…That was such a strange conversation.

I requested Elena to persuade His Highness Mikhail into granting us permission to use the mines—

—and needed to flirt with Alex-sama in order to get her help.

Apparently, Elena wouldn’t cooperate with my request unless I proved that Alex-sama truly loved me.

…But, could I truly prove that?

I knocked on the door of the office located on the second floor.

Alex-sama replied, “You can enter.”

Intimidated, I opened the door.

It was a small room, but otherwise a comfy one with a red carpet.

A magnificent office desk made of mahogany stood in the center of the room.

A flag had been hung by the window, one which was decorated by a golden double-headed eagle.

It was the symbol of the royal family of Rushie.

The mansion of the Margrave Family was small, but Alex-sama had transformed one of its rooms into an office—

—such was history of that room.

For him to create such a room in the mansion instead of going to the former government office building in the harbor—it was certainly a manifestation of Alex-sama’s enthusiasm to work at any time.

As usual, Alex-sama was working in that office. His work usually consisted of receiving reports from his vassals and approving documents.

When Alex-sama saw me enter, his expression brightened.

“Alisa, I’m glad you came.”

I also smiled and set some tea on the desk.

In Rushie, we usually drank tea along with brandy and strawberry jam which was served on a small plate.

“Thank you.”

“You should thank Felix. He’s the one who prepared it.”

“But, it was Alisa who delivered it.”

Alex-sama’s gentle smile made me feel warm. His every word emphasized his kindness.

I excused myself and sat down on the chair on the other side of the desk where I enjoyed tea with Alex-sama.

Clear, orange, tea was poured into a pure white tea cup. The scent was truly wonderful.

I gently put the cup to my mouth.

“Delicious…”

When I was in the royal capital, I had been accustomed to drinking high-quality tea as the duke’s daughter.

Since coming to that land, I hadn’t experienced much luxury. The tea I currently had also was not that luxurious.

So why did it taste so amazing?

“As expected, the tea brewed by Felix is delicious…”

Alex-sama murmured.

I see…

It seemed that Felix was good at brewing black tea.

From Alex-sama’s words, I could feel the depth of their bond.

I envied Felix a little.

I, too—

—Alright, I would learn how to prepare black tea from Felix.

I imagined Alex-sama saying, “The tea Alisa prepared is delicious.”

That would be wonderful.

I was positive Felix would be happy to teach me.

However, I felt that there was another reason why the black tea was so good.

I hesitated to say the reason and stared at Alex-sama.

I was sure that the tea tasted delicious because I was enjoying it with Alex-sama.

Alex-sama noticed my gaze and stared at me with his blue, jewel-like, eyes.

“But the reason why the tea is tastier than usual is probably because I’m drinking together with Alisa.”

With that said, Alex-sama blushed and laughed.

Alex-sama thought the same. Albeit a little shy, I was happy.

…I wished that moment would last forever.

However, I had something important to tell Alex-sama.

…We had to flirt in front of Elena!

Will he take me seriously?

“Uh, Alex-sama, I have a proposition for you.”

“What is it?”

“Actually, I want to prove to Elena that Alex-sama loves me.”

“What…?”

Sure enough, Alex-sama looked dumbfounded.

Him not understanding was only natural.

I noticed while explaining the circumstances.

—this might be a good opportunity.

We needed to convince Elena and deepen our own relationship.

For example, kissing Alex-sama might be possible with a reason like this.

Well, then, we’ll have to practice before the showdown with Elena!

The problem was figuring out what to do to convince her.

---

***T/N: Elena is also a hard-on Alesa shippers like us.

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