How could she possibly lick it clean!
Weir wanted to curse out loud, but didn’t dare to, so she just stood there with her face flushed red, looking at the jailer in front of her, stuck between a rock and a hard place.
“Pfft~ Hahahaha~ Come on, how could I really make you lick it, you dummy!”
Pat pat — she gently slapped Weir’s cheek with her small foot.
After all…
I still need to use that place regularly.
Can’t let her touch anything dirty…
Although, well, my feet aren’t actually dirty~
“By the way, do you brush your teeth every day?”
Ilea tilted her head and asked.
“Ah? Of course, of course I do…”
Feeling like she’d narrowly escaped doom, Weir nodded slowly.
“Mhm~ You have to keep it up, okay? If you eat too many sweets, cavities are no joke.”
What the…you’re actually kinda nice…
Weir blinked blankly, then dumbly nodded again.
“Alright, alright~ It’s just a piece of chocolate cake…”
Ilea slowly stood up and gently wiped the cream from the corner of Weir’s mouth.
Then licked it off her fingertip with the tip of her tongue.
“How could I punish you over something so trivial~”
“Mm…”
Weir slowly lowered her head, her little face blushing unconsciously.
Seemed like she’d remembered something…not so pleasant.
Hoo…
Ilea gently peeled off the dirty white stockings from her legs.
Then, barefoot, she stepped on the red carpet and walked over to the tea cart.
“So, what do we have for afternoon tea today?”
At the young lady’s suddenly gentle invitation, the three of them sat down together for this afternoon tea.
“Miss, what will we do afterward? Shall we go look at those shop locations?”
Yumina looked down at the title deeds in her hand and asked quietly.
“Mm…that stuff can wait. Next, we’re going to see something else Mother prepared for me.”
Ilea dabbed her mouth with a handkerchief.
This afternoon tea included twelve different kinds of cakes.
Ilea and Yumina each had one, and the rest…were all eaten by a certain goddess.
“I-I couldn’t help it~ I’m still growing, you know~”
Weir answered a bit guiltily.
But surprisingly, Ilea didn’t tease her at all. Instead, she looked at Weir quite “kindly.”
“It’s fine~ Eat up, have more…you’ll need it tonight~”
Huh?
What does she mean… “need it tonight”?
Is she planning to skimp on my dinner later?!
Ugh…this woman is awful!
Watching the goddess suddenly puff out her cheeks to herself, Ilea didn’t explain, just slowly stood up.
“Let’s go~ time to see what else Mother has prepared for me.”
“Yes, Young Lady.”
Ugh…
I suddenly don’t want to go.
This evil woman is definitely up to no good!
The single strand of hair drooping on Weir’s head suddenly stood up, spinning around slowly.
Along with it, her pair of big round black eyes also swiveled.
“Oww! Ah…m-my stomach hurts so much (A)~”
The loli goddess clutched her small belly, wearing a face like she was about to die.
“Oh? Looks like it’s from eating too many sweets…”
Ilea raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Then…Yumina, stop serving Weir desserts from now on. Try to keep her lunches light too, things like boiled vegetables…”
“Ugh! I…I suddenly feel all better! It must be…it must be thanks to the sweets! Sweets…really are miraculous! ”
Damn evil woman…
“Pfft—”
Before the barely-suppressing-her-laughter Yumina could respond, Weir immediately stood up straight, looking like she’d recovered at once.
Faced with a choice between future happiness or immediate danger, the goddess quickly chose the future.
“So…want to come along?”
Ilea tilted her head with a smile, kindly asking the goddess.
“Ah? Ah…o-of course~ I’m your personal maid, after all~ ahaha~”
(Damn pervert! Curse you! Curse you to trip on flat ground and turn into an idiot!)
Just like that, the three of them amicably left the main tower of the castle and headed down to the side of the palace.
Further ahead…was the castle’s cellar.
“The cellar? Is what Madam prepared for the young lady one of the castle’s vintage wines?”
Yumina blinked in confusion.
There hadn’t been any mention of a vineyard in those title deeds…
“I’m not quite sure myself. Mother just told me to come here, saying someone would tell me what to do…”
Ilea shook her head slightly.
But based on her own guess…her mother had probably prepared something related to magic for her.
Up ahead.
Though this was her own home, Ilea’s activities were always confined to her own room, her mother’s room, and she rarely even visited the gardens.
As for the cellar — such a gloomy, cold place had absolutely no appeal to a bright, blossoming young lady like her.
Sniff sniff~
While the two were talking, Weir’s little nose twitched behind them…as if sniffing the air.
“I smell something…really strange…”
The goddess suddenly spoke up, causing both of them to turn and look at her.
“Mm, it’s kind of like a corpse, but not quite.”
A corpse?
In this castle…a corpse?
“Is it a small animal’s corpse?”
Ilea tried to confirm…perhaps a rat, or a little bird?
“Uh…if it’s small animals, then it might be a whole bunch…it’s coming from underground, ahead…from that entrance there.”
She raised her hand and pointed.
At that, the three of them fell silent.
“Let’s go check it out first. Mother would never harm me.”
In the end, it was Ilea who spoke up, and only then did the three continue forward.
Whoosh—!
Just as they had walked about 200 meters ahead, a figure suddenly emerged from the shadows on the side.
Maybe because of the angle, when the three of them saw this person appear, it looked almost like she was stepping up one stair at a time out of the shadows.
And this person…was none other than the maid Amisha, the same one Ilea had slapped across the face earlier.
“Young Lady, Madam has instructed me to guide you.”
The maid with crystal glasses gave a slow curtsey, still wearing that timid, easy-to-bully expression on her face.
“Mm, let’s go…”
Ilea nodded slightly.
She still didn’t know what exactly her mother had prepared for her, but she figured…it shouldn’t be anything dangerous.
Creak creak creak
As Amisha slowly pulled a lever by the side of the cellar, the heavy solid-wood hatch began to open with the sound of mechanisms turning.
Revealing inside — a stone staircase that led downward.
It looked very deep, or rather…
From where they stood, it soon turned into utter darkness.
They couldn’t see the bottom at all.
Clap clap!
Amisha stood at the cellar entrance and gently clapped her hands.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!
Instantly, torches along the sides of the staircase below all lit up, illuminating what had once looked like an abyss in bright light.
That eerie, mysterious feeling vanished without a trace.
Sniff sniff…
Weir’s little nose twitched again, feeling that strange smell from before grow even stronger.
Sure enough, it was drifting up from below.
“Well then, Young Lady, please follow me…”
Amisha gave a slight curtsey again, then took the lead down into the cellar.
The other three followed in turn, stepping onto the beautifully aged stone steps.