Surprisingly, the sense of embarrassment hit me a beat late.
At first, I thought, “What’s the big deal about wearing this dress?”
I had already worn a bunny girl outfit once. It was a costume that almost exposed my upper chest, and if we were to measure shame, normal people wouldn’t even consider wearing something like that. So, I thought wearing a dress that most people wore wouldn’t be that embarrassing.
It neither revealed my chest nor my shoulders. It was just… an ordinary outfit that a noble girl might wear.
In fact, the skirt part was much longer than the uniform I usually wore. That’s obvious. Honestly, considering that a cute girl character is one of the main features of this game, the skirt of the uniform was shorter compared to real-life school uniforms. So objectively speaking, there was no reason for me to feel embarrassed wearing this.
Alice, who saw me in the morning, was a little surprised but didn’t make a big fuss about it.
However, that’s when I realized after going out for breakfast.
Embarrassment isn’t determined by the ‘objective level of exposure,’ but rather by the reactions of those around me regarding my outfit.
When I wore the bunny girl outfit, Alice was beside me, and I felt a lot of shame, but Claire’s response to us was closer to ‘stupidity’. Moreover, we had various reasons for it.
But this time, I chose to wear the dress myself.
And the other people looking at this outfit focused on that fact itself.
“Wow!”
Claire, who had a blank expression for about three seconds upon seeing me, instantly brightened up. She clasped her hands, sparkling eyes, and came over to me, saying:
“Sister, you look amazing!”
I could see the Baroness nearby raising her eyebrow at the term ‘sister’, but she didn’t openly reveal her flustered feelings and came over gracefully to say:
“Yesterday’s outfit suited you well, but this one suits you even more.”
“Really?”
And these reactions…I mean, they were way more than when Leo blushed after seeing me in the bunny girl outfit. It was definitely ticklish.
Even Leo’s response was similar.
Normally, Leo would have his mouth agape upon seeing me like this, but perhaps because he was at his house, or maybe he thought we had gotten a bit closer after knowing each other for a semester, he approached me with a ‘protagonist smile’ and said:
“You look really good.”
And that’s when I remembered.
Although the character Sylvia Fanggriffon didn’t exist in the original story, if such a scene were in the original game, it would definitely be the ‘Sylvia Fanggriffon’ bonding event.
Imagining the heart slot that’s under my name in this world filling up halfway with pink made my skin crawl.
“Is that so?”
But what can I do? If I were to say ‘no’, that would also be a cliché.
I could positively think that my character was taking hold, but I didn’t want to feel like I was being ‘targeted’. Even if I had lived as a woman for ten years, my soul was still that of a man.
“I’m sure the children will find it much easier to meet you, sister.”
Claire, seemingly oblivious to my thoughts, said that. To be exact, everyone around here did. They probably couldn’t imagine that this world was a game… in fact, video games didn’t exist in this world in the first place.
Even if they did exist, they wouldn’t be able to imagine it.
“Is that so?”
‘Is that so?’ was all I could say while Alice was staring at me intensely. Just moments ago, she had given a long speech about having ‘lady-like’ soft shoulders.
Though Alice didn’t show much of an expression, for some reason, I thought there was a sense of ‘satisfaction’ within her.
*
Daniel still had a faint blush on his face in front of me.
I pondered seriously once again if Daniel had recognized me.
I had never thought about being someone’s first love in my previous life. The original me wasn’t… well, that handsome.
But the appearance of ‘Sylvia Black’ is different.
Although all the children at the orphanage were quite decent-looking, there weren’t many that had clearly grown into ‘cute girl’ forms like Claire or me. Everyone else was just too young for that.
Moreover, I was one of the few people who had treated the children kindly at that orphanage.
It wouldn’t surprise me if someone had a longing feeling towards me. Just like Claire did.
“You can come over this way…”
The Baroness left early after breakfast. I heard she was busy, but it was probably partly because she didn’t want to interfere with the reunion with the other children.
“It seems everyone is gathered.”
“Ah, yes.”
When I asked while following Daniel, he nodded.
“Though they aren’t in exactly the same room, the kids with similar duties tend to live in similar spaces.”
That was definitely true.
The spaces for the butlers and maids couldn’t be the same, nor could the spaces for the guards.
Besides, even in a tiny territory, there wasn’t exactly a space that could comfortably house two or three people. Assuming someone has to be around for surveillance 24/7, you’d need quite a few people, and if all the children from the orphanage were hired, most would likely have become guards.
It was true that more than half of the kids from the orphanage were girls.
“Here it is.”
Where Daniel stopped was an annex separated from the main building. It was one of the places visible as I entered the territory.
It was quite a nice building to simply be called ‘lodging’. If this was the accommodation for the servants, then Baron Grace was providing quite decent welfare for them.
Daniel opened the door right away, holding it until we all entered.
It felt a bit awkward and uncomfortable for a boy younger than me to do this, but since it was this world, there was nothing I could do about it. Even Claire, Leo, and Alice acted as if it was perfectly normal.
As we entered the building, I felt like the hot air subsided a little. It seemed there was some sort of cooling system here, whether it was a steam engine or magic.
Surprisingly, the interior looked like a hotel. Not an extravagant hotel, but quite an old-fashioned inn that you’d find in a rural part of Europe. However, there was no one at the reception counter.
“We’ll pair two people per room. For the people the Crown Princess wishes to meet…”
As Daniel’s gaze turned to Claire, she beamed and nodded happily.
“Those who used to live with me.”
“Understood.”
Daniel looked at me again.
“Well then… I will bring them over.”
I nodded at Daniel’s words.
*
After sitting in the lobby for a few minutes, one by one, children began to peek into the lobby.
Among those who escaped together, there were twelve, including me, Claire, and Daniel.
The kids who came out hesitantly didn’t look much older than Daniel.
However, most were taller than him, whether they were girls or boys.
“Hello!”
“Sister!”
As Claire waved her hand, a lively girl with short brown hair shouted that and then quickly shut her mouth when she saw us behind Claire.
I see.
It seemed the kids who had escaped together bonded with each other, like siblings.
Realizing we were ‘nobles’, the girl, who was about to dash over, refined her steps and approached us.
Then, politely curtsying while grabbing her skirt, she greeted us.
“Good day.”
“…”
I was struggling to remember this kid’s name, so I didn’t have the energy to respond to her greeting.
Before the girl could say her name, other children came flooding out of the corridor.
Red hair, blonde, gray, blue…now that I think about it, their hair colors were quite diverse. Was the old hag among the criteria for adopting children based on hair color?
While I lost myself in thought, the children all gathered together.
There were nine of them.
Not a single one was missing.
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