The three in front of me could only be seen as noble ladies.

They appeared in a typical way like the Shoujo novel that Ms. Dolcie got me to read, and they had an air about them that said, ‘we’re going to warn her’.

They didn’t lose to the dark yellow flowers that were blooming around them.

Oh, is the girl in the middle the leader? Her extremely curled brown locks were very impressive.

Their dresses strained my eyes because they were all in primary colours. It hurts. They didn’t have to flock together. Red, green and blue… Plus the bright golden yellow. It was irritating my eyes.

“Hey, I wonder where you’re looking. How rude!”

I couldn’t help but wrinkly my brows and look down at the ground. The leader called out to me when I did this. I lifted my face a little and looked down again.

Think, me. Calm down, calm down.

Right now, I’m Ann, a noble and daughter of a Viscount. Furthermore, Ann is a bumpkin from a remote region. The people, who were irritating me in front of my eyes, had a higher position than that of a Viscount. They were completely looking down on me.

Do I interact with them as a secretary where social positions don’t matter? Or should I interact with them as one noble lady to another?

…… I thought for a moment.

They’re saying a lot of things that are denying my existence, aren’t they? Like, “You’re not suitable to be around those people,” or “Know your own place”.

But, they were like puppies compared to my sisters’ harsh words towards me when I lived in the estate. It didn’t pierce me like the words and attitudes of the servants who were clearly malicious towards me to relieve their anger.

Are we the same age? It was cute how they were sticking their hands on their hips while puffing out their chests.

These people were just telling me to be careful, they didn’t state their name.

They probably heard about me from somewhere, and were just complaining to me about it.

I wonder if ladies of marriageable age have a lot of free time…

I’m not like a heroine from a novel.

I don’t have a knight to protect me.

Well, it doesn’t look like they have any weapons on them.

I could ignore them as the commoner Ayesha-marie until they were satisfied, but as His Highness Luden’s subordinate, Ann, I couldn’t let things go on like this.

“I only follow the instructions of His Highness Ludens.”

(I wasn’t working here because I wanted to.)

I lifted my face, took the hem of my eggplant coloured dress in both hands and dashed through the side of the large Zelkova trees.

“““WHAT?!”””

Sweep the problem under the rug… No, a wise person keeps away from danger. Running away was the correct choice. I learnt this from various idioms.

The leaves of the big Zelkova trees shaking in the wind seemed as if it was laughing.

A woman in the Royal Palace didn’t dash. The most they did was trot. I guess female knights do it in the training grounds?

“““……”””

¹⁾ The bushes on the side of the Zelkova tree shook lightly.

“Woah… She’s fast. Weird fellow. I have to inform Roberto-sama.”

After he confirmed that there were no signs of life, Cafule put his hand to his mouth and got out of the bushes.

For some reason, he was watching Ayesha-marie, who was sitting away from the public, and had secretly joined her.

Sure enough, something had happened.

He was thinking about coming out of his hiding spot before it became a big disturbance, but his target, Ayesha-marie had left first.

²⁾ “Hah, hah. My endurance has dropped. But, here should be fine.”

I didn’t think that I would run this far and struggled to breath.

I would catch the attention of others if I run too far, so I stopped.

I suddenly remembered that Ada had told me to 『ignore jealous woman』. Ada-san would probably compliment me for what I did.

“I’ll go to Hen Inn on my next day off. I want to see Ada-san. And I’m also tired.”

Since I’ve started working for His Highness Ludens, I avoided going out as much as possible because someone might try to make a pass at me.

Luckily, I didn’t come across any suspicious people or anyone who was looking at my conduct while I was Ayesha-marie.

I’ve felt rude glances aimed at me many times when I was Ann. This was the first time they’ve come at me directly though.

I was getting used to working as a secretary, so I decided to go to Hen Inn and was able to get my work done easier than before.

◊♦◊♦◊♦◊

“Lady Ann is quite used to us now. She’s also doing her job properly. However… I wish she was friendly towards us.”

“Yeah, I agree Lancel. But, I’m glad that she’s not coming onto us with ulterior motives. She’s more approachable now.”

“One of the conditions wasn’t, it’s fine as long as you work probably, was it?”

“She probably doesn’t want to deepen her relationship with us more than necessary. It’s the smart thing to do.”

The people at the Royal Capital’s Public Order Consolation Room talked as they liked.