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“Wow… it’s almost just as I remember.”

This was my childhood home, returned to after several decades when I combined my memories of previous visits, and it looked just like I remembered in my mind. At first glance from a distance, I thought it was merely the exterior that resembled the old place. However, the room I was guided to, aside from a few pieces of furniture, was structured exactly the same.

“There were parts we tried to recreate as closely as possible when we rebuilt it out of respect for you. But hearing that you were alive and enrolled at Griffin Academy made us try even harder to match it to how it used to be. Not just your room, but most of the mansion’s layout remains unchanged.”

“So this is the room that El used…”

My childhood friend Yuli had visited here as a child, but my other friends were looking around the mansion with curious eyes since it was their first time.

“Considering it was El’s room… it doesn’t smell like El, though?”

As soon as we stepped inside, Anne chimed in while sniffing around. My scent? How rude of her.

And of course, it’s only natural that my scent wouldn’t linger in a room I hadn’t occupied since the mansion fell into disrepair. To be precise, it wasn’t even my room, it was originally my sister’s room.

Naturally, I couldn’t explain this, so I just stayed silent.

“Senpai! I see you really loved dolls!”

Luna, who had been wandering around, grabbed one of the dolls placed on the bed and exclaimed. Along with Anne, who would go crazy over cute things, it seemed the doll immediately caught Luna’s eye.

On the bed lay not only the dog doll Luna picked up but also a variety of other plush toys, particularly animal characters.

“Oh, those are my… little brother’s gifts. Like most kids, I… really liked them a lot.”

I nearly slipped up and said I bought the dolls myself. Of course, it wouldn’t make much difference in terms of revealing my identity, but with childhood friend Yuli next to me, caution was warranted.

Most of the dolls lying on the bed were indeed gifts I had given to my sister. I didn’t go out directly to buy them, I had asked the maids to do so for me.

Naturally, the dolls sitting on the bed now couldn’t possibly be the same ones I had gifted back then. There’s no way the dolls from that attack would have been left intact. This, even amidst the restoration, was likely a consideration from Gilbert and the others who were involved.

“I will show you the other rooms you’ll be staying in.”

Just as we were exploring, Gilbert spoke up. However, perhaps due to the softness of his voice, my friends continued to quietly poke around my room.

“Um…”

“It seems your friends are a bit too excited. I’ll take them to their rooms later. The guest room is in the same location as before, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct, but I don’t want to trouble the young lady…”

“Oh come on, it’s for my friends; how could it be a bother?”

Understood, let’s have dinner first. You all must be hungry after such a long journey; I had asked for something special to be prepared.”

Now that it was mentioned, I indeed felt hungry. It was probably because I had just barely managed some lunch.

“Yes. Then please prepare it immediately. I’ll head down with my friends right away.”

“Understood.”

Gilbert bowed his head, replied, and then stepped outside. Turning back to observe my friends once more, they had spread out in different directions, revealing their personalities.

“Playing is fine, but how about we have dinner first?”

Perhaps my friends were indeed very hungry, as opposed to when Gilbert had called them, they immediately turned to me at the mention of food.

*

“Thank you for preparing everything on such short notice after our unexpected arrival.”

In truth, there were only a few staff members staying at the mansion, including Gilbert. Until my arrival, the mansion had been ownerless and without a hired cook.

As a result, the meal we had just had was prepared by one of the skilled maids rather than a professional chef, yet it was of a quality that could give even a fine restaurant a run for its money.

“I’m glad to hear that you found it satisfactory. I will bring out dessert shortly.”

“I want chocolate!”

Anne shot her hand up, shouting at the mention of dessert. Even after so much time, Anne’s love for chocolate had not changed.

By the way, my seat at the table was none other than the head seat—the spot where my father used to sit when I was young.

Having already received the Count title from the Emperor, Cecilia, it was only natural for me, the last representative of House Frentz, to take this seat. Gilbert also saw my sitting there as completely natural and had no objections.

“Young lady.”

As we finished dessert and were nearing the end of dinner, Gilbert, who had been sitting beside me the whole meal, spoke up.

“Yes?”

I took a sip of my coffee through a straw and asked what was on his mind.

“I have something to discuss regarding the family… if you have time after your meal?”

Gilbert seemed intent on asking for my opinion as the newly returned lord of the territory. Although he, along with others, had managed the territory well in my absence, some matters could only be decided by me.

Of course, even if it were important, it wasn’t urgent enough that I needed to make extra time for it. Even if I do intend to resurrect the site, how significant could the issues facing a long-fallen House Frentz really be?

Even if there was a matter of great importance, nothing could be said in front of my friends, whom I absolutely trusted.

“Just tell me here. I want to deal with it quickly so I can relax.”

“It may be a sensitive topic… but understood.”

After hesitating a moment, Gilbert accepted my wish and stepped forward to state his business.

“Actually… this is about you and the territory. I hope you don’t take it the wrong way.”

What could be such a serious matter that he was being so cautious?

“As you know, our territory has faced a lot of difficulties since that day. Now that you’re back, we weren’t even sure if you were alive at that time.”

From his weary voice, I could indirectly sense how hard things had been for him and the others. But he wasn’t complaining.

“Despite that, we’ve managed to restore the territory somewhat, thanks in part to the help from the imperial family, but the assistance from neighboring territories was particularly significant.”

Although our territory wasn’t in a secluded spot, there was only one neighboring territory worth mentioning. I remembered my father collaborating with that lord back in the day. Of course, I barely knew them at the time, having not even started my heir training.

In fact, it was Yuli I knew better.

“And upon hearing that you were alive and were returning, they sent a formal letter.”

Gilbert handed me a neatly rolled letter. It appeared sealed with wax, indicating Gilbert hadn’t read it yet, but from the way he spoke, he seemed to be aware of the contents.

It looked like he wanted me to read the letter myself rather than divulging its contents first, so I broke the wax seal and opened the letter.

With one hand holding my coffee as I sipped through the straw, I held the letter with the other and began to read.

If someone saw me, they might think my behavior lacked decorum, but there wasn’t a single soul around me who would complain. Certainly not Gilbert, and my other friends wouldn’t either.

And after returning to my home, I wanted to relax a bit. After all, it was my house, and I could behave as I pleased without anyone daring to object.

“To the eternal ally, Count Frentz.”

To my surprise, it seemed the relationship between our houses was rather deep, starting off with such a sticky line. Well, if it was at this level, it’s no wonder they had provided various assistance in the recovery of the territory.

Flowery sentences continued for quite a while. There was an expression of regret over the attack incident, and condolences regarding my survival.

“I hope to establish an even closer relationship with House Frentz in the future…”

Having read through half of the letter, which was filled with meaningless verbosity, I finally reached the main point. What could they be dragging this out for?

“Pfft!”

However, I abruptly spat out the coffee I had been sipping as I read the letter.

“Cough! Cough!”

As I choked, realizing my situation, Gilbert, who was standing next to me, immediately pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it over, so I quickly accepted it and wiped my mouth.

“As you can see, the Wesley family has formally proposed to you. The second son of Count Wesley is the same age as you.”

Bang!

The moment Gilbert finished his words, a loud crashing sound echoed as if the dining table was going to break.