"Phew... ah, it's getting cold."
"It has been getting colder lately, after all..."
While Rest was receiving a shocking statement from Celestine...
Outside the cottage where they were, several people sniffled and grumbled to themselves.
There were six men in total... and despite their complaints, their gazes were fixed squarely on the cottage.
Their true identities were magicians and soldiers serving separate noble houses.
They worked in pairs. The first pair belonged to House Rosemary, the second pair to House Crocus. And the last... belonged to House Cattleya.
Each pair served as bodyguards—or perhaps keepers of watch—for the Rosemary sisters, Yuri, and Celestine, respectively.
The Rosemary sisters and Yuri were young ladies of marquis houses, while Celestine was a young lady of a ducal house.
Naturally... their stations did not permit them to walk in public without an escort.
Even with Rest around, it wasn't as though he could hover by their sides around the clock.
Each of their houses had selected guards who watched over them from the shadows.
"Um... this is your first time doing this, right?"
"Yes, that's right. I serve House Crocus."
"Never would've thought Miss Celestine would come to a place like this... Ah, I'm from House Cattleya. I keep watch over Miss Yuri."
"Keep watch? Not bodyguard duty?"
"Uh... I suppose I'm also a bodyguard. Not that I know if she actually needs one."
The soldier from House Cattleya gave a wry smile.
The person they were watching—or rather, guarding—was Yuri, who possessed overwhelming physical prowess.
At the very least, he was far stronger than any of the bodyguards stationed here.
Until just a few days ago, he had been held under house arrest at the Cattleya marquis's estate, but he had swept aside the soldiers guarding him and escaped while his master was away.
After that, Yuri had linked up with Rest and joined the frontier development efforts, but... with the Second Prince Andrew personally overseeing the development, they couldn't very well drag Yuri back by force.
The Marquis of Cattleya, though reluctant, had settled for keeping an eye on his subordinate through a handful of soldiers.
"Even so... seeing it again, it's really something, isn't it? Think about how many people have gathered in this tiny cottage."
One of the soldiers spoke in a tone caught somewhere between admiration and disbelief.
Inside the cottage, the young ladies of House Rosemary, House Cattleya, and House Crocus were all assembled together.
At the royal capital's academy it would be one thing, but having this many people gathered in one place in a newly established frontier village was an extremely rare occurrence.
"The person at the center of it all... Rest Clover, the count, huh?"
"What exactly is he, anyway? They say he came from commoner stock..."
"He's the madam's favorite. The master seems to fancy him too, one way or another."
The bodyguards exchanged remarks, tilting their heads in puzzlement.
A boy of commoner origin who had been granted the rank of count at the tender age of ten-odd, surrounded by the most beautiful daughters of the kingdom's highest nobility.
Thinking about it again, he really was a strange individual.
"Apparently his father was a court magician, though they're estranged or something."
"He saved the lives of Lady Viola and Lady Primula, or so I've heard... I don't know the details, though."
"How did he meet Lady Yuri? She seems closer to him than just a mere classmate would be..."
"He appears to be on friendly terms with Lady Celestine as well... Well, for someone who became a count in a single lifetime, it's understandable that people would take notice of him."
The bodyguards chatted among themselves, discussing the person known as Rest Clover.
However... before anyone in particular brought it up, they all naturally drifted toward the one topic that had been on everyone's mind.
"What's... with him... over there?"
"Yeah... what's with that?"
"No, someone does know who it is..."
"Hm? How come?"
The bodyguards' gazes shifted, focusing on the shadow of a building a short distance away.
"Haa... haa... hmm..."
There stood a small young girl.
She had purple hair cut in a bob and was staring intently at the cottage where Rest and the others were, with sleepy yet strong eyes.
Beside the girl stood a woman who appeared to be her attendant, standing ramrod straight. When she met the bodyguards' eyes, she offered a slight bow.
"Um... is it really true that the young lady over there is Lady Lavender?"
"...It's true. Her status has already been confirmed."
The soldier from House Crocus spoke, and the magician from House Rosemary answered.
The one peering intently at Rest's cottage from the shadows was the young lady of the eastern nobility, House Lavender... Urla Lavender.
For some time now, she had been coming here every day, hiding in the shadows and watching.
Naturally, as bodyguards, they had found this suspicious and tried to speak to her.
They had even verified that she was indeed the young lady of House Lavender.
And then... given her clearly identified status and title, they couldn't tell her to "go away," and so she had been left alone.
"Lady Viola and Lady Primula said it was fine to leave her alone as long as she didn't try anything..."
"Yeah. If we try to talk to her, she runs away immediately."
"Because of who she is, we can't come down too hard on her... well, she's just watching from the shadows, though."
"W-Well, is that so..."
Upon hearing the words from the four already present, the two soldiers from House Crocus exchanged glances.
Really... what could possibly be happening at this location?
For the young ladies from House Rosemary, House Cattleya, and House Crocus to appear one after another, only for the young lady from House Lavender, the margrave's household, to show up as well...
((((Rest Clover... just what kind of person is she?) ) ) )
This was the shared question held in the hearts of everyone present.