“Wah?! Wait a, wh-what are you doing?!”
“‘What’? Well, I just thought this would help you relax.”
“R-Relax? That’s not what I’m talking ab—” Allen snapped back to his senses and pushed Ristia away from him. “I-I’m saying that I’m not just gonna up and trust you!” Allen spat out his parting remark before rushing from the room. Ristia watched him do so, lamenting, Oh no, he hates me... Despite her hurt feelings, she decided it was a bad idea to just leave him be, so she tried to chase after him, but Maria stopped her before she could.
“I’ll talk to Allen. You entertain the rest of the kids, Sister.”
“But...”
“Don’t worry. He was just a little embarrassed.”
“...Embarrassed? Why?”
“Never you mind that. Just handle things here.”
“Well... I’m not sure what’s going on, but okay. Make sure Allen is alright.” After thinking things over, Ristia decided to do as Maria suggested. After all, Maria was so mature beyond her years, and she seemed to know how the kids operated rather well. And so, she made the call to let Maria handle Allen while she would entertain and play with the others.
Ristia asked the children about various things here and there after that. And after dinner had concluded...
“Would it be okay if we rebuilt this orphanage?” Ristia asked, having come to Director Georg’s office to speak to him directly.
“Ristia... What are you even asking me?”
“I’m asking if I can rebuild the orphanage. I spoke to the children, and they told me that it can get terribly drafty here. Besides, it seems a lot of things are falling apart here, so... erm, may I?” Seeing the shocked expression on Director Georg’s face, Ristia toned herself down. Her initial plan was to gain permission to rebuild the place first, and then she and the director would discuss how she could go about fixing up certain things. Since her plan was so set, she felt it quite unexpected that she would run into a hurdle right out of the gate.
“Listen, Ristia, just from today, I can understand your love for the children in spades. However, there are certain things in the world that you can and cannot do. You should first focus on what you can do.”
“...Yes, Sir. My apologies.” But rebuilding a house is something that I can do! Ristia thought to herself, but she wasn’t childish enough to object aloud. Granted, she wasn’t enough of an adult to just meekly give up on her idea, either.
“At any rate, you did fine work today, my child. How did it feel to work here for a whole day?”
“It was so much fun spending time with the children!” Ristia said, beaming with joy. Director Georg, on the other hand, was seemingly befuddled.
“Is that... so? It seems that you are suited for this job, then,” Director Georg said with a jolly smile as he took a bottle and two glasses off of a shelf. “Ristia, can you handle liquor?” She had never drank before, but she didn’t know what it was like to be drunk off of alcohol in the first place—which is why she replied affirmatively.
As a note, Ristia was seventeen years old, but since this world wasn’t bound by any laws stating that minors couldn’t consume alcohol, this was all perfectly fine by those standards. Speaking of standards, she was a True Blood princess, so human laws were pointless to her anyway.
“Well then, it isn’t much, but let us celebrate your arrival with a drink.” Director Georg turned away and started to pour the contents of the bottle into the pair of glasses. When he turned back around to Ristia, he presented the glass meant for her, which she accepted. The beverage appeared to be a wine of some kind, and it filled a good portion of the glass.
“Let us toast to your new future.”
“My new future, Sir?”
“Why, yes. I hope that you give yourself up for the children.”
“Yes, Sir. I will try my best to meet your expectations!” She raised her glass and mimicked Director Georg’s gestures before taking a swig of the wine. The wine’s mellow aroma and subtle astringency spread throughout Ristia’s palate. This was Ristia’s first time drinking alcohol, but she found herself partial to this wine.
“Ehehe, this is quite good.” Ristia proceeded to down the rest in delight. This really is good! I’ve never made liquor before, but maybe I will next time I get the chance... Ristia thought to herself as she began to analyze the ingredients of the wine with her tongue. Let’s see, this “wine” drink seems to be grapes fermented with alcohol. Hmm... Yes, grapes and ethanol seem to be the key ingredients. What else? Let’s see... That astringency is coming from tannin. There’s also amino acid, and... Hm? Isn’t this... extract from medicinal plants with a sleeping agent? So that was the cause of the slight bitterness. It doesn’t seem to be necessary for the flavor, but... maybe it’s in here so you can have a good night’s sleep? Either way, it doesn’t affect me, so maybe that ingredient isn’t necessary for experiencing the sheer joy of wine.
That single ingredient was enough to knock a normal girl completely unconscious, but for the self-proclaimed normal girl, Ristia, it barely had the same effect as a soothing herb, and she remained largely unaffected. And so, she proceeded to down her wine as Director Georg suggested as she engaged in chit-chat with him.
“You’re so young, but you can really guzzle it down.”
“Thank you, Sir. This is my first time drinking wine, but it is more delicious than I ever imagined.”
“Well, isn’t that a treat? Still, I believe it is about time we stop for tonight. It would be terrible if it were to impede on your work, after all.”
“You’re right, Sir. Well then, I’ll just go... Oh, umm...” Ristia was informed that this would be a live-in position, but she suddenly remembered she was never shown her quarters. Georg seemed to remember and assured her not to worry.
“Your quarters are right next door. From today onwards, that will be where you stay, so please make yourself at home. Now, retire to your quarters and rest well, my child. ...Yes, extremely well.” He handed her the key to her quarters. Maybe I should go back to Nanami’s house and give her an update on what’s going on? Ristia initially thought, but it was already late, so she reconsidered. I can do that another time.
“Hmm... So this is my room,” Ristia whispered to herself in an impressed tone, stepping into the room as she was told. Thinking about it, Ristia had always lived in a castle—and a castle that was constructed with technology far beyond the scope of humans of this era, to boot. While it was probably a sentiment that would hurt a person’s feelings if said aloud, Ristia was slightly enjoying all of this, as it felt like a quaint excursion to the countryside to her.
Oh, but I might not be able to sleep on a bed this hard. This room also smells kind of moldy... Maybe I should do a little interior decorating. Ristia used her magic to disinfect and dust off the room. Then, she put the old bed into her Item Box and rolled a soft and fluffy carpet out on the floor. After putting up a set of lace curtains over the window, she placed her trusty princess-style bed right in the center of the room. Finally, she installed a magical chandelier illuminated with magic stones and placed a magic item capable of temperature, humidity, and air purification on the wall.
That should do it. Now, all I have to do... Oh, that reminds me, is there a bath here? Ristia adorably pondered with, naturally, no answer—or rather, even if she did get an answer, it certainly wouldn’t be an affirmation. If there’s none here, maybe I should whip one up? Ristia considered, but she reconsidered, since any construction now would most likely wake the children. I’ll just hurry off to sleep and start really renovating the room come tomorrow. She then decided to cleanse her body with magic for tonight. After she did, she changed into a cute camisole for her pajamas, turned off the lights, and threw herself into bed. However, it wasn’t soon after that...
“Is there someone outside the room...?” As she laid in bed, Ristia noticed that she had an uninvited visitor just outside her door.