Picnic!

“Ah~”

Young Miss obediently opened her mouth, revealing the pearly teeth hidden beneath her crimson lips.

…I should have been used to feeding her by now, but currently, I found myself involuntarily staring at Young Miss’s lips, incredibly nervous.

It must be the after-effect of exchanging crepes that day…

“Thump-thump… thump-thump…”

My heartbeat was so clear, and my throat was unusually parched and uncomfortable…

“What’s wrong, Ailen?”

Young Miss’s confused voice came to my ears.

…I must have frozen for too long, making her impatient.

I shook my head, discarding all impure thoughts from my mind.

I am Young Miss’s maid… I am Young Miss’s maid… I cannot harbor any inappropriate thoughts towards Young Miss…

After my heart returned to tranquility, I offered the sandwich in my hand to Young Miss’s mouth.

Young Miss happily ate the sandwich I made.

As for why it turned out like this…

“Ailen, let’s go for a picnic.”

Early in the morning, I was still styling Young Miss’s hair when she abruptly suggested this.

“…That’s fine, but why the sudden idea?”

Hearing my question, Young Miss first fell silent, then, with a serious and excited expression, said:

“Because I was in too much of a hurry last time we went out, and I didn’t get to eat Ailen’s homemade cooking!”

“…Just for that?”

I was a bit dumbfounded.

“Don’t you eat my cooking every day?”

“It’s totally different! Eating outside and eating at home are two completely different mindsets!”

“…Have you talked to Young Master Claude about it? You need his permission to go out, right?”

Actually, it should be managed by the Duke, but now all important matters of the Duke’s mansion are handled by Young Master Claude, so trivial matters like this also require his approval.

“Of course! I already told him!”

How did she even prepare this…

“Alright… Well, since you want to go for a picnic, do you have any preferred locations?”

“None!”

She stood with her hands on her hips, speaking with righteous indignation.

“Let’s just see as we go!”

“…Okay, then I’ll go prepare.”

It was currently autumn, the weather mild and refreshing.

A walk outside would be nice.

Finally, I prepared easily portable and healthy sandwiches for the two of us, based on our appetites, as well as some picnic essentials including a blanket and drinks.

At the same time, I also helped Young Miss change into an outfit suitable for an outing.

After getting ready, we headed out.

Without a specific destination, we just wandered around at will.

“Ailen! Look at that! What’s that peanut signboard with sunglasses?”

“Oh, that… it’s a popular mascot among ordinary people recently, called Kabakaba. I’ve collected a few myself; I’ll show them to you when we get back.”

However, I won’t tell Young Miss that this thing is actually an item in the game used as a collectible.

“Ailen… could you wear that…”

“It’s too revealing! Absolutely not, Young Miss!”

“Wow~! Look, Ailen! Kitties!”

“It’s true, and they’re solid-colored, so cute.”

“Kitty, come here quickly! Meow meow~”

“It’s not coming over at all.”

“…Then I’ll go over! Hey, no, why did it run away!”

“Oh dear… Come, little kitty, come to me… Hmm, be good~”

“No way!? Why!?”

“Perhaps Young Miss’s gaze is too fierce.”

“Mmph mph mph…”

“Here, Young Miss, it’s very calm now, maybe you can pet it.”

“Then I’ll try…”

“…Hmph!”

“Why!?”

“…Oh dear, oh dear, this is something.”

“Wow…”

It was almost lunchtime, and we arrived at a park with many maple trees.

Large expanses of maple leaves were ripe and fiery red; even though it was still midday, looking up, one saw the glow of a sunset.

The ground was also covered with a fiery red carpet, as if walking into a world of molten lava. The visual experience and the cool sensation formed a stark contrast, like a dream.

Young Miss seemed very fond of this place, her little eyes blinking.

“Let’s have our picnic here, Young Miss.”

Finding an uncrowded open space, I spread out the blanket and arranged the prepared items one by one.

Then, under Young Miss’s gaze, I opened the lunch box.

“Today’s lunch is sandwiches. This layer is chicken-filled, the next is ham-filled, and the layer after that is purely vegetarian. If you’re thirsty, there’s freshly squeezed orange juice today.”

“Wow! It feels so much like a picnic!”

Young Miss looked very happy, which made all my effort worthwhile.

“Please enjoy.”

But Young Miss hesitated for a long time before starting.

“…?”

Doesn’t she like it?

There shouldn’t be any food Young Miss dislikes, right?

“Ailen, feed me.”

Suddenly, Young Miss spoke.

…And so, there followed a series of embarrassing feeding scenes that made me blush.

After Young Miss finished eating, I lightly patted my cheeks to cheer myself up.

Stay calm, stay calm…

I am the exclusive maid of the Duke’s daughter! I am just doing my duty!

…Just like taking care of my own sister! How could there be a brother in this world who harbors wicked thoughts about his own sister?

Hmm… I think I’m the older sister now.

Never mind! It’s all the same!

“Now it’s my turn, Ailen, ah~”

…As expected, Young Miss was going to start feeding each other again.

To be honest, though, right now, being fed was more upsetting to me than feeding the other person.

I always find myself very conscious of Young Miss’s cherry lips…

So I calmly—I can’t really say calmly, but at least not as ashamed as the first time—ate the sandwich Young Miss offered me.

Just like that, bite by bite, the sandwiches were consumed.

“…This place is truly beautiful.”

Holding the cup of orange juice, Young Miss remarked.

“I really want to come again sometime.”

“Then let’s come once every year.”

I said with a smile as I was tidying the tableware.

“Really? Then it’s a promise!”

Young Miss made her unique pinky promise.

…In this regard, Young Miss is still a child.

I smiled helplessly, freed one hand, extended a finger, and prepared to pinky promise with her…

“Mm, it’s a promise… Hmm!?”

Just then, I was bumped by someone, stumbled, and accidentally dropped the tableware in my other hand.

Fortunately, I reacted quickly and precisely caught all the tableware.

Oh dear, there was still a cup I used… My hands weren’t enough, so I used my foot to catch it.

Perfect! No tableware was damaged!

Seeing my reaction, Young Miss breathed a sigh of relief, then glared at the man who bumped into me.

“You, do you not watch where you’re going?”

But the man seemed not to hear anything, just walked straight ahead blankly.

“Hey! I’m talking to you! That bald man!”

‘Bald man’… Is it really appropriate for a Duke’s daughter to use such vulgar language?

I always feel like Young Miss’s tone is veering further and further into the bad direction… Is there a problem with my upbringing methods?

If this continues, she won’t really become a villainess, will she…? Even though she’s such a good child…

But even with such insults, the man still didn’t turn back, only moving forward in a daze.

“Sniff, sniff…”

…I somehow felt a creepy stench emanating from him.

“Something’s not right… ten out of ten something’s off…”

Young Miss also seemed to sense that something was amiss.

We exchanged glances, then nodded in unspoken understanding.

“Let’s follow him and see!”