One calculative cookie

An elderly butler approached the newest addition to the Graniteis castle, a small garden with various plants planted in a seemingly haphazard manner, stopping next to the white-haired girl.

Said white-haired girl was crouching, clearly engrossed in observation, although she wasn't focusing on the plants themselves.

No.

She was far more interested in the multitude of insects lured in by the biodiversity she had cultivated there the past month and a half since she woke up from the mysterious curse.

"Miss Clara, the young lord is waiting for you in the carriage. Don't make him wait."

"I'm already dressed up. I'll join him in a minute."

Johan cleared his throat and pointed out, to which the white-haired girl nodded absentmindedly while bringing attention to the frilly white one-piece dress she was wearing instead of the maid's uniform she usually went for.

"..."

But aside from that, the girl didn't actually get up and move, ignoring the butler and his scornful gaze.

"You should drop this weird hobby of yours. As someone connected to the Graniteis family, any and all odd behaviors will reflect poorly on the family that extended a helping hand and prevented the church from dropping your candidacy for the goddess's champion."

The butler scoffed at the girl, not trying to hide his feelings too hard…

"You're too harsh on bug-watching, old man."

"...!"

Clara shrugged her shoulders without sparing a glance at the butler, causing him to flinch and get slightly red from anger that he still managed to control.

"As for the church. Haven't you heard? The champion of the goddess from the Emeraldios Empire is already over level 120. He sounds like a real deal to me."

The white-haired girl added with an indifferent shrug, not bothered about the issue in the slightest.

"Oh, but don't get me wrong. Since I am just a commoner harlot aiming for Victor, I appreciate the support in defending my recommendation into the Brylant Academy when Diamondium Kingdom's branch of the church of the goddess Perseverance wanted to drop me."

Clara said while focusing on a new insect flying down toward one of the budding plants.

"How dare you…?!"

*CLAP*

Johan took a deep breath, about to call out in anger, but was interrupted by Clara reaching forward and clasping her hands together seemingly without any reason.

"If you want to badmouth me behind my back, pick a better place than the window under the library where Victor and I are studying together. Now, if you excuse me, it would be rude to make him wait any longer."

The white-haired girl announced while standing up, using a handkerchief to clean her hands as she passed the agitated butler.

"You smell kind of funny, old man. You really should consider retiring and leaving your employer with good memories instead of dying on the job one day."

"!!!"

She added indifferently and left before the flabbergasted Johan could put his fury into words.

Victor Granitieis was eating for her not in the carriage but in front of it, holding the door open.

"Young lord."

The white-haired girl greeted him. Her curtsying still had some awkwardness to it, but it was already great, considering that she had studied etiquette for less than two months.

"Miss Clara, you look beau… this dress suits you."

The brown-haired young man, looking far older than he actually was, bowed his head to the girl, biting his tongue to stop the compliment he deemed too inappropriate and changing it to something else.

"Just Clara is enough, young Lord. And thank you, I like it a lot."

The girl raised her head and corrected him before twirling around, still holding on to the dress to showcase it as much as possible.

"Shall we?"

"Of course."

She then stopped, asking as she reached out her hand in a gesture that the young man picked up on without any additional encouragement. He grabbed it and helped her into the carriage.

"I'm very sorry."

"About what, my lord?"

As they were on their way, Victor lowered his head and apologized, unable to bear with his guilty conscience, but only ended up confusing the girl.

"You were clear about not wanting to meet his highness, but I wasn't able to keep him from learning about you."

The brown-haired youngster said without raising his head.

"You didn't tell him about me, though, my lord. Why would you be the one to take responsi… How do you plan to make that up to me?"

The white-haired girl shook her head with an indifferent expression, but then her eyes suddenly widened and she changed her sentence mid-sentence.

"...!"

She ended up leaning forward, and the shirt's physics worked without an issue, giving the young man more than just a glimpse before he could stop himself.

"M-Miss Clara, I can s-see… WHOA?!"

Victor was doing his very best to act as gentlemanly and appropriately as possible while blushing heavily and closing his eyes, but then a random bump on the road caused the white-haired girl to fall in his arms and lap… well, generally fall into him.

"!!!"

Of course, instinctively, he tried to catch her, and his brain was instantly assaulted by the sensation of softness that he couldn't even imagine being possible.

"M-M-M…!"

"..."

While stuttering, he managed to get hold of himself enough to try and move the girl away, but as he was attempting to grab her shoulders, Clara performed a roll that was too well-timed and strategic to be deemed accidental, getting out of his way and ending up lying on the seat beside Victor.

…with her curled legs still mostly on his lap and her but against his thigh…

Is it even necessary to mention that a one-piece dress she was wearing ended up disheveled?

Because it did.

And no matter what, Victor could not miss all of that.

"Just Clara is enough, young lord. Oh, right... Kyaah! I fell…"

Clara, with her stoic face slightly more pinkish than usual, let out an indifferent gasp and a sound that was supposed to be an embarrassed voice, but it was way too casual for that. It was more like a statement of a fact than a cry.