◇14 The Young Ladies' Play
"Hey, do you realize how much effort Elliot put into completing this? It's pitiful."
Elliot, who was treated like a pitiful child by Gene, had a complex expression on his face while holding the six-sided puzzle.
"Should I put it back to how it was?"
When I said that, Elliot quietly shook his head after a moment of thought.
"...No, it's fine as it is. I'll start over from the beginning. Like you said, if I’m satisfied with just a lucky result, that’s as far as I’ll get. There’s no going further from there. This time, I’ll understand completely, and no matter how broken it gets, I’ll be able to finish it myself."
"That unwavering spirit and strong resolve—those are the traits a king needs. That’s what makes you a crown prince."
I lifted his spirits a little since I didn’t want to lower the approval rating of Crown Prince Elliot too much. If it goes too high or too low, the target of affection becomes troublesome...
"If you say so... By the way, what’s that? Is it food?"
Gene’s sharp eyes caught sight of the snacks Luca and the others were eating. Estelle was flustered, not knowing what to do, but Luca showed a wary expression toward Gene.
"Looks tasty. Can I have one?"
"This is a precious treat given to me by Sakuraile. I can’t just give it away easily."
As Gene reached out, Luca stood in front of him.
"Hmph," Gene and Luca stared each other down, and it felt like sparks were flying between them. Or at least, that’s what it felt like. What’s going on here?
"You have plenty, so a little shouldn’t hurt, right?"
"This is a rare treat that can't be found elsewhere. I refuse to give it."
"Are you really that hungry, Your Highness?"
"Say what you want."
Again, I could almost hear the sparks flying between them. Seriously, you two are fighting over snacks? Are you kids? Oh, wait... they are kids.
In 2, the protagonist Estelle doesn’t end up in a relationship with anyone from 1, so it’s a "friend" ending, and the story progresses from there. As such, the targets of affection from 1 appear as friends or allies, but there are no romantic entanglements.
Some characters from 2 are more involved with the 1 characters, but I’d never seen Luca and Gene interact. Their routes were completely different.
I don’t even know if they were acquaintances. For all I know, they might not have even known each other.
But Gene’s dealing with the princess of a country here... You’d think he’d know better than to upset her. Luca’s attendant is glaring at him. Already, this guy’s becoming a bit of a musclehead...
Before I could intervene, someone else stepped in.
"Enough, Gene. Don’t go any further. My apologies, Princess Lucari. If we’ve upset you, I’m sorry."
"...Hm. It’s fine, I wasn’t bothered. I was at fault, too."
Gene apologized as well, and Luca accepted it without hesitation, returning her own apology.
"Well, we still have some rounds of greetings to attend to, so we’ll be going. Let’s go, Gene."
"...Got it."
Encouraged by Elliot, Gene reluctantly followed. He cast a lingering glance back at us, so I tossed him a wrapped candy that was sitting on the table.
Gene caught it without a hitch and looked at it with a puzzled expression.
"It’s for you."
"...Oh! Thanks!"
With a wide grin, Gene followed Elliot.
I hadn’t meant to throw it, but as a duchess, that might have been a little improper of me.
Well, if giving him a candy could prevent a future conflict, it’s a small price to pay.
"I was really wondering what that candy tastes like..."
"Ah... I’ll make sure to deliver it to Luca at Prelude Inn later..."
I told Luca, who seemed a bit sulky, and she quickly returned to her smiling self.
Ugh, I’m so tired...
This is why I didn’t want to come to the birthday party! The mental exhaustion is off the charts.
Suppressing my inner turmoil, I put on the mask of a duchess. Gotta be careful, or my real self will slip out.
By the way, Bianca, the villainess in Gene’s route, didn’t show up. Maybe she went off to pick some flowers or something.
It worked out better that way, though. It would have just made things more complicated. Would she have challenged me to a duel if I got involved with Gene, just like in the game? Maybe I should’ve taken some sword lessons from Grandfather.
In the game, Estelle was the one challenged by her... but Estelle didn’t interact with Gene much this time.
It was more Luca who had the interactions. Well, even Bianca, no matter how bold she is, probably wouldn’t challenge a princess to a duel...
"Oh? Sakurà ile, what’s this?"
"Hm? Oh, that?"
When I had emptied out all the snacks from my hidden pocket earlier, a mini deck of playing cards had come out along with them. Estelle looked at it curiously.
A cheap, small deck of cards emerged from its flimsy paper case. This was another thing I had picked up from the candy store.
They had Othello and shogi as well, but those were too big to bring along.
"A game... These are cards used for playing. Do you know what cards are?"
"Are they like the ones used for fortune-telling? I’ve seen them once before."
Fortune-telling? Was she thinking of tarot cards? Well, there is a theory that playing cards originated from tarot, so she wasn’t entirely off the mark.
Do people in Starlight Symphony not use cards for games? Or is it that games themselves don’t exist here? Well, this world is a game world in the first place...
But now that I think about it, I do recall the romance targets playing something similar to chess. So games do exist, just not in this form, maybe?
"A game? How do you play with these?"
Luca, intrigued, peered over at the deck of cards in Estelle’s hands.
I could teach them, but… not here.
There was a table, but no chairs, and this was a space meant for light snacks, not playing games.
Was there somewhere we could sit with a table? Oh, right, the balcony. There were tables and chairs there.
I led Estelle and Luca toward the balcony connected to the party hall.
Luca’s attendant—a woman dressed in a formal gown—followed along. Most likely a bodyguard from Prelude Kingdom. She was probably highly skilled in combat. Not that I planned on doing anything suspicious.
There were a few noble children and young ladies on the balcony, but we made sure not to disturb them as we settled into a set of luxurious chairs in the corner. I placed the deck of cards on the round table in front of us.
We’d start with something simple. Old Maid wasn’t difficult and could be enjoyed by everyone.
I gave them a quick rundown of the rules. Thankfully, the numbers in this world were the same as in mine.
Alright, let’s play.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Mmgh…! This one!"
Nope, wrong choice.
Luca pulled the Joker from my hand, her face instantly clouding with despair. But she recovered in a flash, shuffling her hand quickly before thrusting it toward Estelle with an eager Come on, draw! expression.
"Um… I’ll take this one."
"Ah—!?"
Estelle managed to avoid the Joker and won the game first. I came in second. Luca, who lost, glared at the Joker left in her hand with a look of frustration.
"Everyone's so strong..."
"Well, it's not so much that we're strong, it's that you wear your emotions too openly, Luca. We can easily tell which card is the Joker. You need to hide your expressions better."
At my words, Estelle chuckled as well. Luca may seem emotionless, but she actually has quite an expressive face. She's not great at bluffing.
Feeling sorry for her, I decided to switch to Concentration (Memory Game). This game doesn’t require any bluffing.
"These two... and these two as well."
"Ah! I had just remembered them..."
Estelle let out a small cry of frustration. On the other hand, Luca was dominating this game. She had a great memory. Concentration is purely about remembering the cards, and even I couldn’t compete with that.
With a smug expression, Luca gathered all the cards she had won. It was almost like watching a kitten show off, so cute.
"Hey, don’t you have anything else?"
Getting a bit carried away, Luca urged for another game, so I decided to teach her poker. We’d play a simple version without betting chips.
First, I taught them the hand rankings: One Pair, Two Pair, Three of a Kind, Straight, Flush, Full House, Four of a Kind, Straight Flush, Royal Flush.
Luca, with her excellent memory, learned them in one go. Estelle managed to catch on as well, so we decided to give it a try.
"You can exchange up to three cards."
We all exchanged three cards and revealed our hands at the same time. I had One Pair, Luca had Two Pair, and Estelle had no pair.
"I won!"
"Mmm... It’s hard to get a good hand."
Poker has a high element of luck, after all. When chips are involved and you can fold, the game becomes more about bluffing and strategy.
We played a few more rounds of poker, and eventually, both of them were able to make higher hands.
"I see, I see. The key is to efficiently make the best hand, isn’t it? This is quite an interesting game."
"Huh?"
Suddenly, I heard a voice from behind and turned around. Standing there was a girl about our age, dressed in an outfit that looked straight out of an Arabian Nights story.
She wore red harem pants and a matching red top. The veil on her head was also red. Her sun-kissed brown skin was adorned with several golden bracelets that jangled as she moved.
Her long blonde hair was tied in a single knot at the ends. Her strong-willed, amber eyes stared directly at us.
This outfit was from the southern desert kingdom of Menouet, and the red clothes were reserved only for royalty.
"How do I know so much? Well, I learned it from this character in the game!"
Wait, what... why is she here?
"Tifania La Menouet, third princess..."
"Hm? I haven’t introduced myself yet, but you knew who I was?"
Tifania looked slightly surprised.
Of course, I knew who she was. She’s another villainess from 2, just like Luca!
What is going on!? Why is Tifania showing up right after Luca!? I was trying to avoid meeting characters from 1, and now characters from 2 are jumping in here, too!
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