Last-Minute Afterparty (1)

“How about we all have a semester-end afterparty tomorrow?”

At Princess Seraphine’s sudden suggestion, all eyes in the student council room turned toward her.

Ah, except for one person. Orion, who remained engrossed in his book, seemingly uninterested.

“Hmm~. I’ll pass~. Too much trouble.”

…Well, of course he’d refuse. Frankly, it was already surprising enough that he even showed his face in the student council room.

Naturally, the other five members aside from Orion couldn’t help but show interest in Seraphine’s afterparty proposal.

“An afterparty, you say?”

“Yes, Gwyn-nim. It feels like it would be a shame to end the semester without doing something special.”

“Then we should secure a venue first. Most buildings on the academy grounds will be used for supplementary lectures starting the day after tomorrow, so we’ll need to check if we can find a suitable location outside.”

“No need to worry. I plan to use the sub-hall of the VIP lounge. Machart oppa already returned to the imperial palace four days ago, and currently, only Luke and I are using the VIP lounge, so there won’t be any issues.”

“Ah, in that case, we won’t need to reserve a separate venue.”

Vice President Gwyn Ivelt nodded and stepped back as soon as he confirmed the venue was already prepared.

True to his mercenary background, he immediately began tackling the logistical issues the moment the afterparty was proposed.

Given that this was Seraphine’s suggestion, refusing to participate didn’t even seem to cross his mind.

“The time will be after tomorrow’s student council duties. I’ll hire the VIP lounge’s head chef for one more day to handle the food, and as for other miscellaneous preparations… I assume Luke will take care of them. Right, Luke?”

“Leave it to me, Princess Seraphine.”

Right. Of course Luke would participate if there was an afterparty.

It wouldn’t make sense for her, Seraphine’s guard and personal maid, not to attend.

Judging by Luke’s composed reaction, she must have already been included in the plan beforehand.

“Hmm… An afterparty, huh.”

“Hmm…”

Meanwhile, Lizzie and Ethan hesitated at the sudden afterparty proposal.

Since returning home could be delayed by up to a day, both seemed to be seriously considering their options.

At some point, their gazes naturally shifted toward me.

“Lilith, what do you want to do?”

“Will you be attending the afterparty, Lilith-yang?”

“…Huh?”

Damn it, seriously.

Should I be happy that Ethan left the decision to me, or should I resent him for passing the potential conflict with Seraphine onto me?

Well, it’s not like Ethan had any ill intent-he probably just genuinely wanted to give me the choice.

To be honest, though, I was a bit skeptical about Seraphine’s afterparty.

Having played the original game to death, this oddly timed afterparty felt suspicious in many ways.

‘From what I remember, afterparties were only held at the end of the first semester, right before the student council disbanded-not at the end of the second semester.’

I must have played [Luminor Academy] for over 2,000 hours, and not once did I recall joining Seraphine’s student council.

Whether pursuing Seraphine’s route, Luke’s route, or building a friendship with Orion, joining the student council was always necessary.

And the Luminor Academy student council’s term ran from the start of the second semester to the end of the first semester the following year.

Meaning, in the game, the afterparty event took place at the closing ceremony of the first semester. That’s why Seraphine suggesting an afterparty now, at the end of the second semester, felt so strange.

Moreover, this unusually rushed scheduling was very uncharacteristic of Seraphine, which only deepened my suspicions.

“President Seraphine, may I ask one question?”

“Of course, Lilith-yang.”

“Isn’t it a bit early to hold a student council afterparty at the end of the second semester? There’s still half a year of student council activities left.”

“Ah, actually, I wasn’t going to mention this, but…”

“…?”

“Tomorrow’s afterparty is also meant to serve as a substitute for our inauguration ceremony.”

…Ah.

Right, the inauguration ceremony. That was also a student council event.

Come to think of it, this student council hadn’t held one yet. If they had, I definitely would have remembered.

“At the beginning of the student council term, there was that dangerous incident involving you, Lilith-yang. We couldn’t hold an inauguration ceremony without you, so we skipped it this semester.”

“Ah, r-right, that did happen…”

“So, now that we have some free time, I thought it would be nice to have a simple meal together and chat. Did I make you uncomfortable by suggesting this?”

…How can I refuse when you put it like that? I’d feel too guilty.

If the afterparty falls through because of me after already missing the inauguration ceremony, I’d feel like I wronged Seraphine even more.

Besides, there wasn’t really a reason not to attend. Refusing an invitation from someone like Seraphine would require a very good excuse.

Rather than scrambling for a flimsy reason, it’s easier to just attend for one day.

“Understood. If my participation won’t inconvenience you, President Seraphine, I’ll attend the afterparty.”

“Inconvenience? Of course not. You can rest assured, Lilith-yang.”

“Since my personal maid is attending, I’ll naturally join as well.”

“I-I’ll attend too. I can just send a letter home saying my return will be delayed by a day.”

“Hehe. Thank you all for joining so willingly.”

…Even though this event didn’t exist in the original game, making me a little uneasy…

Well, the semester’s already over. What could possibly go wrong?

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Two days before Seraphine proposed the afterparty to the student council members…

Princess Seraphine awaited an expected guest in the parlor of her private quarters, the VIP lounge.

“Thank you sincerely for accepting my sudden visit, Princess Seraphine.”

The Prophesied Hero, Gyeotmwa Josyegigot Volt.

Over the past year, this otherworldly hero had assisted her in various ways, both inside and outside the academy.

“Welcome, Hero-nim. I was actually waiting for you, so there’s no need to apologize.”

“…Huh? Ah, did you perhaps see the future…?”

“Yes, I did. It was a full moon not long ago. Though choosing to meet you instead of dining with Count Verco was my own decision.”

“…I see. I must have troubled you by visiting on such a day.”

“Don’t worry about it, Hero Gyeotmwa Josyegigot. You’ve already saved countless lives-meeting with you is far more important to me than dining with some count who only cares about his own interests.”

“…If you say so, I’ll gladly accept your kindness, Princess Seraphine.”

“Hehe, thank you.”

Seraphine’s unguarded smile, reserved only for Gyeotmwa Josyegigot in the privacy of the VIP lounge, reached his eyes.

A smile filled with genuine, unfeigned goodwill-something she never showed to anyone else.

Given who it was directed at, Gyeotmwa Josyegigot couldn’t help but feel almost entranced by that smile alone.

“I don’t see Celista-yang with you today? She’s usually always by your side, isn’t she?”

“…Yes. She doesn’t particularly like it when I talk to other women.”

“My, again? First Celista-yang, then that elf from the World Tree Forest… And now you’re adding more women to your entourage? Should I start calling you the ‘Rake Hero’ instead of the ‘Prophesied Hero’?”

“Please don’t tease me, Princess. You know why I keep Celista and Silena by my side.”

“Hehe, of course. I was just joking.”

Lately, Seraphine had been expressing subtle jealousy toward the hero, who kept adding women to his circle despite knowing she had feelings for him.

Of course, as the princess, she couldn’t openly show her affection without causing complications, so this behavior was reserved for private moments like this.

Her fondness for him wasn’t just because he was the hero who had saved many lives.

His reliability, always appearing when needed most, made him seem like a true fairy-tale prince-but therein lay the problem.

…The issue was that Gyeotmwa Josyegigot was this world’s protagonist, and to many women besides Seraphine, he was already their knight in shining armor.

‘You have no idea how I felt when you rescued Celista-yang. Yet you keep adding more women to your circle-this could disrupt my plans later.’

“So, which lady do you need help wooing today? Last time it was Natalie-yang, so is it Agnes-yang this time, as you mentioned before?”

“Princess…”

“Alright, alright. I’ll stop teasing you.”

After lightening the mood with half-serious jokes, Princess Seraphine and Hero Gyeotmwa Josyegigot finally turned to the main topic.

“Actually, I’d like you to arrange a meeting for me with someone.”

“Someone even the Hero can’t easily meet? Is it perhaps my elder sister?”

“No. Their status is much lower than Princess Lushetia’s. And… they’re someone you already have a connection with.”

“That’s a relief. No matter how much I respect you, Hero-nim, I could never get along with my sister.”

“…Huh?”

“…Anyway, who is it? This person you can’t approach freely but whom I know?”

Seraphine expected the name of some duke’s daughter, a border count’s heiress, or perhaps a foreign princess or noble lady.

But the unexpected name that left his lips caught her completely off guard.

“Lilith… Blackwood Rosewood.”

“…What?”

“Prince Ethan Richard Blackwood’s personal maid. I’d like you to arrange a meeting with her, even if just once.”