“….”
Damn.
I felt like dying.
I never once thought I would wear such a lewd style of clothing.
“It’s pretty.”
“… T-thank you for the compliment….”
I replied through gritted teeth to Kyle’s praise.
But I was really super embarrassed…
How could clothing sold in the North expose my cleavage?
No, it wasn’t just exposing—it was basically a shirt that looked like it was trying to show off my breasts!
My thighs and hips were showing too…
“….”
“Well, let’s just buy this dress for now.”
“Young Master?!”
Why on earth are we buying such a dress?
Can you genuinely explain why?!
There were so many other pretty outfits out there…
“K-Kyle…? Could we get something pretty other than this dress?”
“This one is the prettiest right now…”
“This dress is the weirdest one right now!?”
This is way too revealing.
Like, seriously.
It’s so lewd that I’m embarrassed just wearing it.
Maybe if I had seen a woman wearing such a thing in my past life, I might have been fine, but wearing it myself? Absolutely not…!
“Um… I’ll go change.”
“Yes. Please change well.”
So, I swapped back into normal clothes.
Wearing a skirt felt a bit uncomfortable, but it also made me feel super comfortable.
Right, there’s nothing wrong with not having a slit.
At least it’s a skirt, right?
It’s just a completely normal skirt, not some lewd dress for harlots.
I should probably thank Louise and Elin for getting me a plain outfit.
I was thankful to them for introducing me to the wonders of skirts.
“….”
“Well, if we bought this much clothing, it should be enough. Let’s go eat now.”
“Y-yes….”
I felt a bit drained.
I hadn’t worn such clothing since my hair grew long, so I couldn’t help it.
Honestly, wearing just my underwear would have suited better.
Anyway, after leaving the shop, Kyle took me to a restaurant.
Unlike the usual places I went to, this place was definitely upscale.
It wasn’t noisy at all, and the soothing music welcomed us.
“Oh….”
Yeah, if it’s a date, it should be at a place like this.
Instead of making me wear something lewd, we should enjoy a nice conversation in a pleasant restaurant.
“This is a nice restaurant.”
“Is it? I was worried you might not like it, but I’m glad.”
“I can eat anything if Kyle is paying for it.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
After all, Kyle wouldn’t feed me anything weird.
Why would he feed me strange food if he felt some bad feelings toward me?
Actually, if he did, I’d just feed it to Louise anyway.
Oh, I shouldn’t have such thoughts about Louise, who got me good clothes.
That way, she might recommend clothes for me next time.
-Crack, crack…
Kyle cut into his steak with impressive force.
To be fair, it wasn’t that strong for him, but it was more than enough for the steak, leaving it looking a bit ugly.
It’s obvious he’s grown, but why does he still make such mistakes?
“Kyle, would you like to switch steaks? I cut mine nicely, so it’d be better for you to eat this one.”
Eating something ugly didn’t seem like a good idea when I could eat something pretty.
Only Kyle would cut a steak like that, being a Duke’s Son.
Nobles typically like to flaunt something a bit classier.
“Thank you.”
We chatted normally while enjoying our meal.
Maybe because the chef was different, it felt a bit different from the meals I had at the mansion.
The ambiance was also distinct.
It really felt like atmosphere was everything in these situations.
“Hey, Sophia, try this too.”
“?”
Kyle offered me a piece of steak.
I never thought that little brat would feed me first like this.
Usually, it was me feeding Kyle during settings like this.
“Thank you.”
I put the piece of steak that Kyle offered into my mouth.
Since it was the same type of steak, I didn’t feel anything particularly special about its taste.
But since it was the first food Kyle gave me, it didn’t taste bad.
After that, I continued enjoying my meal with Kyle.
There was a reason why women liked going on dates to Western-style restaurants in my past life.
The vibe was really nice.
The style of the food was slightly elegant too, matching the atmosphere.
If you ate something spicy in such a tranquil setting… it just wouldn’t fit, right?
“Sophia, do you dislike walking?”
“No, I’m okay.”
I like walks.
The weather in Eristirol was so cold that I couldn’t enjoy them much, but I liked them in general.
Nowadays, I’ve been walking around the castle during my free time wearing the coat Kyle gave me.
“If Kyle wants to go anywhere, I’m fine, so you don’t need to ask.”
“…Okay.”
I didn’t know where we were going for a walk, but I was looking forward to it.
I was curious about what nice places he would take me to.
“Then let’s get up now. We’ve already finished eating.”
“Yes.”
As Kyle said, our meal was finished.
We just enjoyed our drinks after both finishing our steaks and soup.
Then we got up and moved away from the buildings toward a quieter spot.
The weather today wasn’t too cold.
It hadn’t been long since summer ended.
So, just wearing a cape felt sufficiently warm.
“Kyle, where are we going?”
I asked Kyle because while we were going somewhere, I didn’t know where we were headed.
We seemed to be entering a woodland area without much around.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a fully dense forest; we were on a walking trail.
“I’m just walking. Along the way, if you look around, the scenery is really great.”
Hearing Kyle’s words, I looked around as he suggested.
Just like he said, the scenery was beautiful.
I saw the region beneath the mountain, and above, the typical cloudless sky of Eristirol spread out.
As always, it was a truly white sky.
When it snows, the sky looks even prettier, but thankfully, it wasn’t snowing today.
Snow brings cold, which I slightly dislike.
The view was beautiful but being cold was unavoidable.
“It’s beautiful.”
It truly was.
That thought hit me the moment I laid eyes on it.
“I didn’t know there were places like this in Eristirol.”
Kyle had brought me to nice spots before, but it was my first time seeing something like this.
It was indeed a wonderfully atmospheric place.
“I hope you’ll come back here with your true love someday.”
“Right?”
“Yes.”
For now, I was busy with preparations for the Coming-of-Age Ceremony, so who knows when that might be.
Probably after the ceremony, Kyle would start meeting more women, right?
Eristirol might be cold, but the Duke’s family would surely draw a lot of attention.
Besides, Kyle himself was pretty popular within the Empire.
He was even on the Empire’s newspaper just for glimpsing during the debutante ball.
Silver hair + blue eyes + super tall + great physique + learned swordsmanship + mastered magic + eldest son and heir of a Duke’s house.
His specs were ridiculous.
If I were a regular girl, I might have thought he was dreamy, right?
“You mentioned before that you liked someone, Young Master.”
“Yes.”
“I hope that goes well for you. Even if it’s not always… I’ll always support you.”
That was the truth.
He was my student and my little brother; how could I not root for him?
I wasn’t that cold-hearted.
I was a warm person, after all.
Maybe.
“Um… I also believe you’ll do well with the Coming-of-Age Ceremony soon.”
“Thank you, Sophia.”
Honestly, the idea of it being a date never crossed my mind.
It probably felt that way because it was Kyle.
I didn’t feel any fluttery feelings at all.
In fact, I had never felt anything like that before…but I could have at least thought about it once, right?
After all, I had become a woman too.
“By the way, I noticed Louise hasn’t been gambling much recently. Do you know anything about it?”
We naturally shifted to casual conversation.
I was genuinely surprised by how much Louise had been reducing her gambling recently.
It was shocking considering she hadn’t managed to stop for years, but suddenly began cutting back.
I wasn’t a bad person, so occasionally I lent her money, passing it off as pocket money.
But she was really just saving that money!
At first, I thought she was saving it to gamble, but it turned out she was just saving normally.
“Ah… I think Louise has recently taken an interest in something new.”
“Something new…?”
“Yeah, she mentioned something fun that she’s been listening to.”
“Is that so.”
Oh, I see.
I didn’t realize something like that was happening while we spent time together.
That gambling addict is starting something new, huh?
She’s changing little by little.
It’s amazing.
I felt like I hadn’t changed at all, yet everyone around me was evolving.
Kyle, who used to be a shy little brat, was suddenly becoming a captivating adult.
That crazy girl who loved to gamble was cooling it down and becoming less crazy.
Elin was… still just your average female knight.
She had a slightly clumsy aura, but she definitely felt like a female knight.
“…Young Master, what kind of person do you want to be?”
This wasn’t a question phrased around expecting the answer that he’d become a Duke.
I was genuinely curious about what kind of grown-up Kyle wanted to be, pondering how he would live if I disappeared after he became an adult.
“I want to be someone who can protect the person I love.”
“Is that so….”
That was a good answer.
It was way better than the dull ones like “I want to be a Duke” or “I want to be rich” or “I want to create a harem.”
If you could do just that in life, that would be plenty.
“That’s a good answer….”
I was just about to respond.
But suddenly, a strong wind blew.
Now that I think about it, we were on the mountainside.
Even if this was a walking trail, it sloped downward beneath us.
And it was a northern mountain.
While snow might not fall every day, the wind certainly blew here daily.
“Sophia!!”
Suddenly, I felt a force push me sideways.
However, there was nothing on the opposite side of where Kyle was.
Thanks to that, nothing was there to stop me from being violently pushed by the strong wind.
My body teetered, and I began to tumble off the walking trail.
Just before I fell, I thought.
This is gonna hurt like hell.
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