Ted looked at Acid with a startled expression at his words.

I felt the same way. Why is Acid suddenly… pledging loyalty to me?

More importantly…!

“Acid, isn’t the oath of loyalty something only knights can do…?”

I pointed out the obvious fact.

Our baby puppy-like Acid would probably be hurt, but I had to say it.

That’s when Ted quietly said,

“No, Lady Sien.”

“Huh?”

Acid and I looked at Ted at the same time.

“Since Acid awakened his healer abilities… he can make an oath of loyalty with that power.”

I pondered with a serious expression.

Ted had a reason why he absolutely had to make an oath of loyalty to me.

Holy power was a necessary weapon for the future confrontation with the original protagonist, or with Axel.

Especially since most of the villains from the Mirmod family were vulnerable to holy power, it would be enough to slash them with Ted’s holy sword Armos.

But Acid was still young, and I wanted to help him choose who he wanted to serve as his master on his own.

Of course, I would be happy to become Acid’s master and have his healer abilities as part of my forces, but I still had a conscience.

After a slight internal conflict, I carefully said,

“But if you make an oath of loyalty, I’ll become your, your master… Is that okay?”

At that moment, Acid’s face brightened.

It wasn’t the tense look he had when he first came in.

“I want to be, become your subordinate, Lady Sien.”

Subordinate, huh.

‘Why are there so many people volunteering to be my subordinates lately…? Am I that charismatic?’

After praising myself a little, I shook my head.

“No, we’re friends!”

“Yes, th-then… I’ll make an oath as a friend.”

Acid glanced at Ted, then imitated him by carefully bending one knee.

Acid was sincere.

I felt myself being drawn in by his serious demeanor and reached out my hand.

“Here, my hand!”

With trembling hands, Acid grasped my right hand. He must have been very nervous, as sweat was running down the boy’s hand.

Strangely, it didn’t feel unpleasant.

I stared quietly at my hand.

Ted was holding my left hand, and Acid my right.

The sight of the two brothers kneeling before me was unexpectedly grand.

The older brother Ted looked a bit tense, but it was rather cute how Acid was sweating profusely on his forehead.

I grasped their hands again firmly and cleared my throat a couple of times.

“Now make your oath!”

Ted spoke first.

“…Acid, I’ll go first, so follow along and adapt it to your situation, one phrase at a time.”

“…Okay.”

For the first time, Acid didn’t refuse to be called by his name. The awkward atmosphere between them was gradually dissipating.

It was when Acid’s shoulders tensed up.

Ted looked into my eyes and whispered in a low tone.

“I, Ted, who was knighted as a holy knight of Senoa and is the master of the sword Armos, stand before Lady Sien Mirmod, to whom I pledge my loyalty.”

After hearing Ted’s words, Acid hesitated for a moment before carefully meeting my green eyes.

“I, Acid, once a street child and now the master of the holy blue light, stand before Lady Sien Mirmod, to whom I pledge my loyalty.”

As soon as those words were spoken, a faint light flowed from Ted’s holy sword, and a blue light emanated from Acid’s fingertips.

Ted quietly waited until those lights touched the back of my hand, and when the light slowly faded after touching my hand, he spoke.

“I swear to make Lady Sien Mirmod my eternal lady and master, and to protect her with my life.”

Acid also spoke firmly.

“I swear to make Lady Sien Mirmod my eternal lady and master, and to protect her with my life.”

As soon as those words were spoken, a complex magic circle with circular and triangular shapes was drawn on the floor.

After the magic circle clearly surrounded us, Ted quietly whispered.

“When a knight’s sincere oath is completed, a magic circle is drawn. It binds oneself to their lady and master.”

I opened my mouth wide.

“That’s so amazing!”

After staring at the magic circle for a while, Acid mumbled in a voice filled with emotion while blankly looking at my yellow clothes.

“Thank you for ma-making me your subordinate, Chick Lady…”

Wait, what did he just say?!

“Huh?”

Acid’s cheeks turned bright red.

“You’re cu-cute like a chick… I’m sorry.”

He’s so cute talking like that now, when he was so serious during the loyalty oath.

I put the hand they had kissed behind my back and said arrogantly.

“You’re the chick!”

“…Wh-what?”

“I’m not cute, I’m cool.”

When I said that with my shoulders straightened confidently, Acid nodded as if mesmerized.

***

Surprisingly, as soon as Ted and Acid made their knightly oaths, they became awkward with each other.

I was worried about how to handle the relationship between them, but…

‘At least they’ll be living in the same mansion now.’

I was very excited. Ted had made a knight’s oath to me, and the cute Acid had also pledged his loyalty to me.

I wanted to boast to Dad and Leonhart right away, but neither of them were anywhere to be seen.

“Sisters, where did Leonhart and Daddy and Sister Delphia go?”

“Ah, well…”

The maid sisters unexpectedly wore troubled expressions.

When I raised my eyebrows in question, they carefully said,

“There’s someone called Lord Axel… It seems they both got busy when he arrived.”

“…Huh?”

“Lord Leonhart is the adopted son of the vassal family serving Lord Axel, and Lord Matthias and Lady Delphia are his political opponents. It seems Lord Axel notified that he would be returning soon.”

“There’s going to be another storm brewing soon…”

The muscular maids sighed. That’s when I realized it.

“Axel Mirmod is…”

“Yes? Lady Sien?”

The muscular maids looked at me with worried faces. They too knew about Axel Mirmod’s evil deeds.

“Until he arrives… it’s not a month, but…”

“Yes, it’s probably about 2 weeks left. It could be even sooner.”

The forces I have are my foolish dad, Delphia who’s a bit strong but foolish, dad’s sucker friends, the holy knight Ted, the healer Acid, and the muscular maid sisters.

‘That’s more than I thought?’

I rested my chin on my hand and fell into thought.

Let’s think carefully about Axel Mirmod’s weaknesses.

“She must be thinking about candy again.”

“Yeah. Look how serious she is.”

“So cute…”

Our maid sisters… their heads were full of flowers.

I sighed deeply and thought about Axel.

Axel Mirmod was a terrifying man.

They said he had a charismatic appearance and a sharp temperament, and the only way to weaken him even a little was through holy power.

But Melodia had managed to capture Axel and make him kneel. She had a cunning unlike a saint, and lured Axel by calling numerous astrologers from the East.

Although Axel didn’t believe in God, he believed quite well in certain jinxes or spells due to his many experiences on the battlefield. And thanks to those astrologers, Axel Mirmod was finished.

‘The problem is that I can’t properly find astrologers.’

There’s no way our dad would send me all the way to the East, and even if I went to the East, I wouldn’t know where to find astrologers.

There was an even bigger problem here. After using my brain for a while, I started to feel sleepy.

‘Ah, I’m getting sleepy again…’

It seemed like the damn physical ability debuff was working again.

Thinking I should eat something I had prepared for times like this, I said solemnly to the maid sisters.

“Gi-give me pine needles!”

I tightly grasped the maid sister and received the pine needles, then chewed them diligently.

Fortunately, mental peace came. It meant that my cognitive ability to look around had returned.

I looked at Ted, who was standing guard nearby like a bodyguard, and yawned.

“Ted, why do you have that expression?”

“Ah… it’s nothing. I’ll tell you when I’m sure.”

His expression became fierce. I tried to observe Ted’s expression but was defeated by my closing eyelids.

‘Pine needles are only temporary…’

I slowly began to sink into a hellish slumber.

***

The sensation that someone was staring at her was certainly not Sien’s imagination.

Currently, the ‘Sien Activity Investigation Team’ sent by Matthias had blended into Sien’s surroundings like shadows.

Although there were only two of them, they could be called a splendid lineup.

The names of the two were Pat and Matt.

Pat was once a person who had been successful as the head of the dark information guild, skilled at extracting all sorts of information from people.

Matt’s alias among the public was ‘The Judge’, and he was the owner of the magic sword ‘Elpiros’. Like Mele, he was called the judge of justice by victims for killing child sex offenders and murderers.

At first, such people felt a slight discomfort, though they didn’t say it, at the order to serve Sien, who had just turned five.

There were many people in the world who liked children.

There might be many such weak people, but they were not among them.

When they saw children, they instinctively felt uncomfortable, uneasy, and unpleasant. It was like an instinct engraved in their DNA.

The combination of themselves, rotten to the core, who had killed and eliminated others, and pure young children.

It was as nonsensical as a warm milkshake.

But…

‘Pat, Matt. Take on the role of monitoring Sien’s surroundings.’

It couldn’t be helped since it was Lord Matthias’s order.

On their way out, thinking they would just have to do it.

Several people who had supposedly met Sien before surrounded Pat and Matt in a circle.

‘Ah, I’m jealous. I wish I could watch over Lady Sien too…’

‘You’re really blessed, aren’t you?’

‘I’m having withdrawal symptoms since I haven’t seen her since last time…’

Some who had already seen Sien expressed their envy, but honestly, they couldn’t understand what there was to be envious about.

Isn’t it more comfortable to go around executing criminals? Doing babysitting work for no reason is just troublesome.

With their loyalty to Matthias reaching the sky, and already jaded by society, they didn’t utter such words out loud.

But no matter how much they looked around, it felt like not even a speck of a problem would occur. They yawned and muttered lowly.

“I really don’t understand what’s so cute about children.”

“Me neither. And they say she’s evil?”

They looked at each other and shook their heads.

Sien’s appearance did seem exceptionally cute compared to other children.

The snow-white cheeks that looked like they would sink in if you poked them, the fluffy pink hair like a ball of yarn. Even the occasional pout of her lips.

But is she cute enough for everyone to envy them?

“Let’s just keep watching for now.”

“Yeah. She’s been playing all day today, so she should rest soon.”

“I’d rather stop guarding and go bully some other guys.”

Just as they nodded to each other, something unexpected happened.

“Today we have to go to the back alley!”

Sien clenched her fist and stood up.

A child’s stamina was tremendous.

Moreover, the back alley… They might even see the ‘group that corrupted Sien’ that Lord Matthias suspected.

Their eyes gleamed.