The mansion we arrived at was nothing short of a ‘vacation resort.’
Naturally, since it was near the Empire’s interior, it wasn’t a seaside location. However, for some reason, I liked it even more than a beach.
Thinking back, I had hardly been to a proper vacation spot in this world.
I had gone to the beach with everyone from the academy once, but that was it.
Basically, my time was mostly spent doing what the Emperor ordered, and when I wasn’t working, I was just waiting at the Imperial Palace.
In the meantime, I practiced shooting or studied, all while turning back time.
If you include my past life… I’ve been to valleys and seas many times, but I had never stayed in a mansion by a lakeside like this.
Thinking about it, I had never really made an effort to find such a place. Why was that? It would have been harder to find a country without lakes anyway. Well, even without limiting it to lakes, there were still tons of places I hadn’t visited.
The vast lake stretched out before me, almost as far as the eye could see, with towering conifers dotting the distant forest. There was even a dock between the lake and the mansion, lending it an ambiance straight out of a foreign movie, especially with a rowboat moored there.
…Of course, places like this usually end up as murder scenes in foreign films.
Well, as long as no assassins show up among us, it’s fine. I mean, aren’t we all essentially human weapons? No one among us is likely to just die easily.
“…This is better than I expected?”
Bella got out of the car, her expression reflecting delighted surprise.
The driver, who had driven us here, bowed slightly before retrieving our luggage from the trunk and heading toward the mansion.
After all, we aren’t the only ones staying in this mansion. There are also people managing the place.
Moreover, we were only able to move to this location because we received permission from Alice, yet we were still technically in a state of confinement. Just in case anyone decided to run for it, a military force was stationed around here.
I also got the impression that this place was primarily meant for high-ranking officers to rent out.
Apparently, it was quite popular among officers from commoner backgrounds who don’t have territories of their own.
“Shall we head to our rooms first?”
I proposed, and everyone nodded.
Lucas, who had seemed indifferent before we set off, now looked genuinely pleased upon arrival.
After all, it was a sight that could lift anyone’s spirits just by looking at it.
The mansion had three floors. Given the number of people, one might think three floors would be a bit small, but it was quite lengthy, so we wouldn’t run out of rooms.
The room I stayed in was on the second floor.
It had a terrace attached, so I could enjoy a refreshing view of the lake first thing in the morning.
Inside were three beds.
Naturally, it was meant for me, Claire, and Alice to share.
At some point, the three of us had just become a set together. Well, I didn’t mind it at all.
The room next to ours was Bella’s. Our room and Bella’s were connected by a terrace, allowing us to meet outside while sitting.
I wondered if Bella would even bother coming over to see us.
Jayden and Lucas insisted on having their own rooms each, which naturally led to Damien also having a room to himself.
Their rooms were a bit smaller, but they were quite spacious for being individual spaces. They were also on the third floor, and these rooms all had terraces too.
When we entered the room, our luggage was already taken inside and set up for us.
“Wow, this bed is better than what I have in my own room.”
Claire said as she plopped down onto one of the beds.
“If you’re jealous, you can enlist. After all, we’re graduates of the academy, so it’s super easy to join as officers. Then, you can apply to use places like this during your vacation.”
“…They say it’s popular, right? Is it really a place you can use just because you want to?”
At Claire’s words, Alice averted her eyes.
“Hmph.”
Claire scoffed, seemingly in disbelief.
Even if she attended a school that resembled a military academy, Claire had a free-spirited personality. It was natural she wouldn’t want to intentionally join a military-like environment.
I suppose attending the academy was due to its relatively free-spirited atmosphere.
After bouncing up and down on the bed a few times to enjoy its fluffiness, Claire looked at me and asked.
“So, what are we doing now?”
“I was thinking of trying some fishing.”
“Fishing?”
Both Claire and Alice exclaimed at the same time while looking at me.
Why?
I nodded.
“I just thought if we played a game that had a competitive element, Lucas and Jayden would end up fighting.”
“…So you picked fishing?”
“…What’s wrong with that?”
I replied.
Alice seemed to look at me incredulously, and my confidence wavered a bit.
“Should we do something else now?”
“…”
Alice and Claire exchanged glances.
“No, let’s fish.”
“Yeah, sounds good.”
Both of them said in unison.
…It felt like they were saying that just to comfort me, but oh well. They said they were up for it, so whatever.
“But what about the Emperor?”
“He’ll be arriving soon. I intentionally had him take his time.”
“…In case he gets assassinated on the train?”
“I can’t say that’s impossible.”
The Emperor was the most dangerous individual, so there were special considerations in handling him, but ultimately, I figured it wasn’t wise to keep him on the same train with those kids for too long.
Well, in the end, I’d probably have to face a similar dilemma when we met here too.
Knock Knock.
Just then, I heard a knock on the door.
I went to the door and pulled the handle.
“Crown Princess, a guest has arrived.”
“…”
Hearing the servant’s polite announcement, I turned back.
Among the three of us, it was impossible not to figure out who that guest was.
*
Sitting side by side on the lakeside, we were fishing, but it was far duller than I expected.
Though I contributed to the boredom to some extent, I felt like I was sitting too far apart.
Bella, Lucas, Jayden, and Damien had positioned themselves quite a distance apart. Naturally, if I wanted to call Damien over from here, I’d have to raise my voice quite a bit. Perhaps Damien intended it that way. Since he seemed satisfied being here, he probably didn’t want anyone casually bothering him and interrupting his rare peace.
Alice and Claire at least sat relatively close to me. They were still maintaining a distance to avoid tangling our fishing lines though.
And at the far end opposite Damien, a large man was sitting.
It was the Emperor.
The decent atmosphere we’d managed to maintain during the train ride chilled rapidly upon the Emperor’s arrival.
While we had all become quite chummy, the Emperor was… still an inscrutable figure.
In fact, I had been pondering until the last moment about how to address the Emperor. I thought about addressing him after all the siblings became close first.
In the end, I ended up calling him, though.
The bobber on the surface didn’t show any signs of movement. No one had caught a fish yet, and we might as well have been in a drought, or maybe it was just that we had settled in a relatively shallow part of the lakeshore.
After sitting there for quite some time without anyone catching a single fish, we all sat there with blank expressions, just staring at the bobber.
…
Was this a failure?
I wanted to smack my past self hard on the back of the head. Truth is, until last year, I could have probably done similar fishing. After turning back time, all I needed to do was smack my head.
But now, that was no longer an option.
What should I do to improve this situation even a little, I wondered—
“Hey?”
Suddenly, Jayden broke the silence.
All eyes turned to him.
Everyone glanced at Jayden’s face and then shifted their gaze in the direction he was looking.
Splash.
The bobber moved slightly.
Jayden immediately jumped up, grabbing his fishing rod.
“Whoa!?”
Jayden exclaimed.
The bobber was moving! The line was taut, and the fishing rod was bending.
“I got one! Sylvia, look! The fish is biting!”
“Don’t look at me, look at the fish!”
I yelled, and Jayden immediately turned his gaze back to pull the fishing rod toward himself.
It was a relatively simple-looking fishing rod, one without a reel. You pulled on the line with just the right amount of strength to catch the fish.
“Lucas, get the net! The net!”
“Who are you barking orders at?”
But even while Lucas complained, he made his way toward Jayden—
“Lucas! Your bobber’s moving!”
Alice shouted.
Lucas turned his head. This time, his bobber was moving too.
I shot up from my seat, grabbing the net that I had placed near me, and hurried over toward Jayden.
The fish he had hooked was quite large. I wasn’t sure what kind it was, but it had a somewhat dark color, appearing to be a ‘freshwater fish.’
As I scooped up Jayden’s fish with the net, Lucas shouted.
“Hey, hey! I need some help too!”
Wait, what’s with the sudden shift after having caught nothing for ages?
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