A Hastily Arranged After-Party (1)
"What do you say we all have a little end-of-semester get-together tomorrow?"
At Princess Seraphine's sudden proposal, every pair of eyes in the student council room turned toward her.
Well, all except one. Orion, who appeared utterly indifferent, kept his nose buried in his book.
"Mmm~. That sounds like a hassle, so I'll pass~."
...Honestly, I'd have been more surprised if he'd said yes. The fact that he showed his face in the student council room at all was the strange part, if anything.
Naturally, the remaining five of us—Orion excluded—couldn't help but take an interest in Seraphine's suggestion.
"An end-of-semester gathering, you say?"
"Yes, Mr. Gwyn. It feels like a shame to simply close out the semester as-is. There's so much we ought to mark properly."
"In that case, we'll need to secure a venue first. Most of the buildings on Academy grounds will be occupied by supplementary lectures starting the day after tomorrow, so I suppose I should look into whether we can rent somewhere off-campus."
"No need. I'm planning to use the sub-hall of the guest palace. My elder brother McHart returned to the imperial palace four days ago, so the only people using the guest quarters now are me and Luke here. There won't be any problem at all."
"Ah, then renting a venue is unnecessary after all."
The moment he heard the location was already secured, the Vice President, Gwyn Ebelt, nodded and withdrew his objection.
True to his mercenary-company roots, the instant the party was proposed he'd set about dealing with the logistics one by one—and, it seemed, the thought of refusing to participate hadn't even crossed his mind, given that the suggestion came from his superior, Seraphine.
"As for the time, it will be after tomorrow's student council duties conclude. I've hired the guest palace's chef for one additional day, and I imagine Luke will kindly handle all the other odds and ends. Isn't that right, Luke?"
"Leave it to me, Princess Seraphine."
Right. Of course Luke would be part of any gathering we held.
Not that it made any sense for her—the Princess's personal bodyguard and exclusive maid—to be excluded in the first place. Judging by her perfectly composed response, she'd apparently been part of the plan from the very beginning.
"Hmm... a get-together, is it."
"...Mm."
At the sudden proposal, Lizzie and Ethan hesitated, exchanging glances.
Since their journey home could be pushed back by as much as a full day, both of them seemed to be weighing it quite seriously.
Then, at some point, their gazes drifted naturally toward me.
"What do you want to do, Lilith?"
"Will you be joining us, Miss Lilith?"
"...I'm sorry, what?"
The two of them had spoken practically in unison, and their reaction drew a rather flustered sound out of me.
If I'm joining, I'm joining. If not, I'm not. Why on earth are you both suddenly asking for my opinion?
Fine, I suppose Lizzie cares what I think because I'm her closest friend in this council...
But Ethan? He's my *master*. Why does he keep trying to defer to me on things like this?
This is obviously a decision that belongs to Ethan, not me. If he attends, I attend. If he declines, so do I.
There was no way I could presume to make a call on something this significant, so rather than overstep, I simply handed the choice back where it belonged.
"I am Young Master Ethan's exclusive maid. Naturally, I will follow whatever the Young Master decides."
"Then, as Lilith's master, here is my order: whether you join the gathering or not is for you alone to decide."
"......"
Oh, for crying out loud.
Was I supposed to be touched by Ethan's gesture—or resent him for dumping a potential diplomatic incident with Princess Seraphine squarely into my lap?
No, Ethan didn't mean anything bad by it. He genuinely just wanted to give me the choice. That's all.
Truth be told, I was a bit skeptical about this whole gathering of Seraphine's. Having played the original game until I could hardly stand it anymore, this oddly timed end-of-semester party struck me as suspicious in more ways than one.
If I remember correctly, the get-together was held at the end of the first semester, right before the student council disbanded—not at the end of the second.
I'd logged two thousand hours in Luminor Academy alone, and there wasn't a single playthrough where I *hadn't* joined Seraphine's student council.
Clearing Seraphine's route required it, obviously. So did the Luke route, and so did building a friendship with Orion. Joining Seraphine's council was a prerequisite for all of them.
And the council's term of activity ran from the start of the second semester to the end of the first semester of the following year.
In other words, the student council's end-of-term ceremony—which took place at the close of the first semester the following year—was the get-together event in-game. Which was exactly why Seraphine's proposal to hold one now, at the end of the second semester, felt so off.
And on top of that, this rushed scheduling was so unlike the ordinarily meticulous Seraphine that questions naturally piled up one after another.
"Madam President, might I ask you a single question?"
"Of course, Miss Lilith. Ask me anything."
"Isn't it a little early to hold a council gathering at the end of the second semester? The student council's term still has more than half a year left to run."
"Ah... actually, I was hoping not to have to explain this..."
"......?"
"Tomorrow's gathering is, in truth, being held in place of our student council's inaugural banquet."
...Ah.
Right. The inaugural banquet. That was a student council event too.
Come to think of it, I didn't remember this particular council ever holding one. If they had, it certainly would have stuck in my memory.
"Early in the council's term, something rather dangerous happened involving you, Miss Lilith. And we couldn't very well hold the banquet without you—nor did it feel right to celebrate among ourselves while you were excluded. So this semester, the banquet simply never happened."
"Ah. Th-that's right, it didn't..."
"So now that we finally have a moment's peace, I thought we might all share a simple meal together and talk. I do hope it isn't too much of a burden for you, Miss Lilith?"
...How am I supposed to refuse that to your face? I'd feel *terrible*.
The council had already skipped its inaugural banquet because of me. If the gathering fizzled out on my account too, I'd owe Seraphine a debt I couldn't repay.
And honestly, there was no real reason to decline anyway. Turning down an invitation from someone of Seraphine's standing would require a justification of equal weight.
Rather than scramble for some tedious excuse, it was far easier to just show up for one day.
"Very well. Provided my attendance is no inconvenience to you, Madam President, I will join the gathering."
"An inconvenience? Perish the thought. Please, rest easy, Miss Lilith."
"If my personal maid is attending, then naturally, so am I."
"I-I'll be there too! I'll just send word home that my return is delayed by a day or so."
"Fufu. Thank you all for joining so gladly."
...This event didn't exist in the original game, so I can't say I wasn't a little uneasy.
But come on—the semester's already over. What could possibly go wrong?
Two days before the day Seraphine proposed the gathering to her council members.
Princess Seraphine received her incoming guest in the parlor of the guest palace—her own private domain—well prepared for the meeting.
"Thank you sincerely for granting my abrupt request for an audience, Princess Seraphine."
The Hero of Prophecy, Gehwa-joses-gigwat Volt.
For the past year, this otherworldly hero had aided her both inside and outside the Academy, distinguishing himself in a hundred different ways.
"Welcome, Hero. I was actually waiting for you—there's no need to apologize."
"...I'm sorry? Ah—could it be, your Future Sight...?"
"Yes, I saw it. There was a full moon not long ago, after all. Though I should note that choosing to wait for a meeting with you, rather than dine with Count Burco, was entirely my own decision."
"...I see. Then I've gone and troubled you by visiting on a day like this for no good reason."
"Think nothing of it, Hero Gehwa-joses-gigwat. Your deeds have already saved more lives than I could count. A dinner with some count angling to line his own pockets could never matter to me more than meeting you."
"...If you put it that way, then I shall gladly accept your kindness, Princess."
"Fufu. Thank you."
Seated alone across from Gehwa-joses-gigwat in the guest palace, Seraphine wore an unguarded smile that reached his eyes.
It was a smile she never showed anyone else—genuine, unadorned goodwill, without a trace of the courtly mask.
And given *who* that smile was directed at, the hero couldn't help feeling as though he were being spellbound by that single expression alone.
"I don't see Miss Serista with you today, though. I rather thought she was inseparable from you."
"...Ah. Serista apparently isn't fond of hearing me talk about women."
"Oh my, not *again*? As if seducing Miss Serista and that elf from the Forest of the World Tree weren't enough, you're adding more women still? Perhaps instead of the Hero of Prophecy, I ought to call you the Hero of Debauchery?"
"Please don't tease me too, Princess. You of all people know exactly why I keep Serista and Silena at my side."
"Fufu. Of course I do. I was only having a little fun."
Even knowing her own feelings for him, Seraphine had lately taken to needling the hero in exactly this way—little jabs of jealousy—whenever he kept collecting women around himself.
Of course, if a princess openly revealed her affections, any number of problems would follow, so she reserved these displays strictly for occasions when the two of them were alone.
It wasn't simple admiration for a hero who had saved so many lives, either.
Her feelings had taken root because of how he trusted her Future Sight and came to her aid precisely when it mattered—like a prince on a white horse stepping straight out of a fairy tale.
...The problem, of course, was that Gehwa-joses-gigwat was the protagonist of this world, and to far more women than just Seraphine, he was already a prince on a white horse.
You have no idea what I felt when you rushed off to save Miss Serista from her crisis. And yet you keep adding women around you like this... if you're not careful, it will complicate my plans down the line.
"So—whose heart am I helping you win this time? It was Miss Nathalie before, so might it be Miss Agnes, the one you mentioned a while back?"
"Princess..."
"Very well, very well. Enough joking."
With a jest half-serious, the mood lightened between the Princess and the Hero.
Only once a properly sober atmosphere had settled again could the two of them finally come to the heart of the matter.
"The truth is, I would like you to arrange an occasion for me to meet someone."
"A woman even you, Hero, cannot meet on your own? Could it be... one of my elder sisters, perhaps?"
"No. Someone of considerably lower standing than Princess Lucietta. Someone who already has a connection with you, as well, Princess Seraphine."
"What a relief. Even with you beside me, I doubt I could manage to get along warmly with my sisters."
"...I'm sorry, what?"
"...In any case—who is it? This person I have a connection with, whom even you cannot simply approach?"
Seraphine had expected the name of some duke's or margrave's daughter, or perhaps a foreign royal or noble heiress.
So when the unexpected name left his lips, she failed—just for an instant—to hide her astonishment.
"Lilith... Blackwood Rosewood."
"...I beg your pardon?"
"Lilith, the exclusive personal maid of Lord Ethan Richard Blackwood. I would like you to arrange an occasion for me to speak with her—even a single meeting would suffice."