"Sorry, I spaced out just now," Lillian said, a little embarrassed.
Then she stood up and gently lifted the sides of her princess dress, performing a standard noble curtsy toward Eriri and Miss Sayuri seated across from her.
"Aunt Sayuri, Uncle William, and Eriri-nee, I'm Lillian. It's a pleasure to meet you!"
As she spoke, Lillian couldn't help but fix her gaze on Eriri.
"Oh my, what a lovely child~"
Seeing Lillian's polite manners and adorable demeanor, Sayuri—who had already developed a fondness for her—showed a radiant smile.
"Thank you for the compliment."
Lillian blushed slightly at the praise, smiling bashfully.
"By the way, Lillian, you keep looking at your Eriri-nee. Is there something you want to say to her?"
Queen Elizabeth, sitting beside her daughter, hadn't noticed Lillian's gaze earlier and thus didn't know why she had zoned out.
But Sayuri, seated directly across from Lillian, had clearly seen where the girl had been staring and immediately understood why the little princess had lost focus.
After all, she knew very well just how charming her precious daughter was—captivating a young princess was hardly a difficult feat.
Hearing Sayuri's question, Lillian immediately averted her eyes from Eriri with a sheepish expression.
At that moment, Eriri's voice followed right after her mother's.
"Lillian, you're Ilina-nee's cousin, so that makes you my little sister too. Want to come sit with your Onee-sama?"
Eriri smiled and patted the empty seat beside her. While it wasn't a large space, it was just enough to fit Lillian's petite frame.
Hearing Eriri's invitation, Lillian's eyes lit up. Instinctively, she turned her gaze to Queen Elizabeth for permission.
Seeing her daughter's eager look, the queen couldn't help but chuckle.
"Since your Eriri-nee invited you over, what are you waiting for? Go on."
Queen Elizabeth gently patted Lillian's head.
She was more than happy to see this outcome. After all, the purpose of her visit to Sayuri was precisely to build a relationship with the Sawamura family.
Thanks to the Spencer family serving as intermediaries, most of that goal had already been accomplished.
And now, if her daughter could form a good bond with Eriri—the little princess of the Sawamura family—then perhaps the connection would be complete.
With her mother's permission, Lillian beamed joyfully and dashed over to Eriri, sitting down snugly beside her.
After that, Sayuri, Queen Elizabeth, and the others resumed their conversation.
Eriri, however, didn't rejoin the discussion. Instead, she began whispering to the nervous little blonde sitting next to her.
The meeting lasted for nearly an hour, during which time Eriri and Lillian gradually grew closer.
Thanks to Eriri's gentle coaxing, Lillian no longer seemed as nervous as before. She clung to Eriri's arm and kept calling her "Onee-sama" in a sweet and affectionate voice.
Eventually, Ilina joined them as well, and Eriri took the girls to the other side of the reception room, giving Sayuri and the others space to continue their conversation.
Queen Elizabeth didn't stay long at the Spencer estate. After having lunch together, she left with the rest of the royal entourage.
However, Lillian didn't return to London with them. Instead, she planned to stay until Eriri left England before heading back.
She had just become close with Eriri—there was no way she was going to leave so soon.
Originally, Queen Elizabeth had planned to assign a few capable espers to protect Lillian, but upon considering the Sawamura family's overwhelming strength, she ultimately scrapped that idea.
She believed that as long as Lillian was with Eriri, there would be absolutely no danger.
And so, Eriri and Ilina's time together as a duo became a trio.
Northampton—a city with nearly a thousand years of history, the capital of Northamptonshire, and one of England's largest trade cities.
It was home to numerous theaters, museums, and art galleries, exuding a rich artistic atmosphere. It also served as a hub for shopping and upper-class banquets.
At the moment, Eriri was strolling through one of Northampton's streets with Ilina and Lillian.
The city wasn't far from the Spencer estate in the suburbs—it would take less than half an hour to drive there.
However, the three of them hadn't come by car—they had used teleportation.
After witnessing Eriri's teleportation firsthand, Lillian became incredibly excited, clinging to Eriri's arm and bombarding her with questions about it.
Since Eriri hadn't yet revealed her true strength to Lillian, the girl assumed Eriri was an esper who had awakened spatial powers and trained them to an extremely high level.
Though rare, some people in this world had indeed awakened spatial-type powers.
But even those with teleportation abilities could only travel limited distances and couldn't bring others with them.
Someone like Eriri, who effortlessly brought two people across over twenty kilometers, was completely unheard of.
Which explained Lillian's excitement.
After pacifying the curious little princess, Eriri took Ilina and Lillian by the hands and began a leisurely tour through Northampton.
Most of the city's architecture was classic Gothic, lending the entire area a fantasy-like charm.
This style also happened to be one of Eriri's favorites—as evidenced by her usual preference for Gothic Lolita princess dresses.
Just then, Lillian suddenly pulled out her phone, tapped on it a few times, then shook the hand she was holding with Eriri and said in a coy tone:
"Eriri-nee, can I livestream while we're shopping? Please?"
Eriri blinked in surprise before breaking into a curious smile.
"Oh? So our little Princess Lillian is a streamer too? Which platform do you use?"
"On YouTube! Look, Onee-sama~"
Lillian eagerly handed her phone to Eriri, showing her the screen. Displayed on it was her YouTube channel page.
Her username was simple: just her name, "Lilian."
Next to it was the official badge identifying her as the Princess of England. The channel already had over a million subscribers.
If this were Queen Elizabeth's YouTube account, Eriri wouldn't be surprised—in fact, she might think the number was too low.
But for a thirteen-year-old girl like Lillian to have such a following, even Eriri was taken aback.
Sure, Lillian was undeniably adorable, and her status as a princess didn't hurt either—but still, gaining over a million fans wasn't something that came easily.
"Hmm, that's a pretty impressive fan count. Looks like everyone really loves your streams."
Eriri let go of Lillian's hand and gently patted the girl's head.
Hearing Eriri's compliment, Lillian bashfully said, "Hehe, actually, I don't stream all that often."
After her voice fell, Ilina, who had been standing on Eriri's other side, leaned in with a smile and said, "Eriri, Lillian is actually really popular among the citizens of England. Someone might recognize her any moment now."
Eriri nodded in understanding. "Ah, I see!"
Though England's population was relatively small—only a few tens of millions—compared to Lillian's over a million subscribers, it was still significant.
Since Eriri's hand was still resting on Lillian's head, the princess took the opportunity to hug Eriri tightly.
"So, Eriri-nee, can I livestream now? I want to introduce you to everyone."
Looking at the little princess snuggling into her arms, Eriri nodded without hesitation.
"No problem. Go ahead and stream~" Eriri said with a smile, pinching Lillian's cheek.
Receiving Eriri's blessing, Lillian cheered and raised the phone in her right hand.
"Yay!"
She then slipped from Eriri's embrace and swiftly launched her livestream app.
As soon as the stream went live, fans who received notifications began pouring in, and the view count and comment section exploded with activity.
Lillian didn't hide the screen from Eriri or Ilina, so they could clearly see the scrolling comments.
The comment section was overwhelmingly positive—there were hardly any negative remarks. Most viewers greeted Lillian or asked why she suddenly decided to go live.
Many were flooding the chat with praise for "how adorable Princess Lillian is," even before she appeared on camera.
After about a minute, Lillian finally switched to the front-facing camera and greeted her audience with a bright smile.
"Good afternoon, everyone~ I'm Lillian!"
"I'm out shopping with my two Onee-samas today, so this stream is going to be a casual shopping trip~"
Hearing that, viewers assumed she meant other members of the royal family—perhaps a cousin or something.
After all, it was well-known that Queen Elizabeth only had one daughter—Lillian.
Seeing the chat's confusion, Lillian adorably shook her head.
"Eh? No, they're not other royals. Let me introduce my two Onee-samas to you."
She then brought the camera over to Ilina and stood beside her in frame.
"This is my cousin, Ilina-nee."
Seeing Ilina, who looked somewhat similar to Lillian, the viewers immediately flooded the chat with compliments. Some even tried guessing Ilina's real identity.
Soon enough, someone who recognized Ilina spilled the truth.
Ilina's mother was the previous generation's Princess Victoria—rarely seen in public, but known well enough by certain people.
Ilina smiled and waved at the camera, answering a few harmless questions.
Then Lillian turned the camera toward Eriri.
This time, she didn't appear in the frame with her.
So when Eriri—dressed in a Gothic Lolita princess dress—appeared onscreen, the chat actually froze momentarily.
That was how much of a visual shock Eriri gave the viewers.
With a gentle smile from Eriri, the comments resumed—but now multiplied several times over.
Almost all of them were praising Eriri's beauty.
And that was only through the camera lens. If they saw her in person, the impact would be tenfold.
Lillian stepped forward and re-entered the frame, clinging to Eriri's arm proudly.
"Let me formally introduce her—this is my super beloved Eriri-nee! Isn't she just stunning~"
"Mm, even though Eriri-nee and I aren't related by blood, she's Ilina-nee's cousin, so that makes her my dearest Onee-sama too~ Hehe~"
Eriri easily saw through Lillian's little scheme—she just wanted to show off in front of her fans.
But she didn't mind, instead giving Lillian's soft, smooth cheek a few playful pinches.
Just as Eriri was about to greet the livestream audience, a few rapidly flashing comments caught her attention.
[So beautiful… but something about her feels super familiar… like I've seen her somewhere before…]
[Wait a second! Isn't that Kashiwagi Eri!!!]
[Now that you mention it, I remember! Didn't Kashiwagi Eri-sensei post a photo with Kasumigaoka-sensei on Twitter before? I even saved that photo to look at… but it disappeared from my gallery somehow…]
[...]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:
Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven