“What? What are you–”

“I’ll definitely prepare for tomorrow. Please leave it to me. Don’t worry, I’ll make you look the prettiest.”

“Huh?”

That strange declaration somehow ushered a bad hunch.

“You know, Elise, I’m just going into town for a bit of business, so you don’t have to go through all that trouble.”

“No!　Your clothes, your hair, everything has to be perfect tomorrow!”

“?!”

She has never seen Elise with this kind of spirit.

Despite the frightened Rishe, Elise huffed and puffed with enthusiasm.

“Of course, these are clothes that blend in with the city. But it has to be cute.”

“Yeah, ye-aaah?”

“I’m going to borrow some clothes from Dianna senpai. I’ll go get Dianna senpai right now!”

“Elise, you and Dianna are getting along so well! No, oh, wait a minute!”

****

The next day.

After finishing her training as a cadet in the morning, Rishe was sent out to meet up with Arnold by Elise, who dressed her up with tremendous spirit.

They met up with their eyes deep in their hoods and passed through a hidden passage for the royal family.

After a few minutes of walking out of the underpass that doubled as a waterway to the outskirts of the city, Arnold stopped and said.

“We’ve come far enough, so you can take your hood off if you want.”

“…”

When asked to do so, Rishe was shocked.

While hiding her face as much as possible, she timidly observed Arnold under her hood.

Arnold was wearing a simpler blue garment than usual.It has a stuffed collar that hid the neck, and although its shape was close to that of a commoner’s outfit, the tailoring and material was of good quality.

There was also a casual embroidery of gold thread, and anyone who saw it would have been able to tell that it was a top-grade item.

He wore a thin black robe over it, making it easier to hide his mouth. The goggles hanging around his neck were popularly used by travelers to protect themselves from the wind and sunlight.

They would be able to hide their faces in case of an emergency, but they were basically going to walk the streets as normal. She knew she got the right answer, since the public knew very little about the faces of the royal family.

I know, but…!

Arnold asked quizzically as he looked at Rishe, who was hesitating to remove her hood and clutching the front of her robe in her hands.

“What’s wrong?”

“Uh…”

To the bewildered Rishe, he continued, “There is no need to be vigilant. It’s unlikely that any of the public will recognize me or your face. It’s not a strange place we’re heading to right now, so it wouldn’t be a problem if they found out it was us later on, would it?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“If you’re that stubborn about it, you’re going to look more suspicious.”

He was right.

Now that it came down to this, there was no way around it. Rishe made up her mind and took off her hood, letting go of the hand that was clutching it.

“…”

She braced herself and looked up at Arnold.

Their eyes met, and Arnold looked a little surprised.

Hidden underneath the white robe was a light blue dress with a fluffy, gliding hem.

This dress that Dianna had lent her was apparently the early summer attire that was popular among the girls in the castle.

It was cool and cute, with lines like flower buds from the waist down.

Her coral hair was gathered up on the right side and braided into a large, loose braid.

While there were other beautiful braids, they were common, but the Rishe at the moment had a ribbon braided into her hair by Elise.

As expected of Elise, she should be just an “ordinary girl in town,” but she was cute and stylish with a lot of attention to detail.

Nevertheless, she felt herself blushing at the thought of exposing this image to Arnold.

Sure, I’m to blend in with the city, but…

Both the dress that Rishe was wearing and her braid style were seen all over the castle from earlier.

She couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable.

Even Rishe liked to dress up, and she put a lot of thought into her dress and hairstyle for an evening party and other occasions, but today she was supposed to be working with Arnold.

“――…”

“No! I know what you want to say!”

Arnold tried to open his mouth, but Rishe interrupted him.

“I had an inkling that you’re on an official business today! It’s too simple and out of place, and how should I put it?”

“Because it’s you, I thought you’d come in a linen dress and a simple robe.”

“Am I so easy to understand?”

A bit surprised by what he was seeing, Arnold looked at Rishe from top to bottom once more.

“Is this the work of the maids?”

“…”

“I think you misunderstood, but I have no problem with your attire.”

“Are you sure?”

She was relieved to hear that.

Arnold went on to say, “I’ll give your handmaiden a compliment later.”

“Hmm.”

“We’d better get going. At this rate, we’ll attract attention in a different way than you feared.”

“Oh, wait for me!”

Rishe hurriedly chased after Arnold as he strode away.