..
.
"You heard it, right?"
"Are you talking about Ms. Raiko? Yeah, I heard it—after all, it’s the talk of the town... but it never hurts to hear it again. Tell your version; maybe you have sothing new."
"eh! In the version I heard, it all started when Mrs. Raiko and her friends were going to have a tea party, but there was a problem and the venue closed that day, so Mrs. Raiko suggested having the tea party at her house."
"Ugh, that was the first of many bad decisions he made that day."
"Yeah, it was a terrible sha. Even though everything was fine at first, Mrs. Raiko decided to show off her personal collection of teacups. She happily brought all her friends over, and when she opened the bedroom door, she found her daughter—who was a married woman—naked with two n who weren’t her husband, which was seen by everyone present."
"hufff~, that alone is bad enough, but it’s just the beginning."
"It sure is. It gets worse when you realize that one of the n—and who, well... was making love to her daughter—was her own brother, Mrs. Raiko’s second son. That caused Mrs. Raiko to foam at the mouth from the shock."
"It’s still fascinating to hear, even if it’s the third ti today. Also, to clarify, that wasn’t why she went into shock—it was because of the other thing, which was even worse."
"Ah! Since you’ve already heard it several tis, what are the other versions like?"
"They’re all basically the sa, but keep going, here cos the best— ahem, I an, worst part of what happened."
"You just want to hear it again, don’t you? Do you have so weird taste or sothing?"
"No, well... I don’t know, just keep going."
"Anyway, about what cos next, I’m the one who wants to ask you—you have good, reliable contacts... so is it true? the other thing? Is it confird, or just sothing added to stir up trouble?"
"Ahh~ it’s more fun when soone else tells , but anyway... from what I heard, the other person was indeed Mrs. Raiko’s husband, the head of the Raiko clan."
"So it was true after all. S-so, t-the other thing—the worst part of the scene—is that true too?"
"Yeah... Lord Raiko was also in on it at the ti, but the problem was he wasn’t giving—ahem!—well, his paternal love to his daughter, you know, like a sandwich, but rather, well, he was pouring his love into, well, the only other person there. They say they were like a train of—"
"Ugh!, stop, I don’t want that image stuck in my head for a long ti. Don’t give weird analogies, ugh, too late.... I know so noble families are weird and incest is practiced from ti to ti, but this—"
"Yeah, this crossed a lot of lines, in different ways. That’s why it’s the gossip of the mont. It’s widely assud that Mrs Raiko herself isn’t the victim she’s made out to be and was also involved, only she wasn’t caught in the act, plus...".
..
Irrelevant.
That was my thought regarding what I was hearing.
I had gone out to gather as much information as possible, but doing so without a plan was suspicious, so I had to follow a logical sequence regarding my movents.
If I wandered into another courtyard or area that had nothing to do with , it could be bad or even dangerous.
Even in the areas where I’m allowed, if I wander aimlessly, I might start to arouse suspicion.
But for now, using the excuse of being new and disoriented, I was able to move around a bit more than usual between my quarters and places I used daily, like the dining hall and the bathhouse.
I spent several hours wandering around and getting my bearings, introducing myself, and striking up conversations with so of the maids, talking about no specific topic so as not to arouse any suspicion.
I couldn’t connect with any of them because they were all a bit wary of , which I consider normal, and although I hadn’t been looking for specific information, I learned a lot since this place was a natural hub for gossip and the like.
So of it was relevant, but other bits, like this one—which I’d already heard three tis before—were useless to .
So, realizing I wouldn’t get anything useful, I walked ahead and went inside.
"..."
"Oh! A new face."
As soon as I walked in, I saw two girls. One was a cat-woman like , with brown hair; she was tall and slender, and she just looked at in silence.
The other was a strange fox-like creature with light blue hair and a well-proportioned figure. The latter looked at with interest. n.
"Good afternoon, is this the Apothecary?"
"Ooh!, a Felren, and a pretty one at that. I just love Felren, ugh!, but I can’t spread my love around..."
"..."
The fox girl started acting strangely once she actually recognized that I was a Felren.
Besides, I don’t know what she ans by ’pretty’—I did my best to look plain and forgettable, but that didn’t seem to matter to that fox woman, and she kept spouting nonsense.
"Okay, ru, you’re going to be replaced by this cute girl."
"Hey, stop talking nonsense. Who wants to be your pet?... But I’ll accept being replaced—if that saves from unnecessary petting, all the better. I don’t like people touching my ears... but this girl, isn’t she the...?"
"Oh, now that you ntion it, the only newcor must be the masseuse who appeared out of nowhere... It’s you, right?"
"That’s right. My na is Rina, and starting today, I’m her Highness’s personal masseuse."
"Oh, what a polite girl. Well, I suppose it’s my turn. I’m Itsuki, the residence’s doctor, but due to certain circumstances, I also run this apothecary."
"I’m ru, her assistant."
They both introduced themselves, and although the cat girl seed wary of like the rest of the servants, the fox woman nad Itsuki—who, according to her, was the doctor—kept looking at favorably, or rather, it seed like she wanted to jump on and pet .
It’s not such a bad thing that she has a positive first impression of , since this is a place I’ll be visiting often and one of my excuses for moving around this palace.
If I can establish so kind of connection, so much the better for .
"So, cutie, what can I get for you?"
"I’ve co because I need supplies to do my job."
A massage therapist is a type of dical professional, and many of the things I use require ingredients that can be found here.
At the massage parlor, everything was already set up, or I could buy it at the store in exchange for Myrr, but here I have to prepare it myself.
Luckily, I know how to do them, since it’s part of the knowledge about massages that was implanted in my head.
I could order oils and other pre-made items, but I realized that isn’t very professional and could be dangerous, since there’s a chance they might be tampered with before they reach .
And more importantly, since I’ll be coming here often, it would be one of my best excuses to move around this residence without raising any suspicion.
"Oh co on, you don’t have to be so strict. Do you have a list or sothing?"
"That’s right, this is what I need."
"Hmm, I see you’re the type who takes her work seriously. Hmm, let’s see... Oh, all you want are simple, low-grade materials. That makes things easy. But don’t you want any pre-made items? I’m really good at making them."
"It’s not necessary. I usually prepare everything I use for my profession myself."
"Haha, if that’s the case, I guess we have sothing in common. Well, let’s see, I have most of it; I’m just missing a few items. We’ll have to send soone to fetch them from the main Apothecary. Hey, ru, go get these things."
"Okay!."
"Alright, I’ll bring you what you asked for. Just wait a mont."
It seems there’s no problem with my order, and Dr. Itsuki went into a room behind her, while the assistant ru left and headed to what appeared to be the main warehouse to fetch supplies that weren’t available in this Apothecary, which was exclusive to the Amarillys residence.
I wonder if I can get so information out of that girl, since she seems talkative and interested in —I guess she’s a cat lover in her own quirky way.
..
.
It wasn’t even a minute before Itsuki ca out with the dozen plants, herbs, and other items on the list.
It seems unlikely, but I’ll check it later anyway to see if anything has been tampered with; it never hurts to be cautious.
"Okay, here’s everything. I need to make a record..."
She laid everything out on the counter while taking out a rolled-up parchnt and began writing very quickly—too quickly.
She can’t be an average person; she must be soone above the first rank.
"..."
"Alright, that’s all. Sign here, then you can wait for ru to bring the rest of the materials."
"...I see. Just my na, right?"
"Yes, and note the purpose of these herbs. I assu they’re for massages, right?"
"Yes"
I didn’t sign right away; I started checking to make sure everything was in order, that the items were what I had ordered, and that there wasn’t anything I hadn’t requested.
"..."
"..."
That created an awkward silence between us, and it was even more awkward because she kept staring intently—or rather, she kept staring at my ears.
"Is sothing wrong?"
After I finished reading and checking, I asked her. She herself had given a reason to start a conversation.
"Huhuhuhu~, cute girl, you’re really bad at this."
"What do you an? Did I do sothing wrong?"
I didn’t understand what she was referring to. The conversation wasn’t going where I expected, and now she seed to have an amused look on her face as she watched , as if she were mocking , and I really didn’t understand what I’d done wrong.
Maybe I wasn’t supposed to sign before the items arrived, or there was so unspoken rule I hadn’t grasped yet.
I thought it wasn’t a big deal until I heard what she said next.
"You did a lot of things wrong. Most people would overlook it, but unfortunately, you ran into —an expert at spotting spies. You can’t escape my sharp eyes."
"..."
*****
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