Bonus Chapter 1 – Princess Iris’s Romance Consultation
That night, after Yuuki had visited Iris’s chambers…
“…I’m finally my Lord’s vassal.”
Iris tossed and turned in her bed. She couldn’t sleep. Today, for the first time, Yuuki had come to her private room. They had been able to talk, just the two of them. It was the first time in 200 years, counting her past life.
She felt as if his presence still lingered in the room, and a smile crept onto her face.
“Now… he can summon me whenever he wants. We can be together…”
Iris touched her wrist, feeling her own pulse. The blood flowing through her veins was now mixed with his. Just thinking about it made her heart pound.
“As his vassal, I have to be ready to be summoned at any time.”
“Are you talking about summoning~?”
“—Huh?”
A voice suddenly spoke. When she looked, a single bat was perched on her windowsill.
“Oh, it’s you, Niil-san. You startled me.”
“Iris-sama, do you want the boss to summon you~?” Niil asked, tilting her head. “If you want him to, I can go tell him~!”
“Please wait!”
“Wait~?”
“…I do want him to. I really do, but…”
But if she were summoned, she would have to make him bring her all the way back here again. She felt bad about causing him that much trouble.
…But I want to see him.
…I want to see him right now and throw my arms around him.
“But… when he summons me, I… I end up in my underwear.”
“Nothing to worry about~!”
“You really think so?”
“I’m naked, you know~?”
“That might be fine for a bat, but…”
“Besides, I don’t think the boss minds that sort of thing at all~.”
“…You’re right.” Iris sighed. “But that’s precisely the problem.”
It had been the same in her past life. Her Lord hadn’t been the least bit flustered, even when he saw Alice in her underwear.
Of course, she had been just a child back then, and he had looked after her since the day she was born. He had babysat her, helped her change, and wiped the sweat from her brow when she was sick. It made sense that he wouldn’t feel flustered by the Alice of that time.
But the Iris of today was different.
Yuuki didn’t know the young Iris. They had been born and raised in different places and had met as if by fate. Iris had been raised as a princess, had learned etiquette, and possessed at least some small amount of grace.
And yet—
“My Lord doesn’t see me as a girl at all!”
“Lady Iris, you’re Alice from Fira Village, right~?”
“Yes.”
“So the boss just thinks of you as someone he’s close to. Someone he trusts completely~.”
“…I’m happy about that, but…”
What could she do? Her Lord thought of his past-life Alice as family. That was why he treasured the current Iris. But because of that, he didn’t see her as a woman.
Their current relationship was still that of Dean Nosferatu, the immortal guardian of Fira Village, and Alice, the village girl.
He had, of course, promised to marry her, but…
“It’s not fair that I’m the only one in love.”
“What are you going to do about it~?”
“I’ll make my Lord fall in love with me, even if it takes my entire life.”
“How, specifically~?”
“I don’t know, but…”
But she had to. She had to make this 200-year-old love a reality.
Iris closed her eyes, clenching her fists in determination. In her mind, she saw the faces of her past-life father, Lyle, and her mother, Remilia. Both were grinning at her. “Go for it, Alice! Show My Lord what you’ve got!” “Unleash those 200 years of feelings, Alice!”
“I don’t know how,” Iris said, her resolve firm, “but I’ll do my best. I’ll do everything I can.”
“Okay! Niil will cheer for you, too~!”
“In my past life, my Lord always said, ‘Start with the easy parts of a hard problem. And if you don’t know, ask someone.’ I’ll follow his advice.”
And with that, Iris sat at her desk and began to write a letter.
The next day, Odette came to the western villa.
“What is it, Iris? To call for me so suddenly.”
“I’m sorry, Odette. I had something I needed to discuss with you.”
“Discuss? Very well. I am listening.”
Iris and Odette sat in chairs across from each other at a table. Odette looked tense. Iris took a deep, steadying breath, and then—
“This is purely hypothetical, of course… but how do you think one would make a much, much older man—who only thinks of one as a daughter—fall in love with them, Odette?”
“If you’re not even going to try to hide it, you don’t need to call it hypothetical!”
After her initial outburst, Odette listened to the rest of the story with rapt attention. She, it seemed, was quite taken with the theme of ‘How to Make Yuuki Fall in Love.’
And so, the two girls talked excitedly for hours. But on this day, neither Iris nor Odette could possibly have known that this ‘council’ would be held again and again, many times over.
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