Chapter 128.1

"Good grief, Her Highness Harriet is...!"

"Please don't scold Harriet-sama, Head Maid."

Rishe was walking through the castle with a wry smile.

A few steps behind her was Harriet's Head Maid.

She walked with her hair pulled back tightly and her back straight, she said indignantly.

"It doesn't work that way. I didn't think she'd leave it up to Rishe-sama to come and call me...!"

"No. I asked Harriet-sama to let me pick you up. I wanted to take a sneak peek at the maids."

The Head Maid was surprised when I said this with a strained smile, and then she cleared her throat.

"I-If that's the case...ahem, even though Rishe-sama's maids still have a long way to go, they are all highly motivated and wonderful."

"Of course! They are my pride, my precious servants."

Rishe was delighted by the Head Maid's compliments, and again thanked her.

"Thank you for your guidance."

"...It's only right, since I've made Rishe-sama escort Her Highness Harriet.

The Head Maid replied somberly.

As for being an escort, it was something that Rishe had offered to do, she felt a kind of responsibility.

"The Sigwell female knights have joined us, and the Fabrania knights seem to have recovered from their physical condition. Although not all of them will report for work, we expect some of them to return to guard Her Highness Harriet tomorrow."

Honestly, even if their condition stabilized, Rishe would have advised them to rest until they fully recovered.

However, she couldn't interfere in the security of other countries, so she kept her advice to herself.

Rishe had no choice but to make small talk.

"Head Maid, you're from Sigwell, right?"

For the sake of a common topic with Harriet, Rishe would like to hear about Sigwell.

Rishe had that in mind, but the Head Maid looked at her, dumbstruck.

"...How did you know I'm from Sigwell?"

"Is it supposed to be a secret?"

"No, that's not what I meant...Without me sharing about it, I believed you would have thought that I'm originally a maid in Fabrania's service."

The Head Maid then lowered her eyes, which came off as somewhat cold.

"Perhaps you will judge me by the way I treat Her Highness Harriet."

"..."

Rishe blinked in response, and the Head Maid continued.

"I was in the service of the family of the deceased Queen...that is, Her Highness Harriet's mother. I took care of the Queen until she got married. After she joined the royal family, I stayed with her family, the duchy."

"So, how did you get acquainted with Harriet and His Highness Curtis?"

"I met Her Highness Harriet when I was chosen to accompany her on my bridal training when it was decided that she would be married to Fabrania. I met His Highness Curtis here for the first time."

Then the Head Maid couldn't point out that Curtis here was a fake.

If Rishe hadn't lived on the loop, Harriet would only be the one who could identify her brother.

"――To tell you the truth, when I first met Her Highness Harriet, I felt something close to despair."

"..."

Her remarks were too harsh to be directed at her master, so Rishe looked silently at her.

"Sigwell is not very powerful, and although it has an abundance of books, it does not have the weapons to compete with other nations, such as Fabrania. If Her Highness' marriage with Fabrania had not taken place, the royal family would not have been invited to the Great Garkhain."

The Head Maid frowned and said sternly.

"The relationship between Sigwell and Fabrania is important to the country. But if Her Highness Harriet, who is the cornerstone of this relationship, is unreliable like this, she may damage the reputation of Sigwell rather than build friendly relations."

"But Harriet-sama said that she wants to change."

"Would she do that?...It will be tough, though. Her Highness Harriet is very weak-minded."

The Head Maid dropped that conclusion along the corridor.