A flicker of panic crossed Ram's face, but she suppressed it almost instantly.
"Don't misunderstand. Ram was only cleaning a stain off the door."
"Nobody even asked what you were doing."
Grin turned sideways, brushed past her, and tossed that line out casually.
Ram's ears turned red at once.
She quickly stood, dusted off her clothes, and hurried after him.
"Wait a moment, Grin."
After walking beside him for a few steps, Ram could not help glancing back toward Rem's room.
The eyes that were usually so cold and arrogant looked noticeably softer now.
"I didn't expect you to be useful, but you actually managed to make Rem loosen her obsession. In every sense, you've done the oni village a great favor."
Grin laughed.
"Big sister, you really aren't very honest."
"Hmph. What a smug man."
Ram returned to her usual proud expression, but instead of arguing, she took the tray from Grin's hands.
"These kinds of chores are better left to Ram. Otherwise you'll just break the bowls because of your clumsiness."
Before they even reached the kitchen, the two of them heard loud clattering from inside.
It sounded very much like someone rummaging through drawers and cabinets in a hurry.
"A thief got in?" Grin asked, looking puzzled.
Ram narrowed her eyes at once.
"It must be that idiot Barusu."
The instant she finished speaking, Subaru Natsuki came tiptoeing out of the kitchen.
In his hands was a pot of steaming black tea, and his eyes shone with the satisfaction of a successful plot.
But the moment he stepped onto the veranda, his foot slipped as if he had stepped on an invisible banana peel.
He flailed through several desperate motions that looked halfway between acrobatics and street dance before landing on the ground with a heavy thud.
"Ow! Who made the floor this slippery?!"
Fortunately, he had protected the teapot with all his strength, or the mansion would probably have been short one more piece of tableware.
"Barusu, what exactly are you doing?"
Ram frowned, her nose twitching slightly, and disgust crept into her voice.
"Why does Ram smell Kofi black tea? Weren't we serving ordinary thornleaf tea to guests today?"
Kofi black tea was a rare luxury tea produced only in tiny quantities and sold in the capital for around 200 gold coins per kilogram.
Ram normally reserved it for nobles of rank equal to or higher than Roswaal's.
"Sumimaseram! I will formally apologize later! But I have urgent business right now, so I must take my leave first!"
With an awkward grin plastered on his face, Subaru scrambled back to his feet.
He did not even bother dusting off his soaked, dirt-stained clothes before vanishing in a flash.
"We truly need to put a lock on the kitchen now."
Ram's face had gone completely cold, which meant she was genuinely angry.
Inside, the kitchen cabinets still hung half-open.
Tea canisters had been left unsealed, and dark red leaves were scattered all over the shelves.
Looking at the mess, Ram muttered darkly to herself,
"At this rate, it would be better to capture an Ulgarum and tie it to the kitchen door."
As she spoke, she gathered the spilled leaves into her palm and looked up at Grin.
"These tea leaves can't be put back in the tin now. Would you like some, Grin? You normally don't get to drink tea this good."
"Maybe later," Grin said with a wave. "What I'm more curious about is this guest you mentioned."
"A retainer from Duke Crusch Karsten's household."
Ram fetched a clean porcelain teapot, poured the salvaged leaves into it, and answered calmly.
"Lady Emilia's Royal Selection meeting is about to begin."
At that, Grin immediately understood.
"So soon? Then I'd better go take a look."
Courtyard
In the courtyard, Wilhelm was slowly wiping dust and old wax from the side of the dragon carriage.
Though he was already past sixty, he still carried himself with the broad, straight frame of a veteran who had spent a lifetime on the battlefield.
At that moment, Subaru Natsuki approached carrying a tea set and wearing a smile full of criminal confidence.
He poured Wilhelm a cup of hot tea and started speaking with practiced familiarity.
"Mr. Coachman, isn't it boring waiting here all this time?"
Wilhelm accepted the cup, took a small sip, and showed a faint look of appreciation.
"It is good tea. It must be quite expensive."
Subaru set the tea tray down on a low step beside the flowerbed and puffed out his chest proudly.
"This is the most expensive tea in the whole mansion. I risked life and limb to steal it from under the noses of the maids and guards—cough, I mean, smuggle it out."
Wilhelm's eyes narrowed slightly, and a trace of severity passed through his gaze.
He set the cup down and answered in a calm voice that still carried clear authority.
"So. Using expensive tea as bait, what is it you hope to learn from this old man?"
Subaru chuckled awkwardly, rubbed his hands together, and shamelessly leaned in.
"I just want to know the purpose of your visit to the mansion. Even a little information would help."
"Then please allow me to decline."
Wilhelm turned his gaze toward the deeper courtyard as he spoke.
"If you were unable to learn the purpose of my visit from the others in the mansion, that only proves your current standing does not entitle you to know it."
Just then, Wilhelm noticed approaching footsteps.
He turned and saw Grin walking toward them from a distance.
Quietly, he returned the teacup to Subaru.
"Thank you for the hospitality. I would have liked to speak longer, but your guard has already caught up to us, so now would be the wise time for you to flee."
Wilhelm had clearly not realized the tea was stolen, because had he known, his own code would likely have stopped him from touching it at all.
The Royal Selection would begin only once all the eligible Dragon Priestesses had gathered.
Wilhelm's visit to the mansion was therefore meant to inform Emilia of the place and time of the Selection, while also quietly probing the strength of her camp.
When his eyes settled on Grin, however, a subtle unease stirred in him.
The young man's aura was obscured and difficult to read, and his strength felt impossible to measure.
He must be the hidden trump card Emilia's camp had kept out of sight until now.
"They truly are eyes like a beast's," Wilhelm murmured under his breath, "greedy and sharp."
He had survived demi-human wars and slain countless formidable foes, and experience alone let him judge danger simply by looking into someone's eyes.
Tea trouble
"Damn it, so it really is Grin-kun who came to catch me…"
Subaru groaned, because he had seen enough already to know Grin was not someone to take lightly.
Magic was one thing, but the memory that truly stayed with him was from yesterday, when Grin had suddenly transformed into a huge beast while Subaru himself lay half-dead in bed.
He would never forget that terrifying presence.
"Grin-kun, we've slept on the floor together, so that basically makes us brothers. How about you look the other way this once and let me off?"
"Relax, I'm not here to arrest you," Grin said, patting Subaru on the shoulder. "But you should definitely stay away from Ram for a while."
Subaru brightened instantly and hurried to pour Grin a cup of tea as a bribe.
After taking a small sip, Grin narrowed his eyes.
"Hiss… this really is rich. Now I'm sure Ram won't let you off easily."
The hot tea finally soothed his dry throat.
Earlier, he had spent so long blowing on porridge for Rem that his mouth had nearly gone numb by the end.
Just as the three of them measured one another in silence, a cat-eared girl stepped out from the mansion lobby.
"I'm back, Old Man Will."