After enjoying dates with beautiful young ladies three days in a row—Viola, Primula, and Yuri—Rest was ready to drop.
The dates were fun, but for some reason they always seemed to land him in trouble and leave him exhausted.
But... it was too early to rest yet.
His streak of consecutive dates still had more to go.
"Oh, Rest. Good morning."
"...Good morning."
Day four of his consecutive dates.
Today's partner was none other than a duke's daughter—Celestine of House Crocus.
When he arrived at the meeting spot in front of the clock tower in the royal capital, Celestine was already waiting.
She was wearing an orange one-piece dress. For a duke's daughter, it was remarkably plain—free of ornamentation—and it was clear she had deliberately restrained its elegance to avoid drawing attention.
"Did I keep you waiting?"
"Not at all. You're right on time. I'm the one who should apologize for calling you out so suddenly."
Celestine dipped her head in a graceful bow.
A letter had arrived from her the previous evening, asking if they could meet.
It was a sudden invitation. Refusing wouldn't necessarily be rude... but Rest decided to accept.
(Celestine... As a duke's daughter, she's ridiculously busy, isn't she? I feel bad about having her rearrange her whole schedule for me.)
Celestine was a duke's daughter.
With no women currently in the royal family, she was effectively treated as a princess.
She assisted the queen at the royal palace, negotiated with merchants and nobles regarding frontier development on the plains... and recently, she had even been put in charge of managing the exclave domain that Rest had newly acquired.
In that land, once closely tended by the queen dowager... Sanada Shoko, there lingered all manner of wisdom and legacies — from distilled spirits to fish farming and beyond.
She had been working tirelessly to set these on track as proper industries, and in truth, it was Rest who had been imposing on her more than the other way around.
(When someone extends a sudden invitation like that, you can't just turn up your nose. If anything, he owed her a great deal... yeah, better not think too hard about *that* part.)
He would not dwell on it any deeper, but they were close enough to have shared a hot spring bath together.
He had long felt that he ought to show Celestine, who had been generous enough to open her heart — not her *oppai* — that he reciprocated with sincerity befitting the gesture.
(Well, call it a date if you will, but the places we go aren't exactly romantic. If anything, I'm the one dragging her into trouble.)
"So... is it true that Sanada Shoko's estate has been found?"
"Yes, it is."
At Rest's question, Celestine nodded.
The matter Celestine had come about was this: a mansion held under the name of Sanada Shoko — the queen dowager's alias — had been discovered within the royal capital itself.
There were even eyewitness reports of someone matching the queen dowager's description entering and leaving the building, so the two of them had decided to go investigate in person.
"A magician from House Crocus conducted a preliminary survey, but... it appears the estate has been warded with a great many magical mechanisms. If one enters carelessly, traps are triggered, making it impossible to get inside."
"And you need me for that."
"Yes. Rest, you solved the mystery of the villa by the sea. Perhaps you could unravel these riddles as well and find a way in."
"I see... then, lead the way."
A mansion the queen dowager had deliberately acquired under the name "Sanada Shoko."
There was surely something there — just as there had been her diary left behind at the villa.
If so, investigating could not possibly be a waste of time.
"This way, then."
"...Is it really necessary for you to hold my arm?"
Celestine looped her arm through Rest's.
She leaned in close, pressing her body against his with an intimacy one would expect from a lover.
"You've already been on dates with Viola, Primula, and Yuri, haven't you? So why not me as well?"
Celestine looked up at Rest with a mischievous smile.
"Besides… I'm hiding my identity today. I'll need a good disguise, won't I?"
"…Sure, I guess."
If anything, it was exactly what he wanted — practically a perk of the job.
The soft pressure against his upper arm was way too pleasant.
"Well then, this way, please."
"…Right."
With every nerve in his body fixated on his arm, Rest was led along without so much as a protest.