5th Prince’s Birthday Banquet (3)

“I thought Lilith wouldn’t be coming today.”

Agnes, who seemed to have arrived at the Banquet Hall earlier, tugged at my dress hem and spoke to me.

She had an expression that seemed to be seeking an explanation, so I first explained how I ended up participating.

“Now that I think about it, I forgot to correct myself last time, Agnes-yang. I also thought I wouldn’t be participating, but Ed requested that I join him no matter what, so here I am.”

“…Is that really all? Not that you didn’t tell me for some other reason?”

“Other reason? Is there any reason I would intentionally not tell Agnes-yang whether I was attending?”

“…Just. Like you didn’t want to pretend to know me at the Banquet Hall.”

“Ah….”

…When she puts it like that, it sounds like I did something really bad.

I didn’t want to build unnecessary misunderstandings with a friend I had only recently made, so I quickly corrected the part Agnes was worried about.

“How could that be? I truly just forgot.”

“…Really?”

“Honestly, like Agnes-yang, you’re pretty much the only person I can call a friend within the Academy. Is there any need for me to lie to Agnes-yang, my one and only friend?”

“…I, I have a lot of friends, okay? There’s Seraphine, too. And Natalie… Ah, no, she’s not quite there yet….”

“Yes, yes. Even so, thank you for being my friend, Agnes-yang.”

“…I feel like you’re teasing me somehow.”

Even as she glared at me with a strange look, her expression softened as soon as she realized that I hadn’t withheld my attendance for any other reason.

I never thought she’d overthink it just because I was a bit late in mentioning my attendance.

It was fortunate that Agnes wasn’t the type to scheme behind people’s backs like typical Noble Ladies. If it had been anyone else, all sorts of rumors might have spread unnecessarily.

“It’s a relief that Agnes-yang has such an honest personality. I almost caused an unnecessary misunderstanding over something trivial.”

“…By the way, what’s with that way of speaking since earlier? You don’t usually talk like that.”

“It’s about adapting my actions and mindset to the situation and role. Normally, within the Academy, I am Young Master Ethan’s Exclusive Maid, so I act as befits a servant. Now, I am here to fill Ed’s fiancée’s position, so naturally, I must present myself in a manner befitting that status.”

“……Ed? You mean you call Ethan ‘Ed’?”

“Yes. There’s no clearer way to emphasize intimacy than with a nickname.”

Agnes frowned once upon hearing the name I used for Ethan, but that was all it was.

After all, I was simply fulfilling my role as Ethan’s temporary fiancée, and it had nothing to do with Agnes.

“So what, did you end up getting engaged?”

“No, not at all. He just said that if I’m by his side, I can block the Noble Ladies who approach him only for his family’s sake.”

“…Is that really the only reason? Even if it doesn’t matter for him since he’s a man, what about you, Lilith, when you get married later?”

“I haven’t really thought of anyone other than Ed as a marriage partner. I can just live alone until the very end, you know.”

“…….”

As soon as she heard my words, Agnes frowned, as if something displeased her.

Then, she suddenly muttered something while looking at the self-bar corner where Ethan was.

“Shouldn’t you say something? Can you really stand for that? Your prospects for marriage are being sacrificed for that Prince’s political agenda?”

“Huh? I told you, I have no intention of getting married in the first place. It doesn’t matter since this won’t block my marriage prospects anyway.”

“…Whatever. Don’t come whining to me later if you get used and discarded.”

“I’m not being used.”

…No, come to think of it, is it true? After all, pretending to be an fiancée and participating in official events wasn’t really within the scope of an Exclusive Maid’s duties.

Like the Masquerade Ball before, it seems he’s making me do things that are a bit too sensitive for a maid.

Still, well… since I’m also acting as Ed’s temporary lover now, it was still at a level where I could barely go along with it out of goodwill.

“I’m back, Lily.”

“Ah, welcome back, Ed.”

Just then, Ethan appeared from the self-bar, holding cold cocktails in both hands.

He handed me one of the glasses he was holding, then recognized Agnes behind me and exchanged a brief greeting.

“Lady Blaze? It’s been a while.”

“Yeah.”

“Were you talking with Lily while I was gone?”

“…Yeah. Because we’re friends.”

“Lily often speaks of you, Lady. I hope you continue to be close with Lily in the future.”

“…….”

It was the first time the two, who had only known of each other’s existence through various encounters, had a proper conversation.

Ethan usually viewed the people around me with a rather unfavorable gaze, so this reaction was certainly a bit unexpected.

While his gaze towards Lizzie or Seraphine had a strangely murderous aura, his gaze towards Agnes was definitely gentle.

…Though Agnes, on her part, didn’t seem to have very good feelings towards Ethan.

“You mind your own business.”

“…Hmm?”

“Go ahead and use her to your heart’s content and then try to discard her later. I won’t let you get away with it then.”

“…It seems you misunderstand something about me, but I promise you, what you fear will not happen.”

“……Hmph.”

Even after hearing something akin to a threat directly from a Viscount’s daughter, Ethan responded calmly with a smile.

Agnes glanced at him once, then turned her head sharply with a displeased expression and walked away.

“Where are you going, Agnes-yang?”

“Just going to say hello to Seraphine.”

“Ah, yes. See you later.”

She didn’t seem to have anyone else to talk to besides Seraphine, so I could already picture her slowly returning to my side once the banquet had been underway for a while.

“She’s a good friend, Lily.”

“Huh? Agnes is?”

“At least she’s much better than Lady August or the Princess. She’s someone who sees you directly, without pretense or ulterior motives.”

“…Well, if Ed says so, then it must be. Personally, among my friends at the Academy, she’s the least burdensome.”

“…It’s a bit annoying that she’s stubbornly forcing her way into that lecherous Hero’s party, but that’s Lady Blaze’s personal business.”

He muttered this while looking at Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot and Celista, who had arrived at the banquet, and Seraphine, who was talking to the two of them.

It seemed that Ethan’s wariness towards the Hero had intensified even further due to that after-party incident the other day.

I wanted to somehow contact Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot and talk to him just once, but with Ethan reacting like this, it seemed quite difficult.

Since Ethan himself had told me not to even speak to the Hero, I couldn’t approach him first. If it hadn’t been for that incident Natalie caused at the after-party, I would have had a chance.

I have no interest in the Demon King Subjugation, and even less interest in the Main Story, so I couldn’t convey the message to stop wasting effort and recruit other characters. More than a year had already flown by.

‘Subjugation Team Candidate characters will still join next year, so it’s not too late yet.’

Still, it was better to convey such information quickly if possible.

Since I didn’t know what plans the Hero’s side had, they also needed to prepare for a situation where Lilith might suddenly not join.

As I thought that and casually clinked my cocktail glass with Ethan’s, I started to hear the noisy voices of Noble Ladies from the Banquet Hall entrance.

With this level of decibels and crowd, the person appearing now must be….

“Kyaa! It’s Prince Machart-nim!”

“P-Prince Machart-nim! A-a-are you welll…?!”

“Thank you, young lady. If you don’t mind, would you care for a dance with me later?”

“R-really, Prince-nim?!”

“Of course, it would be difficult right now, but I could perhaps accompany you around the eleventh turn. I have many engagements today….”

“If I can dance with the Prince-nim, I don’t mind if it’s the eleventh or the hundred-and-first!”

“P-Prince Machart-nim! H-how have you been…? I, I was at the Academy the other day….”

“I apologize. I’m not very good at remembering the names of flowers. Instead, since I’ve met such a beautiful young lady with a fresh feeling like this, would you please forgive me?”

“Yes, yes! By all means!”

Ugh, fuck.

Wow, insane…. Seeing him right in front of me after only seeing him in the game really makes me want to throw up….

It was a different kind of unpleasantness altogether from seeing the former disgusting ending… or rather, the Pig Prince Ethan from the original game.

When playing the game, he only appeared in cutscenes, so I didn’t feel much, but seeing that greasy face muttering cringeworthy words right in front of me made me feel like my lunch was going to come back up.

Instead of bothering to look in that direction and witness that unpleasant sight, I quickly turned my body away, ignoring the commotion at the entrance.

Right, actually, terms like ‘playboy’ or ‘lecher’ should be applied to that bastard, not the Hero.

The number of Noble Ladies that bastard had slept with and tossed aside like snack wrappers at the Academy must have been at least in the double digits. I didn’t really care since they were all practically extra characters anyway.

That disgusting bastard who hits on all sorts of female characters just by relying on his face.

Furthermore, he was a guy with no room for extenuating circumstances, given that he even hit on heroines including Celista and Agnes.

It was a relief that he was truly a villain. If there had been a route to recruit that bastard as a companion in 『Luminor Academy』, the genre itself would have undoubtedly changed.

“Let’s move locations, Ed.”

“…Yes, Lily. It would be best not to catch the 4th Prince-nim’s eye unnecessarily.”

Just as I quietly exchanged opinions with Ethan and cautiously began to move away from that bastard.

The sound of that bastard’s voice calling me from behind instantly made all the hairs on my body stand on end.

“…Ah, excuse me. Young lady in the dark red dress.”

‘…Ah, shit.’

I should have moved to another spot as soon as the Banquet Hall entrance got noisy.

It was the moment my gaze got caught by that bastard Machart because I moved indecisively.

Having been called by a member of the Imperial family, I could no longer move, so I cautiously and slowly turned my head towards the greasy bastard.

“Even from behind, truly beautiful… Oh, ohhh…. How could there be such a grand… perfect young lady?”

“…….”

‘Get your eyes off my chest, you pervert.’

“Since we’ve met like this, how about we introduce ourselves, beautiful young lady?”

‘Introduce ourselves, Prince Machart-nim?’

“…Fuck off, you bastard.”

“……Pardon?”

Ah, a mistake.