“Why should we tell you that, hmph!” The proud Dmitria wasn’t accustomed to being friendly with me yet, so she quickly said that.

“Dmitria, we are now her underlings,” Valerie said amusingly.

“That’s right, Dmitria! We are now Aneki’s underlings!” Briar-Rose immediately declared.

...Phew, Briar-Rose was back to her usual self now.

Though I really wanted to rebut the thing about underlings... I wanted to be their equal friends, not their boss or something...

“But we are friends!” So, I quickly let my opinion out.

“Friends and underlings!” Briar-Rose shamelessly said.

“...,” I was rendered speechless.

“Say, Aneki, we will listen to what you say. Isn’t that wonderful?” Valerie approached me and softly said.

I was taken aback by her words.

What does she mean with that?

They will listen to me?

“...If I say, don’t do this, will you do that for me?” I asked.

“Yes!” Briar-Rose’s eyes shone as she said that.

“Whoa, why?” I couldn’t comprehend it.

“Because you are Aneki, you are the boss!” Dmitria reluctantly said.

“Aren’t you afraid that I will ask of the impossible?” I immediately asked.

“I won’t accept something unreasonable!” Dmitria quickly answered.

“I trust Aneki, Aneki is kind! There is no way you’d ask us to do something unreasonable!” Briar-Rose said, full of belief.

Hang on.

Is she that touched by my simple gesture at that time?

But I planned on belittling and making her upset at that time...

Was my action translated as kindness to Briar-Rose?

...Then, I am concerned for her definition of ‘kindness’.

“Back to the topic. Our family tames and raises monster beasts that one can ride. We mainly provide for wyvern riders nowadays.”

As expected, Valerie was the one to provide me with answers.

“Eh, really?! I never heard of that!!”

“We are quite low-key. Besides, it’s not until the last decade or so that our family’s farm shifts to focus more on monster beasts.”

“What about... 20 years ago or so?” I probed a little. I never heard anything about their Flugel family back when I was still Reinst.

“Well, I remember Mother telling us that we were still developing effective methods to train the wyverns to be more obedient and so we could breed them in our farm. Mother’s collaboration with Daddy and Papa’s families just strengthened our family’s farm and methods to tame, raise, and train wyverns,” Valerie said.

“And as for your peryton and hippokamp...?”

“They are gifts from Papa and Daddy! Papa’s family is developing ways to tame and raise hippokamps, while Daddy’s family is developing ways to tame and raise perytons,” Valerie said with a smile on her face.

“Soon, we will be able to produce more wyvern riders as well as compete with the other families who are raising pegasi and gryphons,” Dmitria chimed into our conversation with pride in her face.

Hmm, so a family of beast tamers?

I heard that other than horse riders, the kingdom’s troops also consisted of pegasi, gryphons, and wyvern riders with wyvern riders being the least group.

Perytons and hippokamps are less common beasts one would ride, but I can see how they’d make amazing companions!

...Wait a minute, I recall I have read something about how hard they are to spot...?

Not much is known about perytons, and as for hippokamps... If I remember it right, there’s a myth about how its beautiful appearance is used to attract humans to come near them, and once one does, it will drag them underwater, killing them.

...To tame such a monster...

Alright, they say it’s still under development, but I’m already looking forward to it.

“Lyra, it’s time to go home.”

I was about to ask more questions to my new unique friends, but then a voice reached out to me.

Eh?

It’s not Alt-nii...?

I turned around to see Clavis standing in front of me.

“Clavis? Did Alt-nii ask you to come and fetch me because he’s too lazy to do that?” I scolded my older brother in my heart.

Some things never change, indeed.

“Hm? Not really,” Clavis answered ambiguously.

“Anyway, Dmitria, Valerie, Briar... I’ll see you guys, then,” I turned around to wave my hand at the three girls.

Now that they are my friends, I don’t want to label them with [troublemaker] title anymore. If they will really listen to me, then that title will soon be gone.

Oh, I feel like I’m suddenly a mother of three...

“See you tomorrow, Aneki!” Briar-Rose waved her hand back.

“Take care,” Valerie only smiled.

“Well, do try to impress me tomorrow,” Dmitria cheekily said.

“Ah, right! Please get along well with Iris and Carbuncle!” I immediately issued out my first order to my [underlings].

“We will!” Briar-Rose immediately accepted.

“Interesting...,” Valerie muttered.

“I’m curious about the dragon girl anyway!” Luckily, even Dmitria was in it.

Come to think of it, after [taming] them, it seems to me that Briar-Rose is the most obedient out of the three instead! Perhaps it has something to do with how I kinda charmed her, and the miracle twins only followed her, so it goes without saying, I guess?

“Let’s go back,” Clavis urged me to leave after I finished my business here.

Anyway, there’s nothing else to say, so...

I followed Clavis back to the carriage and off to home we went~

After my parents were home, I quickly narrated what happened to them in excitement.

“And you see, I actually managed to befriend them! I don’t even know which part of my speech or conduct that managed to charm their boss—Briar! It’s like I flipped an unknown switch!”

“Are you sure they’re not pretending?” Dad—the royal spy—asked.

“No, it’s like I turned on a switch on Briar. She suddenly had those sparkly eyes towards me... I don’t think she can act that well...?” I tilted my head, narrating what my feelings told me.

“Heh, you really managed to charm her, then. As expected of my daughter,” Mom said.

“Oh wow, is that how you make friends, Lyra-neechan? Teach me, teach me!” Freyja suddenly asked me to teach her something I didn’t even know...

“Ah right, what about you, Freyr, Freyja? How’s school and friends?”

“School is okay. Friends are okay,” Freyr calmly nodded.

“Any close friends?” I asked.

“Well, we mainly hang around Leticia as usual,” Freyja said before adding, “but we play with everyone just the same, too.”

“No bully?” I asked in concern.

“Who dares?” Freyr calmly answered.

“...”

Since when does this child become this daring and confident?

“Right, right, that’s good, then. Ah, my new friends consist of a pair of twins, too! They are called the miracle twins, and as for the reason why—I just learnt of it today!” I switched the topic.

Freyr, the little curious cat and detective wanna-be, immediately turned his eyes to me.

“Miracle twins? Why?”

“They are twin sisters, yet they are so different! Not only in personality, but in physical appearances as well...,” I began telling my family what I discovered from Ristea-san today.

And that included the Flugel family’s specialty.

“Aaah, I’d like to go and play in their farm someday!” I sighed in admiration.

“Wait for now, Lyra. After you’ve determined their sincerity towards you, you can go and play to their farm if they invite you to,” Dad advised.

“I can?”

“Sure? Why would I forbid you from going as long as they’re really your true friends?” Dad raised his eyebrows.

“Uh... Nothing! Hehe, thanks, Dad!” I immediately answered.

This would be the first time I thought of visiting a friend’s house.

As for my other friends... I have visited Luca more than enough already and I considered him to be in one set with Kiri.

Iris... has this complicated family relationship.

Carbuncle... Going to the dragon’s continent? Now, that’s interesting, but... yeah, impossible.

Harvey... is basically Alt-nii’s friend, though. Maybe I can go visit the next time Iris goes with him, too. I’d like to see Iris’ hometown as well.

In my previous life, I only visited Nicole several times. It was quite hard getting a permission from Mother, though.

Which was why I did that question “I can?” out of reflex.

In any case, I was kinda wondering how school would be like, with the three of them as my friends...?

***

The very next day, I felt like the whole school was quite in surprise upon seeing Briar-Rose, Dmitria, and Valerie stuck so close to me and were friendly to me and my friends—I meant, Iris and Carbuncle.

Apparently, Briar, Dmitria, and Valerie really listened to my words yesterday and they went to Iris and Carbuncle’s dormitory room to socialize.

Iris was surprised at first, but Carbuncle (kinda) reassured her by saying that she’d take any challenge gladly! (As expected of her...)

Iris narrated how it went...

“Aneki has given her order to me to be friends with you, so here I am!” said Briar-Rose right after Carbuncle opened the door for them.

Iris was surprised by Briar’s sudden declaration and almost jumped up in fright.

“Fufufu, Iris, the Sorreil family’s... daughter, right? There’s no need to be afraid of us,” Valerie calmed Iris down as she entered the room.

Oddly enough, Iris felt the most secure to Valerie.

“Hi, dragon girl! I’m quite intrigued by you. Between you and me on my Shula, who will be able to win in a flying race?” Dmitria barged in with a challenge to Carbuncle.

“Hm? Shula, who the heck is that?’

“She is my peryton! I’m quite confident in my—her flying skills,” Dmitria said.

“Interesting! I shall accept the challenge! I know I will win anyway!” Carbuncle accepted without even thinking about it.

So, Iris and Valerie naturally got along, while Carbuncle and Dmitria hit it off right away.

Meanwhile, Briar would alternate in joining their talks.

...I kinda didn’t expect them to go all the way to do that!

I only thought that it would be good for them to get along well should they meet one another while walking around the dorm or something...

But phew, I’m glad!

On the first day, people were like... very bewildered upon seeing me together with Briar and the miracle twins.

A teacher even asked me in concern that I was being bullied.

They were all flabbergasted when they found out that the trio troublemakers they knew listened to me.

And from that day onwards, the rumor about the trio troublemakers gradually faded out, as they never really made any troubles. Instead of trying to attract others’ (mostly negative) attention, they did all they could to attract my attention.

But what kind of things could attract my attention?

Naturally, none of the things that attract my interest was something that wasn’t peaceful.

So, they’d do things such as showing me unfamiliar pretty flowers, books that they found amusing, and interesting stories.

Perhaps my friends’ reactions also helped motivating them.

They really changed for the better.

Headmaster Linus was so satisfied with this result that he called me to the headmaster’s room to personally thank me for reducing his troubles.

As for how my friends got along with them, hmmm...

It was quite complicated.

To conclude, I guess we were all getting along well...?

Speaking of which, sometimes Alt-nii, Harvey, and Clavis would hang around with us, but being in different level, we couldn’t always gather.

The same goes for Leticia, Freyr, and Freyja.

Sometimes, we’d go to the Basic Level just to see our little siblings and how they were doing.

Needless to say, Freyr looked at Dmitria and Valerie in an analyzing gaze.

Meanwhile, Freyja became so noisy with questions.

“You are the miracle twins my sister talked about? Are you really twins like Freyr and I?”

“Your house’s backyard is a farm? It’s spacious?”

“You ride on what?!”

There were no problems in getting along, I guess.

My twin siblings seemed to like the miracle twins, perhaps it was because they were all twins?

Anyway, everything seemed to be going well, except for one aspect.

And that was...

“Aneki, would you like me to call Prince Erneste here?”

“Aneki, listen to what the school prince has done!”

“There’s no one more perfect than him! Aneki should totally be with him!”

“...”

Our friends were already hesitant in supporting me and Erneste due to how Erneste handled the situation with the trio troublemakers at first.

So, when the trio eagerly wanted to bring me and him closer, my friends naturally opposed.

At that time, there were only me and my Intermediate Level friends.

Who knows what Alt-nii, Clavis, and Harvey would say if they were here?

And we definitely couldn’t discuss this kind of topic in front of the children!!

“Hang on, Riar, Val, Mitr! Don’t you think that guy seem fishy? He doesn’t look like a good spouse material to me,” Carbuncle stated her opinion.

“Big Sis Lyra is mine!! Big Sis Briar, Val, and Dmitria, don’t you think I’m good enough for Big Sis Lyra?” Ein asked with his puppy eyes.

“But it’s more ideal for a girl to be with a man older or at least at the same age as her!” Briar argued.

“You need to be more gentlemanly, little Ein,” Dmitria said.

“Hmm? Papa is younger than Mother, but they make good pair, Briar,” Valerie got the wrong focus.

“Eh? I didn’t mean to...,” Briar immediately corrected her words.

Ah, it seems that Briar indeed genuinely cares about Dmitria and Valerie’s feelings!

“I’m just teasing you,” Valerie chuckled.

“...”

I get the feeling that Valerie is the most unreadable and dangerous out of the trio instead.

“The three of you, don’t be fooled with that fake prince. He might seem good outside, but who knows how he’s like inside?” Luca said in his annoyance.

“Geh, the real prince!” Dmitria almost choked on her saliva.

“Hmmm? Perhaps your words hold some truth. But if that is the case, then that prince Erneste is quite a good actor,” Valerie had the neutral stance.

“I know he’s a good person!” Briar argued.

“How is he a good person?” I asked out of curiosity.

“You see... I’m not charmed by him just because of his good looks! But when we got into a trouble back then, he was the only one to have a neutral stance on us! He wasn’t as judgmental as the others, who were so quick to judge us negatively! He even kindly smiled at me!!” Briar enthusiastically narrated.

“If you like him so much, then maybe you should be the one with him instead of you pushing out Lyra to do that...,” Luca argued.

“Eeh, but I want Aneki to get the best of the best, so of course I’d recommend him to her instead!” Briar argued.

“...I don’t understand girls,” Kiri touched his forehead in confusion.

So, yup, my school days turned even livelier with the presence of the trio.

They even actively created chances in which I could meet Erneste.

And perhaps alarmed by it, Alt-nii, Clavis, and Harvey would meet with me and my friends more often.

I was thinking on having Erneste meet and hang around my friends as well so I wouldn’t need to separate from them whenever I met him, but...

First, Erneste was the school prince, so he got quite lots of friends or people who’d flock around him.

Second, my friends were opposed to the idea.

Third, Erneste had made his intention clear, so I thought it would be more appropriate for us to meet alone.

Well, the trio would always tail me whenever Erneste and I met.

They were the only ones rooting for a progress between Erneste and I.

And they were really sticking with me.

Aside from the thing about Erneste, I also felt a little bad as I sensed Iris getting quieter since the trio joined, but when I tried to ask her, Iris would just smile and say that it was fine.

Iris wasn’t a talkative one from the start, so she might have preferred being the listener in the group.

Even as the trio were cheering for me and Erneste, I still couldn’t make up my mind about him.

About love and the likes of it...

I never really thought of it as I thought as a noble girl, I’d be engaged to someone of my family’s choosing anyway.

But things were different now.

So, I need to understand my feelings towards him better.

He is kind, gentle, and nice.

He is also smart and athletic.

His family standing is good.

No matter how you look at it, he is a good choice.

But what does my heart have to say about him...?

Why is it that there’s doubt in my heart against him?

Is it because I’m still affected by my past self’s upbringing that I have to be wary of and be dubious of others?

...If only someone can just tell me what I should do, and how the future would be.

If only life can tell us who is it that will end up with us...

As this is something quite important and the first time I’m facing this kind of situation, I can’t help but feel anxious.

God, can you give me a definitive hint already...?

I sighed as I looked up to the sky and prayed in my heart.