Chapter 131

Workaholic [Part 2]

Emma's POV

.........memories of the busy period at work in my previous life and our days of poverty in this life came vividly to mind.

When I looked beside me, George nii-sama alias Wataru, who, in our past life, was even more of an extreme workaholic than Minato, was nodding deeply to Hannah's words.

Nii-chan... not taking a day off even on Saturdays and Sundays had been normal for him.

For some reason, Peita also kept saying, "Yeah, yeah," and nodded along, but... "You, didn't you always quit your jobs without even lasting a year?!" was what I wanted to retort, though I held my tongue, with some effort. The meaning behind his nods was as light as a meringue.

"Thank you for waiting~"

Joshua entered the room with drinks, sweets, and the medication for Hannah's wound.

The sweet smell of desserts wafted around Hannah and the siblings, relieving the previous depressing atmosphere.

.........now that I think about it, it's thanks to Joshua and his father's sales of our Palacian silk that we are now able to live with our favorite cats and all kinds of insects. We owe it all to the Rothschild Company.

"E-Emma-sa.........ma.........?"

I waited until Joshua was done placing everything on the table, then grasped his hand tightly with both my hands.

"Joshua......... Thank you, thank you so much for everything!'

To convey my gratitude, I made a point to look into Joshua's eyes as I thanked him, but because he was taller, my eyes travelled up slowly until it became an upturned gaze.

What I said to Jadwi a year ago, namely 'Princess, gratitude is something you have to say out loud, or else it won't be conveyed to them, you know? Even if it is their job, if you feel happy that they do it for you, you can say thank you!' was something I strongly believed in after reincarnating.

While I had fortunately been reincarnated with my whole family, and had neither a husband, children, nor a boyfriend in my past life, 'Minato' had received the support of all kinds of people, friends, coworkers, and kind old men in her life.

I had personally experienced times when, if I didn't express my gratitude immediately, I never got another chance in my life to convey that to the other party.

That's why I have to convey my thanks properly to Joshua.

It's embarrassing to say it because we are always together... "Fufufu," I laughed to hide my shy expression.

"...uohh!!!"

*whoosh* Joshua's face turned red as if a fire had been ignited below him.

It was not just his face either. From the hand I was holding to the tip of his ears, every inch of visible skin was flushed.

...yeah.

...I understand, Joshua. Saying thank you directly to someone's face is not just embarrassing for the one who says it but also for the person on the receiving end. You couldn't help getting shy, right?

However, all three of us siblings felt gratitude towards Joshua. It wasn't only me. George nii-sama and William, too, must have been thinking of how grateful they were to Joshua.

George nii-sama and William suddenly hugged Joshua from the side and expressed their feelings of appreciation, following Emma's lead.

The hand I was holding slipped out of my grasp because the impact from the two boys was too strong, but now was not the time for a girl to butt in on the bonding between boys.

"Ahhhhh—!!! W-Wai— Oi!!! Hand!! Hand!! Y-You darned—!! Oiiiii—!! Hey!! Get off! Oii!!!"

Joshua used some rough language he usually would never say, to hide his embarrassment.

Mm-hmm. This must be the friendship between men. ...I slowly backed off so as to not disturb them.

"Joshua, thank you for everything, seriously."

"Thanks, Joshua."

In particular, Nii-sama, a workaholic and the one who had the longest memory of our days of poverty, almost cuddled Joshua with his hug of gratitude.

Joshua couldn't struggle free of the earnest hug from George nii-sama, who possessed a good physique and hunting skills.

Joshua kept yapping around in embarrassment, but I'm sure he didn't hate it.

"Friendship between men is a wonderful thing, isn't it?"

End of Emma's POV

Emma happily laughed as she washed Hannah's scrape wound with water and applied medication to it, but Hannah had a blank look on her face and was silently feeling conflicted inside.

Er... should I set her straight here.........?

♠♠♠

Author's words: Later on,

Joshua: "Even though my hand was finally held by Emma-sama... Ahh, Emma-sama's hands... they were so soft......"

George & William: "W-We're sorry."

Joshua: "Please read the mood well. I feel happy for your gratitude, but you should understand the TPO[1] and back down when it's time to back down!"

[T/N 1: TPO is used in the original text and means "time, place, occasion"]

George & William: "W-We're sorry."

Joshua: "That bashful look... It was seriously the cutest...... I thought I was going to die..."

George & William: "W-We're sorry. (If Joshua dies, our Stuart family will be over......)"