「It’s settled, Al!」


  「Un, it doesn’t matter how it all starts, as long as it’s settled then it’s fine」


  There’s even a saying like “all is well if it’s over”, after all.

  「Good grief, it’s not ‘fine’」


  Just when I was smiling casually with Haru, Kaede-san came out from the mansion and said that.

  Since Kaede-san has a role to follow Haru around, she’s probably guarding her from the surroundings.

  Seeing Kaede-san, Suke-san and Kaku-san become a little uneasy.

  In the end, Haru showed them the Shogun’s family seal case and made a commotion. They would probably be responsible for it since they couldn’t stop her, what’s with their role as her guards.

  Kaede-san sternly looked at Suke-san and Kaku-san, then she passed them while doing that and head towards Haru.

  Aah, just now was a signal for a superior to scold their junior later. So that kind of signal is also shared even by people of different worlds.

  「Haru-sama, why don’t we let the people off for now」


  Kaede-san approached her whispered to Haru’s ear.

  If you look at the surrounding citizens, people are still prostrating on the ground.

  Maybe it’s because of our position that looks like Haru’s guards that I, and also Suke-san and Kaku-san, don’t have to prostrate ourselves, but it looked tough for everyone else like Irvine and Tori - who have been lying on the ground for some time.

  Moreover, the people who are prostrating here won’t be able to do their job.

  「Nn? That’s right! You’re all free to go now!」


  When Haru easily tell them that, the prostrating people nervously raised their head, and when they saw that Haru and Kaede-san don’t have any particular reaction to that, they hurriedly move away from the place and start to return to their own job or errands.

  People like Tori and Irvine are related to this more or less, so they’re standing by while looking ill at ease.

  Some curious onlookers still remain, but they left the place awkwardly after being glared at by Kaede-san, Suke-san, and Kaku-san.

  As she waits for the surroundings to turn quiet, Kaede-san breathes a sigh and addresses Haru.

  「Haru-sama, it will be inconvenient if you carelessly use the authority of the Shogun family’s seal the inside the city 」


  「Muu? I didn’t use it like that! I used it to punish those two ruffians――」


  「I know the circumstances since I was nearby as a guard. However, you can solve this time’s matter by discussing it with each other, right?」


  Kaede-san pointed that out with a harsher voice than usual when Haru tries to object.

  Really, there’s no room for rebuttal. Of course, while Irvine and Mort were saying something or another, they did it without using violence and tried to resolve the matter through discussion till the end.

  This is the reason why she flared up.

  「From the story of the Grandfather that Haru-sama heard before, did he use his authority to force the other party to yield even when they tried to talk it out?」


  「That’s not true!」


  Haru strongly denies it after hearing Kaede-san’s words.

  It appears that inside Haru’s mind, the Grandfather has become a greater person than I thought.

  Though Kaede-san also manages to take advantage of that fact which is amazing in itself.

  「In that case, your action this time is wrong, don’t you think?」


  「Yeah, that’s right」


  When Haru realizes her own misconduct, then she headed towards Irvine and Mort’s direction - who had been standing idly.

  「I’m sorry for flaring up and not properly listening to you!」


  Haru says and lightly lowered her head.

  Seeing that, Irvine and Mort look surprised.

  A Shogun’s daughter, someone who has the same rank as a princess in the Kingdom, lowering her head to commoners like them so readily.

  I don’t know about the Kingdom, but I’ve heard that nobles sometimes don’t apologize to commoners when they made a mistake.

  I can’t judge whether it’s the right thing to do for the daughter of a Shogun’s family to do that, but for one to admit one’s fault is something very difficult to do.

  「No, we would also like to apologize for this. We might also have been in the way, and we discussed something weird without minding the location after all」


  「Please don’t mind us」


  Mort and Irvine said that while bowing to Haru who bowed to them.

  I know it’s a serious conversation, but what do you mean by ‘something weird. Isn’t there a slightly better way of phrasing it?

  Haru returns to our side after she finished apologizing as I thought about that kind of thing.

  Haru had already resolved the matter peacefully, yet Haru still looks stiff.

  Looking at her, it looks like she thought Kaede-san is probably still angry at her.

  Guessing what she’s thinking, Kaede-san stoops down to match their line of sight.

  Then she holds the seal case in Haru’s bosom, and with a kind look on her face she says,

  「This seal case represents the authority of the Shogun’s family. So it will just lower the Shogun family’s authority if you use it carelessly. Please use it only when it’s necessary, just like how the Grandfather uses it alright, Haru-sama」


  「Yeah! You’re right!」


  Hearing Kaede-san’s gentle voice, Haru nodded as she sweetly smiles.

  Seeing that, Kaede-san looked satisfied as she nodded and stands up, then she suddenly turns around.

  「Aah……I can’t help it anymore. I’m going to have a nosebleed. Haru-sama who is smiling brightly after having such a downhearted look is the best!」


  Aah, the reliable-guard look is now ruined.

  This person, would she be okay being Haru’s guard? I’m worried about Haru’s education.

  ◆


  After peacefully resolving Haru’s ‘Grandfather’ event, we return to the shrine.

  The city is in frenzy right now perhaps it’s because Haru showed off the Shogun family’s seal case, so we decided that it’s better to return quietly.

  Accompanied by a new guard with us - Kaede-san -, we took a long walk to the shrine.

  And while we’re at it, I bought some grilled onigiri and grilled skewered foods from the stalls.

  We’ve been walking around the place since morning, and the sun is now already at its highest point. It is now around noon. So it’s no wonder that I’ve become hungry.

  Perhaps Haru is also hungry when she saw me eating the foods I bought from the stalls, Haru asked Kaede-san to buy some gohei mochi and grilled skewered foods.

  It seems like she rarely ate foods with such strong flavors peculiar to food stalls like these since she usually ate foods with light seasoning in her house.

  On that subject, Haru is the young lady of a Shogun’s family, so she lives in the castle that towers over the city.

  Even if you compare such a huge castle with the Haru who is now eating the gohei mochi, the image doesn’t match at all.

  The second princess Kudelia-sama - who I happened caught sight of back at the royal capital’s Noble’s Exchange Meeting - has the atmosphere of royalty that was extremely dignified, but such things can’t be felt from Haru.

  At most she gave off the feeling of a cheeky, strong-willed girl, I guess?

  「Un? What’s wrong Al?」


  Haru turned around to look at me while holding the gohei mochi in her mouth, maybe she saw me from the side and she was curious about what I’m thinking.

  I involuntarily laugh after seeing Haru looking a bit amusing as she does that.

  「It’s nothing」


  「Wait, you just laugh, didn’t you?」


  I was probably able to make friends with Haru because of this straightforward attitude of hers. Unlike normal nobles, she doesn’t have a high pride.

  「Haru-sama, do you want to taste this grilled onigiri?」


  「Then, let me take a bite!」


  Haru bite into the grilled onigiri presented by Kaede-san.

  「The gohei mochi is delicious, but the grilled onigiri is also good!」


  「Yes, you’re right!……especially the one that Haru-sama had taken a bite of」


  I wonder if I’m the only one who feels that Kaede-san’s desire is gradually exposed completely?

  Even when I look at Suke-san and Kaku-san who followed behind us, they still look calm. As though saying that this kind of sight is a daily occurrence.

  I felt uncomfortable thinking about that, but I believe that it’s not a good idea to meddle in others’ affairs, so I decided to ignore it.