My Stepmom is Too Pretty, and It’s Troubling Me – Chapter 141

“Doesn’t it seem a bit too big to be a restaurant inside the accommodation? At this size, it feels like it could just operate independently.”

“Right…? It can fit all the academy students, after all…!”

I was seated, but I couldn’t help but glance around.

The accommodation itself had a very luxurious interior, but the restaurant we just entered was even more impressive.

Was it because it was directly supported by the Imperial Palace?

I had quite a bit of money, but there’s no doubt that running a place of this scale would require a lot more cash.

Not just the operations, but purchasing and maintaining a building like this would certainly cost a fortune.

“Hey, there’s food coming.”

“Ah.”

As I was looking around, dishes kept arriving at our table.

Not just ours, but students at other tables were also getting their dishes one by one.

There were too many students sitting, and even though they sat in groups, it still looked like a lot… maybe it was because there were so many staff in the hall.

The pace of the food service was faster than I expected.

“Surely… the central area is indeed something else. Although it’s supported by the royal family, managing such a large accommodation and restaurant at the same time is impressive.”

I muttered to myself while observing the interior and the staff.

It was undeniable that there was a clear difference between the cities in the south and the central region.

Of course, not everywhere is this massive, but it’s true that on average, places here are larger than those in the south.

Additionally, before coming here for dinner, I couldn’t help but feel that disparity even more.

“Ivana.”

“Yes, Camelia. What is it?”

“The thing we discussed before. Wouldn’t it be good to try something like this?”

I recalled what Ivana had mentioned to me not long ago and brought it up.

It didn’t quite make sense to me that as someone who would become the head of the family, she needed to earn money through business for proof of qualification.

But I guess there were circumstances on their side that warranted this.

“The info I have indicates that there aren’t any significant tourist spots or related services in the north.”

I had thought about entering the tourism business related to the north even when I was very young.

“Indeed…”

“Most people who travel to the north are wealthy nobles, right? It might be good to create ways to make it more accessible.”

“Is accessibility bad?”

“It’s not good, right? There’s not much known about the north, and the journey is quite rough.”

It was objectively true.

Basically, the north was definitely less known compared to other regions.

There was information available through the Information Guild, but aside from that, there was really little known.

“Wouldn’t it be fine? Compared to doing something in other areas, it’d probably gain more recognition and acceptance in the north.”

In the end, it was all about becoming the head of the Nordal Family in the north.

Therefore, it was essential to increase recognition and influence there.

“I have no idea what you’re suddenly talking about. It seems the teacher wants to speak, so how about we quiet down now?”

“Ah.”

While I was in conversation with Ivana, Ella interrupted us with those words, but… it was true.

A teacher had come up on stage in the inner hall.

“Shall we talk about this in the room later?”

“Let’s do that. It’s definitely time to listen quietly.”

Both Ivana and I agreed.

Business talks… we could take our time with those later, right?

Anyway, we all turned our attention to the stage and fell silent.

The academy teacher on stage just delivered a typical speech.

Like those teachers do on school trips, talking about how we did well on our midterms and how to enjoy this trip and go back to studying hard afterward.

“Hmm…”

Boring.

Anyway, after that sort of talk was over, everyone started the real first meal of this trip.

Although some students had already started eating without paying attention to the conversation halfway through, right?

“Ugh… I ate well…”

“You really did. I felt it was the first time Ella enjoyed her food this much today.”

“How can I resist when I can eat such delicious food for free!”

“That’s true.”

It was really delicious.

The quality of the dishes was undoubtedly good enough that even Ella admitted it.

Honestly, I ate quite a lot this time.

I’m not someone who usually eats until I’m completely stuffed… I barely eat to a full extent.

But this time, I really ate a lot, and even now that I’m back in the room, my stomach feels uncomfortable.

“You should at least drink some water, Young Lady.”

“Thank you, Rize.”

“Young Ladies, if you need something to drink, just let me know.”

“Ella, is there juice?”

“Of course. We have orange and apple… all sorts are prepared.”

After returning to the room, we had that conversation in the living room as we relaxed.

To be fair, I still needed to change into my pajamas and prepare to wake up early tomorrow, but… I ate too much.

“Ahh…”

There was nothing to do but comfortably rest in the living room.

It wasn’t just me; most were lounging comfortably too.

Excluding Rize and Ivana, everyone was just sitting casually.

“Sister, what are you going to wear later?”

“I’ll probably wear pajamas…? Why?”

“Because my stuff and your stuff are both in the same bag, right? I was going to take them out together later.”

“Oh… if that’s the case, then you can just pick out anything…!”

“Hehe… really? Got it.”

The Roseaki Sisters were having that conversation while sitting in the living room, and Ivana was just quietly looking at the outside scenery.

It was an awkward situation since we all ended up sharing a room, but surprisingly, it wasn’t a big deal.

“How should we divide the bedrooms? There are two rooms… and beds in each…”

“The beds don’t match the number of people.”

“True.”

As Ivana pointed out, the number of beds didn’t match the number of people.

In the two rooms, there was only one bed each.

So, with only one bed in each room and six people total, it was a situation where we’d have to divide the sleeping arrangements.

Since the bedrooms were quite big, it wouldn’t be a problem to sleep on the floor with blankets or pillows, but we still needed to separate the rooms.

Honestly, because of the room size, it seemed okay for all six of us to lie on the floor.

“I’ll sleep with my sister.”

“Young Lady, I’m fine sleeping separately in the living room.”

The first ones to voice their opinions were the ones I expected: Grace, who wanted to share a room with Karen, and Rize, who said they could be fine sleeping alone in the living room.

I knew they would say that from the start.

“Hmm… what do the others think? Karen, is it okay for you to share a room with Grace?”

“I’m okay with that. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind sharing with Camelia instead of Grace either…!”

“It seems to be so. Is there anyone else who wants to share differently?”

I looked around, and the results were…

*

“Well, it pretty much went as expected.”

“Really?”

“Yep, I thought it would go this way when you brought it up.”

Ella, looking at me as if she were a prophet, must have had a reason for her predictions.

“I figured the Roseaki Sisters would naturally prefer to sleep together. After all, we’re all nobles now. And I expected Rize to insist on being alone.”

“Ah ha.”

That’s definitely true.

Right now, the people in the bedroom were me, Ella, and Rize.

The reason it had come to this was indeed as Ella had mentioned.

Ultimately, Ivana’s opinion didn’t affect things much, but she had said it was fine herself.

“Young Lady, everything is prepared.”

“Thank you, Rize.”

Anyway, we changed out of our clothes into pajamas and were slowly getting ready for bed.

Even Rize, who had been in her maid uniform since we left the dormitory this morning, looked adorable in her pajamas.

“Hmm… you.”

“Yes, Ella. What is it this time?”

“Isn’t the bed bigger than you thought?”

“That’s true, isn’t it?”

Ella said this while looking at the bed.

I wondered what prompted her to comment on the bed’s size.

It was true that the bed was quite large, likely capable of fitting four to five people comfortably.

“Even lying here… the bed feels so spacious…”

Ella lay down on the bed and said that.

I don’t know what point she was trying to make, but seeing her in her cute pajamas lying alone on the bed made me think she looked simply adorable.

“Ella, what’s your point?”

“Don’t you think it’d be fine to let Rize share the bed too? Honestly, I feel like it wouldn’t be a problem for all three of us to lie down together.”

“Ella…?”

“To be honest, I don’t really mind Rize sharing the bed, and neither do you, Camelia, right?”

Ella was suggesting that Rize join us on the bed.

It was a good suggestion, and it would certainly be better than letting Rize sleep on the floor for no reason.

But the problem was…

“We were going to share the bed anyway.”

“Huh?”

“Well, it’s quite common for Rize and me to sleep in the same bed, after all?”

“Oh… really…?”

“Yeah.”

I just said that.

No, it’s true that I often slept in the same bed as Rize.

From the beginning, I had shared a bed with Rize so many times that it had practically become a routine since we moved into the dormitory.

“…Young Lady.”

“What? You don’t like it?”

“Well… that’s not it, but… still…”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. Ella said it’s fine too, right? Or I could just sleep in between the two of you. Okay?”

Rize still showed a slightly uncomfortable reaction.

Sleeping next to me was one thing, but being in bed with Ella was a different story altogether.

“Ella doesn’t mind, right? Even if I join in the middle?”

“Honestly, sleeping in the middle might be more uncomfortable. I really don’t care.”

“She said it’s fine?”

“…Alright.”

Honestly, it was something I’d planned from the moment the three of us ended up in the same room.

Sleeping between two girls might feel a tad awkward, but since I was already used to sleeping next to Rize, adding Ella to the mix wasn’t drastic.