"……why did you support the two of them?"

"Have you not already seen through that?"

When I smiled lightly and looked towards Father who had stood up, Father made an awkward expression as he averted his gaze.

"……it was a slip of tongue."

"And, I will return those exact words back to you. When you heard the name "Ferrotta Village", you reacted quite a bit, you know? And you only permitted the talks of them being personal attendants after you heard that name, did you not? ……exactly what sort of connection do you have with Ferrotta Village?"

"What, I"m just feeling immerse in sentiment, is all. The village where I met Melilda……that was Ferrotta Village in the Sezun territory."

"Heh……wait, could it be……."

A certain thought emerged from within me.

It couldn"t be……even while my reason tried to deny it, I could not cast away that thought.

The reason being……would it be possible for a n.o.ble to send their daughter to another territory where danger lingers, a place that was, in addition to that, a battlefield? -such doubts prevented me from casting it away.

To begin with for a n.o.ble daughter to be at the scene itself, even if it is for the purpose of nursing the wounded, is rare……rather, you could even say that it was impossible.

Despite that, why would she go out of her way to head to the scene of battle in another territory?

"Indeed. Your mother, Melilda, is a survivor from the Baron Sezun"s House."

Father sat down across from me, where Anna and Enaline had been sitting early and answered thus.

"Why……to begin with didn"t the Baron Sezun"s entire house pa.s.s away from Towair"s military campaign……?"

"She was mistaken with her cousin who had been taking refuge at the mansion at that time. It seems that she went against her family"s desires at that time and went around the villages that I had set free as a nurse."

"……then, her cousin and her cousin"s family?"

"It seems that they were residents of the Sezun territory and were left in charge of managing a portion of the vast territory. However, her family soon died after the war began. Having no other relatives, she (the cousin) was temporarily taken charge of by Baron Sezun"s house……is what happened."

"Um, this may be an outrageous question, but…….was it taken that the cousin, who died in mother"s stead during the war, was one of direct descent?"

"Why are you asking such a question……?"

"Because……if it wasn"t like that, then why did Mother not become the successor to Baron Sezun"s House?"

"I saw a sketch of her incomplete portrait that was at her house. One that was drawn of her together with the Baron Sezun couple. Incidentally, the portrait that was left behind of Baron Sezun and her were completely identical. If you want to see it, then take a look at it later. It is still being stored in Melilda"s room…….well, for me whether or not Melilda was the cousin or one of direct descent, it doesn"t really matter. Since I did propose to her without knowing that she was from the Sezun Baron"s House after all."

"If that"s the case, then just why……"

"Rather, why are you concerned so much by that?"

At Father"s question, my mind suddenly sobered up.

That"s right……what am I saying at this point in time?

No matter who Mother was, the fact that she was my mother will not change.

"Well, if I had to say, it was the Royal Family"s decision. At that time, they wanted to promptly revive that region as soon as possible and sought to build a defense camp there. In particular, the Royal Family was desperate to do that for the sake of fortifying the defenses of the northern part of the kingdom. There was a means in which she could have taken in a groom for her family but…….well, I tried to be adopted into her family, but when that report reached the Capital, it was decided that I would inherit the Anderson Marquis House. I was extremely opposed to that. I had decided that if I were to marry Melilda for life, I had no plans on inheriting the Anderson Marquis House, and was serious about retiring from the army to be adopted into her family. We discussed it for a while, but were never on the same wavelength……..the Royal Family did not want me to retire from the army, my family wanted me to inherit the Anderson Marquis House, Melilda wished for support from the country to revitalize the territory and the construction of a defensive encampment from the Army, while I wished to be married to Melilda for life. The result of the agreement of the expectations from those four sides resulted in the current state of things."

The unexpectedly grand story caused me to appear momentarily dumbfounded.

"……what a grand story."

"Well, yeah…….in any case, we went off on quite a tangent but I when I heard that they were from the former Sezun territory, and furthermore from Forretta Village where I met Melilda, against my better judgment, I went easy on them."

"So it was like that……"

"……so? Did you hear what you wanted to hear from them?"

At those words, I remembered about Anna and Enaline"s existences.

To begin with, the reason why I had forgotten about them was because the information about Mother had been so shocking.

"Yes, well. I only plan on watching over them after this……since it seems that they still need to undergo training."

"That"s true. Based on their movements from when they were leaving this room, it does seem like they"ll need to train. If it was you, then you realized that even before I met them, right? Despite that, why……"

"Because I want to see it."

"See it?"

"Yes. I told Father before we entered the room, right? To, "please see and hear their wish with those eyes and ears of yours". You have "heard" their wish, so next is to "see" it. The strength of their desire……..and, how strong people can become from the strength of their determination."

Father laughed in a shocked manner at my words.

"……what, can you not just speak honestly? That you took a liking to the two of them. No doubt you already intended on giving them a home even before I met them, did you not?"

"Yes, that"s true…….is that your so-called intuition, as well?"

"Hahaha, for sure."

"Well then, with that allow me to excuse myself……Father, thank you for accompanying me."

When I stood up and bowed, Father waved his hand as though to say don"t mind it.

I reflexively smiled at that gesture and left the room.

Upon returning to my room, I headed to the desk to read a book.

Lately I have been reading books written in foreign languages as well as history books and the like as a.s.signments from Aurelisama, but lately I have started to read books on other subjects in addition to that.

…….perhaps it is because I am unaccustomed to reading books, but it takes quite a bit of time for me to finish reading a single book.

And since I want to spend more time training, recently I"ve always been heading over to my desk whenever I"m in my room.

After quietly reading the book for a while, I heard the sound of a knock coming from the door.

"……excuse me, Ojou-sama."

Three people entered the room - Granny, Anna, and Enaline.

It seems she had Anna and Enaline change, as they were now wearing the servant uniforms of this house.

……even so, I thought absentmindedly, staring at them while indulging in my thoughts.

When they wear the same clothing like this, with their facial features being so similar you couldn"t tell who was who at all.

Earlier it was possible to judge based on the slight differences in their clothes, but……the two of them will have to wear entirely similar clothing due to the need for a uniform.

For the future, it will be necessary to have some way of distinguishing them apart……I thought to myself as I stared at their faces.

They were around their 20s, older than Elder Brother, and had characteristically clear eyes.

……this is no good, I can"t find any differences between them.

Letting out a sigh internally, I opened my mouth.

"My name is Mellice Reese Anderson. Please take care of me from here on out."

"P-Please take care of us as well!"

"……please."

"I will be guiding the two of you. I shall devote all of my power for you to become of use to Ojou-sama in good time."

Granny, who would be watching over the two, said that and gave a model bow.

"I am relieved to hear Granny say that…….the two of you may not be accustomed to the work at first so it will likely be quite difficult, but please work hard. Also, it will be possible to partic.i.p.ate in Father"s training from tomorrow evening on. That is why, if there is anything you need, make sure to tell someone in the mansion promptly."

"Y-Yes!"

"……understood."

It was interesting how, despite the two of their faces being completely the same, they displayed completely different reactions.

"……well then, Ojou-sama. We have intruded upon you while reading. As the two of them have finished their greetings, we will excuse ourselves with this."

"Very well."

As the three of them withdrew, I returned my gaze to the book.

After that, I did nothing but continue to concentrate on the book in front of me.

Only the sound of pages flipping entered my ears.

……it was very quiet.

I immersed myself as if I were being drawn into the world of the book.

"……excuse me. Ojou-sama, the preparations for dinner have been completed."

And when I forgot the time and became engrossed in reading, together with the sound of knocking, Granny"s voice sounded from outside of the room.

I removed my gaze from the book and opened the door.

"How was the first day for those two?"

"As they were unaccustomed to it, they were quite bewildered."

"Well, that"s natural……fufu, I understand that feeling."

"That is why I think Ojou-sama should also become a good role model for them. I shall also guide those girls so that they will not be embarra.s.sed no matter where they go, but as expected, the more good role models they have, the faster they will grow."

"……I will do my best to enlighten them."

After that, I ate dinner and then headed not back to my room, but Mother"s instead.

When I opened the door, every nook and corner of the room was so well cleaned that it gave the illusion that even know, Mother was living here. Traces of her still remained here and there.

"……Mother……"

In front of this room in which it seemed like time had stopped, my time also stopped once more.

However, I returned to my senses after a short while, and started to investigate the inside of the room.

My goal……the sketch of the portrait, was soon found.

Inside of the desk, it was kept with great care as though it were a treasure.

Surrounded by people who seemed to be the Baron Sezun couple, a younger Mother was depicted.

She had a very happy smile.

……however, that was terribly sad.

When I thought about how this happy scene would be broken into tiny pieces not too far in the future due to the war.

Though I only knew of that war from the past as mere knowledge up until now, suddenly it had changed inside of me as something much closer.

Behind that gentle Mother"s smile, just how much sorrow did she keep inside herself?

Just what sort of miserable feelings did she harbour?

I once again gazed at that sketch as if to burn it into my memory, and then carefully put it away and left the room.