The Law of Festivals (1)

The day after Ethan and I shared an impromptu kiss during the play.

Naturally, word of what Ethan and I had done yesterday had already reached the ears of the Hero Party.

After Bow was injured during play preparations and Penelope refused to perform, Ethan and I took the lead roles instead and boldly kissed in front of about 200 spectators.

Of course, none of the busy cafe staff witnessed the scene directly, but most, including Gyeotmwa, didn’t seem to doubt the rumors’ authenticity.

“Heh, *cough*… Well, if it’s Rosewood-nim, I can totally see that happening, hehe…”

“If it’s Lady Lillith… I think it’s entirely plausible.”

“Lady Lillith can be quite bold at times, so I don’t find it particularly strange!”

…Just what kind of image do they have of me in their heads?

Gyeotmwa knows my true identity, so his snickering is understandable, but I didn’t expect Thomas and Natalie to think of me like this too.

I thought I’d been fairly well-behaved in front of others besides Gyeotmwa and Agnes.

“Today is Prince Antonio and Lady Agnes’s day off. Since His Highness isn’t here, if any issues arise with customers today, mediation might be a bit difficult. So I’d like to ask Sir Ethan and Hero Gyeotmwa Josyegigot to be especially attentive.”

“Got it, Lillith.”

“Yes, Lady Rosewood.”

“Thanks to Prince Antonio’s efforts so far, I doubt we’ll have any troublesome customers starting today. And I’ll be assisting in the kitchen with Sally in place of Lady Agnes…”

After the morning meeting to discuss how to fill the gaps left by Prince Antonio and Agnes, who had important roles in the Maid & Butler Cafe, the Hero Party began their fifth day of operation.

Since I took over Agnes’s role as kitchen assistant, it became a bit harder for me to handle issues in the hall directly, but there was a silver lining.

I now had a chance to talk privately with Gyeotmwa, the cafe’s head chef.

After glancing at Silena, who was busy cleaning the never-ending pile of dishes, I cautiously spoke to him, avoiding her eyes and ears.

“Hey, Gyeotmwa.”

“What’s up, Lilgirlchang?”

“You bastard, stop calling me that. If Ethan hears you, we’re both dead.”

“…Then isn’t the way you’re calling me risky too? If you shorten my name like that, anyone would think it’s a nickname.”

“What the-fuck…!”

Damn it, this bastard always has to take things too far.

My face twisted in disgust at his words, which were so vile they made me want to vomit.

“Ugh, goddammit. Don’t say shit that makes me want to puke. Do you really think I’m the original Lillith from before the possession?”

“…No, I admit I phrased it poorly, but is it really that bad? I get that I might not measure up to Ethan in your eyes, but objectively speaking, a hero’s face is still handsome, right?”

“……”

…Come to think of it, he still thinks I was a woman in my past life.

Well, how could anyone imagine that a girl who kissed and sucked off a guy and even locked lips with him in front of hundreds of spectators was originally a man?

For the sake of my dignity, this was a secret I had to take to the grave. If anyone found out I was originally a man, I might genuinely want to kill myself.

“Hah, it’s just disgusting for a woman to have feelings for two men at once. You know better than anyone that I can’t stand that kind of thing.”

“…Ah, right. You were always like that in your past life too. No wonder you were one of the top three trolls on Lua Gallery.”

“Says the guy who followed my troll guide and played through all four parts of 『Luminor Academy』.”

“Back then, I thought you were serious about writing guides, not trolling. I was still a newbie on Lua Gallery at the time.”

“……”

“But thinking about it, it’s kinda weird. Usually, it’s men who preach about women preserving their virginity, right? You were a woman in your past life, yet you kept posting about how women should stay pure?”

“W-what’s it to you? Can’t women advocate for virginity? Got a problem with that, asshole?”

“No, I was just curious, why are you getting so mad…?”

“…Whatever, just don’t bring up my past life again. And stop calling me Lilgirlchang.”

“Yeah, yeah. Got it, Lady Rosewood.”

“What were you two talking about?”

“…Huh? What do you mean, Silena?”

“I was just asking how much longer until the croissants and tea are ready.”

“…Oh, really?”

Fortunately, Silena’s oblivious nature meant she didn’t overhear the conversation between me and Gyeotmwa… no, Hero Gyeotmwa Josyegigot.

With Silena’s interruption, the conversation naturally ended, and it seemed like she didn’t reach the conclusion that I was originally a man. That was a relief.

…Though it was a shame we didn’t get to discuss what we needed to.

‘The Seraphine kidnapping event… It won’t happen this time, right…?’

In the original story, it was a major event in Part 3, happening around the last day of the Luminor Festival.

Karaham, who suddenly took a leave of absence in his third year, had actually been planning to kidnap Seraphine for a long time. The incident occurred because the entire August family harbored resentment toward Seraphine after Lizzie’s death.

Originally, it happened because Seraphine chose Agnes over Lizzie at the masquerade ball, but in this world, thanks to Ethan and me, both Lizzie and Agnes are alive.

Naturally, the August family had no reason to hold a grudge against Seraphine or the imperial family, and with both Lizzie and Karaham still attending school normally, such a crazy act wouldn’t make sense.

Moreover, Seraphine only allowed herself to be kidnapped due to guilt over failing to save Karaham’s sister. In a one-on-one fight, Seraphine wouldn’t lose to Karaham.

‘So logically, the Seraphine kidnapping event shouldn’t happen in this world…’

…But for some reason, I still feel uneasy.

Academy festivals like this are always ripe for incidents, so I can’t let my guard down completely.

Call it the intuition of a gamer who’s played 『Luminor Academy』 24.9 times.

Lately, my intuition has been off a few times, so I’m not as confident, but it’s still better to be prepared.

Well, given the Hero’s personality, he’s probably already prepared for it.

‘…Nothing major will happen, right?’

At the very least, we shouldn’t have to deal with Karaham, the mid-boss of Part 3 who turns into a demon.

Distracted for a moment, I focused on handling the backlog of drink orders and dismissed my worries as trivial.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“Good work, everyone. You all did great today.”

“Thank you for your hard work!”

“O-oh, you worked hard today too, Hero…”

The fifth day of operation without Agnes and Antonio came to an end, and the staff of the Maid & Butler Cafe exchanged closing remarks.

After five days, everyone had grown accustomed to their maid and butler uniforms. Even Ethan’s butler outfit, which had been startling at first, now looked perfectly normal.

Knowing that tomorrow would be the last day to see everyone like this made me strangely nostalgic.

…Though if asked to endure this for another week, I’d have to decline.

“Tomorrow’s the last day, so there won’t be any student council inspections. Seraphine and Luke said they’d come to help too. And since no one’s taking the day off tomorrow, we’ll have a much easier time.”

“T-that’s a relief… T-today was especially busy… and Lady Lillith was in the kitchen…”

“Huh? Were there any issues in the hall?”

“Princess Rainy visited again this afternoon. She seemed to be looking for Lady Lillith, but since Lady Agnes wasn’t here today, Prince Ethan handled it instead, assuming you couldn’t leave the kitchen.”

“Ah, I see. That’s good then.”

Princess Rainy probably came to see Ethan, not me, so it was better that way.

“Oh, and Professor Harold visited this afternoon too. Princess Mezlen received him.”

“Princess Mezlen… greatly respects Professor Harold. She handled it well.”

True to her role as Natalie’s longtime assistant, Thomas handled unexpected situations well even in my absence.

Just as I was about to warn her not to skip work tomorrow under the pretext of having already dealt with Harold, I suddenly sensed something off among the gathered members.

“…Wait a minute, Thomas.”

“Yes, Lady Lillith?”

“Princess Mezlen, who received Professor Harold… where is she now?”