The royal family’s exclusive “workshop. Charlotte and her friends, who had found out the whereabouts of the first master of the workshop, a metal engraver, were aiming for Mount Itoel, the location of the workshop.

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Normally, a royal family would have to go through a lot of trouble to go on such a long trip, but according to Alfred, they had the king’s permission. It was decided that Makina and the other “shadows” would be his escorts.



It took us a day to reach Mount Ithoel by carriage. By that time, the sun had already set, so we decided to stay at an inn in the village at the foot of the mountain.



Of course, Alfred and I had separate rooms.

And Machina and Charlotte are sharing a room.



“Lady Charlotte. Let’s have a girl talk.”



“Tomorrow we have to search for the first generation, and we need to go to bed early to keep our strength, so no thanks.”



“What? Don’t you think it’s okay to talk a little? After all, we don’t get a chance to talk slowly like this.”



I knew in theory that I should go to bed early and concentrate on sleeping for tomorrow, but to be honest, I was interested in the girl talk itself.



Charlotte herself had very few friends to call her own. She had to work hard to become a suitable fiancée for the first prince, and that was the reason why people around her kept their distance from her.



This is why I secretly longed to be able to engage in girl talk like the other children.



“…….I understand. But don’t stay up too late. Let’s keep it short and go to bed early.”



“I Understand.”


You probably don’t understand. That’s what she thought, but Charlotte decided to take her word for it.



“Well, since we’re talking about fiancé first, let’s start with Charlotte-sama!”



Come on! Even though she was told to do so.

Charlotte had never had girl talk before, so she didn’t know how to do it.

She had a feeling of longing for it, but never had the chance to know the details.

After much deliberation, Charlotte decided to ask a safe topic for now.


“So, ……I can’t believe you’ re able to find out the whereabouts of the first master who disappeared two hundred years ago.It’s amazing, isn’t it? Makina and the others…”



“That’s your first move? You’re so serious. Charlotte-sama.”



At Makina’s words, which were so casual, I felt as if a stone had fallen on my head with a bang.



“I’m sorry …… I’m a boring woman, aren’t I ……?”



“Aah! No, no, no! I’m sorry too, Charlotte-sama. I didn’t mean it like that. ……Yes, yes! We were talking about me, right? About the shadows!”



Makina is in a panic. She usually gives the impression that she’s playing around with Alfred, so it’s unusual to see her panicking like this. She coughed to regain her composure. Makina went along with the safe topic that Charlotte had broached.



“We, the shadows…I’m proud to say that we are more capable than most of the knights in the palace.In fact, to be honest, it was a stroke of luck that I was able to locate him this time. It was hard work to track down someone who disappeared 200 years ago. …..Oh, by the way. Did you know about us ‘shadows’, Charlotte-sama?”

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“No, I don’t. Except that they are Al’s direct unit. …… I didn’t think it would be a good idea to ask too many questions.”



“That’s about right. Well, unlike knights, they don’t appear on the stage. After all, their main mission is to work in the dark. You can think of us as Al-sama’s hands and feet, working behind the scenes. The main one is Al-sama, but I think I’ll eventually be serving my fiancée Char-sama as well.”



“I think Makina is very good at ……, as well as her usual work and her ability to find the location of the first generation in a short time. I think they are very good. In fact, I thought that they far surpassed the knights in terms of information gathering ability. Where in the world did you find all these people, Al-kun?”



“It’s more like Picked up.”



“Picked up?



While Makina was heartwarmingly reminiscing about the old days, Charlotte was startled by the opposite.



“I’m not really that kind of cat. ……”



“Oh, Lady Charlotte. That’s quite true.”



“What? Could it be that Makina-san is actually a cat maid?”



“I think a cat maid would be nice. Not that. ….Hmm, an abandoned cat? I think it’s something like that.”



Makina, with a faraway look in her eyes.


“We the members of “Shadow” A bunch of abandoned stragglers. They are a bunch of stragglers, abandoned, like they have been kicked out of the daylight.In fact, they would be lying dead in the middle of nowhere by now. But it was Al-sama who found us, discovered us, and picked us up.



“So all of you ‘shadows’ are the same as …… me?”



“That’s right. They are all made up of people who have been saved by Master Al.”



Machina says to herself.

From what I’ve heard, the “shadows” are a unit that never appears on the stage.

A group of beings from the ever-darkening world who continue to work in the shadows of the royal family.



Therefore, there are times when they can’t help Alfred.

They don’t have power like the Knights, nor do they have the support of the people by playing an active role in the sunlight.



This is probably the most frustrating thing for Makina.



“I was also picked up by Al-sama.”



A pause. Machina’s words dripped out.



“I don’t know where I was born, I don’t know who I am. When I came to my senses, I lost all memory of my past except my name and collapsed all alone. I had no place to go, no hope to live. But I was afraid of dying. …… I often stole food and money just to live for the day.”



The pain was unimaginable to Charlotte.

For her, who has been in the privileged environment of a duke’s family since birth, the environment Makina was in was unimaginable. She couldn’t half-heartedly say, “That’s a tough time for you.



“I was doing pretty well, but one day I made a mistake and got caught by the adults at the store. I got punched and kicked, and it was really tough. Well, it was my fault for stealing, so it was only natural.”

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When Machina talks about her past, her expression is calm.

It was as if she was hugging a precious treasure. She had such a peaceful expression on her face.



“It was at that time. It was at that time that Master Al happened to be passing by and suddenly said to the shopkeeper: …… “Is that sandbag for sale? If so, sell it to me.”



“Well, a sandbag? ……”


“Hahaha. It’s terrible, isn’t it? Even the store owner who was beating me was taken aback.But Master Al piled up a staggering amount of gold coins in front of him and bought me outright. …… Thanks to this, there was even a rumor around Al-sama that the third prince was enjoying buying human sandbags. He knew that such rumors would circulate, so he bought me.”



“Oh ……, I can see it happening.”



“Right? No, really, it’s unbelievable. I don’t know who you are, but you suddenly bought a dirty child, and you suddenly gave him a hot bath, hot food, clothes, a place to sleep, and even prepared a job for him as a maid. ……If anyone around him said anything, he would say things like, “I bought it as a tool,” or “Don’t complain about the prince’s care of the tool,” and he would play the bad guy. Thanks to this. In the palace, the way they looked at me changed from ‘a dirty child who might be a bone of some horse’ to ‘a pitiful child who is treated as a tool by the third prince’, and the maids accepted me warmly.”



“That’s …….”



“Yes. It’s the same as Charlotte-sama. Well, I got a little nostalgic when Al-sama was saving Charlotte-sama’s life.”



Makina’s face, as she spoke, was so smiling that it was hard to believe that she had such a fierce past.



“Hmmm. …… You’re a troubled person, Al-kun. I can’t believe he’s been helping people that way for so long.”



“That’s right. I’m already in trouble as a maid. Charlotte-sama will have a hard time, too.”



“Maybe.”



Charlotte faces Makina and they laugh at each other.



“Um, Makina-san. You can call me Charu.”



“Are you sure? I’m just a maid.”



“Of course.”



Then you can call me …….



Seeing Makina’s embarrassed expression, Charlotte felt like she could truly open up to her at this moment.



(……………………)



Charlotte suddenly realized the uncomfortable feeling that had been swirling around inside her chest.



(…… I wasn’t the only one.)



It’s not just Charlotte, but everyone else as well, who has been rescued from that despair.

Charlotte is not the only one.

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This is the reason why I feel a haze of …… discomfort in my heart instead of joy.



“……, enough about me! Char-sama is next!”



“What? Is it me?”



“That’s right. The standard girl talk is Koibana or something like that!”



As she said this, Makina leaned closer to Charlotte.



“Master Char. To be honest, what do you think of Master Al?”



What do you mean by ……?



“As opposites, of course. You see, the two of you are now engaged, aren’t you? This kind of thing is usually a family affair, so it goes on regardless of romantic feelings, but in Char-sama’s case, Leol-sama once broke off her engagement in such a way that she was exposed, right? I was wondering why she became Al-sama’s fiancée when she could have distrusted men.”



“That’s because of …… various reasons. ……”



“It’s true that there were a lot of circumstances, but it was decided pretty quickly, wasn’t it? In addition, Charu-sama, even when she was Leol-sama’s fiancée, there were times when she and Al-sama were talking happily together. I wondered if there had been romantic feelings between them for a long time.”






Love feelings. Love.

Considering Alfred as a member of the opposite sex.

I’ve never really thought about it.



“I hadn’t really thought about it much at ………….”



“Wow. Al sama has no luck. ……”



“No, that’s not what I meant!”



She hurriedly corrected Makina’s hasty assumption. Even Charlotte herself did not know why she panicked.



“Let’s see. …… I was trying to be a suitable fiancé for the first prince, so I was not really conscious of love. I never really thought about love. I’ve read books and thought it would be nice to see two people who love each other come together, but when it came to …… me, it just didn’t feel real. ……”



“Ah ……, it’s true that if you just look at the title of First Prince, there’s no better fiancé. It’s not a love affair, is it? In other words, Al-sama had nothing to do with the concept of a fiancée, so that’s why he could afford to fall in love.”



“……………………… ……………What? Al-kun, do you have someone you like?



“Ah.”



Makina clearly looked as if she wanted to say, “Oh no,” but I couldn’t pretend that I hadn’t seen that.



“By the way, Mr. Charu. I’d like to change the subject. —-“



“Don’t change.”

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“It’s time for bed —-“


“I don’t mind staying up a little late.”


“Let’s see. ………… Good night!”


“Oh! No, you can’t. The night is not over yet!”



That night, she tried to question Machina, but was unable to get any information.



Charlotte felt as if she had unexpectedly seen the maid girl’s loyalty.



Love feelings. Love.

Considering Alfred as a member of the opposite sex.

I’ve never really thought about it.



“I hadn’t really thought about it much at ………….”



“Wow. Al sama has no luck. ……”



“No, that’s not what I meant!”



She hurriedly corrected Makina’s hasty assumption. Even Charlotte herself did not know why she panicked.



“Let’s see. …… I was trying to be a suitable fiancé for the first prince, so I was not really conscious of love. I never really thought about love. I’ve read books and thought it would be nice to see two people who love each other come together, but when it came to …… me, it just didn’t feel real. ……”



“Ah ……, it’s true that if you just look at the title of First Prince, there’s no better fiancé. It’s not a love affair, is it? In other words, Al-sama had nothing to do with the concept of a fiancée, so that’s why he could afford to fall in love.”



“……………………… ……………What? Al-kun, do you have someone you like?



“Ah.”



Makina clearly looked as if she wanted to say, “Oh no,” but I couldn’t pretend that I hadn’t seen that.



“By the way, Mr. Charu. I’d like to change the subject. —-“



“Don’t change.”



“It’s time for bed —-“


“I don’t mind staying up a little late.”


“Let’s see. ………… Good night!”


“Oh! No, you can’t. The night is not over yet!”



That night, she tried to question Machina, but was unable to get any information.



Charlotte felt as if she had unexpectedly seen the maid girl’s loyalty.