?
It was not until a few days later, one night, that a little girl finally appeared at the gate of her mansion, cheering. She was warmly welcomed by her maids and guest, Emilia.
"Master, you're back?"
"Welcome home, Master!"
"M-Master!"
Standing properly beside Emilia and bowing to Annie as she returned home were the twin maids Ram and Rem, dressed in black maid uniforms, along with the newly hired little maid, Petra.
Of course, Ram and Rem were fairly calm. Their master had been out and about doing who knew what, and they weren't particularly surprised that she had only returned now. Petra, on the other hand, seemed rather excited, though no one knew what she was so worked up about.
"Mm-hmm!"
(′???`)
"I'm back!"
☆?(o*???)?
After casually greeting the four of them, Annie, carrying a somewhat dirty-looking Little Bear, made to head inside the mansion.
(...)
(●￣?￣●)
"W-Wait!"
"Annie!"
"You're finally back! Why did it take you so many days to return? We haven't heard from you at all. Did something happen?"
Unlike the twin sisters Ram and Rem and the newly hired little maid Petra, who could only worry in their hearts and didn't dare say much aloud, Emilia was puzzled. She directly stopped Annie and asked her with some concern.
When little Annie had left, she hadn't said when she would return. Then she disappeared for several whole days, leaving the others terribly worried. Now that she had finally come back, Emilia felt she ought to ask after her, both out of concern and out of courtesy.
"Hmm..."
(′???`)
"It's nothing. I just happened to run into some fun and tasty things, and then I accidentally lost track of time."
(????-)?
"Huh?"
嗅嗅~
"What is it, Emilia? There's a strange smell in the house. Did something