Raphael, too, raised his hand, encouraging us from the sidelines. “I will help too, of course.”
“Eh?! Th-Thank you so much!”
“Well let’s do this then, we’ll work hard together!” Maria said, her passion burning fiercely.
With our discussion done, I left Maria and Raphael behind, heading to the classmates that I had split off from a while ago. Come to think of it... I should have asked more about Raphael’s superior. Hmm. Well, I suppose I can just ask next time.
With that, I finally met up with my friends, who had apparently bought a large number of items from the sale area.
“I purchased an embroidered handkerchief.”
“An earring and necklace for me.”
“I bought a plush toy.”
Each of the girls held something cute in their hands to make a happy memory of the school festival. They seemed to be having fun.
As for me... I looked down at the bags hanging from my arms. There was only... food. It would be gone as soon as I ate it, and wouldn’t make for much of a souvenir. “...I suppose I should purchase something as a memory, too.”
My classmates and friends all smiled upon hearing this.
“Oh, yes, how wonderful!”
“We should do that, Lady Katarina.”
Now then... I had thought of purchasing something, but now that I was actually here, I wasn’t quite sure as to what I wanted to buy. Honestly, I couldn’t envision myself being pleased with some embroidered items, an accessory, or some plush toy. With the exception of items that were featured in the romance novels I read, of course.
As I stood, thinking, one of my friends pointed out a certain item to me. “How about that piece, Lady Katarina?”
“Hmm...? A brooch?” It was indeed a brooch — one with a blue stone embedded in its center. While the brooch itself was not exactly anything out of the ordinary, the stone embedded within was truly beautiful. I picked it up, and almost instantly, its color changed.
“Wow! The stone became... azure!” Given that my surprise at the color-changing stone was apparent, the merchant kindly explained that this particular stone changed colors when brought up to the light.
“I picked it up earlier too. It’s so pretty! And I was surprised when it changed colors in my hands. And then I thought... the color of the stone in the light is most reminiscent of the color of your eyes, Lady Katarina.” For some reason, the friend who had recommended the brooch to me blushed slightly as she said this. My other friends and classmates all seemed to agree.
“It’s true! How wonderful, Lady Katarina, that it is the same color as your eyes!”
“It’s beautiful. It really suits you.”
“I-Is that so...?” While I myself had never paid my azure eyes much heed, it did feel pleasant to hear that others thought they were beautiful.
In the end, I purchased the brooch with the blue stone thanks to the recommendations of my friends. The merchant handed me the brooch, now neatly packed in a small bag. I placed it in my pocket, and our group soon moved on to yet another venue.
Our next destination was the academy’s magical showcase area, where students who wielded Wind, Fire, Water, and Earth Magic showed off their abilities to an audience. After all, advancing the development of magic was one of the academy’s main aims.
Stationed at this important area were Prince Jeord and his twin brother, Prince Alan. The two of them should have been waiting nearby. By now the events of the festival had moved into their final stages, so we quickened our pace, hoping to reach our destination a little faster.
Upon our arrival, I found myself gasping in praise. “Wow... that’s something.”
A jet of water was sprouting up from a pond, much like a fountain, creating a rainbow in the sky. Carvings and statues made of earth changed their forms in the blink of an eye, and dancing, vibrant flames waltzed through the air. Small hurricanes picked up flower petals, scattering them to the winds. It was a scene right out of a fairy tale — a most wonderful and magical sight. I was once again struck by the fact that this place was indeed a kingdom of magic.
Although I’d been planning to find Jeord quickly and give him the gifts I’d brought, I found myself entranced by the mystical sight before me. It was too wonderful to look away — all I could do was stand there, staring at the displays in a trance. It was just too beautiful.
“I see you have come at last, Katarina.” As I remained lost in my thoughts, I heard a voice call out from beside me. I turned to find a familiar blue-eyed, blonde-haired prince. Jeord stood next to me, smiling as always.
“Ah, Prince Jeord. I’m sorry for taking so long...” Since I’d stopped at so many places and done so many things at the festival, I’d arrived at this venue considerably late. Well... I suppose the main reason is the amount of time I spent at the food stands in the first place...
“I forgive you, Katarina, seeing as you actually made it here before the end of the festival. Knowing you... you most likely got too excited at the food stands, and ended up spending a disproportionate amount of time there, no?”
“?!” No way! I had expected Keith to find out, more or less, but Jeord can see through me that well too... I suppose we have spent the last nine or so years together.
“I am so sorry... I was distracted by the delicious food...” Since Jeord had already deduced the truth, I had no choice but to fess up and apologize. It would be terrifying if I somehow managed to upset this particularly sadistic prince.
“It is quite all right, as you have spent your time with these female classmates of yours. However... I would not forgive similar excursions with other men...”
Hmm? Jeord mumbled something towards the end, but I couldn’t quite catch it. For some reason, the atmosphere became somewhat tense. I could feel goosebumps running down my back.
The classmates who had accompanied me up until this point turned to leave, not wanting to interrupt our conversation. “It would be most unbecoming of us to intrude, Lady Katarina. We shall make our way around the venue for now.”
Wait, you lot... don’t leave me with this black-hearted sadist prince... who’s currently radiating some strange aura! Oh, my friends! Come back to me! I thought, watching the fading silhouettes of my friends with a heavy heart. However, I could see a certain individual approaching from another direction — my savior, surely, who would do something about this strange and tense atmosphere.
“Oh, it’s you two. So you’re finally here? Thought you wouldn’t make it, see. After you said all that about ‘I’ll come by with gifts!’ this morning too... thought you wouldn’t get here, being this time and all.” Silver hair, blue eyes. The wild and haughty Prince Alan had arrived on the scene.
“I apologize... A bunch of things slowed me down along the way.” While Jeord had seen through me almost instantly, I thought something vague might pull the wool over Alan’s eyes. He was, after all, quite thick when it came to these things.
“That right? I figured you ended up eating endlessly at the stands and forgot all about the time.”
“...” Even the blockheaded Prince Alan knew exactly what had happened. For some reason, I felt a wave of gloom spread through me. I decided to change the subject by presenting the food I’d brought with me.
“Here, for you. Please try them,” I said as I took out some bread I’d bought from the stands and a packet of Maria’s homemade snacks. Maria had just given them to me, but I decided to offer them up as an apology for being so late.
“Ah, these are the baked goods Maria made, yes? How was it, did they sell?” Jeord inquired, immediately noticing the familiar packaging.
“Yes, they were very popular. In fact they’d almost sold out by the time I arrived.”
“Is that so? That is good to hear, Katarina,” Jeord replied, smiling faintly as he did so.
That smile... I could feel my womanly intuition calling out to me once more. Before I’d realized it, Jeord had been oh-so-casually calling Maria by her first name. He
was worried about if Maria’s snacks sold or not... The look of relief on his face when I told him they nearly sold out. This was unmistakably...
This is it! Jeord has completely fallen for Maria! Although Fortune Lover’s scenario has already ended, he was fated to fall in love with Maria from the very beginning! Right, that’s obvious! After all, Maria is simply overflowing with charm, enough to even make my heart skip... even though I am a woman as well.
“Maria’s snack stand... you were quite enthusiastic in your support for her, no? Katarina...? Are you listening to me?”
Right... now that this is clear to me, I had even more reason to quickly enter the Magical Ministry, delay my engagement, and cheer for Jeord and his quest for Maria’s love.
“...Again, Katarina...?”
“Hey, Katarina Claes! Lady Dimwit! No good... she isn’t listening at all.”
Ah, but... what about Maria? We hadn’t had any conversations about love, or who she liked, since that graduation ceremony. I still didn’t know if there was anyone she had fallen for. There was, perhaps, the possibility that she had started liking another potential love interest who wasn’t Jeord. Hmm... I should look further into this next time— Ouch!
“Wh-What are you doing?!” I glared at the one who had suddenly rapped me on the head. It was painful, and I was shocked by the sheer abruptness of it.
The culprit, Alan, simply dismissed my protests. “Your fault for not listening when people are talking to you.”
Ugh... I guess he’s right. I’d gotten distracted by thoughts of Jeord and Maria and had become lost in my own world.
“Th-Then all you had to do was say something! You didn’t have to rap me on the head!”
“What are you blathering about, dummy? I did that already! It’s your fault for not reacting at all.” With that, Alan placed a hand on my head again and messed up my hair.
Ungh, this boorish prince! I went through all that effort to have my hair done for me, and now he messed it all up! Just as I was about to retaliate with a well-placed counterattack...
“That is quite enough, Alan. I would strongly prefer that you do not touch her so casually.” Before I could even raise a hand in retaliation, Jeord had firmly grasped Alan’s arm, coming between us as he did so.
Jeord had intervened to break up the little scuffle between Alan and I... or so it seemed. However, it felt like the atmosphere was becoming even stranger and tenser... was it just my imagination?
“...Ahh, Jeord... you’re always like this,” Alan sighed, his arm still in his brother’s grasp. “Aren’t you being a little too uptight? Keep that up and you’re going to be disliked eventually... that’s what Mary says.”
“Do inform Lady Mary that her concern is most misplaced.”
The two Princes now stood, facing each other... for some reason, the atmosphere grew even heavier than it was just now. Eh? Did my scuffle with Alan set off an argument between them? What should I do? I could only stand there, endlessly troubled by these strange developments.
“Jeord, Alan.” Someone had called out to the two princes standing before me. Turning my head to the origin of the voice, I saw two couples walk towards us. The person leading them was smiling and waving at us, so it seemed that he was the one who had called out to them just now.
He had so casually called Jeord and Alan by their first names, with no titles... I wondered who this person was. He seemed similar to someone I knew. This suspicion was confirmed by what Jeord said next: “Elder Brother Jeffery, I see you have come to visit.”
Oh, I see! Jeord’s older brother! Now that I looked at him again, his silver hair and blue eyes did remind me of Alan.
Jeord greeted the youth following after Jeffery as well. “And you too, Elder Brother Ian.”
Eh?! The one behind is his older brother too? With his blonde hair and blue eyes, he did have a striking resemblance to Jeord.
Right... the four crown princes of the kingdom were these four brothers. Jeffery, the one who looked very much like Alan, was the first crown prince. Ian, who looked like Jeord, was the second. It seemed like someone had told me all this before...
“Oh, if it isn’t Lady Katarina Claes. It has been quite a while.”
I froze up at the prince’s greeting. Eh? Been a while? Have I even met this person before?
Noticing my sudden rigidity, Jeord leaned in ever so slightly, whispering, “Come now Katarina, we all met at my birthday party once.”
Ah, that’s right! Come to think of it... Jeord did introduce me to them then. I had seen their faces, but then ended up forgetting all about it.
“Ah, yes. It has... been quite a while indeed, Prince Jeffery, Prince Ian...” After returning his greeting, I turned to the two women who had accompanied the princes here. One of them had long, black hair and blue eyes. She had all the right curves in the right places — seductive charm oozed from her being. She was exceedingly beautiful too, with a suitably attractive face to match her body.
The other woman was the exact opposite of the black-haired beauty. Instead, she had an air of refined simplicity about her. Her hair and eyes were a gentle brown, and while she wasn’t ravishing or stunning, her small frame and large eyes made her seem like a small animal of sorts. Something about her appearance made one want to protect her.
Judging by how the two of them were being escorted by the princes, I assumed that they were most likely their fiancées. But I didn’t know their names. As Jeord had said just now, I did meet with all of them at least once... but only once. I couldn’t possibly remember their faces or names. I desperately tried to recall my memories from two years ago... but it would seem that my memories had already left on a long, long journey... What should I do?
Jeord, sensing my peril, subtly whispered words of advice to my ear once more. “The one that Jeffery is escorting, with the black hair, is Lady Susanna Randall. The one that Ian is escorting, with the brown hair, is Lady Selena Berg. They are both the fiancées of my brothers.”
Thank you, Prince Jeord! Reliable as always.
“It’s good to see you Lady Randall, Lady Berg,” I said, giving the two as ladylike of a greeting as I possibly could.
“Been a while, yes. Lady Katarina, please just call me Susanna,” the black-haired, seductive beauty said, her red lipstick curling up into a friendly smile.
“It is good to see you. Please... do call me Selena.” The refined, yet cute girl with the small frame followed suit, bowing her head slightly as she greeted me in return. While they were both fiancées to crown princes, the contrast between them could not be any more stark.
“What brings you to this place today, brothers?” asked Jeord.
Jeffery answered with a jovial tone, almost beaming as he did so. “Why, to witness my beloved little brother’s amazing performance on stage, of course!” His words were unnecessarily theatrical.
Jeord stared at him coldly before turning to his other brother. “So... how about we come clean, Ian?”
“Of course. We are here on royal business. A routine examination... inspection of the Academy of Magic. I suppose Jeffery is here on similar grounds as well.”
“You suppose? Ah. I see that you two have not arrived together.”
“It goes without saying. We had just crossed paths with each other, coincidentally, moments ago,” Prince Ian replied, with calmness that was almost jarring when compared with Jeffery’s theatrical statement.
I had thought that the two royal fiancées were different... but it would seem like the princes were of contrasting personalities as well. Jeffery, who very much resembled Alan, always had a smile on his face, and seemed like he was always ready to flirt with anyone. Ian, who resembled Jeord, was the opposite — always stoic, with a serious look about him.
So... a flirt, a stoic, a black-hearted sadist prince, and a haughty, dense prince... the royal household had quite the variety of personalities indeed. Even so, they were both crown princes, right? Why weren’t they together? Did they not get along?
I made a mental note to ask Jeord about this later.
Unlike Ian, who was now calmly explaining his assignment to Jeord in a deadpan tone, Jeffrey had decided to annoy his youngest brother instead. “Eh? You’re both no fun, Jeord, Ian! Well then... come here, Alan! Big Brother is here to see you!”
“H-Hey! Stop it. Don’t hug me,” Alan said, with an expression of sincere distaste on his face as Jeffery clung onto him.
I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for Jeffrey, who didn’t seem well-liked by his brothers at all. Susanna, who was standing opposite me all this time, however, started laughing softly to herself. “Oh, how silly, Master Jeffery. You seem to be having fun. Well then, Lady Katarina... would you like a hug like that from me, too?” she said, out of nowhere.
“Eh?!” Wh-What is this glamorous woman talking about, all of a sudden? In fact, her hips were swaying from side to side as she approached me! She was getting closer! I-Is this woman serious? “Ah, um. Uh...” Panicking, I could hardly form words.
Susanna, however, simply regarded me with amusement, her eyes narrowing like a cat as she smiled. “Mhmhm. Alas, I was only joking, Lady Katarina. I would not take you into my arms without warning.”
“Ah... right. Right.” I was shocked... I had taken her little joke seriously. Alas, I, Katarina Claes, could not understand the jokes of impossibly glamorous women.
Lowering her voice to a whisper, Susanna continued. “...Not yet, anyway. Not now,” she said, her smile growing broader.
I started panicking once more. Eh? That was another joke, right?
Just then, the sound of bells rang out through the air. Clang! Clang! It would seem that there wasn’t much time left in the festival. Once the event was over, the schedule would move on to the ball that was scheduled for that night.
“Ah. Do excuse us. We have to head to the stage soon,” Jeord said as the bells continued tolling. The play by the student council was the last event before the dance ball. This was why Jeord was heading off — he and the other members should be gathering near the stage now, ready to show off their acting skills.
My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Volume 3 Page 5
