A hot heart and a cool head.
　I have to teach and guide Filia both of those things.

　And I need to do something about the problem of Esther in front of me.

　While Filia and I were talking, Estelle seemed to have calmed down a lot.
　She wiped away her tears and looked around the room and at the three of us.

　Estelle was still naked.
　We need her to get dressed as soon as possible or we won't be able to proceed.

　Filia must have brought some clothes with her.
　I turned my back to Esther and walked towards the door.

'What are you doing?'

　I grabbed the doorknob and replied as Filia asked me.

'A girl can't be in a room with me as a guy to get dressed. No matter how old she is, she's about ten years old.

I'm 11, not 10.

　There was a small protest,
　Estelle said.

　I think she has a beautiful, calm voice for her age.
　Well, but whether she's ten or eleven, she's still a pretty little girl.
　On the other hand, she wouldn't be so young that she would be fine with the opposite s*x seeing her naked.

'Sorry for getting my age wrong. Anyway, I'm leaving the room.''

　But Sophia stopped me from doing it.

"Solon," she said. I think it's best to give this boy a bath once before he gets dressed. I mean...

　Estelle's body must be very dirty.
　It is true that when Estelle was made to look like she was dead, there must have been animal blood on her body.

　Even without that, Esther at the execution site was wearing a rag that couldn't be called clothes and didn't seem to have been able to wash herself well.
　I think she was treated so badly in prison.

　However, before I ask her to take a bath, I need to make sure that Esther understands the circumstances.

I've got a blanket over you, so it's safe for you to look at her. I'd like you to explain the situation to me as well.

　Sophia told me and I turned around.
　Indeed, Esther is wearing a white blanket.

　It's what I use when I work late at night in this study if I'm cold.
　Briefly, I explained to Sophia why this girl was here.

　Esther is the daughter of the traitor Polos and was about to be executed.
　I saved Estelle at Filia's request.

　Hearing these circumstances, Sophia made a troubled and complicated expression. Hearing Esther's position as the daughter of a rebel, Sophia must have become worried.

　But Sophia didn't say anything, she just said, "I understand.
　We can't talk too much about the intricacies of the situation before Estelle is around.

　Estelle, wrapped in the blanket, craned her neck and her chestnut-colored hair swayed.

'Did your brother save me from execution?'

Well, I guess that's what it comes down to. This is my mansion. I made it look like I killed you and brought you here. So you can rest easy for now.

'Thank you. Also I'm sorry for the ... screaming and all.

'If you're lying naked in your room and there's a man like me, you deserve to scream. Besides, it's better to say thank you to Lady Filia than to me.

For Her Highness?

That's right. It was Lady Filia who said she was going to save you.

　If I was the only one making the decision, I might not have saved Esther.

　It's Sophia, Clarice and Filia that I have to protect.

　It was far less dangerous to leave Estelle to die than to challenge the country and save Estelle.
　So in terms of protecting Filia and the other three, I shouldn't have helped Estelle.

　It was only by Filia's will that I saved Estelle.
　Esther looked at Filia in a horrified manner and said in a whisper.

''Ah, thank you. Thanks to your highness Princess Filia, I am........''

　Filia's eyes sparkled with joy and she replied in a bouncy voice.

'You don't have to be so hard, do you?　You can call me big sister Phylicia if you want!

Oh, Sis!

'Mmmm!　I didn't have a sister or sister who was close to me, so I had a crush on her!

Oh, really...

'And Esther is so cute. I've always thought it would be great to have a sister like her. Hey, why don't you call me big sister?

　Estelle squirmed, blushing and mumbling, "Fui, fui.
　Maybe she's hesitating, trying to say 'Filia big sister'.

　The other party is the Imperial Highness, and she wouldn't be able to call her sister or anything else so casually.

''Filia-sama. You can't force Estelle to do that.

　When I chided Filia, she looked disappointed, but mumbled, "It can't be helped, can it?
　Filia said it was okay, and Esther is still a little girl, so calling her "Filia big sister" might be acceptable as a kind of joke, though.

　I think that kind of thing should be done after Filia gets to know Esther better.

　If only it was possible for the princess and the daughter of a rebel to get along with each other.

　I felt gloomy.

　I heard that Count Polos had a young wife, and besides Esther, he had two other daughters.
　But Esther's family was supposedly all killed by the Imperial government.

　And Filia and I are on the Imperial Government's side.
　In particular, I was the one who defeated Estelle's father, Polos, and caused him to be executed.

　How should I explain to Estelle and what stance should I take in hiding Estelle?
　I stared at Estelle and my eyes met hers.

　Estelle looked back at me with her clear blue eyes.
　Come to think of it, Estelle hadn't asked me anything about her family.

　Perhaps she understands what happened to her own family.

'Hey, Solon. I'm going to give Esther a bath now, okay?

You should ask Mr. Clarice to help you with that sort of thing.

But I want to take a bath with her.

Well, that sounds good, but would you like Sofia to go with you?

　Sophia murmured, "Wow, me," and pointed at herself and made a pouting face.
　The reason why I asked Sophia to do this as well is because I'm worried about being alone with Filia.

　Even though her life was saved and she was in a state of temporary calm, Esther was on the verge of execution not long ago.
　It's not surprising that she was mentally unstable.

　I'm a little worried about leaving such an Estelle to Filia, who is not that much older.
　Fortunately, the mansion is equipped with a luxurious marble large bathroom.
　It's not a problem for several people to enter at the same time.

　Filia chuckled.

I'm sure you're going to be going to the baths with me, Esther and Sofia. Do you want to come with us?

I don't think so.

　No way, I'm a man, I can't be bathing with three girls.
　Sofia was blushing and nodding in small increments.

　Well, I'd be fine with leaving it up to Sophia to supervise Filia and Esther.
　I shrugged and left the room.

　I'm in trouble.
　Not only did I have to stop the operation to attack the Dead City Necropolis, but I had more and more things to worry about, like Esther's problems.

　As I walked down the corridor of the mansion in a daze, I bumped into a young man with his hair cropped at the corner.
　It's Notaras.

　He had rented a room in this mansion and was staying in the Imperial City.
　With the dismantling of the Knights of St. Sophia and the formation of the Creon Salvation Order, his position was not well understood.
　So he has decided to take a wait-and-see approach for now.

　Notaras pushed up his round glasses with his fingers.

'Well, well, well, Lord Solon. Have you read the daily issue of the paper?　You're in big trouble.

"Extra?

　Notaras' sunken eyes glowed sharply behind his glasses.
　I had a bad feeling about this.

　It's a bad news.
　I picked up the extra copy of the newspaper Notaras was carrying, the Daily Discourse, and looked it over.

　There were three main reports.

　The first was that the regular meeting of the Imperial Ministers had been held.
　This is important, I suppose, but I don't know if it relates directly to us.

　It was the other two articles that mattered.

　The second article told us that the execution of the July Party and its family had been carried out, but that only one of its officers, Polos, had succeeded in escaping from the execution site.

　And one of the last reports was that Princess Iris and Princess Filia had been chosen as the nominal commanders of the Necropolis attack operation.