I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince

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The next morning…

After finishing breakfast somehow, Ethan and I stepped outside the annex just in time for the morning outing.

Agnes, who had said she didn’t want to interfere with my date with Ethan, was nowhere to be seen. She had already left the annex in the morning. 

As she had said, she was probably trying to finish her travel preparations alone.

To be honest, I was a bit uneasy about letting her go alone, but she was capable of taking care of herself, so I wasn’t too worried.

‘She’s a walking time bomb; anyone who messes with her will only end up hurting themselves.’

It would be fortunate if a pickpocket who approached her thinking she looked easy didn’t end up with full-body burns.

She seemed to have mellowed out a bit lately, but you never know.

Of course, Agnes would undoubtedly forget this and that when preparing for the trip alone, so I planned to pack some extra essentials for her. Things like bug repellent spray, for example.

‘Come to think of it, I shouldn’t be worrying about Agnes right now.’

Maybe because it had been a while since our last date, I felt my heart tensing up unnecessarily.

Moreover, it was our first date since becoming lovers, although we weren’t real lovers, just temporary ones. [Only on Dark Star Translations! / Axiomatic]

I couldn’t help feeling nervous about this date, especially since I’d been having somewhat mixed emotions towards Ethan lately.

I owed Ethan a lot in various ways recently. It was probably an accumulation of that sense of debt.

Among those, he had given me irreplaceable help with the Machart-related incident. From the point of planning to the conclusion of the matter, everything.

‘A wish is a wish, but I should express my gratitude to Ethan separately somehow.’

I didn’t want to say I’d do something lewd for him as it would seem too obscene, so I was thinking of giving him a gift that could convey my feelings appropriately. I hadn’t decided what gift to give yet, though.

Fortunately, I had brought a fair amount of money with me. I hadn’t brought it expecting something like this to happen, but I had packed about ten gold coins that I had saved in case we needed to stay in the Imperial capital for a while. I had heard that prices in the Imperial capital were higher compared to other villages or cities.

Of course, no matter how extravagant we were, we wouldn’t use all ten gold coins, but it didn’t hurt to have extra insurance.

With these thoughts, I went down to the first-floor lobby of the annex where we had agreed to meet after breakfast. There, I found Ethan already waiting in formal attire. As soon as our eyes met, I quickened my pace slightly to approach him.

“Did you wait long, Ethan?”

“No, I haven’t been waiting for long, either.”

“Of course not. It hasn’t been long since we had breakfast together just a little while ago.”

“…That’s true, but then why did you ask if I had been waiting?”

“It’s just a pleasantry. Usually, in dates, the person who arrives later asks the waiting person something like this.”

“…Really? How do you know that, Lilith?”

“…I just, heard it somewhere.”

Why does he have to pry into every little detail when I say something?

Ethan was great in many ways, but he always tended to get persistent about strange things. It wasn’t exactly a bad habit, but sometimes, his excessive interest could be a bit burdensome.

“Don’t worry, it’s not knowledge I gained from dating other men, Ethan.”

“…No, that’s not why I asked.”

“Then why did you ask?”

“……”

“Anyway, let’s get going. Freshness is the most important thing for food on long trips. Whether we make smoked or pickled foods, we need to secure fresh ingredients to avoid problems later, right? If we can’t get everything today, we’ll need to look around tomorrow, too.”

“…Right, that’s true.”

The date was starting off a bit rocky. He always worries about unnecessary things.

It was our first date since becoming temporary lovers, and this atmosphere wasn’t good in many ways. Since we’d probably be together for at least half a day, if this atmosphere continued until the afternoon, there was a high chance my mental state wouldn’t hold up. [Only on Dark Star Translations! / Axiomatic]

Just as I thought we needed to lighten the mood a bit, I noticed Ethan’s empty left hand while he walked beside me.

Grab.

“L-Lilith?”

“It’s a date, Ethan. We can hold hands while walking, right?”

“Ah, yes. Of course…”

I didn’t bother adding unnecessary comments like “Shouldn’t the man take the initiative to hold hands first?”

After all, I was half like a man myself, so there wasn’t any problem with me taking the initiative.

It was a rare date, and there was no point in calling it a date if we were just going to look around the market half-heartedly, barely talking to each other.

If it’s a date, we needed to create a somewhat proper atmosphere, at least, at the start…

‘No, wait. The date wasn’t the main purpose to begin with.’

Wasn’t this just an outing to buy things necessary for a long journey? Did we really need to create this kind of atmosphere?

As I thought about this, I suddenly felt a strange heat from the hand holding Ethan’s. 

I also realized what I had just casually done.

After all, it was Ethan who liked me, and I didn’t particularly have romantic feelings for Ethan. The thought crossed my mind again that maybe I didn’t need to create this atmosphere from my side.

‘…But if I let go of his hand now, he might think it’s even stranger.’

It seemed I would have to continue the date in this state, having inadvertently held hands.

I suppose an opportunity to let go will arise at some point as we walk around.

The shopping district in the Imperial capital was lively in many ways.

It was a street with several shops lined up on both sides, centered around a wide road, so it was similar to a typical traditional market in our country.

Of course, there were minor differences like the Western-style architecture and the medieval or early modern European-style goods being sold, but that was just about the building arrangement.

The actual shopping districts in medieval Europe probably weren’t this lively. This atmosphere was just created by the planners of Luminor Academy because they wanted it this way. After all, recreating the reality, the smelly, gloomy, cramped, and unsanitary medieval shopping streets, would just be a supply without demand.

The consumers of Luminor Academy wanted the protagonist and heroines to have dates holding hands and chatting in clean shopping streets. They didn’t want to experience realistic problems like getting squeezed between crowds of people, losing the heroine for a moment, getting into trouble with thugs while looking for the lost heroine, and having their wallet pickpocketed in the process. [Only on Dark Star Translations! / Axiomatic]

Of course, I didn’t want to get involved in troublesome situations, so I deliberately chose the most modest and inconspicuous dress among the ones I could wear. Even the most modest dress in the annex guest room couldn’t hide my noble status completely, but at least it was a simple pastel pink dress.

“Your dress is pretty, Lilith.”

“…Thank you, Ethan.”

It wasn’t a dress I wore to receive compliments on my clothes, but being complimented didn’t make me feel bad, either.

After we entered the shopping district holding hands like that, this time, Ethan quietly called out to me from my right.

“…Lili.”

“Yes. …Y-Yes?”

I felt a bit flustered by the sudden use of the nickname without warning. Didn’t we usually agree on this kind of thing beforehand?

It felt a bit unfamiliar when this nickname, which we had used as a means to emphasize our closeness in places where nobles gathered, suddenly popped up in such an unexpected situation.

“What? Can’t I call you Lili?”

“It’s not that you can’t… but so suddenly?”

“It’s a date. Isn’t it okay to use nicknames on a date? Also, you and I are lovers, too, Lili. Nicknames are usually used more between lovers to call each other; not to show others.”

“…That’s true…”

“……”

“…Ed.”

I felt a slight tension return in the pressure from our joined hands.

I was a bit taken aback by how casually he called me Lili, but it seems Ethan wasn’t exactly relaxed, either. [Only on Dark Star Translations! / Axiomatic]

In fact, this would be the natural way to address each other in a normal romantic relationship. Nicknames were used more to confirm each other’s affection rather than for show.

With that in mind, using nicknames like this wasn’t really strange, but…

“Lili, shall we go over there? It looks like there’s some kind of street stall.”

“…Alright, Ed. I guess it’s fine for a little while.”

Every time I used this unfamiliar form of address, I couldn’t control the heat rising to my face.