Chapter 6

One week after receiving permission from her grandfather, Sara set out for the Granchester estate. Maria was also coming along, so Sara entrusted her with the luggage and other preparations.

The night before departure, Sara waited until everyone was asleep and then quietly approached her cousins' rooms. Of course, it was to play some "minor" pranks.

First, Adam. He had a bad habit of stealing and collecting maids' underwear. Even considering that he was a teenage boy, it was clearly perverted and criminal. Sara sneaked into Adam's wardrobe and placed the box of his collection, hidden at the back of the chest, under his bed. The box also contained a collection of paintings, but you can imagine what was inside.

The maids, who cleaned the room and made the bed every day, would certainly notice the box. It would be confiscated immediately, and Sara would inevitably be glared at by the maids.

"Ultimate Punishment: The Middle School Boy's Punishment for His Room Being Cleaned by His Mother and Finding His Porn!"

For Chloe, Sara cast a spell that would gradually remove moisture from her hair. Her prized blonde hair (and even the vertical curls!) would become dry, frizzy, and full of split ends. This was a subtle but nasty prank, using knowledge from her previous life.

The "gradual" part was key. It would take time to damage, so there was no risk of Sara being suspected.

"Secret Ritual: The Punishment of Brittle Cuticles!"

For Christopher, the prank was a bit more challenging. She quietly slipped out of her room early in the morning, climbed a tree, and sneaked onto Christopher's balcony. Then, she cast a water attribute spell through the window, creating a "small stain" on Christopher's crotch and mattress. She didn't forget to add a slight yellow tint. Being 10 years old and still wetting the bed would be quite embarrassing.

"Advanced Technique: The Punishment of 'Oh, You're Still Wetting the Bed?'!"

In fact, to carry out these pranks, Sara had read up on the basics of magic and beginner-level water attribute spells in the library. She learned that visualization was important for casting spells, so she practiced by visualizing the pranks, which was a rather unpleasant and tedious exercise.

"Phew, the setup is complete. It's a bit disappointing that I won't know the results, but this will do for now. I'll think about more serious revenge later."

... Sara was still motivated. Still, her naming sense was rather disappointing, wasn't it?

Anyway, with these minor pranks as parting gifts, Sara set off with a clear conscience.

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The journey from the capital mansion to the Granchester estate took three days by carriage. It would have been possible to arrive faster if they had camped, but considering Sara's physical condition, they decided to travel slowly along the road and stay at inns at night.

As the carriage swayed, Sara kept thinking.

"Is this not the world of a light novel or a game?"

Embarrassed, Sara had even whispered "Status Open" in the middle of the night, but no game-like status window appeared.

A more unpleasant possibility was that she had been reincarnated as a heroine or a villainess in a dating sim, but there was no game or novel that she could think of that matched her situation, so she decided to think of it as a simple reincarnation into another world, for now.

"But, 'simple reincarnation into another world'—what does that even mean?"

Despite her self-deprecating comments, she wasn't too shaken thanks to her knowledge of light novels. However, she hadn't met a god at the time of her reincarnation, nor had she received any cheat abilities. If anything, her early manifestation of magic and her knowledge from her previous life were cheats, but it was unknown how useful they would be.

While pondering these things, Sara arrived safely at the Granchester estate.

She had thought the capital mansion was large, but the Granchester estate had a castle made up of multiple buildings. The buildings, built in different eras, had different architectural styles, but they harmonized in a mysterious way.

The carriage stopped at the carriage entrance of a relatively new building on the south side. It seemed that this building was used for daily life.

"Hello, Sara. I'm your other uncle, Robert."

Robert was waiting at the front entrance to welcome her. He helped Sara out of the carriage and greeted her with a gentle smile. Robert's face resembled Arthur's, and Sara felt a slight pang in her chest, remembering her father.

"I'm Sara. Is it alright to call you Uncle Robert, or should I call you Lord Granchester?"

Robert had been granted a temporary knighthood. In this country, it was common for second or third sons of noble families to be granted knighthood. However, a knighthood was more of a nominal title, and the children of a knight's wife would become commoners.

In noble families with multiple titles, it was possible to create branch families by having each child inherit a different title, but to avoid conflicts over the division of land, it was more common for the eldest legitimate son to inherit everything.

"You don't need to be so formal. I'd like you to call me Rob."

"Then I'll call you Uncle Rob."

"Actually, I'd prefer you not to call me 'Uncle' at all, but I guess I'll have to compromise since it's hard to call an uncle by his first name."

It seemed that Robert had a friendly personality. Sara couldn't help but like her father-like uncle.

"Uncle Rob, I look forward to working with you."

"I look forward to working with you too. The castle is quite rough and lacks refinement because it's a men's household. I hope you can help change the atmosphere of the castle."

Although he said it was a rough men's household, there were actually many maids and servants, so it wasn't really that rough. However, it did have a somewhat rough feel.

"Can I really do that?"

"Of course. The servants will all cooperate with you."

Robert turned around, and an elderly woman, who seemed to be the head maid, and a man who had greeted her upon arrival, the butler, nodded slightly.

It seemed that Sara was truly welcome. Despite having just arrived, Sara was already beginning to love the Granchester estate and Robert.