“Honestly, if there’s someone observant among those present, they would have noticed.”
I spoke calmly.
In truth, Mia Crowfield glanced back and forth between Roti and Roti’s mother, clearly surprised. They resembled each other that much.
If they only looked alike, she might not have recognized them. After all, unless you were a notable flirt, there’s really no reason to scrutinize a maid’s face. And considering this world… in a setting that blatantly embodies the early 20th century, a woman over thirty isn’t regarded as particularly attractive.
Sure, there are remarried widows or women who’ve switched husbands multiple times, but those characters are usually from noble families. They’re not the maids without a background.
“It was crucial that you went to help them directly.”
Even if I hadn’t known the background in advance, I would have caught on just by seeing this. Setting aside the fact that the two resembled each other, Roti was connected to Jake.
“Is that so…?”
Roti’s voice lacked strength. It seemed she wasn’t accustomed to the situation, unlike her usual bubbly self when she was with Jake.
Her expression was neutral, so it wasn’t as obvious as Jake, yet she clearly didn’t seem comfortable being here.
This moment revealed that Roti had relaxed a lot while at the academy.
“Do you think that might be a major issue?”
In response to my question, Roti lowered her head, lost in thought.
“…I suppose it could be an issue. That action back then might have… been a mistake on my part.”
Hmm.
As I listened to her story, I found it somewhat amusing.
While I had seen Roti’s face quite often, I had rarely had a conversation with her face-to-face. We weren’t classmates, and whenever I saw Roti, she was usually with Jake. He was always the one chatting away. Unless someone spoke to her, Roti wouldn’t approach anyone.
“You can’t call helping your parents a mistake.”
I spoke as calmly as I could, trying to eliminate any emotions from my voice. Any mix of emotions could end up sounding unpleasant to Roti.
Upon hearing my words, Roti lifted her head to look at me.
She had regained her composure, her face returning to a neutral expression.
“Why did the Crown Princess help us back then?”
“…”
I gazed quietly at Roti.
“I already stated my reason.”
“Are you saying it was simply due to the atmosphere?”
Hmm.
Did I let my guard down needlessly?
Well, in the original story, Roti had a hard time accepting Leo’s help too. It was incomprehensible that a noble unrelated to her would help her.
In the end, she accepted Jake’s assistance, suggesting it was just a difference in familiarity.
Thinking back, if Jake hadn’t been around, I probably could have pursued my own storyline. The plot feels completely like a dating sim, after all.
“It could also be due to the atmosphere.”
I turned to lean against the railing.
Even in a world devoid of electricity, this city was incredibly bright. The gas lamps lining the streets and the lights visible through the windows of houses far away were enough to illuminate the city.
Well, maybe the smog spewing all day made the stars nearly invisible in the sky. No, there were areas that belched out smoke even at night. In this era, labor rights wouldn’t have been a priority even at night.
“There could have been festivity in the air, and the atmosphere regarding the situation might have contributed as well.”
I paused briefly in my speech.
“I have no parents.”
I said this.
Though I couldn’t see Roti’s face or hear her voice, it was easy to imagine she had tensed up from behind me.
“I can’t tell you more details, but if you’ve heard stories regarding the royal family, you know that Alice is the only one truly inheriting the Emperor’s blood.”
To be more precise, everyone except me shares the Emperor’s blood, but there’s no need to mention that detail.
“I won’t say I envy you. Everyone has painful memories, and it’s not something to empathize with so lightly. Even if you think you empathize, you won’t truly know until you experience the same thing directly.”
I directed my words at the silent Roti.
“However, if your biological parents are both alive… or at least one of them is, and if there’s someone who could help them regardless of the time or situation, I would certainly be willing to help that person.”
“….”
Roti remained silent for a while, then said softly,
“…Thank you.”
That was all.
*
“Roti.”
As she finished her conversation with the Crown Princess and stepped out from behind the curtains, someone called out to her.
There was no need to confirm the face. It was her master, the one whose voice she recognized her whole life.
Jake was leaning against a lantern next to the entrance to the terrace, seemingly having seen Roti go to Sylvia, the Crown Princess.
“Did you hear?”
“No, those curtains are thicker than expected. Thanks to that, with the curtains drawn, I couldn’t hear what kind of conversation they were having—completely drowned out by the party noise.”
Roti recalled the Crown Princess’s earlier demeanor. Whenever she maintained that calm expression, it felt like she wouldn’t even flinch if she overheard something like that.
And that information likely wasn’t too critical either. If she directly told Roti about it, it wouldn’t be something of great importance.
Most of the Emperor’s children are orphans, and that rumor had clearly reached Roti as well.
“So, how is Sylvia?”
“….”
Roti briefly opened her mouth at that remark, but closed it again.
Earlier, when a hand had unexpectedly popped out beside her while helping her mother, she really was startled. Her expression even fell momentarily.
And she had her doubts.
While Jake didn’t seem to have any strange thoughts, Sylvia… Sylvia Fanggriffon, the Crown Princess, was someone to be cautious of.
Even when the Duke’s household had put Roti next to Jake, they had expressed similar concerns.
However, the more they spoke, the less it felt like she was someone devoid of compassion. Even when they first met at the academy, it had seemed she was a person who could care, despite initially appearing as someone to be on guard against.
“Did Sylvia… say something bad about you?”
Even Jake asked this, but he didn’t sound convinced. Roti felt the need to ask, just in case.
“Do you think so?”
“Well, I don’t think so.”
Jake briefly furrowed his brows.
“That… it was like at the academy. I had heard there were some who called you out to threaten you.”
“Those people are completely different.”
The attitudes of the commoners in the lower class varied. Some discriminated against her because she was a resident of Crowfield, while others didn’t dare speak to her due to her association with the Duke’s family.
Among those who discriminated, a few even overstepped their boundaries.
…Commoners aiming to rise in status by marrying Jake would try to manipulate or intimidate Roti, his maid.
There were plenty who didn’t realize Roti was there to fend them off under the guise of assisting Jake.
“And I approached her first. The Crown Princess didn’t say anything.”
“That’s right. Sylvia has that characteristic.”
At Jake’s response, Roti’s eyes widened slightly.
While he usually maintained a light demeanor, Jake wasn’t the type to easily trust people. No matter how high someone was in the royal family—or precisely because they were from such a family—Jake would require a consistently aligned behavior to build that trust, whether it was a noble or a commoner.
Otherwise… they would just be ‘that kind of person.’
For a brief moment, Roti’s heart skipped a beat.
It was intrusive to think this, but she had felt a strange camaraderie with Sylvia during their conversation earlier… a peculiar sense of intimacy.
Yet seeing how Jake portrayed Sylvia like that left Roti…
“….”
And then that thought abruptly vanished.
I nearly chuckled in surprise at my own fleeting thought.
Jealousy.
That’s the last emotion that would suit Roti. Jealousy. It was an emotion she had no need to feel.
After all, Jake would eventually marry someone else.
Roti…
Hmm.
“Uh, did I just almost laugh?”
Jake, who was familiar with Roti’s expressions, commented.
“No.”
“Are you sure? Because I saw it.”
“No.”
Even as Roti replied firmly twice, Jake continued to pester her from behind, but it didn’t matter. That was the usual Jake.
At the very least, Jake’s behavior here was enough for her.
After all, Roti could never be first.
So, wouldn’t it be enough to just be by his side?
There hadn’t been anyone else particularly catching her eye until now… so, judging from a rather presumptuous personal evaluation, if someone like Sylvia the Crown Princess ended up being her master, Roti wouldn’t have any major complaints.
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