It’s true that I’m not exactly known for having a good personality; I know that about myself well.
But I never expected to enjoy making people uncomfortable this much.
“So, you all…?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
I answered neatly. I couldn’t bring myself to complete the question, but I had a feeling that the question about whether I had parents would come up again.
At this point, if they had asked me, “So how have you been until now?” I would have been just as uncomfortable. It was only after saying that that I remembered that fact.
Was I a girl who had to take care of myself, or was I from an orphanage? Were there adults to protect me instead?
If I had come out of school, where did I come from and how? What were the circumstances that led children in similar situations to gather and live together?
If I started to ask one by one, there would be no end, and in fact, I couldn’t respond to those parts.
But I came here thinking that the more this kind of story comes up, the more difficult it would be for the Goddess.
If we kept fixing this and that, wouldn’t there be parts where the Goddess would make mistakes too?
And if such parts came up, she might just get tired of it and send us back.
After all, we hadn’t even been here for an hour yet, so it wouldn’t be too much of a problem, would it?
“……”
But the writers chose not to ask such questions.
Well, it’s not like we were in a bad situation. We could just live comfortably and prepare to go back.
“Um, how are you all doing? I mean…”
It seemed the female writer had printed out the emails we exchanged before meeting. After pulling out a piece of paper from the file and reading it, her face brightened.
“You mentioned you won the lottery and were able to get an apartment.”
“Oh, yes, we originally lived together in a villa.”
“A villa?”
“It was an old studio villa without an elevator, but it was still big enough for five people to live in. Now our situation has improved a lot.”
“……”
“Oh, but could you leave out the part about winning the lottery? I sent it in an email, but if such stories come out, I think we’ll definitely get contacted by people…”
“Of course!”
The writer seemed relieved that the conversation hadn’t turned gloomy again, and she crossed that part out with her pen.
Five girls with foreign blood running through them.
But without parents to grow up and live on their own, just a while ago they were barely surviving in a cramped old villa, sharing the space among five of them.
Even a couple of lines could leave one gasping for breath, so it seemed difficult to have a more extended conversation.
It would make for a good story to make into a broadcast.
*
Afterwards, the story continued a little longer.
But once the topic shifted to the story we were broadcasting, the writers’ expressions brightened a bit.
The tale of traveling around, eating what we wanted, and streaming while gaming meant we were doing well.
Perhaps to tie things up like that, the writers said they would contact us again once they figured out the content.
“The administrative system in this country is stricter than I thought.”
Once the writers left, we gathered together again, and Charlotte remarked in awe.
“If it were Azernar, they would have just brushed off stories of children without parents or those living alone.”
That’s right.
In a country where registration isn’t ‘systematically’ enforced and education isn’t required, the ‘commonalities’ in answers would likely be few when asked about the past. Of course, there might be some statistically common answers, but the question “Naturally they must have attended elementary school in this country” wouldn’t really apply.
Yet the country we’re in now requires education up to at least middle school. If you ask a child whether they go to school and they say no, it’s easy to spot problems in that household.
Though that system doesn’t always work properly.
“I find it disappointing that even if we wanted to mimic it, we can’t.”
Alice said.
“In reality, by the time they think they want to mimic something over there, it might be impossible. People’s thoughts tend to differ, after all.”
I’ve heard people get shocked seeing a system like resident registration overseas.
“Nobles would probably hate it to death.”
Charlotte said, laughing bitterly.
Well, that’s one part of it.
“But I think it’s great that they made it mandatory for everyone to attend school. It means you can make friends from childhood.”
“……”
As Charlotte said that, she looked at Mia and ruffled her hair. Mia protested, “Ow, eek?” but she couldn’t run away since she was in the corner.
Still, sitting together adequately in the same room wouldn’t be so bad. If it had been the case, Mia would have had to deal with the hands of the other four.
“I’m glad I’m not a crown princess.”
Saying that, Claire shot a glare at Alice who was happily drinking her beverage.
*
Honestly, aside from the figures, the state of the house was fine.
Everything we bought was properly organized and put away. We don’t usually live carelessly.
I laid down a blanket in the living room to sleep, but after waking up, I clean it all up nicely.
Still, since a broadcast was going to be happening nationwide, wouldn’t it be good to clean the house at least once?
I tidied up places that I couldn’t usually see, and if there was anything unnecessary, I threw it away.
The deep cleaning took a little longer than expected.
And after all that hard work, —
“……”
“……It hasn’t really changed as much as I thought.”
Alice made that remark.
That’s true. In the end, the places we cleaned were the nooks and crannies that were hidden from view.
In fact, all five of us here hadn’t had long periods where we cleaned up ourselves while in Azernar.
At least when we lived in the dormitory, there was minimal cleaning to do, as long as a maid wasn’t asked to come by and clean like hotel room service.
Of course, I did tell them not to send anyone, so they wouldn’t.
Nevertheless, perhaps because the kids are pretty tidy, the house itself was always kept clean. I’ve often heard that girl dormitories can be ridiculously messy, but that wasn’t the case here.
“True.”
When I brought that up, Claire spoke in a somewhat puzzled voice.
“Aren’t we living too formally with each other?”
“……No, not really.”
Alice furrowed her brow slightly and replied.
“Claire, don’t tell me you just tossed your underwear onto your bed when you lived in the dormitory?”
“No, there’s no way I would do that! If I did, the hotel staff would see it immediately.”
“That’s right. We’ve always had to care about how others see us, after all. It’s no wonder that this kind of lifestyle has become ingrained.”
Thinking back, that did sound plausible.
I doubt members of the British royal family would carelessly throw their clothes on the floor in Buckingham Palace.
“Is this the result of learning since childhood?”
Charlotte rested her chin on her hand as she said this.
“Right. When we first started living at Auntie’s place, our stuff was all over the place.”
“……That’s because I was away from home for about a year.”
“Dust aside, the mess was likely from the stuff that got tossed around about a year ago, right?”
Alice’s retort left me speechless.
In reality, it’s been one year in this world, but in Azernar, I spent several years there. I did live somewhat as a princess during that time too, so I developed a cleaning habit.
As Alice said, even if I just threw underwear on the bed, the cleaning staff would definitely notice. Maybe in a dormitory, but it wouldn’t be easy to clean up a spacious room in a palace by myself.
In the end, laundry has to be collected and delivered separately, but you have to maintain at least a minimal sense of decorum.
“……Alright!”
Claire spoke as if she had come up with a good idea.
“Then should we relax from now onwards?”
“……After cleaning all this?”
“No, rather, if we don’t act naturally in the broadcast, people might think it looks forced.”
“Generally, broadcasts aren’t supposed to be that natural anyway.”
“Even so, if it’s too obvious, people might not like it.”
“Isn’t it just that you want to relax and be comfortable?”
At Charlotte’s words, Claire glanced away.
“I-I think I’m okay.”
At Mia’s comment, all eyes immediately turned to her.
“Uh, no, I mean… It’s been this long we’ve spent together, so being too formal…”
“……”
After hearing Mia’s words, I, Charlotte, and Alice exchanged glances.
Um…
Now that they’re saying we should ditch the formality,
Is there really anything more to let go of?
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