A few days later.
　Princess Iris's carriage arrived at the quarters.

"Princess Iris-Lestia, the Eighth Princess, by order of the Lady Iris-Lestia, has come to receive you.
'Yuki-sama. His Highness Iris has sent someone to see you.
They're here.

　Martha and Remy came for me.
　I've heard from Iris beforehand, so I'm ready to go.
　I got my clothes and hair done, and my hair was washed by Martha and Remy yesterday.

'Let's go then. Martha.
Yuki.
What's going on?
Why do you take Martha's hand as a matter of course?
I thought you might want to come with me.
Why would you want to do that?
"Because, Martha, you've never seen the palace?
'Of course. Martha is a maid from the province.
So I thought I'd show you.
Please don't make it that easy.
Is that a problem?
I'm afraid I'd have to ask your permission, Princess.
Why don't you ask Princess Iris for permission?
If the Princess insists, then Martha should be prepared to do the same.
Okay. Okay, then.
Sometimes Yuki-sama does things that make Martha's heart stop beating.
I wanted to introduce you to my partner.
Are you happy for me? I'll see you next time.
Okay. Next time.

　After high-fiving Martha, I climbed into the carriage.



　The royal carriage is passing through the nobleman's gate and heading towards the royal palace.
　The only people in the carriage are me and the king's men.
　He doesn't even look at me. It's like he's just going about his business in silence.

"Goshujin.

　Outside the window, a bat, Dick, is flying through the window.
　Quickly and quickly, he waves his wings and goes away. It's a signal that everything is fine.

　In the skies of the king's capital, a "bat network" has been created around the errand boy Dick.
　During the day, only Dick, Neil and Gale can move around, but at night, even ordinary bats join in, and the system is designed to obtain information from the capital, the palace and all the skies.

　But so far, no one's done anything to me or Iris.
　And it seems that Princess Salvia is doing just fine.

Ladies and gentlemen, we're about to enter the West Palace. Get ready.

　As they crossed the bridge, Gosha said.
　Before they knew it, the carriage was near the royal palace.

　Straight ahead on the main street was the royal palace where the king and his legitimate wives lived.
　Turning right was the eastern detached palace where the legitimate children lived.
　If you turn left, you will find the western detached palace where the children of the side chambers - Iris and her friends - live.

　I looked out the window in the direction of the royal palace.
　It's too bright to see, but the security alarm is set, powered by magic.
　At night I can see something like a net that covers the sky above the royal palace, but during the daytime it seems to be weakened.

　...I want to "hack" it.
　When I see a strong alarm device like that, you know? I can't resist the urge to tamper with it.

　The net of magic comes from around the garden of the royal palace.
　That means that there must be some security equipment around there.
　I'll have Dick and the others check it out later.

　While I was thinking about this, the carriage entered the west detached palace...
　Afterwards, I got off the carriage and was ushered into Princess Iris' room.





''Yes, welcome. Yuki-sama!

　Iris pinched the hem of her dress and bowed to me.

I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I'm not the only one. I look forward to working with you in the future.
Thank you. I will protect His Highness Iris with my life.

　I kneel in front of Iris.
　I hold the hand that Iris holds out and put it on my forehead.
　This seems to be the country's equivalent of a knight's salute.

So, Mary. Now, Mary, you may step back, Lindy.

　The first thing that comes to mind is the fact that there is a lot of room in the house.

''But, Princess, to be alone with your highness in your own room...''
'Yuki-Grossaria is my guardian knight. "Yuki-Glossaria is my guardian knight, the one who will always be by my side to protect me. In a crisis, he is the one I will use as a shield for my life. Can I say that I must not be alone with your lordship in such a situation and leave?
But surely, Your Highness, would you go that far?
But in order to be successful, you have to be prepared for anything.

　Iris smiled at the maids.

'I need to get used to being alone with Yuki-sama, just in case. Wise Mary, Lindy will understand, won't she?
Okay. - Okay.
Now, please stand outside the door. I'll call you if anything happens.
I'm sorry, sir.

　The maid girls bowed to Iris and me and left the room.
　After seeing off their backs and making sure that the maids didn't come back...



"Well My Lord came to me. Oh, good. My Lord is in Iris' room. Heh.
Don't change characters all of a sudden. Iris.
I'd like to have Alice when we're alone together.
It's you.
I know.

　Iris sat down in a chair in the room, with a plop.

'I'm Iris-Liestier now. I have that memory, too. I'll play the role of a proper princess in this detached palace. But you can go back to Alice-Carmine for a while when you and My Lord are alone.
Well, yeah.
Okay, yes.

　Alice stood up and tapped the chair she was sitting in with a bang, a pop.

'Yes. Go ahead.
Okay, okay.

　I sat down on a chair.
　As a matter of course, Princess Iris - Alice sat on my lap.

"You know. You're 13 years old now.
I'm sorry. Alice didn't get her memory back until about 10 days ago, so she's only 10 days old.
Okay. So, did you get the guy you sent to commemorate your memory?
Yes.

　Alice took out a silver wand from her desk drawer.
　It's the same model as the one I used in the Alec-Keels fight against Alec-Keels, but a bit shorter.
　I asked Neil the bat to send it to me. I hope it arrived safely.

I have to thank Ms. Rhodelia from the Grail Trading Company for sending it to me. She made a matching one with My Lord.
"Stop flopping around on your knees.
I'm just happy to see you.

　Alice looks up at me over her shoulder and smiles a toothy grin.

'Does this mean I can use it the same way as My Lord?
'That depends on your research. In the first place, I don't know how 'Ancient Magic' is activated.
You didn't understand?
My brother drew a pattern in the air that looked like a patch, so I copied it with 'Myster Blood' and that's how I got my magic triggered.
...My Lord is still amazing.
''But before I join the 'Magic Guild', I need to get the basics down. That's why I came here today to ask Alice to teach me.
So give me a pat on the back.
Okay.

　I touched Alice's silver hair.
　I combed my hair the way Alice liked it, just as I had done two hundred years ago.

'Come to think of it, I can smell the soap in My Lord's hair.
I washed it yesterday.
'My Lord has a hair?　You only wash it once a month because it has a slower metabolism than humans.　Bullshit. So you're okay with bubbles in your eyes now?
It's done by the maid.
I'd love to meet him.
I wanted to bring him along, but he wouldn't let me.
Please bring her along next time.
Do you have to?
'I have to. I want My Lord to teach me how to wash my hair, and I want to call him my master.

　Come to think of it, Martha also said, "I'll go if the princess insists.
　Okay, fine.

All right. I'll bring her back next time.
I promise.
But tell me about 'ancient magic'.
I understand.
Magic management is important, and spell chanting helps with that management. We know that heraldry is the key to activating it, other than that.
There's not much left to say, is there?

　Alice laughed with a troubled look on her face.

''Totally, even in rebirth, My Lord is an outlier.
I've only been alive so long.
''Then I'll tell you about 'Ancient Magic' with the knowledge of Iris-Lestia, who has lived for thirteen years.

　And so Alice is on my lap, happily shaking her body in my lap...

　Slowly, he began to talk about 'Ancient Magic'.