The beach is ready, so I invited close acquaintances over for a trial opening of the beach. Among those invited were Paul-oniisan, Masciolini-san, Emma, Eugenie and Earl Simpson. The witches of Sambabano have given me a polite notice of absence. The reason is that they cannot keep their youthful look for long and they don’t want to appear in their current look in front of Nowald-sensei. Apparently, seven minutes is their limit for staying in their young appearance.
I wish they could just be who they are though.
On the beach, we served everyone delicious and improved coconut juice. Adults also enjoy cocktails with alcohol in them. The cocktails that Kemoncy makes are popular. This seems to be Kemoncy’s hidden talent.
Mm, I hope he continues to do his best in the future.
The islanders are also taking a day off from work today to relax. Everyone is having fun grilling sausages and scallops on the beach.
But then an unexpected guest arrived.
—It was Alexei-oniisan.
I wonder where he heard about this party….
But this is clearly not good. Well, I didn’t send an invitation to Alexei-oniisan after all.
Maybe he’s come to find out why I didn’t send him an invitation?
“Hey, Cedie. You stole my horse, didn’t you?”
Oh, that’s why he’s here huh.
It seems that Alexei-oniisan has come to ask me to return Silver.
Silver is now playing with Char on the beach, so it’s impossible to fool him. I had no choice, but I’ll try to negotiate somehow.
“Steal you say? That’s a terrible word for it you know. I just rescued a horse that was walking on the road alone.”
“What? ……But that’s clearly my horse. I’m taking it home.”
Alexei-oniisan was adamant, but then Earl Simpson intervened.
“Under the laws of the kingdom, if the owner does not come forward within 10 days when a stray horse is found, ownership of the horse will be transferred to the finder.”
It’s been more than ten days since Silver ran away from the mansion. Legally, Silver is mine now. But I think Silver would say he doesn’t belong to anyone.
“I spent a lot of money to buy that horse!”
Alexei-oniisan is even childishly stomping on the ground.
I don’t want to mess things up any further.
“In that case, I’ll cover the cost. Silver is a horse that can’t run properly anyway. It won’t become a racehorse.”
“Hmm……”
Alexei-oniisan was deep in thought for a while, but his expression gradually relaxed.
“Very well, I’ll give that horse to Cedie for the price I paid for it.”
“Sure. But how much is it?”
“Seven million crown coins.”
Whoa, it was that high?
I thought it would be about 5 million crown coins at most. I had heard that racehorses and war horses were expensive, but I didn’t know they were that expensive. I had just enough cash to spare, but my dream of buying a small sailing ship is becoming more and more distant.
However, an unexpected lifeline came at this moment.
It was Paul-oniisan.
“Come on, big brother, aren’t you mistaken?”
“What do you mean?”
“Seven million is the amount I offered, but you only paid three million crown coins.”
“You!”
“I can show you the transfer contract if you want. I kept it safe you see.”
“O-oh, is that so? Well, it was so long ago that I forgot I guess.”
Goodness.
This is exactly why we cannot let our guard down on Alexei-oniisan.
“Then I’ll give you Silver for 3 million crown coins.”
“Okay……”
I had Earl Simpson act as a witness and draw up an official certificate of transfer.
Silver is now an officially free horse.
“Brrrr (Sorry)”
That day, I was licked in the face by Silver for the first time.
✲✲✲
The girls’ academy in the capital was on summer vacation, and Claire had returned to Dantès’ territory. Today, her friends are visiting her. All of them were children of good families, but their topic is all about Gandalcia Island.
Claire was excited to hear about Cedie’s island, but on the surface she looked calm.
“The first thing that surprises me is the Magic Train.”
“I was surprised about that too. Just when I thought it was about to start moving, it sped through the tunnel.”
(Hmm, the Magic Train is like a shared big carriage huh. It seems to enter an underground cavern too.)
(Is there really such a big adventure though?)
Just listening to it made Claire excited. At the same time, she’s worried.
“Carriage passing in an underground cave huh…….”
“You can get to Gandalcia by carriage or boat, but you should try the Magic Train at least once.”
(I want to ride it!)
Claire’s desire grows.
“Plus, the beach over there is amazing.”
“Yes, yes! I also had coconut juice at the beach house.”
“I had shaved ice.”
“Oh, don’t you all know? The specialty of Gandalcia is melon soft-serve ice cream.”
Looking at her friends who were having a blast, Claire couldn’t help but feel jealous.
Claire heard that Cedie had opened up the beach. What’s more, he even had a party for the beach opening beforehand.
(Uncle Paul, Earl Simpson, and even Eugenie were invited there. So why wasn’t I invited?!)
“Have you been to Gandalcia yet?”
Being asked abruptly, Claire stuttered for a moment.
“U-uhm, not yet. Father won’t forgive me you see.”
It is a well-known story in Findas region that Earl Dantes and Baron Dantes do not get along very well. The girls were immediately convinced and kept silent.
But Claire didn’t seem to mind them. She thinks that Cedie is just shy. That’s why he didn’t invite her to the party for the beach opening.
(Cedie is a shy type, so I guess he thinks that me in a swimsuit is too dazzling.
Still, I’m curious about Gandalcia.
Hmm, maybe I should just go and check it out?
But if I showed up suddenly, there’s a chance that Cedie will get carried away.
He’ll be saying things like, “You’re late, Claire!”
Oh my, what should I do if he suddenly starts treating me as his girlfriend?
Well, that’s not a bad thing, but I don’t want to be thought of as a cheap woman.)
Claire was having such delusion in her head.
Then she came to a conclusion.
(I guess I have no choice but to disguise myself when I go there!
I’ll start by scouting the place. If I marry Cedie, I will live on Gandalcia island after all. It’s important to do my research beforehand.
Cedie won’t know my newly hired maid, Rochelle. I’ll go and pretend to be a foreign lady.
Mm. Mm. That’s how I can watch over Cedie’s new life.
That’s what a proper niece should be!)
“O-hohohoho!”
Claire suddenly started laughing, and the girls in the room were stunned.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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