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Ashimi was about to say something when two young men in adventurer gear entered the cafe. He and Pryui could tell that one of them was actually a cross-dressing girl, thanks to a mysterious aura they emitted.

“Wow~ It’s so crowded. I heard good things about this cafe, but is it really that good?”
“Yeah. We’re lucky we didn’t have to line up today. Her food is always delicious.”
“Huu. As for me, I’m not much of a cook. Senior, do you think I should learn cooking after all?”
“Haah? You’re not bad, though. You always grill the animals we hunt, don’t you?”
“…I don’t think that counts as cooking.”

Luke smiled amusedly at their conversation, while Ashimi, the elf, spat out in a mortified tone. “—only savages kill and eat living creatures.”

Luke understood that values regarding food could differ between elves and humans, but he chose not to judge who was right. However, the fact that Ashimi openly expressed his disdain in the common tongue suggested he might not hold humans in high regard, or so Luke speculated, subtly cocking his head.

In fact, Luke couldn’t help but notice that in the Elvish conversation he picked up, there seemed to be a nuance suggesting “loving Jill.” He initially intended to ask about it, but he feared he might have misunderstood or that further inquiry could lead to unintended consequences.

“…so, what about Jill that you’re asking about?” Right when Luke was pondering this, the frowning elf asked back.

“Did you say Jill?” But the one who responded first was one of the newly entered customers.

“…what do you want?”
“Are you an acquaintance of Jill’s?”
“Well…hm?”

Seeing the perplexed look on both the elf and the scion, the adventurer-looking young man clammed up. He stared back at them and frowned as he made a beeline towards the last empty seat at their table, leaving his companion bewildered behind him.

“…why would I tell that to you two?” The adventurer spoke in a spiteful tone. Then, as if to challenge them, he nonchalantly sat down on the empty chair and crossed his legs.

As his adventuring companion, the crossdressing girl, looked lost at his attitude, Pryui beckoned her to sit down at the counter.

“It’s empty next to me. Come and sit here.”

With a slightly troubled look on her face, the elf girl added with a restless sigh; “Since there’s drama as soon as they come here, might as well enjoy it unfold…”

That was when Emilia approached the table of the three young men, bringing the story back to the start—

♢♦♢♦♢

“Milady, have you ever thought of getting engaged or getting married?”
“Pfft!”

Monika’s sudden question nearly made me spew out the herbal tea I was drinking.

“—koff, koff! Wh…where did that come from?”

It was afternoon tea time. Although autumn had arrived, the sunlight was still strong, and as someone with a tendency to develop red and inflamed skin instead of a tan, I needed to protect myself from the sun, even in this world without sunscreen. So, I was enjoying tea while studying indoors.

However, my personal maid, Monika, who had been waiting in the background, suddenly asked an astonishing question without any change in her expression.

“Well, considering that the Brandmüller household has been making waves in the capital, there seems to have been several inquiries from other families about potential marriages or engagements.”
“…That’s news to me.”
“Of course, nothing official so far. However, if milady is interested in this matter, Madam Brandmüller wants to address it proactively. Hence she asked me to discreetly confirm your feelings on this.”

That was anything but discreet, though… If anything, that’s a major life event she’s asking me about; she could’ve set up the atmosphere better.

“For now, I haven’t really considered it…”

I mean, marriage means I’m going to become someone’s bride, right? Hmmm… Marrying a man? It just doesn’t feel real to me.

“Besides, this boils down to an early investment for the Brandmüller household in the future, doesn’t it? To be honest, I’m not thrilled with the idea of becoming a chess piece.”

By the way, the wine brought regularly through trade with the elves had gained a great reputation even in the imperial capital. Its price had skyrocketed, with payments typically made in large gold coins (which were worth around 30 times the value of a regular gold coin, roughly equivalent to a million Japanese yen) or old imperial gold coins (worth 10 times the value of current gold coins).

Given this, along with the success of the directly managed café Letindüte and the increased agricultural income due to the use of fertilizers, it was understandable why they wanted to establish connections through me. However, that didn’t mean I had any intention of marrying some random nobleman’s son. If such a proposal came up on the dinner table, I’d flee the mansion that very night.

“I thought so too. Haah, good lord…this is all because Sir Lucas is so slow.”

Somehow understanding my position, Monika nodded her head.

“Why is Luke mentioned?”

That somehow earned me a reproachful look from Monika. She then talked down to me slowly, as though trying to teach a child. “…I understand that you don’t understand how a boy’s heart works, milady, but I am feeling sorry for Sir Lucas at this point.”

Excuse me, what do you mean by that?! As a boy in my previous life, I am offended! Boys are basically fine as long as you talk about robots and beetles to them!

…or so I was about to argue when I heard a knock on the door and saw Eren intruding.

“Excuse me. Lady Jill, you have guests looking for you.”

A guest — what came to my mind was that cynical young elf.

“It must be Ashimi. It’s about time for his visit.”

When I said so, Eren made a difficult face.

“It is him, yes, but there are other people as well. Should we let them in?”
“By others, you mean other elves came along?”
“No, not exactly…”

Eren then listed the names of the guests to me, leaving me stunned with my mouth agape. Monika seemed to be just as surprised.

“Ashimi, Luke, and Bruno…why would they come here together?”

That was a very odd combination of characters I couldn’t believe my ears. Eren herself seemed to be confused.