On the evening of January 3, Ernest XVII arrived at the residence of the Duke of Breu.
He said, "Mister Jin, thank you for your hospitality the other day. I have brought my sister and Tia with me today.
Ernest XVII introduced the little lady.
"How do you do? My name is Mimir. Please give us a warm welcome.
The little princess greeted her with a little pinch of her pink skirt. She was a beautiful little girl with blond hair and blue eyes, just like her brother Ernest XVII.
Her hair, tied in twin-tails on either side of her head, reminded me somewhat of Princess Rieschen.
"<> My name is Jin Nido. Princess.
I am the honorary squire Reiko Nido, and it is a pleasure to meet you.
Jin and Reiko greeted back.
"My Princess, it is a pleasure to meet you."
Rhodes, Duke Blou and Ilmina Ratkin greeted her as well.
And right behind the princess was a blue-haired automaton named Tia.
"Oh..."
Before she could say, "It's been a while," Reiko acted quickly.
She moved quickly in front of Tia and interrupted her words.
And then,
"You must be Tia. I have heard about you from His Highness. It is an honor to meet you.
(Tia, your father is supposed to be the <3rd generation>.)
At the same time she greeted Tia, Reiko conveyed her message in the ultrasonic realm, which humans cannot hear, and at 50 times the speed of the original message.
Tia understood her message and said,
"It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness. My name is Tia, an automata of Her Highness Princess Mimir.
She gave a simple greeting.
Incidentally, it is the custom in the Kingdom of Egelea to be called by one's childhood name until one is about 10 years old, but when one becomes a socialite, one is called by one's real name instead of one's childhood name.
"Mimir had his birthday the other day, so he is now four years old. Please be good to him," Ernest XVII said.
Ernest XVII says, his eyes narrowed. He is very fond of his youngest princess.
"Yes, of course.
Jin thinks back to the younger children from his time in the orphanage, squatting down to look them in the eye,
"Does Your Highness like sweets?"
I asked.
"Yes, Jinshama, I love sweets!
Jin took out a beautiful small box from his pocket and handed it to Mimir. It was a small box about the size of a pencil box, made of hard wood and silver clasps.
"As a token of our closeness. But don't eat too much, only if your brother or Tia says it's good for you.
Yes, I understand.
Jin-dono, what is it?
, Ernest XVII peeked in with interest.
"It is a gift for the princess. Please take a look at ...... to see what's inside."
After giving Ernest XVII a brief explanation, Jin turned to Mimir.
"Princess, I think it would be best if you leave the box with Tia.
"Ai. ...... Tia, please take care of it.
Yes, Your Highness.
Tia also squatted down and received the box from Mimir.
May I open it, Jin-sama?
"Of course. Of course.
So Tia gently opened the box.
What is it?
"Wow, it's beautiful."
Jin-dono, what is this?
< ......<.
The peridos, who were in charge of household chores, had perfected them through trial and error, relying on Jin's memory of having read about how to make them in a gourmet manga.
The kettle is tilted at an angle and called ......<>. The kettle is filled with a gong and slowly rotated. Then molasses is added and slowly stirred......, but it seems to require more know-how than can be put into words or written.
Fortunately, two weeks of continuous work is not too much of a burden for these golems.
Anyway, inside the box were small star-like kompeito candies in various colors: red, white, yellow, peach, orange, green, blue, sky blue, purple .......
"These are called kompeito," he said, "and they are a sweet candy.
"Mister Gin, can you eat it?
Ernest XVII was surprised.
"Yes. ...... well, Tia, why don't you give him a piece of it?
"Yes, sir."
At Jin's words, Tia immediately put a piece of white kompeito sugar in her mouth.
"...... It's mostly lumps of sugar. And a small amount of natural coloring. There are no harmful substances.
Hearing this, Princess Mimir quickly reached out her small hand and popped a peach-colored kompeito in her mouth.
"Oh ...... it's so sweet! Delicious! Thank you, Jin-sama!"
Ernest XVII, who was watching from the side, was also curious about the taste,
"Mimir, can I have one too?
He begged his sister, "Mimir, can I have one?
"Yes, Mimir, can I have one? "Yes, mademoiselle, please!"
Mimir placed a blue kompeito in her small, maple-like palm and held it out to her brother.
"Thank you!"
Ernest XVII accepted the sugar with a melt-in-your-mouth smile and immediately popped it into his mouth.
"...... Mmm, this is delicious. Jin-dono, you gave my sister something good. Thank you.
"Hey, Tia, give me another one!
"Princess, one more for today, okay?"
"Yes!"
Princess Mimir, who seemed to like the kompeito, was so pleased that Tia, who was holding the small box, was forced to eat the second piece of kompeito for the day.
Ilmina Ratkin watched enviously. .......
* * * *
Princess Mimir was excited for a while, but when it was around eight o'clock in the evening, she looked sleepy.
"Princess, I think it's time for you to go to sleep."
"Yes. ......"
Rubbing her eyes, the princess replied.
"Well, come this way."
The Duke of Breu's residence had a bedroom reserved for the royal family, as they had visited the palace several times.
Princess Mimir was taken there by the maid of honor who came with her.
"Well, Mister Gin..."
Ernest XVII turned to Jin again.
"The other day, I asked you to check on Tia for me.
"Yes, sir."
"Jin-dono, then you can use my workshop.
The duke's residence seems to have its own workshop, albeit a small one. Jin was grateful to be allowed to use it.
"Reiko, help me. Can Rhodes help too?
After talking to Reiko and Rhodes, Jin and Tia head for the workshop. To his surprise, the Duke of Breu himself showed them around. Ernest XVII is also accompanying them.
"You can use this room."
The factory was much better equipped than Jin had expected.
"Okay, then, Tia, lie down there."
"Yes, Jin-sama."
Jin had Tia lie down on the workbench, and first instructed Reiko to remove Tia's clothes.
"Oh, oh ......"
Ernest XVII and the Duke of Breu blushed.
Jin removed the magical skin, wondering in a corner of his mind if they had followed him just to see such a scene.
Tia's interior is revealed.
(......It seems that no one has made any changes since then. ......)
By "after," I mean 400 years ago in the Kingdom of Klein, after Jin was begged by Princess Rieschen, Tia's master at the time, to repair it.
Even after 400 years, Tia's body had not been damaged much.