“Um… good morning. No, wait, why are you here?”
Eileen asked.
“By Lady Kate’s order, this time I and two members of the Knight Order will be accompanying Miss Eileen and the others.”
Mia briefly explained the reason.
“Huh?”
Yesterday when Kate said she would arrange a few accompanying personnel, Eileen had still thought she would just casually find a few people to look after them on the road. Who would have expected she would actually pull over an Upper-rank Mage from the Duke’s Private Knight Order…
One had to know that Mia’s status within the Knight Order was not low.
Although she was only an Upper-rank Mage, equivalent to a B-rank adventurer, the mage profession was extremely scarce because of its high entry difficulty and the need to study all sorts of magical knowledge. It not only required money but also demanded extremely high comprehension.
Being able to become a Lower-rank or D-rank mage was already quite sought after. An Upper-rank Mage like Mia could simply be described as a rare existence as scarce as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.
Without any exaggeration, Upper-rank Mages were national treasures to the Principality.
The fact that Kate could arrange for Mia to accompany them showed just how much importance she attached to her.
However, in Mia’s eyes, Kate’s arrangement carried an entirely different meaning.
“Lady Kate’s meaning is that I am skilled in teleportation magic, so the moment you encounter danger I can take you away at the first opportunity. Tch…”
Mia clicked her tongue hard. “Didn’t you used to team up with Lady Kate for adventures? Why don’t you even have this much ability to respond to danger? What exactly did Lady Kate see in you…”
Eileen’s face was full of embarrassment.
If I say I used to be an S-rank adventurer, would you believe me?
Clearly, with her current combat strength, anything she said would have zero credibility.
“Sorry…”
A thousand words ultimately could only be condensed into those two.
As the saying went, when under someone else’s roof, one had no choice but to lower one’s head.
After all, she would still have to rely on Mia during the journey later. If Mia turned against them, any bit of danger they encountered on the road could prove fatal.
Once her strength recovered somewhat in the future, it would not be too late to teach this white-haired loli brat a lesson.
“Where is Atia?”
Mia asked.
Right now she only wanted to finish this investigation mission as quickly as possible so it wouldn’t delay her subsequent training.
The reason Kate was unwilling to team up with her was definitely because she felt her abilities were insufficient. As long as she could be promoted to Elite Mage as soon as possible, Kate would surely look at her in a new light.
For that, she had to work hard.
“She went to change clothes. She’ll be here soon…”
“Miss Eileen, this this this… isn’t this a bit too formal?”
The moment Eileen’s words fell, a petite figure appeared at the entrance of the dining room.
Turning her head, she saw Atia standing perfectly straight, her fingers clutching the fabric at the side of her skirt, the tips of her fingers slightly white.
“Not bad at all.”
Eileen walked forward and carefully looked her over.
The velvet hem of the skirt reached her ankles, a deep blue that was nearly black, with a circle of fine pearls adorning the collar.
A narrow strip of white lace peeked out from the cuffs, and silver-thread patterns were woven into the skirt surface, faintly visible as she moved.
Watching Eileen carefully appraising her, she suddenly tugged at her cuffs, her voice as small as a mosquito’s. “Um… is it really okay?”
It was her first time wearing this kind of clothing. She didn’t even dare take a deep breath.
On one hand she was nervous, afraid that she wouldn’t look good after putting it on and would bring shame to Eileen.
On the other hand she was worried about damaging such an expensive dress.
“Not just okay. It’s a perfect match!”
Eileen gave an extremely high evaluation.
Atia’s foundation was excellent to begin with. It was just that she had always worn those patched-up coarse linen clothes and neglected any grooming, so if one didn’t look carefully it was impossible to tell how beautiful she actually was.
Now that she had dressed up a little and changed clothes, her aura immediately rose. Anyone who didn’t know better would think she was some noble young lady.
“Hehe, i-is that so?”
Being praised by Eileen like this, Atia’s little mouth couldn’t help but curve upward.
It was clearly just simple praise. Why did it feel so happy?
“Miss Eileen, aren’t you going to change clothes?”
However, Atia quickly noticed that Eileen was still wearing the same coarse linen clothes as the previous two days.
Kate had prepared clothes for her. There was no way she wouldn’t have prepared any for Eileen, right?
“About that… I still feel these clothes are loose and convenient for moving around. There’s no need to change.”
Eileen found an excuse to brush the question aside.
Kate had indeed prepared an entire wardrobe of clothes for her, but without exception they were all little dresses.
In the game, she had indeed liked dressing her game character in all sorts of beautiful clothes. A perfectly good RPG had nearly turned into a dress-up game under her hands.
But once she had truly become the game character, she no longer had that mindset.
After all, she used to be a straight-as-steel man. Having her wear little dresses and the like still carried some psychological resistance.
“Is that so…”
Atia looked a little disappointed.
She had still wanted to see what Eileen would look like after changing into those dresses. It would surely be very beautiful, right?
“Are you two done chatting?”
At that moment, Mia’s urging voice came from behind.
Only then did Atia notice there was still another person in the dining room.
“I’m sorry, Miss Mia. I didn’t see you just now…”
Atia hurriedly apologized.
She had no concept of Upper-rank Mages, but no one who could join the Duke’s Private Knight Order was an ordinary person.
Mia could speak directly with Kate, so her status within the Duke’s Private Knight Order was certainly high as well. She was not someone a commoner like her could afford to offend.
“It’s fine. Hurry up and come eat. Don’t delay today’s schedule.”
As Mia spoke, she looked Atia up and down.
Her looks were indeed quite good. Placing her by Lady Kate’s side as a green leaf to set her off was rather suitable.
“Y-Yes!”
Atia hurriedly came to the table and finished her breakfast at the fastest speed possible.
After the meal, the three of them, accompanied by Trenton, arrived at the gates of the estate.
Kate had arranged a total of two carriages.
One ordinary, one luxurious.
There was no need to say much about the luxurious carriage. It was definitely prepared for Eileen and Atia.
The two of them had just prepared to open the door and board when they saw Mia step forward first and open the carriage door for them. “Please board, you two.”
Ah this…
Having an Upper-rank Mage of the Duke’s Private Knight Order personally open the door for them… am I still not fully awake?
Eileen was stunned. Atia was stunned. Trenton, who had come to see them off, was also stunned.
One had to know that with Mia’s status within the Duke’s Private Knight Order, it had always only been other people opening doors for her. How had it become her turn to open the door for others today?
Trenton couldn’t help but look at Eileen with even higher regard.
Miss Eileen is this terrifying. To actually make an Upper-rank Mage like Mia open the door for her… even if her status isn’t quite on the same level as Kate’s, it probably isn’t far off, right?
“Miss Mia, what are you doing? Why don’t you board first instead!”
Atia grew anxious.
Mia boarding first herself and opening the door to let her and Eileen board were two completely different concepts.
But Mia made no move. She only fixed her gaze on Eileen, her tone carrying a trace of defiance. “Lady Kate instructed that this trip requires taking good care of the two of you. Please don’t make things difficult for me.”