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“Dominique-neesan, how about this?” (Lea)
“I think that fits. It’s not too flashy nor too plain. It should leave an impression on Erwin-sama. It’s crucial to highlight your innocence as peg.” (Dominique)
◆◇◆
Today is the day of my first date with Erwin-sama.
I had Dominique-neesan, who’s currently in the middle of her maternity leave, check the outfit I would wear today.
I don’t think that it’s really necessary, but Dominique-neesan has said that it’s just for caution’s sake.
Somehow it’s as if I’m still being treated like a child by Dominique-neesan…
“It will be fine even without you worrying so much. Haven’t I chosen the clothes that got your okay, Dominique-neesan?”
“Certainly…but, just to be sure, in the worst case. It’s because there are times when you get carried away, Lea. It will be troublesome if you go on a weird rampage at the critical moment.” (Dominique)
“Eh───h, you really don’t trust me at all, do you?” (Lea)
Quite a bit of time has passed since I started working in the mansion of Earl Baumeister-sama.
Even though things may appear this way, I belong to the group of oldtimers by now. I’m still a minor, though.
“Trust? I won’t say that I have none, but it’s just to make sure. It would be embarrassing if you were to tempt Erwin-sama with flashy, exposing clothes just because you were following some weird misunderstanding.”
“I won’t do something like that.” (Lea)
Such things follow after we get to know each other better.
Of course I won’t do so on our first date. Since I haven’t interacted with Erwin-sama much yet, I’m well aware that I will be treated as pervert if I were to suddenly show up in such a getup.
“Isn’t it obviously better to wear a prim and innocent outfit for your first date? Even I know at least that much.” (Lea)
“As long as you are aware of it…” (Dominique)
I’m still not being really trusted, am I…?
And yet I’m one of the higher ranks among the maids.
“However, seeing me in such clothes, Erwin-sama might get aroused instead. If that happens, I will resist with 『You mustn’t! We still have to watch our conduct…!』, but ultimately it will proceed into that kind of relationship. Possibly Erwin-sama will end up loving me too much. Even more so than Haruka-sama…uguh!” (Lea)
“Getting carried away like that is wrong!” (Dominique)
Dominique-neesan dropped her fist on my head with all her might, despite her belly being already big.
That’s bad for the child in her belly, or rather, the baby might grow up into a child that easily hits others, influenced by her mother.
“That hurtsss…the memory of Dad being scolded by Mum for spending a big amount of money at a casino when I was still ten years old…” (Lea)
“You might as well forget that. Also, it’s nothing you tell others either.” (Dominique)
For the sake of a harmonious family?
Because of that I didn’t get any pocket money from Dad until just recently, though.
“As for that case, even my father…” (Dominique)
“So that’s the reason!” (Lea)
“Since it’s a disgrace for your family, make sure to not mention it anymore. Anyway, today you just have to enjoy a simple date in Baulburg. Do you understand? Today is just a date for you two to meet. Nothing more, okay?” (Dominique)
“Understood. I will make sure to not go to the 『Rendezvous Inns』 that recently opened in the city’s west.” (Lea)
“Humph! That’s only natural!” (Dominique)
“It hurts, you knowww…? It was just a joke…” (Lea)
A───ah, how nice would it be if Dominique-neesan would understand jokes…
“In your case, there are times where it doesn’t sound like a joke.” (Dominique)
“Ugh! You’ve been reading my mind!” (Lea)
“To some extent it’s quite simple to understand what you’re thinking. We have associated for a long time as relatives, after all. Either way, today it’s fine to enjoy your time with Erwin-sama moderately.” (Dominique)
“Okay. See you later then.” (Lea)
Having received a dressing check by Dominique-neesan, I headed to the meeting place in order to have a fun first date with Erwin-sama.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Have I kept you waiting?” (Lea)
“No, not at all. Today you’re wearing something innocent and nice, completely different from your usual maid uniform, aren’t you? Though, the maid uniform has its good points, too.” (Erwin)
“I’m honored to be praised by you. Ahaha, if I really had made you waiting, Dominique-neesan’s fist would await me back in the mansion.” (Lea)
“Dominique, huh? As might be expected of Elise’s childhood friend, she really looks like a serious person.” (Erwin)
“You’re not wrong.” (Lea)
To produce the feeling of a real date, I had made an appointment in the center of Baulburg with Erwin-sama.
Erwin-sama arrived first, and as soon as I arrived, he praised my clothes, and understood the character of Dominique-neesan. We might become a really well-matched married couple.
No, I’m sure it will happen.
“Where should we go first then?” (Erwin)
“Let’s see…ah!” (Lea)
“Is something wrong, Lea?” (Erwin)
“Erwin-sama, that…” (Lea)
I noticed something unthinkable.
There’s a shady person peeping on us just when we were about to start our fun date.
How should I describe her? She’s wearing amazingly flashy clothes, looking like a night moth, or rather, as if you will be kicked if you get close to her.
That woman with her overly flashy outfit has been stalking us.
“Erwin-sama, who’s that person?” (Lea)
“Geh! That woman was still in Baulburg…or rather, why is she monitoring you and me? We can’t even use any magic.” (Erwin)
“Erwin-sama, what kind of person is that gaudy woman?” (Lea)
“Ah, I see. We encountered Lisa outside the mansion, so you naturally don’t know of her, do you…? That person is Katia’s senior and a magician…” (Erwin)
Erwin gave me an explanation about her.
So she’s Katia-sama’s senior and an excellent magician as well as adventurer, eh?
But she harbors some grudge against Katia-sama, who got married to master just recently, as single, and thus has been investigating the people of the Baumeister House like this.
“…What’s her objective? You’re not saying that this person is an evil magician, are you!?” (Lea)
“No, it’s not going as far as her being evil, I think.” (Erwin)
“I mean, she’s wearing a clearly suspicious outfit.” (Lea)
Such a peculiar, gaudy getup.
It’s an outfit that would definitely tick off Dominique-neesan if she worked in our mansion.
“It’s not like she’s working for the Baumeister House. Since she won’t do much more than peeping on us, it’s fine. Let’s quickly get going.” (Erwin)
“That’s true as well. Okay, I understand.” (Lea)
I don’t know what that woman wants to investigate, but if she gets in the way of my fun date with Erwin-sama from now on, I will take her on.
Now then, time to enjoy my date with him.
◆◇◆
“How about this cafe?” (Lea)
“Sure, why not.” (Erwin)
“It’s a cafe mostly serving sweets, but are you going to be fine with that?” (Lea)
“It’s okay. I have often come to such cafes when accompanying Wend and his wives.” (Erwin)
We started our date at once, and first entered a new cafe that opened very recently.
This is also a place that mostly serves desserts that use the fruits of the Demon Forest.
The number of such cafes has been growing lately, but this one has started to become popular because of the fruit sandwiches that used the Demon Forest fruits as filling.
When I wondered whether Erwin-sama might be bad with such stores, he unexpectedly told me that he doesn’t hate sweets.
“If you eat sweets after having moved your body, it alleviates one’s fatigue. Besides, when I still lived at home, it was difficult for me to get my hands on sweets.” (Erwin)
“Was that so?” (Lea)
I have to quickly learn a lot more about Erwin-sama so that we understand each other.
In the end, Erwin-sama and I will be married, after all.
“I thought that adventurers rather like alcohol.” (Lea)
“It’s not like I won’t drink any. Or rather, you have that impression because of Burkhart-san, don’t you?” (Erwin)
That might be the case.
I mean, every time Dominique-neesan hears about Burkhart-sama visiting the mansion, she always makes me check our stock on wine.
“I think there are many drinkers among the middle-aged adventurers. I might become like that sooner or later, too.” (Erwin)
“E───eh, you’re fine as you’re now.” (Lea)
If possible, I’d like Erwin-sama to stay like this.
There are many men who like to drink alcohol, but I don’t get what’s so great about it.
As I was pondering about such things, a fruit sandwich was served on a plate. The sandwich, which was bread with slices of fruits and an abundant amount of fresh cream stuffed in-between, looks very delicious and brightly colored.
“Erwin-sama, it seems to be very delicious.” (Lea)
“Indeed…also, she’s here, isn’t she…?” (Erwin)
True.
That evil female magician acts as if she’s totally peeping on us!
I’m sure you’re jealous of such a close couple like us!
You’re all by yourself, after all!
“No…you can’t go as far as calling her an evil magician, I believe…” (Erwin)
“But, Erwin-sama, she’s an evil magician obstructing our date.” (Lea)
That evil magician is looking this way while wearing that kind of outfit, and moreover stuffing her cheeks with a fruit sandwich by herself.
I’m sure there’s no man who would enter such a cafe with her because she’s evil.
“It might be dangerous to provoke her too much. It’s better to not pay her any attention.” (Erwin)
Erwin-sama is a kind man.
However, there’s no guarantee that his kindness will work on that evil magician.
Ah, right! This is the moment for Erwin-sama and me to show our lovey-dovey relationship. Let’s implement that operation to make her understand that following us around any longer will be meaningless.
“Erwin-sama. Okay, please open your mouth with an a───ah.” (Lea)
“Isn’t that dangerous?” (Erwin)
“Erwin-sama, we aren’t magicians. Being followed by that evil witch is weird. It’s a slightly pushy move, but let’s drive her quickly away and then enjoy our date.” (Lea)
While using such outward reason, I became lovey-dovey with Erwin-sama, aiming to become his beloved wife as fast as possible.
I won’t lose to Haruka-sama.
“Is it fine like this?”
“No doubt. Okay, please open your mouth, a───ah.” (Lea)
“A───ah.” (Erwin)
That’s nice.
With this everyone can see that we’re a pair of lovers who are head-over-heels in love with each other. It won’t be weird for us to marry at any time.
Or rather, since we’re showing off like that to other people too, the residents living in Baulburg will certainly root for our happy marriage.
And the evil magician got irritated after watching us.
Because she can’t easily get close to master, no matter what she does, she has to suffer like this by meaninglessly monitoring us.
“Where are we going next?” (Erwin)
“There’s a store I’d like to visit.” (Lea)
I lead Erwin-sama by the hand, and head towards a popular accessory shop.
“Hee, what a nice shop.” (Erwin)
“Because we can enter here without reserve, it’s also popular among the mansion’s maids.” (Lea)
Given that today’s our first date, it would be wrong to ask him to buy me expensive accessories all of a sudden.
I don’t want him to think that I’m a greedy, nasty woman. I would be scolded by Dominique-neesan, too.
“Erwin-sama, please choose something that suits me. I think I’m going to buy something which I can wear during my days off.” (Lea)
“Okay. Since it’s our first date at long last, I will buy it as a present for you.” (Erwin)
“That’s not a good idea.” (Lea)
“It won’t be anything overly expensive, so it’s fine. How about something like this?” (Erwin)
I have Erwin-sama put the necklace he chose around my neck, and then we looked at the mirror, talking about whether it would suit me, while nestling close together.
“What do you think, Erwin-sama?” (Lea)
“It’s not bad, but how about this one?” (Erwin)
Erwin-sama brought me a necklace with a gem that had a different color, and once again put it around my neck. Then we checked together whether it suited me in front of the mirror.
Doing something like that, we totally look like lovers.
Does Erwin-sama have experience in choosing accessories for girls?
He’s unexpectedly used to it, isn’t he?
Also, with that evil magician, it went just as I had planned.
She faked choosing accessories while being irritated… Ah! The necklace she held…tore off!
I suppose she lost control of herself out of anger, and has now to reimburse the shop for having broken it.
With this she should give up stalking us any longer…
“That evil magician is persistent!” (Lea)
“No…evil magician is a bit…” (Erwin)
Since a new play has started, we entered a theatre to watch it together, but the evil magician sat down behind us, and was observing us.
“In my opinion, it looks like she’s trying to get some advantageous information by observing us as a concerned party since it’s difficult for her to stalk and monitor Wend and Katia.” (Erwin)
Jeez, there’s no point in watching us!
Eeyy!
Now that it has come to this!
“Erwin-samaaa.” (Lea)
“Whoa, wait a minute!” (Erwin)
With things having gone this far, I use the strategy of showing off our intimacy so that even the evil magician would get it by leaning my head against Erwin-sama’s shoulder while watching the play.
This strategy has yet another merit. It will establish the fact that Erwin and I are intimate enough that it won’t be considered an issue even if I make out with Erwin-sama in such a way.
If I can get this far on my first date, it will be perfect.
“(Ah, it’s working, it’s working.)” (Lea)
Once I glance behind us, the body of the evil magician is trembling violently.
I’m sure she must be crushed by despair watching us flirting while being mortified and thinking that she has no luck herself.
Now, even the evil magician shouldn’t get in the way of our date anymore.
“Lea, it was a nice play, right? The true feelings towards the protagonist’s lover were depicted well.” (Erwin)
“…You’re right.” (Lea)
Damn!
Because I concentrated on the evil magician behind us, I didn’t watch the play at all!
This is a huge blunder.
Moreover…
“Lea, you’re underage, but I think one glass of alcohol for toasting should be fine.” (Erwin)
“Yes, I will just taste a bit.” (Lea)
After watching the play, we had dinner at a restaurant Erwin-sama had booked.
As this restaurant is famous for being very expensive, this already serves as proof that he’s cherishing me.
“Let’s see…one bottle of sweet wine for us.” (Erwin)
“Dear guest, we are terribly sorry, but…”
“Is it out of stock? I suppose such things happen as well, huh?”
“Excuse us, but all of the sweet wine that agrees with your companion has been ordered by another guest a little while ago… Right now we have only dry wine left…”
That evil magician.
Just when I thought she had finally disappeared, she left in the middle of the play, entered this restaurant, ordered all the sweet wine that I can drink, and drained it down. How nasty.
To predict our next destination ahead of time, what an ill-natured pestering!
That’s why she can’t get married!
“Lea, let’s go with juice?” (Erwin)
“As long as it’s just one glass, I will be alright with dry wine as well.” (Lea)
“You sure?” (Erwin)
“Erwin-sama, I’m no child.” (Lea)
“If you say so.” (Erwin)
Evil magician, it won’t go as you have hoped.
There’s no way that my and Erwin-sama’s love will lose to a mean deed such as ordering all the sweet wine while looking down on me as a small child.
◆◇◆
“Lea, I really enjoyed today.”
“Me too. Please invite me out again, okay?” (Lea)
“Of course.” (Erwin)
My first date with Erwin-sama turned into a full day of fun without us losing against the disturbances of the evil magician.
＊ ＊ ＊
“That’s how it went down. Dominique-neesan, I did well.” (Lea)
“Haah…well, if Erwin-sama was satisfied with it, it’s fine, but how should I say it…I guess both are to blame…” (Dominique)
“Eh? Both are to blame? Like who and who?” (Lea)
“No, if you don’t understand, then please don’t mind it as it’s no problem in particular.” (Dominique)
Recently 『Lisa the Blizzard』 is said to stay in Baulburg and carry out various schemes to investigate the secret of master and Katia-sama.
I guess, in the end she had even shadowed the date of Erwin-sama and Lea, trying to obtain any information she can get her hands on.
However, in some ways, Lea is an idiot and her positive approach on thwarting Lisa’s obstructions resulted in Lisa failing.
It looks like she had to pointlessly pay for the wine, but such expenses shouldn’t pose any burden to her.
It’s necessary to be cautious from now on.
However, it might be the best solution to throw Lea, who seems to be her natural enemy, at that 『evil magician』.
After all, it’s not wrong to say that Lea is a big-shot in a certain sense.
◆◇◆
“Wah! Hiccs! You had a twin, Dominique-neesan?” (Lea)
“As if! You have known me for years now, haven’t you!?”
◆◇◆
Being pleased with the dry wine she drank for the first time, she got totally drunk on her first date.
Between her and Blizzard…it’s difficult to say which of the two is actually worse..
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