“……Mm, delicious. I never thought that I’d be able to taste fish and other seafood from the northwestern Fushobari region in the royal capital.”
“Is it good? I’m glad to hear that you enjoy it. As for the fish…… chances to eat it are limited, as it’s a bit difficult to transport fish all the way to the royal capital. If you go closer to the sea, there’s even more delicious foods that you can taste there.”
“It must taste even fresher there.”
“Yep. Cut the fish into thin pieces, grill it, and season it with rume vinegar. It’s out of this world, how delicious it is.”
“Gerberries and oinocera oil also go wonderfully with fish.”
Rumes and gerberries are some strongly sour fruits that grow in the northern Fushobari and Ugaria regions, they can be made into fruit jams, processed into vinegar, or even cooked into fruit pies.
“I see,” I nodded, and I remembered a similar taste from my previous world, a drink called lemonade. Even though I can’t recall the specific game scenarios clearly anymore, my mind is coming up with such an insignificant memory now, it’s amazing how it works. Well, in my past life I had only played this game as a way to pass some time, it’s only natural that it would be easier to remember things from my daily life.
“And, here’s a rume pie. You still have enough room to try it, right?”
“Ahh, I’ve heard of it, but never tasted it before. I shall try indulging myself.”
“Okay,” Zephyr gave me a slice of pie, and seemed to exchange an expression like he was trying to hold back his laughter with Lucius. Although I was a bit dubious, I placed the pie into my mouth, and chewed.
“…………, …………Nn……!!”
An unimaginably sour taste started spreading out in my mouth all at once. The sourness was stronger than anything I’ve ever tasted. It’s such a sharp taste. Well, it’s not so strong that it will linger on in my mouth, but it’s so acidic.
At seeing my reaction, Zephyr exploded into laughter. Although I almost thought about glaring at him, I changed my mind, smoothed out my facial expression, and decided to pick up the remaining part of my pie slice. Since the pie was also considerably sweetened, once I got used to the sourness it was actually quite delectable.
“Kaldia, what do you think? Is it savory?”
“……I was a bit shocked at how sour it was, but yes, it’s quite scrumptious.”
“Everyone who tries rume for the first time reacts just like how you did. I’m sorry, but if I told you how sour it was, you would have been mentally prepared and it wouldn’t have seemed as sour. That pie’s main flavor isn’t even the sourness of the rume, anyway.”
“Since young children are forbidden from eating rumes, everyone in the Fushobari region tries it for the first time around the time they become a teenager. I tried it for the first time myself just a few days ago, but unlike you, I gave a loud shout at how sour it was.”
“Ah, I see,” as I responded, Lucius offered me some wine to wash the taste out of my mouth. It was definitely delicious, but I definitely felt a need to rinse the sour acid out of my mouth.
……This, I have an idea. I absolutely have to make my double Ratoka try this. I won’t stand for being the only one to experience this sourness. Although, it was both sour and mouthwatering at the same time.
“Zephyr-sama, Lucius-sama.”
A girl that seemed like she was a teenager held the hems of her dress and approached us at this moment. Judging by the emblem embroidered in her dress, she must be from a branch family of the Moltons. Zephyr and Lucius welcomed their relative warmly, and briefly introduced her to me. However, is her social status a bit low I wonder, I only learned that her name was Irche.
“Alright then, Irche. What’s the matter?”
“The master is in the main hall and has a message for you. He says it’s about time to come to the ballroom for the dance. After the pavane dance, the two of you are to go to the great dining hall…… Especially Lucius-sama, since you’re the main character for tonight, please spend a little more time in the dance hall.”
Zephyr and Lucius were smiling ambiguously. ……Um, maybe I’m not good at reading this expression, but doesn’t this mean that they think it’s troublesome? I see Margrave Molton hovering around the House of Lords every time there’s a discussion about jewelry taxes on the agenda as well.
“……Well, birthday celebrations are basically dance parties at this age.”
As I muttered my concurrence with Irche’s statement, Zephyr took my arm with a smile as if he had thought up of some good idea. Huh?
“Earl Kaldia, please come attend together with us. Today there will be many beautiful young ladies gathering at the Molton residence tonight, so I would like to use this chance to announce to them all that there’s already a girl that I’m taken by.”
“……Very well. I’m saving myself for Rashiok, though…… Jokes aside, I might as well go to the dance hall together with you. Since Margrave Molton went to the trouble of inviting me, I’d feel bad about staying in the dining hall for the entire time.”
I made a joke that came from the classical literature I had been reading recently in class. While socializing in the dance hall is a bit bothersome, Zephyr and Lucius should be more accustomed to it than me, and it might not be bad to go with them as their friend.
Although come to think of it, aren’t those words that are usually said to a girl you intend to marry? I’m someone who always wears male clothing though, and I’ve never even thought about marriage.
“Earl Kaldia, who might be this Rashiok person you speak of?”
“Oh, he’s my draconis, a magical beast that I’m raising. Of course, I was just joking when I said I was saving myself for him.”
When I entered the dance hall together with Zephyr and Lucius, all the noble girls’ gazes gathered upon us at an amazing speed. I was being pierced by so many glares that I think I would have been dead if this had been a battlefield. In some ways, it’s scarier than armed enemy soldiers.
……Although they’re the hosts, I suppose I must acknowledge that Zephyr and Lucius were more popular with girls than I realized. At noble school, maybe Zephyr pales in comparison to the crown prince’s features, but his beautiful silver hair and azure eyes from his father probably cause him to be adored by many girls. Actually, it’s unusual for his appearance to be inconspicuous. Meaning, the crown prince just stands out by a ridiculous amount.
In order to not be bothered by all the noble girls, I took half a step away from the others.
“Uh, um, Zephyr-sama. Who might this be?”
However, before I could get any further, I heard Zephyr introducing me. Ehh, why me? As the hosts, they need to use me to block this wall of flowers, are they that desperate?
Zephyr ended up introducing me to the flock of girls as his classmate. I wonder if they know my infamy, the teenaged girls stepped back from me and some hid their faces with fans, but all the girls that appeared my age came closer to me for some reason……
“E, Earl Einsbark, could you dance one time with me……”
“No, um, please do me the honor of having this dance!”
“Hey! Didn’t you girls say you were going to dance with Margrave Molton first!”
“Earl, do you like the sarabande dance? I’m confident about my sarabande dancing!”
Oof, I was pressured with invitations to dance from all sides, as I managed to take another half step. Then I was able to put one step’s distance between us.
“As expected of the earl that everyone in the royal capital is paying attention to. You have so many other admirers, apart from myself.”
Lucius seemed to be pleased with all the adulation I was receiving for some reason. No, I think you’re the one that’s strange here for admiring someone with as bad a reputation as me. The reason why I’m a hot topic in the royal capital was because of my cruelty, there’s no reason to admire anything there.
Look at this, these girls all have expressions like they’re on the battlefield, fighting over me. This is probably nothing more than nobles that want to make a connection with me for their own ends, no matter if I’m good or bad, just because everyone has been talking about me.
By the way, let me just point it straight out, Eliza is Katarina-level dense when it comes to romance. But, in a different way. To borrow the words of a reader, she’s too busy with a Crusader Kings 2 mindset to notice anything else…
Hope you all enjoy.
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Yes!!! Ahhh this arc has been a real treat but somehow in the back of my mind i know this isnt going to last.
T_T
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It kinda reminds me of Youjo Senki in that sense. Exaggerated displays of loyalty and war on the brain make for some brilliant misunderstandings.
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Honestly, Eliza’s density isn’t really an issue to me. A lot of her density can be attributed to her known character issues rather than just stupidity. She has major trust issues and doesn’t believe people can have good intentions toward her. Along with that, she’s an incredibly politically minded thinker, and grew up around that, so she isn’t used to innocence that a middle school would still have. I personally think she’s in major denial of how others see her because she can’t see herself as good (due to killing her parents, etc.)
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It probably does not help that she inherited the mind of a much older woman, one, who of all things, had to be dragged into playing an otome game.
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Please tell me this story is not just standard harem trash henceforth…
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It goes back to politics and war soon enough.
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It is not.
Its like Vladimir tepes biography, but shoujo, and the Vladimir is little girl.
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Or Elizabeth Bathory before the virgin blood started flowing.
Actually I’m not looking forward to the enemies demonizing her, she have enough with people in her own country demonizing her because of her “Kaldia” name.
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I’m also hating all this romance part. I want to see her kicking ass, not her stuck in a typical harem or romance story
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How many chapters we had? Si you see standard harem trash ir something like Otome game story?
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Well it was just a matter of time before this would happen. Can’t wait to see where this goes.
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From Eliza the Impaler to Fooliza…… That’s quite a development……
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Fooliza…. I like it, let me adopt the name.
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Lol. Its great to see Eliza being admired once in a while. Yay! Cute chapter!
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Sorry Zephyr, Lucius, but Eliza only going out with old men (for war and politics) or children (for fluff)
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I hope you find your future wife eliza
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Yeah, so that she can scold her for arriving with bloody clothes at the dinner table.
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Someone has to send Zephyr to bridal training or he has no chance in this war.
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Is eliza seen as manly?
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She’s an ikemen
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She is a tall cool beauty dressed in military male clothes, how she not be?
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Just look at the cover picture and tell me that she isn’t a japanese girl’s reverse-trap wet dream?
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Honestly, She’s my reverse-trap wet dream
well i’m fine since my girlfriend is actually really similar to Eliza. minus all of the psychotic murdering vladmir stuff. although that stuff is nice, don’t want for real
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Thanks for chapter.
Eliza is popular because she is cool ikemen(?)
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And that day, the dance hall quaked as a hundred nobel ladies called for their Einsbark-onee-sama
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I wonder if those girls know that the Earl is a girl…
Perhaps that the reason they were so eager to dance with her was because they could dance with an “ikeman” without risking any marriage…
I’m waiting for when Eliza forces Ratoka to appear to a ball in a dress.
All the men would want to dance with the “bishoujo” :p
Thanks for the chapter 🙂
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At tnis point is implied that the real reason she don’t use dresses is more out of embarassment and self-deprecation then because rules, like her saying that dress don’t look good on her (since everyone kept looking at her the first and only time she used one) and are uncorfortable (one of the times she was asked why doesn’t she wear one).
Must say she would look quite good in a red dress.
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She is more comfortable in men clothes. In real life many times girls hate women lothes. And this have nothing with lack of confidence or wathever but personal preferences. I don’t think lack of self steem is the reason for her lothes choice. But simply this is how she grew. And if the author use your reason, I feel that it will be sexist
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If Zephyr actually did state what he intended to, things would get real big, like Eliza getting a fiance, earl Terejia would be rather mystified as how did that tomboy get such a big catch lol
But a man who wants her have to be more direct, like, giving a bouquet of flowers (100 roses) while kneeling on the ground confessing to her and asking for marriage, if she can’t perceive his feelings with that then there’s no salvation.
Thanks for the chapter!
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A bouquet of flowers?
Weirdly, when I think of courting Eliza, I tend to replace the flowers with a general’s head…
I don’t why, but I get the feeling that it would have more effect than roses.
Oh, and of course, you have to add a plan to make her domain even better.
She is way too pragmatic to marry out of love.
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It would be funny if Zephyr did it infront of those girls who only knew that Eliza is a ikemen boy and being confessed to by another one., I bet those girls will kya~ kya~ with no ends.
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So… Ouran all over again? As always the best way to make her understand is to say it to her face than being subtle about it, as in, actively blocking every other candidate (male or female) and confesing evry time he can until she submit…. wich will never probably happen and promptly fail.
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Ahahahahahaha, it happened, it happened! Hahahaha, she was finally mistaken for a boy!
Ahem, thanks for the translation!
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It isn’t the first time, there was also the time she was supposed to look after that engaged girl. (Though she was much younger back then.)
But yeah, this is on a whole new level. Eliza is such a hunk. :B
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Thanks 4 the chapter!
Do those girls know she’s a girl?
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They do, no that’s not gonna stop them.
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To be fair Eliza said that everyone knows her as “Earl” instead of her proper title of Countess.
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Puu*(Spits my lemon juice).
Oh boy, looks like the Author gave this chapter for the fan-girls.
And are we about to change the genre from Shoujo to Shoujo-ai as it looks like Eliza will be making her shoujo harem in the capital and be called Onee-sama by the noble girls.
Its really fun to see Eliza so dense that she forgot that she’s a girl and those girls shouldn’t be dancing with her!
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Eliza, you should have taken a few lessons on girl mentality from your old world, i.e., to young girls, your reputation and gender don’t matter, all that matters is that you’re hot. Zephyr and Lucius totally used her to ward off the females trying to court them. x’D Did she dance in the end though?
I kind of wonder what sort of stories are circulating about her though. o,o
I’m a bit surprised that Eliza made a joke this chapter and even thought of pranking Ratoka. Though, her sense of humor is a bit… she must be the type of person where you can never tell if she’s joking or being serious. I imagine if someone did try to court her, she’d think it’s a joke and say “Certainly, you must defeat Rashiok in battle first however.” “Who’s Rashiok?” “Him. *points to draconis* “
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The story focused only on the serious matter. But she may still act a bit like a child once in a while. She wouldn’t gain a few friends from the children of her new citizen if she’s always stiff. Remember that time when she plays with the children and few of them fought for her? Those children are pure and they are fighting for her not as a lord but a fun/cool kid to play with.
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Eliza… dear Eliza, you’re well on your way to be a primadon- ehm- Casanova I mean.
Well, this follows how Vlad is viewed by his people… Eliza could be the worst demon out there for their enemies but to her people and her allies, she is an admirable and epic hero LOL
Though… I wonder if those girls are aware she is a girl or they just don’t care.
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The yuri is strong in this chapter…
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Here it is !!
I mean, we were all wainting for it, weren’t we ? 😀
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this was such a cute chapter, thank you~
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Rewriting profile:
Previously villainous rival
Now villainous capture target
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Eliza: As expected of the heroine. She glares at me as though I’m the nemesis commander on the battlefield, and she closely monitors my every movement. I must be careful, or I’ll succumb to the fate of the ‘Eliza’ from the game world.
Heroine: She’s looking in my direction! *flustered*
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So Zephyr wanted “to announce to [all those girls] that there’s already a girl that I’m taken by.” Part of his message didn’t come across, it seems.
Does Eliza know the male parts to all of those dances, I wonder?
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Yes yes. The message should have been: “to announce to [all those girls] that this girl here is already taken and they can’t have her.”
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“Very well. I’m saving myself for Rashiok, though”
LOL, I can only blame myself for reading too much “Kemono Direct”
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beastiality?
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Eliza is dense in a way that she feels like everyone just like her for their own ends and for me that what makes her insanely cute.
Also, I can’t help but think that someday, she might use Ratoka to avoid wearing dresses.
Well, I want to thank you again, imperfectluck, for the chapter.
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Woah…. It actually came true.. The female admirers…. I’m actually quite speechless for our wonderfully dense charlie
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LMAO Eliza has that reverse harem going on.
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That’s not a reverse harem, that’s a full flag imperial harem of 3000 beauties with males and females.
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Uhh, she isn’t going to end up with the heroine is she?
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Shh~ don’t rule out princess Zephyr for future wif—-I mean husband > 7 >;; other than that, heroine might fall for Eliza lol
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Lolol I was waiting for this moment! For some reason, I’m getting Mizutama Honey Boy vibes xD. Thanks for the chapter!
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Thanks for the chapter!
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they must not realize she is a woman. the plot thickens
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Pie … ~(°^°~) Feed the pie to Ratoka! (~°^°)~
Arigato.
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Thanks for the recent exsanguination of Eliza chapters!
Margrave Molton seems like a good guy, but we shouldn’t assume he is a complete innocent. Now that we know he has two sons and that his family is somewhat nouveau riche, it’s interesting to speculate on why he might be thinking about connecting his family with Kaldia. Molton is wealthy but possibly lacks influence in more conservative circles and with the army. Kaldia is dirt poor but has military strength well above its apparent means. Its domain lord is personally very influential with the kingdom’s military leadership and also has some connections with certain factions of the church.
If Eliza were to marry Zephyr, that would merge their two domains creating a combined noble family with substantial financial and military strength. The grandchildren might also have Eliza’s… strength of will? killer instinct? … that Zephyr and Lucius seem to lack; all the Moltons seem to find this aspect of her appealing. But the risk here is great: the domains are far apart making administration difficult while at the same time the combined “upstart” family would become an urgent target of attack for opposing noble factions.
On the other hand, if Eliza were to marry Lucius the risk and reward are somewhat lower. Since the two families would not actually be merged other noble factions will see less of a need to move against them. The management problem with geographically split domains would not arise. But Molton’s grandchildren who do eventually inherit would not have much of a connection to Kaldia leaving future generations of Moltons potentially weak.
Since Molton isn’t a bad buy guy, he may not be planning to force either of his sons to marry Eliza, he might just be thinking of having them spend time together to see which relationship (if any) develops. (And maneuvering Eliza into marrying either of his sons when she doesn’t really want to brings the additional risk of angering an unusually dangerous young woman.)
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I don’t think he needs to force Zephyr to marry her. He fell in love when she princess carried him.
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Molton is not as simple as he seems, since he has given Eliza intelligence report before (I suspect he has an intelligence network) and he’s probably quite shrewd as a business man, since he’s lurking around whenever there’s talk about jewelry taxes. The main problem is that his domain is very far away, and Eliza does not seem interested in non-adjacent domains. But I Could see Margrave Molton being able to word it in a way that could entice her.
Molton: Eliza, have you considered marrying my son? He seems quite taken by you.
Eliza: I believe you are mistaken. In any case, I do not see how this marriage would benefit either of us.
Molton: No, in truth, it would benefit both of us plenty. As you know, my domain is quite rich thanks to production of jewelry. However, it is also very far from the capital, and as a result our influence is relatively poor. By uniting our domains, we would obtain a foothold closer to the capital. Not only that, you have decent connections to the military families as well as some nearby nobles, that I lack. As you have guessed by now, I also have an intelligence network, and I could use your help and connections to expand it. There are also the commercial benefits.
Eliza: Commercial benefits?
Molton: Yes. Our domain has many products that it would like to export, but transportation is difficult and expensive because of the long distances. In particular, we would like to do more jewelry trade, but it is quite costly to protect them on the way. Your Shiru tribe is a nomadic tribe, correct? Since jewelry is light, they could help speed up the transportation process, and they’re quite capable of protecting this and any other cargo. We could also study what other products could be transported.
Eliza: Hmm…
Molton: And of course, our domain will provide you with ample funds to develop your territory.
Eliza: Deal!
Zephyr: Wait. I was sold for money?!
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Ah, and regarding ranking differences, Molton could also argue that like her, his family is considered an ‘upstart’ in their nobility category, not to mention their influence is even lower because of how far away they are. So they’d get along just fine.
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The synergy of the Shiro working as guards for nobles allied to Kaldia hadn’t occurred to me. Good point.
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Thanks for the chapter~ :3
Eliza enjoying herself. What is this, heaven? Go get Ratoka, Eliza! I want to see his reaction. Zephyr, don’t give up! All you have to do is defeat Rashiok (lol). Eliza seems once again mistaken for a man. Just how much of an ikemen is she?
Also, SHIP SHIP SHIP!!! Ship everyone with Eliza!!!
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Salute the Yuri flag.
( ‘w’)/
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I’m just rolling on the groud laughing here. All the girls are just flocking to eliza. Was honestly expecting this situation to happen earlier in the school with the flock of girls calling our handsome mc,onee-sama. Guess thats happening yr 2 of noble school
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Eliza is such a bishounen who was born as a girl
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Husbando material Molton’s son
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Thanks for the chapter!
Hahahaha, I wonder if they mistook her for a man or if they decided it didn’t matter because she looked great.
Hahaha, oblivious Eliza is oblivious, but it’s somewhat cute this way and we already knew she was a little too twisted to accept general innocence and good intentions from strangers at face value.
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I see that Eliza’s a heartthrob sdskdks
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