Months have passed since the end of the Kingdom's Founding Festival.

And... They were... Extremely long months...

The grand opening of my shampoo shop is coming soon and everything has started coming together.

I've been doing my best with paperwork, overseeing the plan for the grand opening, teaching our staff who'll be mass producing the shampoo and conditioner, doing quality assurance, preparing for the "special event", etc.

Fortunately, with Vincent , Axel, and Laura's help, I was able to concentrate my efforts more on the latter stuff rather than paperwork. Laura is an extremely competent, beautiful, and super smart woman in her early twenties that dad founded for me and hired for the managerial position of my shop. She's super amazing and I've also been getting along with her even when outside of work!

With their help, all I had to do with the paperwork was signing the ones that had been examined, sifted, and sorted by them. Though it was still a hell of an amount.

Seriously. Every morning, I'll start and end my day by signing mountains of paperwork... My hand hurts so much...

Then for the rest of the day, I'll be running around the mansion, going t



o the shop, and going to the production site of the shampoo.

The shop is located at the center of the royal capital, near the edge of the noble's district area where a lot of middle to high-end stores are. It's an extremely strategic location for a shop, especially since I intend my shop to be accessible for commoners as well, so it was perfect.

Moreover, it's also located not that far away from the nicer industrial area of the royal capital, which was only half an hour by carriage.

So from morning until lunch, I'll be doing paperwork as well as meeting with Axel and Vincent so they could update me on their progress. Then after lunch, I'll go to the shop to oversee the preparations for the grand opening before going to our production site to oversee the production of the shampoo and conditioner and do quality assurance at the same time until dinner.

After that, I'll go home, have dinner, and do some paperwork again until I'm done with all of them. Then finally, I'll take a bath, and go to bed.

I've been repeating this routine practically ever since the end of the Kingdom's Founding Festival.

Hah... Seriously, it's not something a regular five-year-old kid should do. But then again, I'm not that regular. After all, I've never heard of any children my age using magic to strengthen their bodies and increase their stamina so they could work longer.

But since I have a stupid amount of magic, I might as well use them for something, right? So I've been circulating my mana throughout my body constantly to strengthen it, increase my stamina, erase my exhaustion, and heal my body.

It was hell at first... Circulating mana throughout the body is usually done while meditating and focusing your entire attention on moving the mana in your body. But now, I'm trying to do it while also working on other things. It's like I'm trying to balance myself while standing on a precariously balanced ball while working.

But after a month or so, I got used to it and it has been a huge help to my work since I could work longer, faster, and more efficiently.

That said, mom, dad, Axel, Laura, and even Vincent had scolded me into taking breaks regularly, so I've also been doing that. I've told them about me enhancing myself with magic, but they still insisted that I take regular breaks. After all, my body still needed true rest even though I've been strengthening my body with magic, especially since I'm still growing.

I was a bit hesitant at first. After all, there's still a lot to be done and it is my shop. I can't just let everyone else do it for me. It's still my baby.

But after mom told me that I won't grow any boobs if I keep this up, I immediately followed their instruction and get adequate sleep. I also increase my consumption of milk that day out of fear...

And for some reason, Alexus also began sending me mana potions, some sort of sports drink-like beverages, and a lot of sweets from famous bakeries!

How did he know what I need right now~?! These are amazing~! Hehehe~ I gotta remember to thank him later~!

Starting at that point, my schedule changed half a month after the end of the festival. I'd still maintain my previous routine during weekdays. But on weekends, I'll only work until early afternoon and take the next day completely off.

And thanks to everyone helping me, everything still went very well despite me having breaks, so I was extremely thankful.

In fact, it went fairly smoothly since they're all so amazing and we were slightly ahead of schedule.

We are only two weeks away from the grand opening now, so I wanted to use this chance to get even more ahead of schedule so we could all rest easy!

But before I could even suggest that, dad told me to take these few days to rest and regain my energy for the grand opening. It ended up being a very long conversation/argument, but the gist of it was as follows.

"B-But! As the owner, I must be there to oversee the management and production!!!"

"No is a no. You must rest now and prepare your mind and spirit for the grand opening. You've done very well with the management of the company to become this ahead of schedule, and you've also done an amazing job teaching the production department for them to become independent this quickly. You've done enough. Now rest and leave the rest to us."

"U-Uuuuuhh... But..."

"...Do I have to bring your mother here?"

"N-No! If you do, she won't let me work until the grand opening!!!"

"Mm. Then you should take the next two days off and also two days before the grand opening to get enough rest and prepare yourself for the day. Understood?"

"...Yes."

And so, I sent letters to my friends, telling them they're free to visit me either tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

If I'm gonna rest, then I'll very well spend it in heaven on earth!!!

I slept with such thoughts in mind, looking forward to my days off more than usual since I'll be spending it with my friends.

I didn't know at that time the kind of chaos I'd created by sending those letters...

--------------------------------X--------------------------------

The sun shined brightly, lighting up my room as I awakened from the best sleep I've had in months.

I sat up and stretched my arms. Mmmmhh~! I feel like a D*sney princess~

"Kyuuuu~"

"Ah~ Fubuki, good morning~ There there~"

"Kyuu~!!!"

I gave Fubuki some scritches and stroked her soft, snow-white fur as she curled up on my lap.

What a peaceful morning~ I usually had to immediately dress up and go meet Axel and Vincent and do some paperwork. But now, I was able to sleep in and really enjoy the morning relaxedly~!

*Knock* *Knock*

"Alterisa-sama, may I come in?"

Ah! It's Maria-chan!

"Uhn~ Come in, Maria-chan~!"

"Yes. Thank you very much."

The door opened and entering was Maria-chan pushing a cart with a large steaming bowl of water and a towel on it.

"Good morning, Alterisa-sama~"

"Good morning, Maria-chan~"

Maria-chan stopped the cart next to my bed, dipped the towel into the bowl, and squeezed it before giving it to me.

"Ah, thank you for the hot towel~"

"You are very welcome~ Anne-neesan had prepared your bath as well, so would you like to go take a bath first or perhaps breakfast?"

"Hm~ I'd like to have a bath first. Then we can enjoy breakfast together relaxedly~ Ah, do you want to take a bath too, Fubuki?"

"...Kyuuu?"

"You can't. You've skipped taking a bath yesterday, so you must take a bath today, okay? I'll definitely clean you up real good~"

"Kyuuuu..."

I giggled as Fubuki slumped down to my lap and hit my arm with her fluffy tail. She really doesn't like taking a bath, huh? Though she'd be pretty happy after she got clean. So does she just hate water? Come to think of it, she'd use her wind magic to immediately dry herself up the moment she's done taking a bath.

"Alterisa-sama, will we be expecting guests today? After all, you've sent letters to your friends yesterday, right?'

"Well, some might come. I'm not sure. After all, they're all fairly busy with their own business, and I sent my letter on such short notice as well. So I don't think they'll come today."

I rubbed my face and neck with the hot towel and enjoyed the warm sensation on my skin. There's nothing better than a nice hot towel after waking up!!

"...I think they'll definitely come, though."

"Hm? What was that?"

"Ah, it was nothing! Anne-neesan has also prepared for their potential visit, so we will be ready either way, Alterisa-sama."

"I see~ As expected of Anne~ Fufufu~"

What a reliable big sister I have~ I'll definitely thank her with plenty of hugs later on~

"Alrigth~! Let's go and take that bath~!"

"Yes~"

After taking a bath and also bathing Fubuki with Anne and Maria-chan's help, we all went to the dining for breakfast.

Since I slept it, there was no one in the dining room eating their breakfast. Dad must already be working with Axel, Lu-nii, and Vincent helping him while Mom must've already returned to her chambers to accompany Kiara while she's sleeping.

It felt a bit lonely being the only one in this massive dining room, but I've eaten breakfast alone plenty of times this last few months and I'm used to it by now. In fact, sometimes I wouldn't even have the time to eat my breakfast relaxedly in the dining room and would eat it while doing some paperwork in the study, so this was already a welcomed change of pace.

"Mmm~ It has been a while since I've eaten breakfast this relaxedly~"

"Indeed. I have been worried about your health this past few months, you know? You should eat well and rest well even if you are busy. You are still a growing child, after all."

"Ehehehe~ Thank you, Anne~ I promise I won't push myself that hard again."

Aside from mom, dad, Kiara, Axel, Vincent, and Lu-nii, I seemed to have made Anne, Maria-chan, Iris, and almost all of our household's servants worried after they saw how much I'm working.

Well, it is unheard of for a five-year-old daughter of a duke to work this hard. Especially since all I'm doing was working day and night. So it couldn't be helped.

But, I'm very happy that they're worried for me~

"...Do you promise?"

"Uhn~!"

I was going all out because it was my first time opening up a business and I wanted everything to go as smoothly as possible, especially since I've been supported plenty by everyone.

But now that I've gained the experience, I'll do my best to pace myself and not push myself to the point of risking my health.

After finishing my breakfast, I planned on going to mom's room to relax with her and play with Kiara.

But as I was heading there, a young maid run towards us in a hurry.

"A-Alterisa-sama!"

"Hm? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

She looked very agitated and was heaving slightly as she tried to catch her breath.

"Calm down. Tell us what happened?"

Anne held her up and stroked her back softly, calming her down as she slowly regain her breath.

"Y-You have a visitor, Alterisa-sama. It is the young lady of the ducal household Silium!"

"Eh?!"

E-Evelyn?!

Eh?! I thought they'll be coming tomorrow! Didn't I just send a letter yesterday?! Was it just a coincidence that she has free time today?!

"As I expected..."

A-Anne?! You expected that?! Oh right, you did prepare for their visit just in case. A-Are you a clairvoyant?!

"I-I see. Thank you. I shall welcome her as soon as possible. Please keep her entertained for a moment."

"I-I understand."

"Anne, Maria-chan. Please help me change."

"Yes, Alterisa-sama."

"Yes!"

I quickly head back to my room and changed into a more presentable dress and immediately headed to the parlor, where Evelyn was waiting.

When I entered, Evelyn immediately looked at me with a brilliant smile as I stood there in disbelief.

S-She's really here...

"Risa-sama~ Good morning~ I've come to visit~"

"E-Evelyn! Good morning~! Geez, you shocked me, you know? Didn't I just send a letter yesterday?"

"Fufufu~ I just couldn't wait to see you again, Risa-sama~ It has been months since we last see each other~"

"I-I'm sorry. I was just extremely busy with the preparations for the shop."

"Ah, I wasn't blaming you, Risa-sama. I'm really looking forward to the opening of your shop."

"Uhn~! Please look forward to it~! Ah, Anne, please bring us tea and some snacks~!"

"Yes."

Evelyn and I then began enjoying our time over tea, chatting and catching up with what's been happening in our respective lives in the last few months.

But soon after, another guest came to visit. And another... And another...

"A-Alterisa-sama! I-I've come to visit! I-It has been a very long time since I last met you. I-I've missed you so much!"

Illya.

"Y-You told me I can visit so I just came now since I have nothing to do! I-I also came to see how you doing, but judging by how you look... I-It seems like you're doing well."

Celine.

"Alterisa-sama~ I've missed you so much~ Ehehehe~ It has been a while since we see each other~ Onii-sama, greet Alterisa-sama as well!"

"...It has been a while. I'm happy to see you doing well."

Noir and Luke."

"Risa-chan~! Yahoo~!! I've come to play~!!! I've missed you so much~!!!"

Valerie.

"Ufufufu~ This girl has pestered me to come here after receiving your letter yesterday, so can I leave her to you~? I will go and surprise Lisa~"

"M-Mother!"

"I as well. May I leave her to you?"

E-Even Lady Maya, Lady Yulis, Mellisa, and Stella too?!

One by one, everyone came to visit after the "invitation" I sent yesterday.

N-No, I-I know I'm the one who sent the letter, but why did everyone come here immediately the day after?!?!?!

And lastly...

"R-Risa... W-Why are they all..."

"Ufufufu~ I told you so, onii-sama~"

Alexus and Lily...

No, Alex. I should be the one twitching my lips right now... And why do Lily seem like she had predicted it all? Is she a clairvoyant too like Anne?!

Well... It seems like a relaxing day off with mom and Kiara had turned into a friends' gathering... Unexpectedly.









AN: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter~! Please vote and comment your thoughts~!