Chapter 24 - Volume 2 (1/2)
Volume 2, Chapter 11: Children of the Night, Part 1
“……What can we do for you?”
It was late at night, and cold. I called the four children to the garden near the back gate.
I’m alone without anyone nearby. A feeling of contempt is coming from the four. These guys…
“I am going to a [Tea Party]. You guys will be coming with me.”
When I say so, they all showed similar reactions.
Noah is quizzically staring at me. Ninette looks like she finds it bothersome, stifling a yawn. Fontaine is happily crushing ants beneath her feet on the stone. Christina’s expressionless eyes opened a little at my mention of a [Tea Party]
I give a thin smile to Christina, the apprentice maid.
“Yeah, Christina. After this, we’ll be headed to the [Moonlit Tea Party]”
“ … Ho-, … How absurd, you don’t have an invitation. Besides, if you tell someone else…”
“Millaine-sama compromised with me and said that bringing four people as attendants would be alright.”
As I said so, and showed the letter of invitation, Christy snatched it away to read, and then turned to me with an even bigger look of disbelief on her face.
“We… are currently busy.”
Noah, the butler apprentice seems intrigued, but is being obstinate, while Ninette nodded along to her twin brother despite not understanding at all.
How could you be busy?
“Ninette. If you’ll be my guard, I’ll give you this sword.”
“Eh!?”
I passed Ninette the sword she sold away, and her eyes sparkled as she stared at it in wonder.
“Oy, Ninette.”
“Yes. Noah, this here is for you.”
“ … …”
When I handed over a gold pocket watch, Noah made a face like he had just bitten into a particularly bitter bug.
Well, that makes sense. Ninette didn’t realize, but all of this was evidence of their [Embezzlement]. Therefore, he is being cautious of me, who easily returned it to him. So I, the [Sucker Child], was being calculatedly seen as a ticket to an effortless future.
Although an honest apology would do…
“Would you like something as well, Fontaine?”
“Hmm? No need. Will there be candy?”
“Tea and delicious sweets as well, if the rumors are true. Please eat plenty.”
“Got it, I’ll go.”
Hmm, at least Fontaine understands.
“Thank you for coming.”
Vio had guided the back gate guards away as two Oberu family carriages came in. How clever of them, not using a large carriage, the [Origin] is much harder to find when tight corners can be cut.
“All of you. Get into the carriage.”
I must say, the butler’s hand which is helping me up smelled quite like a [Beast] as I got into one of the carriages.
Those children. I wonder what their faces look like now.
Nervousness? Delight? It doesn’t really matter. They boarded the back carriage, to keep face for Father.
Enjoy tonight’s trip.
Could this be you all’s final chance…?
The carriages we boarded were shaking. It was completely isolated from the outside, but I felt like we were moving several times the speed of a normal carriage.
I wonder if this can be commercialized… It’s probably impossible. The thing that is taking us to our destination without so much as turning is certainly not of [Human] make.
The carriage arrived without incident.
“Welcome, we thank everyone for coming.”
Doll-like beautiful butlers and maids were lined up on either side of the center aisle, on which a beautiful lady wearing a deep purple dress having the smell of a [Beast] greeted me.
“I am Millaine, Count Oberu’s eldest daughter.”
She had an enchanting smile that gently melted the hearts of people that saw it.
The four people behind me were also staring into those jewel-like purple eyes, that they’d forget themselves for a while can’t be helped.
Now then… were you bewitched the moment you met her?
＊
How strange… Millaine thought as she saw today’s guests.
Yurushia, who was called the golden princess, was even more beautiful than the rumors stated despite her age. The moment her figure appeared from the carriage, even the butlers and maids who were used to Millaine were shaken.
Even Millaine forgot to scold the servants, so breathtaking was her beauty.
Millaine was frustrated as soon as she became aware that she was [Charmed] by the entrance. Yurushia had not moved, and Millaine had recovered before her attendants.
{… As expected of one called a [Saint]. I may need to use stronger magic than usual…} (TL: These are thoughts, btw)
Millaine’s expression fell.
Impossible. In both looks and charm, the [Human Being] Yurushia was not inferior to Millaine.
“I am Yurushia, third daughter of Duke Verusenia.”
Holding the hem of her dress, a dark blue dress with white frills that seemed to be made for [Dolls], slightly bending her waist, her graceful bow was the very definition of [Princess], the count and countess who had just arrived were also charmed by the greeting.
The voice that echoed in the silence frustrated Millaine and her comrades.
“Millaine-sama, what about the other participants…?”
“No, it was such an effort to bring you here, Yurushia-sama, that no others could be invited today.”
With the finest feast in front of them, those useless snacks would only be obstacles. In that sense, the servants that she brought would not even serve as an appetizer, until now, they had never eaten children who hadn’t tasted bad, so they had usually sent them back, but perhaps as thanks for their service, these children could be granted to the butlers and maids.
Yurushia, who holds the highest protection out of the royal family, even though she could have brought out her knight escort, she only brought such thinly flavored children with her.
Although she was likely smarter than her age showed, ultimately, she was still a child.
As proof, the four children that called Yurushia master were off receiving the hospitality of the beautiful servants, smiling as though they were about to melt away.
Millaine felt her heart leave its cage at this.
Of course. There was no human being that could meet [Their] eyes and bodies that could still go on normally. The three of them were among the [Noble Grade], and their status was far higher than anyone else here.
“…”
Suddenly, they felt sweat begin to appear on their back… Looking around, they saw Yurushia quietly staring at Millaine with a [Doll-like] smile.
“Is something the matter?”
“Nothing. I’m glad I don’t need to worry about the children. But you know… Millaine-sama, why were you so concerned about having me come here…?”
“ … That is… our apologies.”
The graceful smile of Yurushia surprised Millaine so much that she had already instinctively apologized.
Until now they had scoffed at the attitude of the [Pretend Nobles], and had never bowed their head to anyone else.
Why was it…? To the entertainers and guests, the [Words] of Yurushia placed herself [Lower] than Millaine.
Unforgivable. Her… Me.
{ … Such an Inferior Human…}
Though, something was strange.