Young Lady Cornelia Sharon’s morning routine always began with a light bath. Although she was not her family’s heir, she was the eldest daughter of a high-ranking noble house, and she took immense pride in her appearance. To ensure no other aristocrat could find a flaw or a reason to look down upon her, she approached her grooming with meticulous care.
After her bath, she spent a significant amount of time dressing, applying makeup, and having her hair styled with the assistance of three servants. Since she had no plans to attend a tea party or an evening gala today, her preparations were relatively understated; however, she still devoted enough time to ensure her look was beyond reproach.
Under normal circumstances, she would have reviewed her daily schedule immediately after finishing her toilette. Cornelia usually kept her own plans in mind, but to eliminate even the slightest risk of a misunderstanding, she made it a point to cross-check her itinerary with her personal maid before breakfast.
Today, however, Anne arrived with a stack of letters the moment Cornelia finished her preparations. This was an exceptionally ominous sign. At first glance, it might not have seemed strange for Anne to appear, given that she was currently assigned as Cornelia’s personal attendant—albeit on a temporary basis.
An optimist might have assumed she was simply delivering urgent correspondence for review before the schedule was set, but Cornelia knew better. Anne’s presence as an attendant was, first and foremost, a countermeasure for anything involving Kaito. Confirming schedules and delivering mail were the responsibilities of the house's regular maids, not hers.
The fact that Anne—the woman specifically tasked with handling the chaos following Miyama Kaito—was standing there with a look of profound pity on her face meant only one thing.
"I have a very, very bad feeling about this," Cornelia murmured. "Are those... important letters?"
"I believe 'presumably' is the most appropriate word, milady," Anne replied. "I have brought them because I thought it necessary for you to confirm the senders immediately."
"I see. Depending on what they contain, I may have to clear my schedule entirely. So... who are they from?"
Cornelia felt like a prisoner waiting for the executioner's signal. She steeled herself, knowing that at least one of them was tied to Kaito, and waited for Anne to continue.
"First, a letter addressed to you from the Seditch Magic Tool Trading Company."
"Ah, that shouldn't be a problem. It is likely just a formal greeting before the negotiations scheduled for the day after tomorrow."
Cornelia felt a small wave of relief. This one made sense. Trois, the Sales Department’s Special Advisor, was scheduled to visit the day after tomorrow to discuss their future partnership, so a polite letter of greeting was perfectly normal.
"Next is a letter from Miyama Kaito-sama."
"That is the one that will determine our fate," Cornelia said, her voice trembling. "Depending on the contents, we may need to call an emergency meeting. Wait... Anne? Why are you making that face? Don’t tell me there are more?"
"I am afraid so. We have a joint letter from the Dragon King-sama, the Heavenly Dragon Needsveld-sama, and the Water Dragon Eingana-sama."
"Hyuh...!" Cornelia gasped. "So that is it. Kaito-sama must have received the specialized brushes. His own letter is probably about that too... but for those three to send their own inquiries... it must mean he liked them enough to personally recommend them to the Dragon King Faction."
Despite the staggering shock of receiving mail from one of the Six Kings and two of their top executives, Cornelia tried to hold on to her composure.
"It is startling, but... it is still within the realm of what we prepared for. My father, mother, brother, and I have been studying trade management and readying ourselves for this exact scenario. It will be an ordeal, but we can handle it—"
"And next," Anne interrupted, "we have a letter addressed specifically to Lady Cornelia from Amel-sama, the Leader of the Winged Race, and their official negotiator."
Cornelia’s jaw dropped. "I... I did not prepare for that."
Just moments ago, she had been boasting about her readiness for the Dragon King Faction’s interest, but now she looked like a pigeon that had been struck by a pebble. "Wh-Why the Winged Race? Our house has no connection to them. They almost never interact with anyone outside of the Viscount house that shares their border!"
"There is still more," Anne continued relentlessly. "Next is a letter from Bacchus-sama of the Five War Generals."
"Why...?"
"And here is a letter from Gluttony-sama of the Ten Demons."
"Why, though...?"
Every single one of these letters came from an entirely unexpected source. Worse, they were all from high-ranking Six Kings' Executives, and they were all addressed to her by name.
"Whyyyyyyyyyyy!?"
Cornelia clutched her head and let out a scream of pure despair.
Serious-senpai: "He has really gone and done it, that Stomach Pain Devil. I bet even after that incident with Tetra, he went around doing even more 'advertising' that expanded the scope of the disaster..."