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The car ride on the way to school was usually Emilia's time to relax on Crystal's lap while having Dixie give her a foot massage, but today her position was reversed. And given that she already had the privacy screen up, Dixie couldn't help but be a little nervous as she ran her fingers through Emilia's hair.
The crimson-haired girl closed her eyes as she hummed. "How are things on your mom's side, Dixie?"
The dark-haired girl cleared her throat awkwardly. "W-Well, mostly fine. No one tried to kill her yet, at least."
Taking a sideways glance at Crystal, who was busy teasing Emilia's pearly little toes with a smile, Dixie silently breathed a sigh of relief. 'If she knew that my mom was making weird, harassing calls to her mom…'
Although she had never seen the blonde girl get mad, Dixie always believed that the calmer someone was normally, the worse they would be when they really lost it. And not only was Crystal even more docile than her princess, but she also treasured her mother a lot.
Emilia knew neither the twists and turns in Dixie's head, nor the complex relationship between Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Miller, so she just nodded absently. "…That's good."
As far as she was concerned, the most dangerous period for Mrs. Brown was the time between Amos going missing and being found. That was when the Black Tiger was most likely to lash out against potential culprits, and Emilia believed that Mrs. Brown must definitely be on that list.
After all, even though her company was 'tiny', she was already one of the few who dared to directly slap the Black Tiger Corporation's face. And the mark was still fresh on Mr. Black's face when Amos went missing.
Of course, things went much better than she expected, as the matter really did successfully divert Black Tiger away from Mrs. Brown, and landed them a 'sleeping victory' on both fronts. Mrs. Brown was able to get over her crisis and greatly expand her company, and Emilia was able to not only complete her mission but also deal a considerable amount of damage to the hero's side.
And now that Amos was already found, it was much less likely for the Black Tiger to rush into biting the heads off of 'potential' culprits with their eyes set on finding the real perpetrator. But unless they could identify ashes that had already been scattered in the wind, that was a lost cause.
Of course, whether they had any idea that they were being led by the nose or not, Emilia had no way to know. All she could do was have Noelle carefully observe their movements without arousing suspicion, and hope for the best.
Pressing her face against Dixie's warm palm, Emilia smiled. "Since that is so, it should be fine for you to leave your mother's side and return to me."
Dixie blinked, pleasantly surprised. "Really?!"
She'd thought that Emilia wouldn't let her do anything more than escort her back and forth from school for at least the next few weeks, but happiness came sooner than she expected!
It wasn't that she really hated being with her mother — although that was true — but between spending time with Emilia and being annoyed by her mom… was there any need to ask which one she would choose?
Emilia just smiled. "Yes. I missed you."
A grin lit up Dixie's face in obvious delight, and Emilia couldn't help but lean up to kiss her chin lovingly. "Cute."
Dixie blushed as she turned her head away, not daring to look her princess in the eye. She could only be exceedingly grateful that she was a girl, or Emilia would definitely be complaining about something poking the back of her head by now.
Unaware of her knight's strange thoughts, the crimson-haired girl couldn't help but sigh. "By the way, are either of you interested in learning how to drive?"
Although she believed that the driver that Noelle assigned to her was sure to be trustworthy, there was also a certain risk, and Emilia also often traveled in Dixie's car. She believed that having one of her friends drive would be the perfect long-term solution for the future.
Dixie and Crystal turned to look at each other in surprise before the dark-haired girl nodded. "I'll sign up for driving lessons from tomorrow, then."
The age at which one could start driving legally in their country was fourteen, so that had never been an issue for years. But Crystal's family never had a car of their own, and Dixie never felt the need to learn how to drive.
After all, even if she learned how to do it, Mrs. Brown was unlikely to accept removing the bodyguard and driver from duty.
But now that she thought about it, Dixie realized that she wouldn't be a very qualified knight if she couldn't even take her princess from one place to another without anyone else assisting her, so she agreed without hesitation.
As for Emilia… if a car engine could neigh like a horse, she might be able to delude herself into thinking she could drive.
The crimson-haired girl grinned. "Good. If we are to go on a road trip with just the few of us, one of us needs to know how to drive, right?"
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The absence of Amos had never caused much of a splash in the Imperial Academy, so Emilia was a little shocked when she heard his name from Koko when the girl made her routine 'report' on the school's gossip after class. And Penny also nodded while snuggling on Emilia's lap, confirming the 'rumors'.
"There's such a thing?"
"Yes!"
Of course, none of them were very clear on why Amos would need nine months of leave like this, and would only be taking the end-of-term examination under 'special supervision'.
Given the Black Tiger's status, as long as Amos was able to provide a valid reason, this kind of situation wasn't completely impossible, but Emilia still found it a little strange.
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