Someone was invading the kitchens
“But Liza? I told you before, you should knock before entering a room.”
“Ehehe… I forgot.”
“Be careful next time, okay? If you had knocked, then Leo and I would have noticed, and you would not have been surprised.”
“Okay.”
“Wuff!”
Well, children were like that.
If they remembered everything you told them to do, then raising children wouldn’t be so difficult.
What do you even know about that? Some people might say that to me. I suppose I was just remembering what it was like to be a child.
While there were some things I learned quickly, there were other things that took time.
Especially since so many things had just happened in Ractos, so it could not be helped that she forgot some things.
As Liza answered honestly, Leo answered in a similar way as well.
“Alright, now Leo and I will go and take a bath… So perhaps I should call Ms. Lyra?”
“Wuff!?”
“No, it’s fine. I can stay here by myself.”
“I see. Well, we’ll try and make it quick, so just wait for a short while. Now, let’s go, Leo.”
“Wuff…”
It was now our turn to take a bath.
And so I called to Liza after preparing to go, but it seemed like she was now fine with being alone.
I think she was finally no longer afraid of being abandoned.
As for Leo, she was quite startled by the sudden idea of having to take a bath, and did not look happy as she followed me out of the room.
Outside, Ms. Lyra and Ms. Gelda were waiting, and so I asked them to dry Leo after I had washed her.
They had also heard Leo growling when Liza opened the door, and were quite shocked.
Well, Ms. Lyra wasn’t really. She liked to take care of people, and was eager to help with Leo. But I felt a little bad for Ms. Gelda.
Leo also rubbed her face against Ms. Gelda apologetically, which helped calm her.
“Ms. Lyra, Ms. Gelda. I’m sending Leo out now!”
“Wuff-wuff.”
“Yes.”
“Certainly.”
After washing her body, Leo tried to play with the large bucket of water, and so I had to stop her and send her out to the changing room. Then I called to Ms. Lyra and Ms. Gelda.
I left Leo to be toweled down by them, and returned to the bath so that I could relax.
“Still, Leo… She finally stopped hating taking a bath so much, but now she wanted to play with the water…”
I let out a sigh as I soaked up in the wide bathtub.
Well, she mostly just wanted to splash her front paws in it.
But when you were as big as Leo, even that created great splashes of water, and it felt cold as it hit me.
Besides, I wanted her to return to the room quickly so Liza wouldn’t be lonely. I would try and allow her to play in the water some other time.
She used to hate baths, and I never took her to any rivers, so she didn’t really play in the water.
But since she had swam in rivers since coming here, I could see that she didn’t hate water as long as it wasn’t hot.
I wasn’t sure why she didn’t like hot water…
“Mr. Takumi. I’m sorry to disturb you as you’re about to sleep.”
“Hmm? Ms. Helena? And Sebastian?”
After finishing up my bath, I was walking down the hallway back to my room, when Ms. Helena suddenly called me.
Sebastian was right behind her, and had a troubled expression.
“What is it? And at this hour?”
While I didn’t know about Sebastian, Ms. Helena had to prepare breakfast, which meant she woke up earlier than any of the servants.
It was almost midnight, and so it would be difficult to get up in the morning…
I thought about such things as I questioned them.
“Well…it is a little awkward to say…”
“I will explain it for you then.”
“Uh…alright.”
As Ms. Helena was hesitating to tell me, Sebastian took a step forward and volunteered.
It was obviously something he just wanted to do for his own sake, but I kept such thoughts to myself.
“Apparently, during the last few days… Someone has been stealing the food that is stored in the kitchen.”
“Stealing food?”
“Yes. Someone is entering the kitchens at night while everyone sleeps, and is eating the food.”
I suppose the fact that they were eating the food there suggested it wasn’t someone from the outside then?
“Has anything else gone missing? Do we know of any monsters getting in?”
“Nothing has disappeared aside from the food. Besides, if there were monsters, then someone in the mansion would have been attacked already. Also, the guards protect the mansion day and night, so I doubt something could have entered without them noticing.”
“I see… So it is someone from within.”
“That is the most likely. Since they seem to be eating the food right in the kitchen.”
“Indeed…”
If someone was coming from the outside, surely they would take what they want and leave.
Unless it was some bandit who was starving and didn’t care about leaving evidence.
Besides, entering a duke’s household was a very dangerous thing.
If you were going to take such a risk, surely you would take something more valuable than food.
Not only that, but Sebastian said that it happened during these past few days.
In other words, it happened multiple times. An outside invader seemed even less likely.
Someone was invading the kitchens
“But Liza? I told you before, you should knock before entering a room.”
“Ehehe… I forgot.”
“Be careful next time, okay? If you had knocked, then Leo and I would have noticed, and you would not have been surprised.”
“Okay.”
“Wuff!”
Well, children were like that.
If they remembered everything you told them to do, then raising children wouldn’t be so difficult.
What do you even know about that? Some people might say that to me. I suppose I was just remembering what it was like to be a child.
While there were some things I learned quickly, there were other things that took time.
Especially since so many things had just happened in Ractos, so it could not be helped that she forgot some things.
As Liza answered honestly, Leo answered in a similar way as well.
“Alright, now Leo and I will go and take a bath… So perhaps I should call Ms. Lyra?”
“Wuff!?”
“No, it’s fine. I can stay here by myself.”
“I see. Well, we’ll try and make it quick, so just wait for a short while. Now, let’s go, Leo.”
“Wuff…”
It was now our turn to take a bath.
And so I called to Liza after preparing to go, but it seemed like she was now fine with being alone.
I think she was finally no longer afraid of being abandoned.
As for Leo, she was quite startled by the sudden idea of having to take a bath, and did not look happy as she followed me out of the room.
Outside, Ms. Lyra and Ms. Gelda were waiting, and so I asked them to dry Leo after I had washed her.
They had also heard Leo growling when Liza opened the door, and were quite shocked.
Well, Ms. Lyra wasn’t really. She liked to take care of people, and was eager to help with Leo. But I felt a little bad for Ms. Gelda.
Leo also rubbed her face against Ms. Gelda apologetically, which helped calm her.
“Ms. Lyra, Ms. Gelda. I’m sending Leo out now!”
“Wuff-wuff.”
“Yes.”
“Certainly.”
After washing her body, Leo tried to play with the large bucket of water, and so I had to stop her and send her out to the changing room. Then I called to Ms. Lyra and Ms. Gelda.
I left Leo to be toweled down by them, and returned to the bath so that I could relax.
“Still, Leo… She finally stopped hating taking a bath so much, but now she wanted to play with the water…”
I let out a sigh as I soaked up in the wide bathtub.
Well, she mostly just wanted to splash her front paws in it.
But when you were as big as Leo, even that created great splashes of water, and it felt cold as it hit me.
Besides, I wanted her to return to the room quickly so Liza wouldn’t be lonely. I would try and allow her to play in the water some other time.
She used to hate baths, and I never took her to any rivers, so she didn’t really play in the water.
But since she had swam in rivers since coming here, I could see that she didn’t hate water as long as it wasn’t hot.
I wasn’t sure why she didn’t like hot water…
“Mr. Takumi. I’m sorry to disturb you as you’re about to sleep.”
“Hmm? Ms. Helena? And Sebastian?”
After finishing up my bath, I was walking down the hallway back to my room, when Ms. Helena suddenly called me.
Sebastian was right behind her, and had a troubled expression.
“What is it? And at this hour?”
While I didn’t know about Sebastian, Ms. Helena had to prepare breakfast, which meant she woke up earlier than any of the servants.
It was almost midnight, and so it would be difficult to get up in the morning…
I thought about such things as I questioned them.
“Well…it is a little awkward to say…”
“I will explain it for you then.”
“Uh…alright.”
As Ms. Helena was hesitating to tell me, Sebastian took a step forward and volunteered.
It was obviously something he just wanted to do for his own sake, but I kept such thoughts to myself.
“Apparently, during the last few days… Someone has been stealing the food that is stored in the kitchen.”
“Stealing food?”
“Yes. Someone is entering the kitchens at night while everyone sleeps, and is eating the food.”
I suppose the fact that they were eating the food there suggested it wasn’t someone from the outside then?
“Has anything else gone missing? Do we know of any monsters getting in?”
“Nothing has disappeared aside from the food. Besides, if there were monsters, then someone in the mansion would have been attacked already. Also, the guards protect the mansion day and night, so I doubt something could have entered without them noticing.”
“I see… So it is someone from within.”
“That is the most likely. Since they seem to be eating the food right in the kitchen.”
“Indeed…”
If someone was coming from the outside, surely they would take what they want and leave.
Unless it was some bandit who was starving and didn’t care about leaving evidence.
Besides, entering a duke’s household was a very dangerous thing.
If you were going to take such a risk, surely you would take something more valuable than food.
Not only that, but Sebastian said that it happened during these past few days.
In other words, it happened multiple times. An outside invader seemed even less likely.
