“—I see, I should’ve brought up Yurana’s children!”

Lucia turned around in surprise when her brother, who should’ve gone to the kitchen to drink water, suddenly screamed.

…He was deeply furrowing his eyebrows, so she was worried if something had happened.

“Is this about Yurana’s salary?”

“That’s right. I want to raise her salary, but Yurana keeps refusing. However, her children will officially come to work at our house, soon. When that time comes, I’ll be giving them a salary, as well. But Yurana’s salary is too low to be used as a standard. Therefore, Yurana, who’ll be their supervisor, should have a higher salary than the newcomers.

“…I see.”

Lucia titled her head and mumbled.

Alves didn’t notice the skeptism her sister was responding with, or maybe, he was pretending to not notice. Then, he wandered around the room, trying to clear his mind.

“If we were to officially hire those children, how much should we pay them? To use Yurana’s salary as a standard, her salary would need to be twice as high. Though, I don’t think she’ll be convinced with that… So maybe, by half? Without that, it wouldn’t be balanced, but it’s still too low…”

“Uhm, well, yes, I’d like her to at least be paid that much, but…”

Lucia stuttered in embarrassment.

After all, she knew very well how Yurana would take it as she’d been under her care since childhood. While she understood why Yurana kept refusing the offer, she could also see why her brother was adamant about raising her wage.

Still, considering Yurana’s personality…

…She had a feeling that the more Alves pursued the matter, the less likely she’d be convinced.

“…But maybe—”

“—Hm? Did you say something?”

“No, never mind. Do your best to convince her.”

“Leave it to me! I’m not really confident, but I’ll try my best.”

Alves slapped his cheeks with both hands and took a deep breath—

—twice, thrice… after that, Alves left the kitchen in full spirit.

“I hope it goes well…”

Lucia looked up to her older brother, Alves. Not only was he practical and thoughtful, but also considerate of his surroundings. He had the strength to overcome all adversities.

“…But Yurana is tougher.”

She muttered inaudibly and sighed.

…It got a little noisier outside. Apparently, Alves started negotiating with Yurana right away. At that time, she should be cleaning the garden.

However, as expected, from what she overheard, Alves was on the losing end.

“Older brother, do your best…!”

Pumping her fits, Lucia started boiling the water.

If the negotiation was conducted successfully, she’d serve tea to celebrate, but if it failed, she’d serve tea to cheer him up.

Luckily, she made plenty of sweets yesterday.

As she arranged them on the plate, the knights rushed in.

The knights who came to prepare dinner frowned when they saw Lucia.

“…Miss, are you preparing Alves’ consolation party?”

“What? T-that’d be…”

“I passed by them. Mrs. Yurana was an impregnable wall. I don’t think Alves can win that one. While his strategy itself wasn’t bad, the opponent is a different story…”

“Oh, that one from earlier. Yes, that woman is something else. I’d just give up straight away.”

The knights nodded, each with a dubious expression on their face.

Even the indomitable knights of the royal army readily admitted their defeat…

…Apparently, it’d still be a long time before Alves could attain victory.

“…But I’m sure Yurana will understand.”

“We’re rooting for Alves, too. But realistically speaking, I doubt it’ll work. If anything, this is about how to conquer such a foe.”

“Alves is also devising various strategies.”

“Still, what is impossible is impossible. Should I invite Alves out for a drink tonight?”

As they rinsed the vegetables, the knights who smirked at each other seemed to be having a good time.

Smiling wryly, Lucia quietly gazed outside.

As proven by the fact that Alves’ voice was getting weaker, Yurana’s superiority didn’t waver.

---

***T/N: The extra stories are just them chilling

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