#336
Kotatsu.
An essential item that cannot be missed in a Japanese light novel’s winter episode.
It appears in daily life, school settings, battle scenes, and even in isekai stories—the kotatsu is right in front of me.
Naturally, it was included in the original work.
Olivia, the foreigner, is inside the kotatsu at the Shinozaki Mansion, unwilling to come out.
Will it really mess me up if I go in there?
Inside the tatami room, there’s an ultra-modern wall-mounted TV that doesn’t match the traditional style, and a sunroom overlooking the snowy garden through floor-to-ceiling glass.
I thought it would be warm inside, but surprisingly, it’s cold.
The temperature feels alien to me, who is used to always warm rooms.
I heard that Japanese houses have low insulation, resulting in a lower average indoor temperature, and it seems that’s true.
Since Haru said it was okay for me to sit, it should be fine, right?
Swish.
I step into the kotatsu.
It’s warm, but isn’t it just that the Japanese house is cold, making the kotatsu feel warm by comparison?
The deluxe dormitory wasn’t that cold.
I heard that floor heating in Japan is something you only get in high-end tower mansions, but I guess that’s why the deluxe dorm room has it too.
Without thinking, I look at the table and see some mandarins.
[“Oppa, eat Jeju mandarins!”]
[- My super kawaii gal little sister, Haru]
Next to it, there’s a note written on a heart-shaped sticky note, apparently written by Haru herself.
Mandarins on top of the kotatsu are a winter episode classic, but does it really have to be Jeju mandarins?
That’s some serious dedication.
Eating Jeju mandarins inside a kotatsu in winter Japan?
Just as I was about to peel one without saying a word.
“Wait a moment!”
Slide!
The sliding door opens, and Olivia appears.
What’s this?
“If you’re going to eat that mandarin, I can peel it for you! I’m your personal maid, after all!”
Boom.
Olivia, with a cocky expression, places her hand on her chest.
Is she really offering to peel it for me?
Not because she doesn’t want to clean?
Reasonable suspicion arises at that moment.
“Wow! Bella-nee, you’re amazing! You’re so fast at cleaning!”
“This is nothing but the basic skills of a personal maid of the Bonaparte royal family. Kurosawa-sama.”
With a thud, I hear Haru and Bella’s voices outside.
At this point, is it really okay if Olivia doesn’t join us?
She isn’t someone who’ll just go because I told her to.
“Uh, okay.”
“Great! Then I will now show you the mandarin peeling skills of Olivia Napoleon Bonaparte! For the honor of the French royal family!”
“I will show you Olivia Napoleon Bonaparte’s tangerine peeling skills! For the honor of the French royal family!”
Is it really necessary to risk the honor of the French royal family just for peeling a tangerine?
As soon as I give my consent, Olivia rushes in and quickly skins the Jeju tangerine sitting on the table.
“Ooh! As expected of my lovely little sister Olivia! The way you peel is perfect, just like a princess of the Bonaparte royal family!”
I hear the black prince’s clueless voice in my head.
Is it okay for the name of the Bonaparte royal family to be sold so cheaply like this?
While I ponder this, Olivia neatly finishes peeling all the tangerines on the table.
“Oh ho ho ho ho! How is it? This is my skill as your personal maid!”
“Ah, right. Good job.”
I throw her some hollow praise in response to Olivia’s beaming remark.
Hearing my words makes Olivia’s face turn slightly red.
“Hmph! Hearing such obvious praise doesn’t make me happy at all! Don’t get the wrong idea!”
Olivia shouts while turning her head away.
So, compliments do feel good, huh?
I’ve gotten so used to her tsundere antics that I’m beyond numb to them now.
“Okay, I’ll eat some tangerine.”
Just as I was about to reach for one and ignore her,
“Wait a moment!”
Olivia stopped me.
She broke off a piece of tangerine and held it out in front of my mouth.
“Okay, say ‘ah.’ What are you doing with your mouth closed?!”
Olivia shouted at me with a flushed face.
I quietly opened my mouth without saying a word.
She popped the tangerine in, and I chewed it thoughtfully.
It’s delicious.
The room is cold, but munching on the sweet and sour tangerines while cozy in the warm kotatsu feels relaxed and nice.
“Hmph.”
Olivia sniffed and popped the tangerine she peeled into her mouth.
Olivia, munching away, looks just as adorable as a skylark.
I’m not sure what it means to look like a skylark, but if it means Olivia is pretty, then I agree.
It’s funny to think that Olivia is a blonde, beautiful girl, like a light novel heroine.
In the world I originally came from, I would never have been able to even talk to someone like her.
Yet here she is, acting as my personal maid and playing the tsundere role right in front of me.
If it weren’t for this body swap…
While various thoughts raced through my mind, Olivia suddenly said,
“Ahh… This kotatsu is warm and wonderful. There’s no place like heaven. Really, kotatsus are amazing. Ugh, this mansion is so cold.”
Olivia flopped onto the table, melting with a blissful expression.
In real-time, a scene from Japanese animation plays out before my eyes, featuring a foreign character marveling at a kotatsu.
I have no idea why a foreigner’s admiration for a kotatsu is included.
But I’m not Japanese; I’m Korean, living in a country where ondol and floor heating are the norms.
Sadly, I can’t share in her praises for the kotatsu.
“Ahh, it’s so warm… I’m so happy…”
Olivia makes a mushy expression.
It’s the kind of face she makes when she enters the kotatsu in the Shinozaki Mansion from an anime.
Completely different from her usual tsundere mode, where she throws sharp words and sulks.
Completely different from her usual pouty expression.
I can’t really relate to the kotatsu worship, but Olivia’s expression looks nice.
How wonderful it would be if she walked around like that all the time.
Just then, as I was thinking that…
Creak.
The sliding door opens.
“Olive! What are you doing here without cleaning? Totally ridiculous! Absolutely absurd!”
Turning my head, there was Haru.
Haru, holding a duster, puffs up as she looks at Olivia.
“Plus, you’re with Deok-Sung alone in the kotatsu? This totally unfair act is completely unacceptable! The cleaning isn’t even done yet! Come out! Ugh!”
As Haru came closer, she struggled to pull Olivia out.
“Aah… I don’t want to go out. The kotatsu is warm, but it’s too cold outside.”
Olivia protests, squirming, not wanting to leave the kotatsu.
“No way! Being alone with Deok-Sung is something I absolutely cannot accept!”
What in the world does ‘absolutely cannot’ even mean?
With Olivia not wanting to leave the kotatsu and Haru trying to drag her out, the two continued their tussle.
This kind of fight is only entertaining for so long.
It’s distracting to watch them right before my eyes.
Sighing internally, I looked at Haru and said, “Stop fighting, and Haru, why don’t you just sit here? Seems like Bella is doing all the cleaning anyway.”
“…What did you say?!”
Olivia, dazed by the warmth of the kotatsu, quickly regained her focus at my words.
Her gaze darts between Haru and me.
Whether Olivia glares or not, Haru bursts into laughter.
“Nishishishi. Deok-Sung, can I come into the kotatsu too?”
“Sure.”
“Yay! Nishishishi.”
Barely waiting for my approval, Haru puts down the duster and sits beside me, crossing her arms.
“Haa… the kotatsu is the best… It’s the kotatsu that corrupts people… I don’t want to go out.”
Haru, too, melted into a grin as soon as she came inside, sensing the warmth.
Is the character breaking effect a passive ability?
Such a typical light novel setting.
“Nishishi. Deok-Sung, here are the cookies I made. Ah, eat!”
Haru thrusts a cookie in front of me.
When did she bring this?
As I was bewildered by that…
“Wait! I said to eat the peeled tangerines first! Here!”
Olivia, refusing to lose, sticks out tangerines.
Really, there’s no peace even at the end of the year.
Sighing, I accept both the cookies and tangerines they offer.
Just then, while the nerve battle between Haru and Olivia continued inside the kotatsu, the sliding door opened again, and Bella appeared.
“Master’s master. The cleaning is complete.”
She says to me with a blank expression, bowing slightly.
Why report that to me?
Anyway, it seems the year-end cleaning is finally done.
“Aah… it feels warm. My frozen body feels like it’s melting.”
Bella enters the kotatsu and speaks in a slack voice.
Another chant for the kotatsu, I’ve lost count now.
Do they never get tired of it?
“Haru, Kim. Aren’t you all hungry? I’ll prepare some hot pot.”
“I’ll get ready.”
Then, Yuji appeared.
“Is today’s lunch menu hot pot?”
“I hope nothing happens before the New Year’s shrine visit.”
Just as I thought that—
Swish, snap.
The obnoxious sound of the shishidoji resounded in my ears within the Japanese-style garden.
Oh right, there was that stupid bamboo thing here too.
*
At the same time.
Buckingham Palace, England.
In the representative reception room of the British royal family, she was present.
A beautiful girl with yellow hair, one eye covered by a blindfold.
It was Beatrice, the Saintess of the Cult.
Opposite her sat another beautiful girl with pink hair styled in twin tails, Princess Evangelin Stewart of England.
“It’s already December 31st. The last day of the year,” Evangelin said leisurely, sipping her tea from a table piled high with British tea and treats.
“So. What brings you to seek the girl, Miss Trixie?”
Evangelin’s pink eyes turned toward Beatrice.
Trixie Smith.
Her real name was Beatrice.
The Saintess of the Cult urgently sought Evangelin at the year’s end.
It wasn’t as if she was completely clueless.
But still, Beatrice was her friend.
She wanted to hear a proper reason from her lips.
Beatrice bit her lip as she looked at Evangelin.
Until now, Beatrice had been deceiving Evangelin.
Evangelin, oblivious to her true identity, treated her kindly as a good friend.
Was it really okay to keep deceiving such a wonderful person?
If she revealed her identity, would Evangelin still help her?
Countless thoughts raced through Beatrice’s mind.
But her struggle didn’t last long.
Just yesterday, under Kim Deok-Sung’s suggestion, she had smuggled Damian’s soul gem out of the Cult.
By now, the Cult would be in an uproar.
The trigger had already been pulled.
To disrupt the Grand Elder and the Cult’s information network and hide before the deadline he proposed, Beatrice needed Evangelin’s full cooperation.
“Contractor… there are those who seek you… I need a place to evade the eyes of that vile group called the Truth Cult… Will you help me?”
Beatrice stammered.
In her possession was already Damian’s soul gem.
Upon hearing Beatrice’s words, a small smile appeared on Evangelin’s face.
Evangelin had already guessed Beatrice’s identity and her purpose to some extent.
For her to admit she was being chased by the Cult meant she was finally taking action for the sake of her freedom.
In that case, she had to help.
Determining this, Evangelin spoke with confidence.
“Ha-wa-wa-wa, I understand! Miss Trixie! I am the proud princess of Great Britain and Northern Ireland! By the name of the Stuart royal family and myself, Evangelin Stewart, I will protect you, my precious friend, from all threats!”
With that, Evangelin placed her hand on her chest, declaring her absolute protection for her friend.
Beatrice’s eyes flickered upon hearing Evangelin’s words.
At that moment, Kim Deok-Sung’s plan finally began far away in England.
