「む、お前少々臭うぞ?」
立彬がそう言って袖で鼻を覆う。
――それを乙女に面と向かって言うのはどうなの?
いや、事実今の雨妹は臭いのだけれども。
「私も好きで臭わせているわけじゃあないですから!
雨妹は文句を言いつつ、ここへ来た事情を話すと、立彬からジトリとした目を向けられた。
「雨妹、もう少し建前を取り繕え」
立彬からそう指摘される。
雨妹もかなり混乱していたのだろうか、うっかり本音の方が口から出てしまったようだ。
「言い直します、相談を聞いてほしくて来ました!」
結構痛かったので、雨妹は額を押さえて恨めし気に立彬を見上げる。
「今の、絶対に赤くなってます!」
「おかげでボケた頭が冴えただろうが」
涙目で噛みつく雨妹に、立彬はしれっとそう述べた。
「けれど、お前がそれほど慌てるなんぞ珍しいことだ。
「その言い方、まるで普段の私がただのお間抜けさんに聞こえるのでやめてください」
「饅頭を持っているお前は、だいたいそうだろうが」
そして納得してしまったのだった。
ともあれ、そんなわけで雨妹は相談するにもここでは目立つということで、太子宮にお邪魔をすることになった。
表からの出入りをさせるにはあまりに臭いということで、裏口から入った。
「確かに臭いね」
雨妹が太子のもとへ案内されての、卓について優雅にお茶を飲んでいる太子からの第一声がこれだった。
――早くこの阿片を捨てちゃいたい!
というかそもそも、雨妹は立彬に相談したかったのであって、太子にまで話をするつもりはなかった。
そちらには立彬からいい感じに情報を流してもらおうと思ったのだ。
しかし太子から「面倒だから直接話しにおいで」と言われてしまい、今ここにいるというわけである。
太子と立彬、
そろそろ涼しくなってきているので、窓が閉められていて換気が悪かったのだ。
「臭くて申し訳ないですが、この臭さの原因について相談したかったので、お持ちしました」
雨妹はそう説明すると、帯に挟んでいた阿片の燃えかすを包んだ包みを取り出す。
「先に注意しておきますが、あまり間近で臭いを嗅ぎ過ぎないでください。
雨妹がそう言って包みを開けると、鼻を刺激するアンモニア臭がより強くなった。
「本当に、具合が悪くなる臭いね」
眉をひそめた秀玲が臭いを余所に流そうと、持っている扇子でパタパタと仰ぎ出す。
「もう仕舞いますね、私もあまり嗅ぎたくない臭いなので」
全員に現物を見せたところで、雨妹は包みを閉じて帯に挟もうとしたところを、立彬に「これに入れろ」と言われて箱を渡された。
雨妹が言われた通りに箱に包みを入れると、その箱は窓の外に出される。
臭いがそこにあるという気配はあるものの、雨妹は間近の臭さから解放されたので爽快だ。
立彬の気遣いに感謝である。
「鼻が曲がるとは、こういう臭いを言うのですわね」
そう告げる秀玲はお茶の香りで鼻の中を洗おうと、お茶を淹れ直して全員に配った。
――はぁ~、お茶が美味しい。
お茶の香りを念入りに嗅いでから飲むと、雨妹はようやくホッとする。
"Mm, you're a bit stinky, you know?"
Libin covered his nose with his sleeve after saying that.
'Is that something you say to a maiden, huh!?'
Well, Yui Mei was indeed smelly.
"It's not like I want to be smelly! I encountered something that's beyond me, so I wanted to draw somebody else in this. That's why I'm here!"
Yui Mei grumbled as she explained the reason for coming here, but Libin glared at her.
"Yui Mei, keep appearances, will you."
Libin warned her.
Yui Mei's mind had been a mess, so her true thoughts unwittingly spilled from her mouth.
"Let me rephrase it! I am here because I have something to consult you with!"
It was a bit painful, so Yui Mei glared back at Libin as she pressed her forehead.
"It'll definitely turn red!!
"It cleared your mind, right."
Yui Mei gritted her teeth as tears welled in her eyes, but Libin nonchalantly replied.
"Still, it's rare that you're flustered to this extent. You look like your head is in the clouds no matter when it is, after all."
"Stop that tone please, it seems to me that you're saying I'm a blockhead."
"Well, aren't you like that while carrying that manju of yours?"
And she realized that she agreed with him.
At any rate, Yui Mei didn't come here to consult him about herself, and she stood out too much so it was decided that she would enter the crown prince's palace.
The stench was terrible so instead of entering from the main entrance, he took her to the back gate.
"Yeah, it's really stinky."
Yui Mei was taken to where the crown prince was. He was sitting beside the table and elegantly enjoying his tea, but the first words that came from him was this.
'Ugh, I wanna quickly  throw these ashes away!'
Actually, she wanted to consult Libin, but she never thought about talking with the crown prince.
She wanted to pass the information to him through Libin.
However, the crown prince replied that it would be too troublesome so she better come in person and talk to him directly, so she was taken here.
Yui Mei asked permission to open the windows first inside the room where the crown prince, Libin and Xiuling were present.
The windows had been closed because the weather was increasingly becoming cooler, but the ventilation was poor because of that.
"I apologize for this dreadful stench, but I wanted to consult you regarding the source of this odor, so I brought it with me."
Yui Mei explained before taking the wrapped ashes out from her sash.
"Please allow me to warn you beforehand. Please do not smell this within close range. It will make you sick."
Yui Mei said, then she opened the parcel. The offensive strench of Ammonia became stronger, assaulting them.
"Yeah, it's a smell that can really make you sick."
Xiuling frowned. She fanned the air with a folding fan in an attempt to redirect the flow of the smell somewhere else.
"I am now closing this. It's a scent that I don't want to smell that much, too."
She had shown the contents of the parcel to everybody so she was about to put it back to her sash, when Libin handed her a box.
Yui Mei did as she was told, then he took it outside the window
She felt refreshed. Although the scent still lingered, it wasn't as bad before because it was no longer near her.
She was grateful for Libin's consideration.
"So this is where the saying that 'the nose bends because of the scent" came from."
Xiuling said. She brewed the tea once again and served it to everyone as an attempt to remove the stench from their nose.
'Sigh~ the tea's delicious.'
Yui Mei finally felt relieved after carefully sniffing the aroma of the tea before drinking it.
Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace
百花宮のお掃除係～転生した新米宮女、後宮のお悩み解決します。
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/housekeeper-of-the-hundred-blossom-palace/
Fantasy Romance Shoujo Slice of Life
Adapted to Manga Ancient China Complex Family Relationships Different Social Status Female Protagonist Imperial Harem Love Interest Falls in Love First Reincarnated in Another World Royalty
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n4104ev/
黒辺あゆみ