Although it was good that Arianthe and Swan had become close, Cedelloi was also proud that he could balance well between the two children. Now, he felt like he was handling the role of a father and a master well.

“Miss Maiana, how should I fix this? I really don’t know.”

Maiana turned her head at the voice behind her. Ibi was holding Arianthe’s torn stocking with lace, attempting to fix it but seemed to have failed.

Taking the stocking and examining it, Maiana sighed softly and chuckled at the same time.

“Goodness, Ibi… This lace is very thin and soft, so you can’t stitch it with the needle you have. There might have been a small, thin needle in the sewing kit. Didn’t you see it?”

“I saw it… but… I didn’t know what to do with such a small one. I thought this one was small enough.”

“It’s better to just tear it off and sew on a new lace.”

Ibi’s sewing skills were miserable. Maiana, pulling out a little thread, said with a small sigh and a smile, “Oh, when will I ever be as good as Miss Maiana?”

Smiling, Maiana, who had taken out a small pair of scissors from her always-carrying sewing kit, sat down.

“It’s because I’ve been sewing for a very long time, so this is the easiest for me… But you’re good at other things, aren’t you? You clean neatly and organize well.”

“You’re good at that too, Miss Maiana. Miss Venti and Miss Bridget are the same.”

Maiana, looking at Ibi with a different gaze than usual, said, “Why do you seem less confident today? It’s not like you.”

“Just because. I have a lot on my mind. It seems like I’m going through adolescence.”
Due to Ibi holding her chin with both hands and speaking in a muffled voice, Maiana burst into laughter. However, Ibi’s expression was serious, and she even protruded her lips as if about to pout seriously.

“You know, Miss Maiana, what do you think of Miss Lauren?”

Maiana, who was trimming the thread of the torn lace, looked up at Ibi and asked.

“Miss Lauren? You mean Ash Lauren?”

“There are no two people named Lauren in this mansion.”

Maiana blinked her eyes a few times. It seemed more than just a sigh about her lack of skill… she thought.

“Well, about Miss Lauren… I don’t know what to say when you ask how I feel. Are you asking if she seems like a good person?”

Nodding her tilted head, Ibi replied nonchalantly.

“Something like that.”

“Well… about Miss Lauren… it’s hard to say whether she seems like a good person or not. But considering that she teaches Lady Arianthe and Master Swan, I think she’s a good person. Children can tell who is a good person and who is not. Do you understand what I mean?”

After a moment of contemplation, Ibi nodded again, extending her hand over the table.

“I understand. Instinctively… something like that.”

“Yeah. If there’s someone I value the most in this mansion, it’s Lady Arianthe. So if she thinks Miss Lauren is a good person, then she is.”

“What about as a man?”

Oh my goodness. Maiana was so surprised that she almost cut the lace rather than the thread. Woven meticulously, delicate lace had the disadvantage of being less durable.

If Maiana had exerted a little more pressure on her fingers, the lace would undoubtedly have torn apart instantly.

Ibi spoke again.

“Is he a good person as a man?”

“…Ibi, I’m starting to get curious about the topic of this conversation.”

At that, Ibi, as if wondering what could be curious about, blinked her eyes with an innocent yet somewhat shameless expression. Her eyes, which were usually indifferent with minimal expression changes, looked unusually bright today.

“I think Miss Maiana has a bit more… um, an eye for people. But why should it be Ash Lauren?”

Ibi withdrew the hand that she had carelessly reached out over the table.

At the moment she straightened her back, Maiana was about to say, ‘Don’t do that!’ But it was already too late… Even if Maiana had told her not to, Ibi would have said whatever she wanted.

“I think I like Miss Lauren a little. Um, I’m not sure if ‘like’ is too hasty. My gaze keeps going to her, and I’m concerned. Sometimes, even when I lie down to sleep, her face comes to mind.”