His Highness Filia and I both took our time savoring and drinking the tea, then placed the cup on the table.
　At the same time, His Highness stood up.

'I have to go and change this time. You'll be in trouble.'

Who's going to be pissed at you?

　By the time I voiced my doubts, His Highness Filia had withdrawn to her bedroom.
　I was left alone, and I was vaguely lost in thought.
　The sound of clothes scraping came from the bedroom, making me aware that His Highness Filia was changing.
　I don't have any guilty feelings for a fourteen-year-old girl, though.
　I also think she's a bit vulnerable.

　Dr. Lucy said.
　His Highness's beauty can be compared to a pretty lily, and his wisdom is comparable to that of a wise man of the past.
　I see.

　It's true that His Highness is a beautiful girl with a fine figure. And she's also very quick-witted.
　But for me, it was the mysterious cheerfulness of the princess that left a far greater impression.
　She was innocent and charming, yet somehow unreasonably cheerful.
　How did she come to behave like that?

　Before I could collect my thoughts, there was a knock at the door.
　Please come in, I said, am I allowed to say?
　As I hesitated, the door was quietly opened.

'Your Highness?　Aren't you here?

　Peeking out, a maid peeked out.
　She was wearing the same maid's uniform that His Highness Filia had been wearing earlier.
　She's quite pretty, but with a few freckles that stand out.
　The other woman looked at me and gave me a strange look, so I stood up.

''Nice to meet you. I'm Your Highness's tutor.

Yeah. You're the new tutor? I'm sorry to hear that.

　She said very coldly.
　'Sorry?
　What does that mean?

　The maid continued.

'You'll have to tell Your Highness that you'll have to manage your own maidservants better. You can at least manage your own maidservant.

What's going on?

'Yes!　The maids of His Highness Filia, you know, no matter what they do, they always fail. Besides, I don't know where they went this time!

Yeah.

　I nodded vaguely, and the maid went away, looking sullen.
　She had a very thorny vibe about her.
　An imperial princess and an imperial maid. I felt that she had malicious intentions towards both of them.

''I'm sorry?　I had to send Solon to talk to her. If I met that maid in her maid's uniform, she would be extremely angry with me. Oh, I've changed now.

　I noticed that the Princess Filia had finished changing and was standing beside me.
Filia was dressed in a dark blue dress.
　It's a simple design with the shoulders exposed, but it's clear that it's made of high quality materials, and it's a much more imperial dress than a maid's uniform.

''What do you think?　Do you think Solon looks good in this outfit?

　With a twirl, His Highness Filia flipped herself around.
　The hem of the dress swayed softly.
　I smiled.

''It looks good on you. I think you're dressed very much like a princess.'

I don't know.

　'Heh,' laughed His Highness Filia, 'this outfit was chosen by my handmaiden.

'This dress, my handmaiden picked out for me.

'Heh. The man has good taste.

Yes. She's not good at housework and she's unreliable, but she's a sweet maid who teaches me things. But...

　Suddenly, His Highness Filia's expression became serious.
　Her beautiful eyes were tinged with melancholy.

''That my maid is missing.

Missing?

He hasn't been to work in three days.

　I see. The freckled maid from earlier said, "No matter what you make me do, I keep failing. Besides, I don't know where he went this time.
　When I mentioned this, His Highness shook his head.

'Yes, she may not be a very good maid, but she's a serious girl, you know?　I've never had someone stop coming out of nowhere before.

I'm worried about that.

And I was so excited when I heard that Solon was going to be my tutor. He's a big fan of yours.

I hope you won't be disappointed to see him.

You won't be disappointed, will you?

I don't know.

　Come to think of it, on the way back to the imperial capital, there was a girl who told me that she was a big fan of the "Heroic Solon".
　As I recall, she was also a maid in the imperial palace, and her name was Clarice.
　I was using a false name at the time, though she didn't know I was Solon.
　I defeated the bandits as a wizard while hiding my identity in front of Clarice. I remember the glittering eyes Clarice gave me at that moment.
　It was nice to be gazed at with eyes like that, but I was a little embarrassed.

　His Highness Filia, on the other hand, sighed.
　Her Highness said.

'I can't wait for Clarice to meet Solon.

"Huh?

Oh, my personal maid is Clarice. She's a tiny, pretty little girl with very beautiful flaxen hair.

　I see.
　So His Highness Filia's maid was Clarice.
　It's a small world.
　When I explained the circumstances to His Highness Filia, he was a little surprised, and then laughed happily.

'Amazing coincidence!　It's like the red thread of fate!

'But I was using an alias, you know. It's a little awkward, I guess...

'I don't think Clarice will care about that, do you?　But anyway, we can't introduce you to Solon if Clarice is still missing, can we?

Does that mean anything to you?

'Clarice is a live-in maid, so I don't think it's normal for her to be gone out of the blue. My parents are a long way from home, and if I was going back, they would have told me first.

　Hmm, His Highness Filia held her head in her hands.
　It would be a big problem for His Highness if he didn't have only one personal maid.
　It's simply not peaceful to have a young woman missing for three days.

　It's not within the scope of a tutor's duties, but I'd like to do something about it.
　But I have no clue.

　Just then, I heard a sound from near the door.
　It was as if there was a letter or something in the mailbox.
I was a bit impressed, because I thought that the vastness of the Imperial Palace had a mailbox in every room.
I retrieved the letter from there and handed it to His Highness Filia.

'Your Highness, it looks like a letter.

Thank you, Your Highness. Also, calling me "Your Highness" is a bit stuffy, so I'll call you something else.

Or is that what you call it?

Just call me Phylicia.

That sounds a bit frightening, but...

It's okay. Hey, you can call me Phylicia.

Lady Filia?

No?　We have to call him by his name.

Uh, uh, Phyllia?

Yeah, yeah. Again.

Philia.

　I said, blushing.
　I'm not comfortable with the idea of calling someone out when they're an imperial princess.
　But not only that, it's also simply a bit embarrassing to repeatedly call a girl you've never met before by her name.

　His Highness, no, Filia smiled very happily.

''I love being called names,''

Why?

Because no one ever calls me by my name.

　Filia said with a smile on her face.
I regretted asking her something that was unnecessary.
No one wants to approach an imperial princess who has no power whatsoever.
　No one in the imperial palace needed Filia, and that meant there was no one for her to turn to.
　Both the imperial family and her subjects have ignored her.
　No names are called, which is a symbol of Filia's loneliness.
　If there is an exception to calling Filia by her name, it's her maid, Clarice,

　I said.

'After all, please don't call me by my name.

Do you mind if I say my name?

　Filia asks me, her eyes clouding over a little anxiously.
　I smiled.

'I don't hate it, but I'm embarrassed for me. Though Filia-sama might not understand.'

　When she heard me say 'Filia-sama', Filia rolled her eyes and then smiled happily.

'Yeah. I'm not going to be able to do anything about it. I'll forgive you if you call me 'Filia-sama'.

I thank you, Lady Phyllia, for your concern.

　I said in a frightening manner, and Filia chuckled.
　But suddenly, she froze, her expression frozen.

　Filia showed us the contents of the sealed letter.
It said

'I have left Clarice, my maid, in your care. If you want to spare her life, come and get it back by the princess alone.