“The princess? I haven’t seen her in a while.”
“Yes. But it’s a bit annoying.”

Larisa laughed honestly.

“And what about William?”

“He said he would spend this week on the territory again.”

William was always busy with academy on weekdays and estate matters on weekends. Larisa nodded, accepting the reality with a tinge of disappointment.

“How about Professor Siod?”

“Yeah.”

“Did Mother go with him too?”

“Lara, I can’t leave you alone.”

Larisa smiled playfully. Grenavier prioritized her over his only precious son.

As they entered the dining hall holding hands, Larisa’s favorite dinner was prepared.

“How did you spend your time without me, Mother?”

“It was the same. Researching, eating, and sleeping.”

“Are you still researching that time-delay magic? The one you apply to a person?”

It was precisely a time regression magic applied to one person, but Grenavier nodded as if agreeing with Larisa’s words.

“Yeah. I haven’t made much progress yet.”

“Why?”

Grenavier briefly explained for Larisa’s understanding.

“Slowing down the passage of time for a specific part of the body is possible, but applying it to the whole body is challenging. Especially if it includes the brain, normal thinking becomes impossible. Then, it becomes nothing more than a doll.”

Larisa didn’t understand why Grenavier was researching such magic. She thought he might be searching for a way to live forever out of sheer lack of anything else to research.
“But it’s not difficult to apply it to objects rather than people, right?”

“That’s right.”

“How about fruits? Then, you can eat fruits even in winter.”

Larisa said as if the mere thought excited her. Grenavier smiled happily at Larisa’s characteristic idea and replied,

“It’s a good idea. However, the magical energy required to maintain summer fruits in winter is immense.”

“Oh, really?”

Larisa gave up obediently.

“I don’t know about a lot, but I can enchant strawberries for your birthday cake at least.”

“Huh? No, thank you. Strawberries are spring fruits, and my birthday is in winter.”

“With my magical power, it’s enough.”

“Mother, it would be easier to grow strawberries in winter.”

Oh, Grenavier admired Larisa willingly.

“That’s true.”

“What?”

“It would be better to enchant a temperature-maintenance spell in the greenhouse and grow strawberries in winter. I should tell William to cultivate them on the estate. Winter strawberries might become a specialty of the Rodante territory.”

Grenavier was sincere. Larisa loves strawberries, and she decided to instruct the demons in the demon tower to figure out a way to grow strawberries all year round.

“Mother, are you starting to take an interest in estate affairs now?”

“No, I’m interested in strawberries.”

It was just because Larisa liked strawberries, but Larisa was simply delighted. It was because she felt sorry for William doing all the work alone.
“How about visiting the estate directly tomorrow? It’s a chance to meet William too.”

“Sure.”

Yahoo! Larisa shouted excitedly.

Larisa wanted to surprise William. Sneaking up from behind, Larisa suddenly jumped forward and exclaimed,

“Ta-da!”

Of course, William, with sharp instincts, already knew everything and wasn’t surprised.

“Lala, I’m really busy this week and can’t play. What brings you here?”

“Who said I came to play? I came up with an amazing business idea.”

“What is it?”

“I’m enchanting a temperature maintenance spell in the greenhouse to grow strawberries in winter. How about that?”

William chuckled.

“Do you like strawberries that much?”

“Actually, it’s not my idea but Mother’s. Right, Mother?”

“Lara’s idea is correct.”

“No, it’s not~”

Larisa really wanted to contribute to the development of the estate, not because she wanted strawberries.

“Anyway, what do you think? Isn’t the idea great?”

“Well, it might be worth researching, but I’m not sure if it’s commercially viable.”

Grenavier interjected.

“It’s for Lara to eat.”

“Oh, come on, Mother too. You think of it as a specialty of the estate, right~”

“If you grow enough for Lara to eat and there’s excess, you can sell it.”

William answered with a smile.

“Then there won’t be any leftovers.”

“…Want to fight?”

Larisa puffed up her cheeks.
“However, wouldn’t it be more profitable to cultivate precious herbs rather than strawberries? Instead of hiring a wizard to cast a temperature maintenance spell, using alchemy to create something like a heating stone could make facility expenses even more affordable……”

“Will-Will, then grow some strawberries in a corner.”

“Sure.”

As if finding William cute, Larisa patted his head.

“Oh, stop it~”

Larisa didn’t like William treating her like a child, so she swatted his hand away.

“I’m in adolescence now. If you keep treating me like a kid, I’ll get crooked.”

“In my eyes, you’re still a kid.”

“I told you not to?”

Grenavier chuckled while watching the bickering kids. Honestly, whether they fell in love or not didn’t matter now. Larisa had become like a real daughter to her.