Book 16: Chapter 17: The Butcher's Son and the Princess

Another bonus chapter.

As the long vacation at Serendia Academy was entering its latter half and the social season of parties had come to a lull, Eliane Hyatt, having returned from a summer resort, was strolling through a downtown area, dressed in a freshly laundered light blue dress and carrying a parasol. Naturally, she was incognito.

His shop should be around here, I believe

As Eliane walked through the lively town relying on a map, she eventually spotted the signboard she was looking for up ahead and stopped in her tracks.

Dudley Butcher Shop. This was the family home of Glenn Dudley, who had recently graduated from Serendia Academy.

Fresh out of the academy, Glenn was serving as an attendant of sorts to his master, the Barrier Magician.

However, for over a year now, the Ridill Kingdom had been without a replacement for the former Jewelled Magician among the Seven Sages. Apparently, Glenn's master had been flying all over the country in search of promising candidates.

As a result, Glenn, who was currently holding the fort, had been helping out at his family's butcher shop or so Eliane had learned by having her servants inquire about Glenn's current circumstances.

Go, Eliane, you can do it. Alright, it'll be like this. I just happened to visit this town by chance, and as I was passing by that person's family home, I thought I'd greet him on a whim

Convincing herself of this, Eliane headed toward the Dudley Butcher Shop, but upon catching sight of Glenn emerging from inside, she hastily hid behind something.

Adorably clinging to Glenn's right and left arms respectively were two young girls. Both appeared to be around fourteen or fifteen years old.

The girl clinging to his right arm had her light brown hair tied into a single ponytail and had slanted eyes.

The girl clinging to his left arm had her light brown hair divided into two ponytails and had freckles.

The two girls had somewhat similar facial features, so they were likely sisters.

"Hey, hey, where ya going? Hey, hey, since you're finally back home, play with us!"

"Yeah, yeah, we wanna hear more stories about the Serendia Academy! Is it true that princesses go there?"

The two chattering girls elicited a grimace from Eliane.

Oh my, oh my, what is this all about? He returns to his hometown only to get all cuddly with girls Well, as someone who just happened to be passing by, this has absolutely nothing to do with me!

The two girls clung to Glenn's arms with the familiarity of those accustomed to being doted upon. Finally, exasperated by their unrestrained clinging, Glenn raised his eyebrows and shouted.

"Ah, geez! You're heavy! Ana, Betty, you've both grown up, so if you both hang off me at the same time, I can't move!"

"Well, Glenn, you're being rude to ladies!"

"Even if you're our brother, there are things you can and cannot say!"

Upon hearing "our brother," Eliane snapped back to her senses.

Now that it was mentioned, the two girls did have somewhat similar facial features and hair colors to Glenn.

Oh, gosh, so they're his sisters. If that's the case, it's understandable for them to be a bit too familiar, yes.

Convincing herself of this and calming her heart, Eliane was about to emerge from her hiding spot and call out to Glenn but someone else beat her to address him.

"Excuse me, Sir Glenn."

"Oh, Miss Lynn. Good afternoon!"

The one who called out to Glenn was a beautiful, golden-haired woman dressed as a maid. Her unearthly, mystical beauty caused Eliane to freeze in her tracks.

Oh my, a beautiful maid this time? What is their relationship, I wonder? Just a customer, right? Yes, that must be it

Retreating back into hiding, Eliane tightened her grip on her parasol, swallowed hard, and observed the situation.

Upon the beautiful maid's appearance, Glenn's sisters let out excited cries.

"Oh, it's Miss Lynn. Good afternoon!"

"Miss Lynn, is Lord Louis not with you today?"

In response to the innocent girls' words, the beautiful maid deadpanned a single line.

"Yes, Sir Louis has become a constellation."

After a few seconds of silence, Glenn spoke up.

"He's flying all over the country searching for candidates to be the next Sage, isn't he?"

"Yes, I was being poetic in likening Lord Louis's appearance as he uses flight magic to soar through the sky like a shooting star."

"For a moment there, I thought Master had passed away."

As far as Eliane could gather from eavesdropping, it seemed that while the beautiful maid was indeed an acquaintance of Glenn's, their relationship was nothing more than that.

As Eliane breathed a sigh of relief, this time, a plainly dressed woman stopped in front of the Dudley Butcher Shop.

"Hello, Glenn. You seem well."

The plainly dressed woman had her chestnut-brown hair tied back, and in her arms, she carried a baby girl who appeared to be around one year old.

Well, she's clearly not one of them.

The woman had a child with her, and she seemed about ten years older than Glenn Eliane let out a quiet, relieved breath.

However, contrary to Eliane's expectations, Glenn's face lit up brightly.

"Mrs. Rosalie! Hello!"

Glenn's voice was clearly elated, and one could almost visualize him wagging his tail excitedly like a large dog he was unmistakably overjoyed, and it was directed at that plain, motherly woman!

In the woman's arms, the baby girl, around one-year-old, let out indistinct "Wah-wah" sounds while reaching her small hands toward Glenn. Glenn effortlessly took the baby into his arms.

"Leonora, you've grown so big!"

"Choo~"

The baby girl clung to Glenn's head with her plump hands and planted a slobbery kiss on his cheek.

"Ahaha, that tickles~"

"Choo~, choo~"

As the innocent baby continued planting kisses, the beautiful maid muttered expressionlessly. "Lord Louis would have a fit if he saw this."

"Eh, Master will? Don't tell me he still can't properly hold a baby?"

"Precisely that."

"Whoa."

Eliane grimaced from her hiding spot, unable to approach the lively group.

Oh my, oh my, even though I went out of my way to come here, why is that person surrounded by other women? This makes it difficult for me to approach and speak to him. Look, my parasol is slightly poking out from my hiding spot, so shouldn't he notice me soon?

As she silently willed this from under her parasol, Glenn suddenly looked up.

But instead of noticing Eliane as she had hoped

"Oops, I need to get going!" Glenn said. "Ana, Betty, make sure you watch the shop!"

With that, Glenn handed Leonora to the maid, levitated using flight magic, and rapidly ascended until he was above the rooftops. In the blink of an eye, he was completely out of sight.

Eliane trembled with frustration but could no longer hold back her voice.

"Aaah! What is this all about! You idiot, Lord Glennnnnnn!!"

Her voice did not reach him. Glenn had already flown far, far away into the distant sky.

Oh, how ridiculous this all was. She had even gone to the trouble of researching beforehand and traveled all this way, only to end up like this!

As she stood there dumbfounded, Glenn's sisters ran up to Eliane. Looking up at the flustered Eliane with innocent expressions, they asked,

"Were you just calling for our brother Glenn? Are you one of Glenn's friends?"

"Those lovely clothes you're wearing could you be from Serendia Academy?"

"In-, Indeed"

As Eliane nodded awkwardly, the girls exclaimed excitedly:

"A princess!"

"An actual princess!"

"We had no idea Glenn had a princess friend from the academy!"

"I want to hear all about Serendia Academy!"

"Why don't you come have tea at our place while we wait for Glenn to come back!"

"How wonderful! How wonderful! To have a princess visit our home!"

The two girls excitedly took Eliane's hands and started walking toward the shop.

As the girls pulled her along, Eliane's eyes widened at the unexpected turn of events.

Wh-what is even happening?!

In the end, Eliane was welcomed into the Dudley household with meat dishes and barraged with questions from everyone until Glenn returned.

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