“Uhm, ehem, would you mind introducing her?

“Eek!”

　At the moment we kissed a voice called out to me then Elsa screamed and clung to me.
　I was also surprised that I got to kiss the second time in my life.

“Hey, I kept you waiting, Doji”⌈¹⌋

“Carlo-sama, you completely forgot about me and enjoyed yourself, didn’t you?”⌈²⌋

“Tha, that can’t be, I would never do that”

　……****, I completely forgot about him.
　Doji looked at me with doubtful eyes.
　Don’t look at me like that.

“Elsa, this is Doji. He’s serving me. He’s a strong, brave and really reliable man.”

　Though I tried to praise him to gloss over the fact that I forgot about him but it didn’t seem to be very effective. ⌈³⌋
　That good-natured, loyal Doji was looking at me doubtfully from the side.

“Doji, this girl’s named Elsa. She’ll come back with us to Braham.”

“Nice to meet you, Doji-sama, I’m Elsa. As I became Carlo-sama’s mistress please take care of me.”

　Yeah yeah, she became my mistress today……I mean, hey!
　Elsa, what are you declaring so proudly?!

“Mi, mi, mistress……What do you mean?”

　At that moment Doji was so surprised his eyes started spinning.
　No, even if you ask what it means, it means exactly what she said.

　But that’s when I noticed.
　What do I say to Pikaru and Melissa when I take Elsa back with me to the mansion?
　Even just imagining it is horrible.
　Though I made her my mistress in the spur of the moment I didn’t think about this back then.
　Even though I’m still a virgin.

　Mmm, no matter how I think about it, it’s bad to return together with Elsa.
　I mean it would be the same with Lunos and Nals if I take her to the mansion in Ruan.
　If I do that they would definitely rat me out to Pikaru.

　While I was thinking about such things Elsa, not knowing what to do, started fidgeting and Doji who heard about her being my mistress looked at us confused.
　As I thought I have no choice but to take her to the hideout.
　But to do that I would have to talk with Elsa about Akatsuki and how to take her to the hideout is a problem as well.

　Aah, what should I do?!
　Just a moment ago the inside of my head was filled with happiness and pink but as soon as I returned to reality a lot of problems appear.
　It gradually becomes troublesome.
　Aaah, I’ll just improvise

“Elsa, Doji, listen”

“Yes, Carlo-sama”

“What is it?”

　I decided to explain it to those two immediately.

“I want to take Elsa back with me to Braham but I won’t take her to my mansion.”

“That’s right, if Melissa-sama finds out about this she’ll get angry.”

　For that villain Carlo to get yelled at by maid.⌈⁴⌋
　But looks like Doji thought the same as my.

“Ehm, then where are you going to take me……?”

　Looks like Elsa was already uneasy.

“I actually have a hideout in Braham.”

“Eh, a hideout! That’s kind of cool”

“I intended to let you go there Elsa.”

“I’m okay with anywhere you put me”⌈⁵⌋

“That’s my base for doing undercover work. This is a secret not even Melissa or Pikaru know about. Doji, can you keep that secret?”

“O, of course. I’ll keep that secret even if it costs my life.”

　Doji had an earnest face after he heard about this secret no one else knows about.
　Though Crescent Moon knows about the hideout but she isn’t acquainted with Doji.
　While looking at this I held back the urge to laugh and continued to talk with a straight face.

“I’ll tell you this because I trust you, Doji. When I’m there I’ll be wearing a mask and go with the name “Akatsuki”.”

“A mask……! This is getting even cooler”

“Anyway, it’s undercover work. So, I have a request for you Doji.”

“What is it?”

“I want you to secretly take Elsa to this hideout”

“Yeah, understood. I’ll definitely take her there.”

“Yeah, if it’s you I know you can do it, Doji. Take care of you on the way”

“Please leave it to me!”

　Doji was enthusiastic because I gave him a special mission.
　He was completely dauntless.

“Elsa, tonight it’s already too late. Stay overnight somewhere and then tomorrow you should leave. Is there an Inn somewhere around here?”

“Yes, there’s a small inn located a bit away from here”

　Doji brought Elsa to the in together with me.
　On the way, I told Elsa to call me “Akatsuki”.
As there was luckily still one room in a good condition still vacant I paid the money, made Elsa stay there and left.

“Doji, sneak out of the mansion early in the morning tomorrow and go pick up Elsa.”

“……Understood. I’ll be careful not to be found out by Lunos or Nals or the other knights.”

　Doji was talking in a low voice even though we had yet to reach the residence.
　Well, it’s good to be fired up, right?

　Neither Lunos nor Nals have returned yet when we arrived at the mansion.
　I took Doji into my room handed him a map to the hideout and the key to it and also some money.

“Then I’m counting on you, Doji”

“……Please leave it to me”

　For some reason, Doji left my room while tip-toeing.
　You’re too suspicious.

　The following day when I got up in the morning Doji wasn’t there anymore.

“Carlo-sama, I told Doji to stand guard but I don’t see him anywhere, do you know where he is?”

“Yeah, he remembered that he had to do something and returned to Braham earlier.”

　Lunos asked me curiously and I answered appropriately.

“Nals, how did the negotiations with State Minister Walles turn out?”

“Everything got settled safely. First, to the matter of the military expansion without the royal family’s permission. He gave his tacit consent. I confirmed that it isn’t a problem to remove the original tariff. Furthermore, the pavement between Braham and the Capital was particularly permitted as well.

　Alright, it’s great that the permission to pave the road between the Capital and Braham was given.
　I assumed that fearing another country might invade or the nobles would start a revolt they wouldn’t grant the permission to pave the road.
　That was a major hindrance to logistics and it would cause a delay in sending troops in the case of something happening.
　If I pave it I can immediately react if the conservative nobles show some threatening movements and I wanted to do it because it’s convenient for me when I’ll do the coup d’état in the future.

“How’s the matter with Princess Charlotte going?”

“Yes, although the engagement itself depends on Carlo-sama’s achievements, but all talks of Her Imperial Highness the Princess’s engagements got suspended or cancelled.”

　With this Sharon won’t get engaged to someone she doesn’t know.
　Next, I should earn some credits by fighting the conservative nobles.

“You did well. It seems like we can move considerably freely with this.”

“That’s right, after that we have to quickly arrange the military so that we are able to move at any time.”

　I build connections to the Royal Family, I made progress in the matter of getting engaged to Sharon and I met some nobles (Though they are old men) who hold antipathy towards Duke Armandi Rejum.
　Operation DDT which was my biggest purpose for coming here⌈⁶⌋ failed though I somehow gained a mistress through that, but all in all I was able to accomplish everything I came here for so shall I return to Braham soon?

“Then shall we return to Braham tomorrow morning?”

“That’s right, the ladies here might hold a grudge against me if I stay here for too long.”

　Lunos approached some women to get some information but it might get hard for him if it grows too deep.

“Then I shall pass the official documents with Minister Walles today”

“Please do. I’ll go to the Royal Palace for the time being as well”

　I went to the castle together with Nals.
　That’s because I wanted to see Fraudia one last time if possible.

　I’m quite the bad man for being concerned about Frau when I’m like this with Elsa.
　Well, I’m still a virgin.

　I entered the Royal Palace and greeted Minister Walles and General Dolus first.
　I tried looking for Earl Mcbell, also known as mantis, but I couldn’t find him.
　That guy, he must have gone into hiding after that failed assassination attempt on me.

　Though I walked around for a long time I couldn’t find Frau, but just when I thought about giving up I found her while walking up the Royal Palace’s corridor.

“Carlo-sama!”

“Frau, were you able to safely return after that matter?”

“Yes, more importantly, Carlo-sama is also safe.”

“Yeah, I decided to depart from Ruan tomorrow morning.”

“Did you come to the castle because of that?”

“Yeah, I thought I might be able to meet Frau.”

“……Well”

　Frau looked down bashfully.
　Her cheeks turning red is just too cute.

“I won’t be able to meet you for a while but I’ll come again as soon as possible so stay healthy.”

“Carlo-sama, please take care of your body as well. I pray for your success.”

　This child mostly knows about those circumstances.

“Yeah, I’ll try my best.”

　If I get engaged to Sharon the chances to meet Frau might increase.
　I actually wanted to hug her but as it was hard to do I just gently touched her cheek and parted from her.
　I could watch that back who was seeing me off forever.

　OK, let’s get back to Braham and do our best.