(A/N Notes: Ahem... Otome game logic [I don't play otome games and have an impressive repertoire of visual novels of 2 games, and one of them is DDLC])
-
"*Humming*"
A young girl could be seen walking down a hallway, as she happily hummed, the girl had grown up quite a lot and healthily since she was brought to the manor around two years ago, the girl continued walking until she stopped in front of a particular door, and knocked on it.
"Edward-sama, are you awake?"
"... ... ... Yes..."
"Then can I enter your room?"
"... ... ... Sure"
"Okay then, pardon my intrusion"
The girl opened the door and entered the room of the lord's son, Edward, just as he was finishing buttoning his shirt. Even after two years, his face hadn't got any better, as he still had his tired-looking face with dark circles under his eyes, while the girl on the other hand, her appearance had only got more beautiful and cuter as she grew up. Then when the girl walked towards the curtains in Edward's room and opened them, the orange sunlight of the rising sun illuminating her lustrous and silky long straight black hair, only emphasized her natural beauty.
"Good morning, Edward-sama!"
"*Nods* Good morning, Nanako"
"Did you have a good night's sleep?"
"The fact that I didn't have any headache that night, yes. I had a good night's sleep"
"That's great hear to hear!"
"... ... ... Aren't you supposed to wake up a little later?"
"Yes! But I heard that the cook had to leave for some days because of family issues and that you were the one who would be taking care of breakfast. So I decided to wake up earlier to help you with it!"
"I see... Hm?... Do you even know how to cook?"
"I received some personal lessons from Camilla-san and the cook, so I am now able to cook some simple dishes"
Nanako said that with a proud tone as she stuffed her now well-developed chest
"That's helpful"
Just as he said that Edward finished on putting his usual clothes for daily matters
"Well then, let's go to the kitchen"
"Yes!"
The two headed to the kitchen, and as they did so, they passed by and greeted, the servants and the lord who all had already woken up, and were preparing to start their usual daily routine.
When Edward and Nanako entered the kitchen, they both put on simple aprons and began preparing breakfast for the kids, who worked as "interns" at the manor. Most of the preparations went without much problem, albeit Edward was the one who had to do most of the preparations since Nanako wasn't entirely used to cooking and was pretty slow as well.
"Whew... This was more difficult than I thought"
"You get used to it"
"I see... Hm? What're you doing, Edward-sama?"
"Our breakfast, we still have some time until the other kids come, so we must eat something while we can"
"Ah, makes sense... ... ... Wait! I'm the one who should be cooking for you!"
"You're too slow"
"Ugh... (I need to train more in my cooking skills)"
"Here, it's nothing like what the cook makes, but it'll fill us until dinner"
"Thanks..."
When Nanako took a bite of the breakfast Edward had to make for her, she started tearing up, both because of how good it tasted (for her) and from her lack of cooking skills, which caused her to give slightly more work to Edward, as for him on the other hand.
"..."
After having their own quick breakfast, and slightly later handing the breakfast for the other kids, the two separated as Edward went to help his father with the usual administration paperwork, and Nanako who wasn't ready for that yet, went to attend her usual lessons under Camilla's guidance, so that she wouldn't cause more trouble to Edward.
.
.
.
It was now a little past 2 in the afternoon, and Nanako was helping in cleaning the mansion, but after two years of training and being the oldest of the "interns", she was now allowed to handle the cleaning of more fragile objects.
"*Humming*... Hm?"
Then as she was cleaning the frames from one of the many paintings in the mansion, she started hearing voices coming from the slightly open door right behind her, and one of the voices belonged to Edward. Having just finished cleaning the frame, and her curiosity getting the best of her, Nanako went behind the door and peeked inside.
"Next week, Duke Hamilton will be visiting our territory"
"Eh? Is it not too early for his annual visit?"
"I thought the same as well, but according to the letter, he caught wind of our 'intern program' as you put it"
"Oh... I see" <... ... ... He's definitely gonna behead us for slavery!AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! Why didn't I just tell the truth to my dad instead of saying a batshit stupid idea!?>
While Edward was overthinking his situation without showing it on his face, Oliver continued speaking.
"I do not think anything serious will happen during the Duke's visit, but we should still prepare ourselves, in case he brings someone else with him, and to also ensure that none of the interns cause trouble to the Duke as well"
Then Oliver shifted his gaze away from the paper and onto the slightly open door, and called for the person hiding behind it.
"Nanako, can you please show yourself?"
"?!"
Nanako who was caught by surprise at the fact that Oliver had noticed her, embarrassedly opened the door revealing her present to both Oliver and Edward.
"Nanako, how long have you been listening?"
"... Since the moment you said that the Duke will be visiting here..."
"I see, although I do not condone your eavesdropping, I will let it pass this time since the matter was nothing outrageous, and because it also saves me time. Did you understand it, Nanako?"
"Y-Yesh!"
"Excellent, so to make up for your eavesdropping, can I count on you to keep your sibling in check during the Duke's visit?"
"! Y-Yes! I-I'll make sure to not let them insult the Duke in any way possible!"
"Very good, now you can go back to doing your usual tasks"
"Y-yesh!" *bows down*
With that, Nanako hurriedly left Oliver's office as she felt ashamed of causing trouble to Edward by eavesdropping on him and his father, but since she still had to finish her duties, she forced herself to continue with her task of cleaning the mansion while feeling depressed from earlier.
.
.
.
It was now afternoon, and right now Nanako was standing in front of Edward's room with empty eyes, and she was still feeling guilty for causing trouble to him earlier. She wanted to apologize to him, but she thought that just apologizing wasn't enough, yet she didn't know what else she could do aside from just apologizing.
Then she heard the door opening, which snapped her back to reality, but when she did so it was already too late, as Edward was now standing in front of her.
"Nanako? Is something the matter?"
"Eh? E-Erm... E-Edward-sam... Y-You see... ... ... ...I'm sorry for causing trouble to you earlier!"
Nanako deeply bowed down towards Edward with tears in her eyes, while Edward on the other simply reacted...
"?" *Inclines head to the side*
With confusion at what Nanako was talking.
"Yes! I'm really sorry for eavesdropping on you!"
"You don't need to worry about it. Since you didn't cause any trouble to me or my father"
"B-But I was still disrespectful to you two!"
"..."
Looking at Nanako desperately trying to convince him to be a little mad at her because of the mistake that she did, Edward couldn't help but simply start patting Nanako on the head for her overly pure-hearted nature.
"... ... ... E-E-E-E-Edward-sama?!?! W-W-W-What a-a-a-are! Awawawawa!?!?"
Nanako unable to understand why Edward was patting her head, started to spin her eyes in confusion as she became ever more flustered from receiving headsets from Edwards, but then as she was reaching the limit of her embarrassment, she snapped back to her senses, as Edward stopped stroking her hair.
"E-Edward-sama! W-Why did you g-give me h-h-headpats!?"
"Because I just thought you deserved some headpats"
"Wha?! N-No! I-I should be p-punished f-for causing you trouble, not reward!"
"I don't think you need any punishment though"
"No! I need to be punished for troubling you, Edward-sama!"
"... Well, if you say so... Then... ... ... Make some tea for me"
"Tea?"
"Hm? You know how to make tea, right?"
"Erm... I just need to boil some water and put some leaves in it, right?"
"..."
Edward closed his eyes while showing a slight smile on his face.
"Alright, follow me. I'll give you a quick lesson on tea making"
"Y-yes!"
And so Nanako followed after Edward as they both made their way to the kitchen so that Edward could give her a crash course on how to make tea in a decent way.
.
.
.
"S-So? H-How is it, E-Edward-sama?"
"*blows the tea and takes a sip* ... ... ... *Nods* It's really good, very well done, Nanako"
"Ehehehe"
After tasting Nanako's tea, Edward began stroking her hair as he complimented her, while Nanako showed a happy smile from being praised by him... That was until she noticed that something was off.
"Ehehehehe... Wait... This isn't a punishment at all, Edward-sama!"
"It isn't?"
"No!"
"Huh? Then letting me continue to give you headsets will be your punishment"
"That's a reward, not a punishment, Edward-sama!"
"Then it'll be a reward because I think you deserve one"
"Wait! Awawawawa!"
Nanako was then forced to receive gentle headpats from Edward, as she couldn't bring herself to struggle against him. Then while the two were like that, Camilla, the head maid of the mansion, happened to pass by them and when she saw the two acting like that, she couldn't help but chuckle.
"*Chuckles* Looking at the two being like that, really makes me feel nostalgic"
So without bothering the two, Camilla picked a tea set and then left to prepare some tea for Lord Oliver.