"Lady Irish...?"
"Yes. The Marquise of House Rosemary — the mother of the two young ladies — will be returning. She should be arriving at the manor any moment now."
One morning.
The butler Diebl came to Rest's room and relayed the news.
"Come to think of it... I've never seen the mistress before. Where has she been?"
"The mistress was away in a neighboring kingdom, attending to the Queen. She is an exceedingly talented mage in her own right, and has been a close friend of the Queen since their student days."
Diebl answered Rest's questions.
From what he had gathered, the rightful heir of House Rosemary was actually the wife — meaning the marquis, Albert, had married into the family.
House Rosemary was apparently a matrilineal house, with an overwhelmingly high probability of producing daughters.
Because of this, they had taken husbands from outside the family for generations.
"House Rosemary is a prestigious lineage of magicians. They have flourished by bringing in talented outsiders skilled in magic. Another hallmark of the family is that daughters tend to be born quite beautiful."
"......"
He wasn't sure why.
But the implication behind the phrase "talented outsiders skilled in magic" nagged at him more than he expected.
"Setting that aside... I should probably go and introduce myself to the mistress, shouldn't I?"
"Of course. I have already informed the mistress about you by letter... but she was very concerned and quite eager to meet you."
"Is that so... Well, I suppose that's only natural."
His daughter was of marriageable age, and she had brought a man into the manor from the outside.
As a mother, she would naturally be dying to know what kind of man he was.
"I understand. Then allow me to pay my respects. I'm not entirely sure of the proper way to greet a noblewoman, though..."
"Yes, our lady is a generous person and won't fuss over formalities, so please don't worry about— oh my, speak of the devil."
Diebl turned his gaze toward the window of the room.
Rest looked outside as well, and saw an elegant carriage arriving in front of the manor. It was drawn by two white horses, and the crest of House Rosemary was engraved along the side of the carriage body.
"The lady of the house has returned. Shall we change into these clothes and go out to greet her?"
"Understood."
Rest slipped his arms into the butler's uniform he had been given and checked the mirror to make sure everything was in order.
The butler's uniform was presumably for appearances, since he was officially staying at the manor as a servant-in-training.
After changing quickly, Rest made his way to the manor's entrance, where the marchioness happened to just be stepping through the front door.
The woman was dressed in a young green dress, with golden hair that fell in waves down her back. Her features were youthful, and even through the dress one could tell she had a firm, well-maintained figure.
(Wait, that's the mother of those two girls...? She doesn't look a day over twenty!?)
The sisters' mother... Irish Rosemary and the sisters bore a striking resemblance to one another. Rather than looking like mother and daughters, they gave off the impression of an older sister and her much younger siblings, or perhaps distant relatives.
"Welcome home, Mother!"
"Welcome back from your travels, Mother."
Viola and Primula, who had arrived at the entrance first, greeted their mother.
Spotting her daughters, Irish's face lit up as she pulled the two of them into an embrace.
"I'm home, my darling girls! You both look so well — I've missed you terribly!"
"It's wonderful to see you looking so well, Mother."
"How was the neighboring country? I heard it's quite cold there..."
"Yes, it's already snowing there — it's absolutely unbearable. I never imagined I'd need to be wearing a coat at this time of year."
The mother and daughter chatted happily together.
Their strikingly similar appearance drew Albert Rosemary, their husband and father, to approach them.
"Irish, welcome home. I'm so glad you came back."
"Yes... I read the letter. It sounds like things have gotten quite interesting."
Irish smiled at her husband, then let her gaze slide smoothly away.
What her searching eyes found was... a short distance away, Rest in his butler's uniform standing alongside Diebl.
"...That one, huh?"
"Oh, Mother! Please let me introduce him! This is him!"
"He's the one who saved my life and Big Sister's — Rest-sama. He's been living with us at the estate."
"Ho ho... I never imagined you two would start bringing men home. Have you both come of age already?"
Irish straightened her posture and walked over, drawing closer to Rest.
Rest bowed with a slight nervousness.
"I-I'm Rest! Your daughters have been very kind to me!"
"Mm, nice to meet you. And thank you — it seems you helped save my daughters. I'm grateful."
"Y-Yes...!"
Irish's tone was gentle, and there was an air of warmth welcoming Rest.
(*She's not going to say something like 'I won't tolerate anyone making advances on my daughters,' is she?*) Rest felt relieved for the moment... but immediately after, Irish's next words left him stunned.
"Well then, I'm going to go change, so wait outside for me first."
"Huh...?"
"Want to fight? I'll beat you to a pulp, so you better brace yourself, alright?"
"............"
At Irish's declaration — fists clenched tight — Rest's face twisted into a painful grimace.