The Ball Celebrating the Fifth Prince's Birthday (3)
"And here I thought Lilith wasn't coming today."
Agnes had apparently arrived at the banquet hall before me, tugging at the hem of my dress as she came up to talk, her face wearing an expression that clearly demanded an explanation. So I walked her through the chain of events that had, somehow, landed me here.
"Come to think of it, I forgot to correct you last time, Lady Agnes. I was under the impression I wouldn't be attending either, but Master Edan insisted I come along with him, so here I am."
"...Is that really all? There isn't some other reason you didn't tell me?"
"Another reason? Is there any reason I'd need to hide my attendance from you, Lady Agnes?"
"...No reason. Maybe you just didn't want to pretend to know me in front of everyone at the ball."
"Ah..."
...Way to make it sound like I'd committed some terrible crime.
I had no desire to pile up needless misunderstandings with a friend I'd only just made, so I hurried to correct the part Agnes was worried about.
"How could that possibly be the case? I simply forgot, truly."
"...Really?"
"Honestly, Lady Agnes, you're just about the only person at the academy I could even call a friend. Would I really have any reason to lie to you—my one and only friend?"
"...I-I have plenty of friends, actually? There's Seraphin. And Nathalie... ah, no, wait, I guess she doesn't count yet..."
"Yes, yes. And yet you're still friends with me, so thank you for that, Lady Agnes."
"...Why does it feel like you're making fun of me?"
She glared at me with an odd look, but the moment she realized I truly hadn't kept quiet about my attendance for any ulterior motive, her expression softened.
I hadn't expected her to take it *that* hard just because I mentioned my attendance a little late.
It was a relief Agnes wasn't the type to scheme behind people's backs the way most noble daughters did. If it had been anyone else, this was exactly the kind of moment that would've bred all sorts of malicious gossip afterward.
"Thank goodness you're so straightforward, Lady Agnes. I nearly caused a needless misunderstanding over something trivial."
"...By the way, what is *with* that way of talking? You never speak like that normally."
"One adjusts one's behavior and mindset according to the situation and role. At the academy, I'm Master Ethan's personal maid, so I act the part of a servant. Today, I'm attending in the role of Ed's fiancée, so naturally I must present myself in a manner befitting that position."
"......Ed? Don't tell me you call *Ethan* 'Ed'?"
"I do. There's no surer way to signal closeness than a pet name."
Agnes frowned once at hearing what I called Ethan, but that was all it amounted to. I was here in place of Ethan's fiancée, fulfilling my role, and it had nothing to do with Agnes anyway.
"So what, in the end you two are getting engaged?"
"No, nothing like that. He simply says that with me at his side, he can keep the noble daughters who approach him for his family name at bay."
"...That's it? That's your whole reason? I suppose it doesn't matter for him, being a man, but Lilith—what about you, when it comes time for *you* to marry?"
"I've never once considered marrying anyone other than Ed, so it hardly matters. I'll simply remain unmarried and live on my own to the end."
"......"
The moment my words landed, Agnes's face scrunched up as if something about them deeply displeased her. Then, abruptly, she glanced toward the self-serve bar corner where Ethan stood and muttered something under her breath.
"Shouldn't you say something? Can you really stomach this? Your whole future in marriage, sacrificed to that young lord's political scheming?"
"I'm sorry? As I said, I have no intention of marrying in the first place. This doesn't exactly block my path to marriage, so it's fine."
"...Whatever. Don't come whining to me later when you've been used to your heart's content and then tossed aside. I won't listen."
"I'm telling you, I'm not being used."
...No, wait. Thinking about it, was she right? After all, attending official events disguised as someone's fiancée was well outside a personal maid's job description.
Same as with that masquerade ball a while back—he really did seem to squeeze quite a few delicate services out of me for a maid.
Still, well... I was also his Temporary Lover these days, so it fell into that precarious territory where I could play along out of genuine affection. Barely.
"I'm back, Lily."
"Ah, welcome back, Ed."
Ethan returned from the self-serve bar with a pair of chilled cocktails cradled in both hands. He handed one of the glasses to me, spotted Agnes standing behind, and exchanged a brief greeting with her.
"Lady Blaze? It's been a while."
"Yeah."
"Were you keeping Lilith company while I was gone?"
"...Yeah. We're friends."
"Lilith used to speak of you often, Lady Blaze. I'd be glad if you continued to stay close with her going forward."
"......"
The two of them had brushed past each other any number of times, aware of each other's existence and nothing more—this was the first moment they'd ever held a proper conversation.
Given how Ethan usually regarded the people around me with thinly veiled hostility, this reaction was genuinely a little surprising.
When he looked at Lige or Seraphin, there was something unsettlingly sharp in his gaze—but the look he aimed at Agnes was distinctly milder.
...Though for her part, Agnes didn't seem to hold much goodwill toward Ethan either.
"You'd better behave yourself."
"...Hm?"
"Use her all you like, and the moment you think about throwing her away—that's the day I end you."
"...It seems you have some misunderstanding about me, but I promise you—what you fear will never come to pass."
"......Hmph."
Even after receiving what amounted to a threat to his face from the daughter of a ducal house, Ethan simply smiled and responded with perfect composure. Agnes studied him for a moment, pulled a dissatisfied face, then spun on her heel and stalked off.
"Where are you going, Lady Agnes?"
"Just going to say hi to Seraphin."
"Ah, right. See you later, then."
It didn't look like she had anyone to talk to besides Seraphin anyway, and I could picture without even watching how she'd drift back to my side once the ball had been underway for a while.
"She's a good friend, Lily."
"Hm? Agnes?"
"Far better than Lady Auguste or Her Highness the Princess, at any rate. She's someone who sees *you*, Lilith—no pretense, no hidden agenda."
"...Well, if you say so, Ed. Personally speaking, she is the least exhausting of the friends I have at the academy."
"...Though I'm a little put out that she insisted on forcing her way into that lecherous Hero's party. But I suppose that's Lady Blaze's private affair."
He murmured this while gazing at Gehmajoshigi-gwat and Serista, who had arrived at the ball unnoticed, and Seraphin deep in conversation with the two of them.
Ever since that after-party incident, Ethan's wariness toward the Hero had apparently sharpened another notch.
How I wished I could just approach Gehmajoshigi-gwat and talk to him, even once. But with Ethan reacting like this, it was clearly going to be very difficult.
Ethan had told me with his own mouth not to exchange so much as a word with the Hero, so I couldn't very well be the one to approach him either. If it weren't for that incident Nathalie caused at the after-party, I'd have had at least one chance by now.
I didn't care about subjugating the Demon King, and the main story interested me even less—but more than a year had already slipped by without me managing to pass along the message: stop wasting your effort, go recruit different characters instead.
'The subjugation-candidate characters don't show up until next year, so I'm not too late yet. Still.'
Information like that was better delivered sooner rather than later. With no way of knowing what plans the Hero's side was making, they needed to be prepared for the possibility that Lilith would suddenly stop joining them, too.
I was musing over this while idly tipping my cocktail against Ethan's when a commotion of shrill noblewomen's voices began rising from the entrance of the banquet hall.
At this volume, with this kind of crowd surge... whoever was making an entrance right now had to be—
"Kyaaaa! It's Prince McHart!"
"P-Prince McHart! A-are you, are you in good health, Your Highness...?!"
"Thank you, my lady. If it wouldn't trouble you, might I invite you to share a dance later?"
"R-really, Your Highness?!"
"Not immediately, of course—I could only manage around the eleventh dance. My dance card is rather full tonight, you see..."
"If it means dancing with you, Your Highness, the eleventh or the hundred-and-first—it makes no difference to me!"
"P-Prince McHart! Have you, have you been well...? We, we met before, at the academy..."
"My apologies. I'm rather poor at remembering the names of flowers. But in exchange, I've now had the fortune of meeting a beautiful young lady with entirely new feelings—surely you can forgive me?"
"Y-yes! Of course! Anytime!"
Ugh. Barf.
Wow. Unbelievable. After only ever seeing this in-game, watching it unfold right in front of me genuinely made me want to vomit.
The disgust was a different species entirely from watching Pig Prince Ethan—that is, the Ethan of the original game. When I played, he only appeared in cutscenes, so it never registered; but watching that greasy face spout cringe-inducing lines out in the open, I could feel my lunch climbing back up my throat.
Rather than look over there and sully my eyes with the wretched display, I hastily turned my body away, quickly shutting out the commotion at the entrance.
That's right. The labels "lecher" and "debauchee" were wasted on the Hero—they belonged to that bastard right there.
The number of noble daughters that bastard had devoured like candy wrappers at the academy had to be at least double digits. Not that I'd bothered to keep track—they were all no different from extras.
A repulsive piece of shit who coasted on one pretty face and pawed at every female character in sight.
Worse, he hit on the heroines too—Serista and Agnes included—which left him zero room for leniency.
Thank god he was a true villain. If Luminor Academy had ever contained a route for recruiting that bastard as a companion, the genre would've shifted overnight, no question.
"Let's move somewhere else, Ed."
"...Yes, Lily. There's no reason to draw the Fourth Prince's eye."
We traded the agreement in low voices and were carefully beginning to drift away from him when—
That bastard's voice called out to me from behind, and for an instant I felt every hair on my body stand on end.
"...Ah, one moment. You there, the young lady in the dark crimson dress."
'...Ah, fuck.'
I should have moved somewhere else the instant the entrance started raging. Instead I'd dawdled halfway, and the moment that bastard McHart's gaze snagged on me—
Called out by royalty, I could no longer take another step. Slowly, carefully, I turned my head toward the greasy bastard.
"Beautiful even from behind, truly... o-oh, oh... to think such a magnificent... such a *perfect* young lady existed."
"......"
'Are your eyes ever leaving my chest?'
"Fate has brought us together like this—shall we introduce ourselves, beautiful lady?"
'Introduce ourselves, is it, Prince McHart?'
"...Get lost, you piece of shit."
"......Pardon?"
Ah. Mistake.