My Stepmom is Too Pretty, and It’s Troubling Me – Chapter 105

“…Huh.”

I came back to the Information Guild three days later.

I was curious about when Karen would arrive and wanted to gather a bit more information…

“Why are you here?”

“Is it wrong for me to be here?”

“No…”

“Hmph.”

…What on earth is this woman doing here? I had seen her with my own eyes, but it still didn’t make much sense to me.

Wasn’t she only supposed to work at the Information Guild in the south?

As always, she wore a black dress, her face hidden under a black veil, covering her hands and virtually every part of her skin.

I was slightly perplexed to find the woman I frequently encountered while using the Information Guild welcoming me.

Why…?

“Why are you here?”

“Because it’s my private space?”

“…Stop saying weird things. I mean, why are you really here?”

“Um… I’ve been diligently working as your designated contact at the Information Guild, and you’re somewhat important there, right?”

As always, she treated me playfully.

Well… it wasn’t entirely incorrect. I had indeed met this woman at the Information Guild before and gathered a lot of information thanks to her.

I understood, but it was still quite unsettling.

“Sigh…”

I decided to sit down for now.

It would be odd to just stand there staring.

“So, what are you here for? What information? What can I give you? Hmm?”

“…For starters, I want to know when the second and third years return to the academy.”

“That’s not hard at all.”

“And also about the two new students entering as saintesses this time.”

“That might be a bit tricky, but I’ll give it a shot.”

Well… regardless of her attitude or speech, she was genuinely good at her job. There was no need to dislike her too much. I just had to treat her normally.

Of course… I still thought it was odd that she covered up every part of her body as well.

In the end, if she could just bring back the information, that would be enough.

“…How long are you going to keep wearing that veil?”

“Hmm…? Why?”

“You wear a veil and gloves every time we meet. How could I not be curious?”

“Are you finally taking an interest in me?”

“I’ve asked you before.”

“That’s true, though?”

“I already knew you wouldn’t show me.”

Honestly, I had mentioned how suffocating she always looked with that veil, complaining about why she wore such dark clothing in a dim room.

I hadn’t expected her to take it off at all.

Her voice was very lovely, so it was impossible not to be curious about her appearance, but considering how she always hid it… it made me even more curious.

Of course, voice and looks are separate things, but still, how could I not wonder?

“Sigh…”

“So, how’s the academy? I heard it’s pretty big.”

“It is indeed.”

I started chatting comfortably with the woman in the chair.

I had already been told the information I wanted, and getting that took time.

There was no need to rush.

“Hehe, I actually really like it here now that I’ve come up from the south.”

“I guess it’s definitely more comfortable than the south.”

“Exactly. The south is way too hot in the summer to wear clothes like this… Hehe…”

“…Can’t you just not wear them?”

“This is my signature style, you know?”

“……..”

What on earth is she talking about…

I often wondered what this woman was thinking, but I just couldn’t predict her thoughts.

I had tried thinking about what she might be thinking for a long time, but I really just couldn’t figure it out.

“Want some water?”

“No, it’s fine.”

“You don’t want what I offer?”

“…That’s not what I mean.”

“Eeek…”

…Yep, she really is a bit strange.

I don’t think of myself as a completely ordinary person either, but this woman was truly bothersome and weird.

“Alright, fine. Give me some water.”

“Got it~”

“…Hah.”

…She does her job well, but I don’t even know her true identity, what kind of person she is, and her attitude is just ridiculous… Truly.

“Make it cold, please.”

“Sure~”

…I guess for the next three years, I’ll have to meet this woman every time I visit the Information Guild.

Hmm… Should I think of myself as lucky to be working with someone who does a good job and is familiar to me?

Or should I feel bad about having to meet such an annoying woman?

“Oh, right.”

“What is it?”

“The upperclassmen from the academy will be back starting tomorrow, right?”

“…Did you know that?”

“Yup.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You didn’t ask for it right away, did you?”

“………”

…What a truly odd woman.

*

“When will they arrive…”

I sat quietly in an open space at a nearby cafe.

I was watching as other nobles… precisely my upperclassmen, began arriving one by one at the same open space I had arrived at a few days ago.

Since I had nothing to do anyway, and today was the day Karen was supposed to arrive, I was just sitting there…

“It’s been an hour already.”

No, I think it had actually been an hour, but I still couldn’t see Karen.

Other academy seniors were getting off their carriages one by one, heading toward the Academy Dormitory, but I hadn’t spotted the familiar girl with red hair yet.

“Hmm…”

Of course, it wasn’t that the strawberry parfait was so delicious that I couldn’t wait.

Originally, there hadn’t been any specific time mentioned for when Karen would arrive, and I was just sitting still, waiting.

“…The carriage with the Roseaki Emblem hasn’t come either…”

When will she actually arrive?

It was frustrating not seeing any carriages bearing the Roseaki family emblem.

“…Oh.”

Suddenly, something popped into my mind.

Speaking of the Roseaki family, I hadn’t been paying attention until now, but suddenly something came to mind.

“…Doesn’t she have a sister?”

I hadn’t really thought about it at all, but the first time I went to the Roseaki family was because of her sister.

I had completely forgotten about it, but now that I thought about it, that was the case.

Her name was definitely…

“Grace, right?”

Different from Karen, her eyes had a strong impression, so it lingered in my memory a bit.

Of course, I preferred Karen’s appearance much more, and unlike with Karen, I had never really talked to Grace, so I had almost forgotten her.

“Hmm…”

Did Karen’s younger sister come to the academy too?

I hadn’t thought about it at all, but now it crossed my mind.

I thought she was around my age, so didn’t she enroll as a new student at the academy this year as well?

“I’ll have to ask about this later.”

Well, if I asked Karen, she would probably give me a good answer, right?

After all, they are family?

While Grace was much more notable and had a stronger position in the family than Karen, I remembered that their relationship was decent.

Of course, since I had known Karen, she hadn’t talked much about her younger sister Grace, and I hadn’t paid attention to it at all so I didn’t know much about it.

That must have been the case.

“…Oh.”

After waiting and waiting, I finally spotted a familiar emblem.

It was slightly small, but I had a keen eye.

Even from a distance, I could tell it was definitely the emblem of the Roseaki family.

A lion with two tails.

“They’ve arrived.”

Although it was just a bit more than an hour, she finally arrived.

…Actually, I thought she arrived earlier than expected, but it was still good that she arrived.

After finishing the contents of my parfait, I marched out of the cafe.

“Hah…”

It was still chilly and the season was cold.

It was definitely a different weather from the south, making it less pleasant to be outside, but I still wanted to meet Karen.

Honestly, I didn’t have anything particular I wanted to talk about when I met Karen, but I just wanted to see her.

Just like how Karen loved to visit our mansion every summer break to spend time with me… I wanted to see her like that.

Given how much she liked me, there was no way around it.

I crossed the open space and waited for Karen, who was getting off the carriage.

She probably had to gather some luggage, so she wasn’t coming out immediately after parking.

– Cre-e-eak.

After waiting there for about five minutes, Karen slowly began to emerge.

As always, timidly.

When the carriage door opened, she was carefully glancing around as she stepped out… It was really amusing, almost like a cautious little animal.

I wondered if she really needed to be that cautious just to get out of the carriage… but that was part of Karen’s charm.

“Sister Karen!”

“C-Camelia?”

“It’s been a while! How have you been?”

“Y-Yeah! I’ve been well…”

“It’s the first time since summer break, right? I’m so glad to see you.”

“I’m… glad to see you too…!”

“In fact, I arrived a few days ago, but I heard you hadn’t arrived yet. I was waiting for you.”

“Really…?”

“Of course! I wanted to have meals and have fun with you at the academy!”

“Is that so…?”

As expected, it was the same old Karen.

At first, I worried she was too introverted, but these moments made her surprisingly adorable.

I don’t know… there’s a dark, cute girl vibe about her?

Rather than darkness…

Let’s just say she’s simply introverted.

In any case, Karen was indeed pretty and cute. I personally thought that if she dressed up just a bit more, she’d become even prettier.

Of course, there was no real problem since she looked amazing already without needing to dress up much because of her great figure and beautiful appearance.

“Um… Should we head to the dormitory first…? It feels a bit weird talking like this here…”

“Shall we? I’d love to see your dormitory again.”

As Karen suggested, talking here didn’t feel quite right.

Even disregarding winter, it felt odd for two noble ladies to be chatting in such an open space, didn’t it?