Chapter 39: Winter Is Here!

It snowed for about 30 minutes, unfortunately, the first snow didn’t accumulate.

“Hmph…”

“It’s okay, Young Lady. Next time it snows, it will accumulate.”

“Will it?”

“Of course.”

I hand the young lady a piece of indigo, blueberry cake from her birthday cake and a glass of warm milk.

“When the snow accumulates, I want to have a snowball fight and build a snowman with Mana!”

“Shall we?”

“I think it’ll be a lot of fun too.”

“Yes!”

“It will be!”

“Ah~”

Oh my, our young lady eats so well~

“It’s delicious!”

Seeing the young lady happily digging into the cake makes my heart feel full today too.

“Young Lady, shouldn’t you not get it on your face?”

“Woong!”

…I wipe the cream that’s already on her face with my finger and lick it, yum.

It’s sweet and sour and soft, it’s delicious.

“Today, even though it didn’t snow, I was thinking of doing something that can only be done in winter, Young Lady.”

“Huh?”

“What is it?”

“There are many things, right?”

“But this is it!”

Ta-da,

“What’s that?”

“It’s a normal room-warming magic tool!”

“…It looks like a blanket.”

In the fantasy world, when winter comes, farmers usually stay at home, so they rest like this.

Even in the earldom, everyone rested like this.

“Now~ first, go to the wall and spread the blanket on the floor.”

“It’s really a blanket?!”

“Surprisingly, it’s similar.”

It’s similar to Korea’s electric mat, but what do they call it here?

Is it a warm blanket?

They call it that.

Then, on the wall, ta-da!

I take out a picture from my pocket.

“…What’s that?”

The young lady is puzzled by the object she’s seeing for the first time.

“This is a must-have item for nobles to survive the winter, which is popular these days!”

“…Hmm!”

“I know that!”

“Um… um…!”

“Oh..! Do you know what it is?”

“Fireplace?”

“That’s right!”

“This is a picture of a fireplace!”

“…You put that on the wall?”

“Yes!”

I stick this fireplace picture on a flat wall~

Then, if I turn on the power like this!

– Whoosh..!

“Wow..!”

“Ta-da~ It actually gives off heat and you can hear the sound of wood burning?”

“Of course, it’s a picture, so it doesn’t actually catch fire or anything!”

“What?”

“What?”

“It’s so amazing!”

This is the fireplace aesthetic that’s popular among nobles these days.

Noble houses all use magic stones for heating, so it’s fine, but some commoners still use fireplaces like this.

Some nobles saw that and created this product, inspired by nostalgia for the old days.

“Now~ And put a low table like this on top of this warm blanket.”

“And one more blanket on top!”

“And if you put the top plate on, it’s complete!”

“Now, go inside, Young Lady?”

“It’s warm!”

“It’s soft!”

By using a Western-style fireplace, an Eastern-style electric mat, and a kotatsu at the same time, you can create a leisurely and relaxed winter setting, a secret hobby of nobles!

“Now~ There’s a very important rule, Young Lady.”

“What is it?”

“You can’t go outside this warm blanket now!”

“Gasp..! Th, then what about the bathroom?”

“That’s an exception.”

“The rule is to stay warm inside here.”

“Where… then shall I turn down the central heating a little?”

“It’s better to feel the warmth, after all.”

“Yes!”

“Come back quickly!”

Now, then the basic setting is done.

I bring various supplies to live inside the warm blanket with the young lady.

Most of them are food and drinks.. and a few small board games and storybooks.

“Young Lady~ Are you ready to live in the blanket?”

“Yes!”

“I’m ready!”

“Okay~ Now, shall we start with these first?”

“Huh?”

“What is it?”

It’s things to grill and eat!

“Potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, and pumpkin.”

“Um… how do we eat them?”

“Wrap them in foil like this and put them next to the fireplace, and they’ll slowly cook!”

“Now, would you like to try it too, Young Lady?”

“Yes!”

“I want to try it!”

Together with the young lady, I carefully wrap the potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, and pumpkin in foil and place them in front of the fireplace picture.

“We’ll eat those very, very~~ much later, after the sun sets.”

“Okay~”

“Instead, for now, we’ll peel and eat these tangerines~ and cherries~ and delicious fruits one by one!”

“Yes!”

“Now, come here?”

I sit the young lady on my lap and stay still.

Ah… it’s warm and nice…

It’s warm below.. it’s warm in front… it’s warm behind…

“It’s so warm…”

“Right?”

“Yes…”

Just being relaxed like this without doing anything is healing in its own way, you know?

“Ugh…”

“If you’re like this… and you feel sleepy, you can put your body inside and sleep with only your face out…”

“Phew… it’s nice…”

Relaxed… warm…

Dazed… I don’t do anything, and before I know it, I lie down.

Sigh… the outside of the blanket is dangerous, as expected…

“…It’s warm.”

“Hehe… Mana…”

“Yes, yes…”

Oh, I have to, just a little.. close my eyes…

I open my eyes, feeling a warmth that’s almost hot.

…The young lady is sleeping very well in my arms.

Sigh… it’s hot…

I check the clock to see how long I slept, and I slept for about an hour.

Oh no, there’s still a lot to play today.

“Young Lady~”

“Mmm…”

“Young Lady, shall we play board games together now?”

“Yes…”

The young lady, who seems to be intoxicated by the warmth, doesn’t wake up.

…I feel like playing a prank.

I carefully pick up the sleeping young lady and carefully go to the window.

“Young Lady~”

“Mmm…”

She snuggles deeper into my arms.. it seems she wants to sleep more.

But a nap of about 30 minutes is the best, you know?

Now, now~ it’s time to open your eyes~

Here we go!

Thump!

I open the window and the cold air from outside enters the house in an instant.

“Hwaaaak!!!”

“Pfft!”

“Young Lady, are you awake?”

“C, cold!!”

“Ugh!”

“Mana, what’s going on!!”

“Now, it’s over!”

“Hwaaaa…!”

The young lady clings to me and trembles.

She’s cute.

She’s cute~

“Hmph… I was sleeping well!”

“If you sleep soundly at this time, you won’t be able to sleep at night, you know?”

“That’s true, but..”

“Now, play with me?”

“Yes!”

“Oh, it’s cold~”

Pop!

I put my legs back inside the blanket and a cozy warmth wraps around my body.

Sigh…. it’s just right.

“It’s warm…”

“Now, now, there are storybooks and board games?”

“What do you want to do first?”

“Hmm… board game!”

“Okay~”

A dice rolling board game that you can easily enjoy with children!

The name of the game is ‘Marriage Game’~

“Marriage Game!”

“Now, from now on, you’ll roll the dice and go to the spaces that come out.”

“Then you’ll face events, and the choices you make each time will determine your spouse!”

“Okay!”

“I’ll try it!”

I quickly set up the board game and hand the dice to the young lady.

“Me first!”

“Here we go!”

1 and 4, 5!

“One, two, three, four, five!”

“Draw a card and flip it over~ Now, you’re splashing in a stream!”

“Then a person comes running from there, and that person is~ Now, roll the dice!”

– Roll…

“I got 1!”

“Ah…”

“Is it good?”

“Hmm.. usually the higher the better.”

“That’s a shame!”

“The person who came to greet you was just a maid working in your household.”

“I like maids!”

Ahahaha…

“Now, shall we roll again?”

“Here we go!”

“Second, you’re trying to get a book from the academy’s public library, but you can’t reach it!”

“Then! Someone helps you from behind!”

“Roll the dice!”

– Roll…

“1!”

“Um… it’s your maid!”

Then..

“You lost your shoe at the ball, and the person who found it for you is…”

“Maid!”

So then.

“On your debutante day! Everyone is looking forward to who will escort you…”

“Maid!”

Th, then!

“You went on a trip alone and the person you met by chance is..!”

“Maid!!”

…How.

“…Young Lady, how do you keep getting only 1?”

“When you go forward, other numbers come out well…”

“I don’t know???”

“I just roll it and 1 comes out!”

“It must be fate!”

…At this rate, the person you’ll marry…

After that, the situation didn’t change much.

The young lady surprisingly kept drawing only 1 every time a new character appeared.

And so, in the end…

“So on the last day, you find out that someone has come to greet you.”

“That person is… yes, it’s a maid.”

“Yahoo!!!!”

…The cute third son of the northern duke, the crown prince, the saint, the promising talent of the magic tower, even the village youth and the demon king were there..

To break through all those probabilities and get a maid..!

You can’t get married!!!

“Then am I going to marry a maid now?”

“You can’t marry a maid…”

“Just the two of you lived happily ever after…”

“But I like it!!!”

….The original purpose of the game is to give children anticipation and excitement about their spouse.

“I’m marrying a maid!”

…But she likes it so much, so should I just let her be happy…

“Board games are fun!”

“I’m glad you’re having fun.”

“Ah, shall we eat dinner now?”

“Yes!”

It’s a little early, but we’ll eat dinner and then eat the well-baked potatoes and sweet potatoes a little later.

For dinner, there’s chicken noodle soup (Western version) that I made in the morning.

I made chicken broth and added carrots, celery, onions, and well-grilled green onions and simmered it, then added noodles.

“Today’s food, chicken noodle soup is served~ Enjoy~”

“Thank you for the food!”

The young lady is very good at using chopsticks now.

She lifts the noodles and slurps them!

She eats well.

“It’s delicious!”

Munch munch… she eats so well.

Of course, I wipe the soup that splattered on her mouth.

“Hehe…”

“Shall we read a storybook after this?”

“Yes!”

So, after eating dinner, we read a storybook and then go into the blanket for a while and peel fruit.

“It’s delicious…”

“Ah, shall we eat sweet potatoes now?”

“Yes!”

There, I carefully bring the ones in front of the magic fireplace~

When I carefully peel off the foil, the sweet potato with a yellow flesh reveals itself with hot steam.

“Wow…!”

“Phew… phew… phew…”

It’s hot, so I blow it well so that the young lady’s mouth doesn’t get burned…

“Now, try it, Young Lady?”

“Mmm..!”

Munch munch munch..!

“It’s delicious!!”

“It’s so sweet and savory!”

“Haha, this is also a delicacy to eat when it’s cold~”

So, we eat sweet potatoes~ potatoes~ corn~ and steamed pumpkin, and the young lady’s belly is full.

“I’m full!”

“When you’re full, you can go into the blanket!”

“Hwaaaa… I’m melting…”

The young lady, full, warm, and sleepy, is very cute.

…Ah, really.

“Shall we sleep here today?”

“Mmm… I want to…”

I really live for the joy of seeing the young lady, you know?