. But after completely clearing out Slums Districts 3 and 4, what exactly are you planning to build there?”
“……Well.”
I scratched my chin.
“I haven’t decided on the exact details yet.”
Viola let out a dumbfounded sigh.
“You secured the funds without hesitation, but you never thought about what to build to actually make a profit?”
“My first priority was giving the territory residents jobs and building infrastructure so they could stay warm.”
“Sigh. A true saint has appeared.”
Viola tapped out her pipe and offered cool advice.
“A casino, a high-end brothel, or a luxury auction house would rake in money. But that’s not what you want, is it? Besides, the Grand Duchess would never allow something like that in the middle of her territory.”
She was right.
I needed something productive, genuinely helpful to the residents, legally sound, and wholesome enough to earn Giselle’s approval.
“Think it over carefully, Your Highness. The winter winds will grow stronger in a few days. We need to begin foundation work before the ground freezes solid.”
Viola folded the map.
“If you’re stuck, instead of just agonizing over it, why not go see the site yourself? A few of our construction foremen are on standby. I’ll assign them to you.”
“Hmm, maybe I should.”
Nothing beat an on-site inspection over empty theory. I had only taken a quick glance yesterday; I needed to see the internal layout properly before I could draw up real plans.
“Hey, shorty. Finished all the desserts?”
“Munch munch… Gulp! Yeah! Give me more!”
“Stop eating. You’ll get fat. We have work to do.”
I stood and pulled on my coat.
“Where are we going?”
“Slums Districts 3 and 4.”
“Why there?”
“You’ll see when we arrive.”
“Fine. I know the geography there like the back of my hand. I’ll guide you.”
“Good.”
I grinned, then left the tavern with the two construction foremen Viola had assigned and Chloe in tow.