◇16 Black Attacker
"Oh, Princess Tifania and Princess Lucari. I hope you're enjoying yourselves today?"
The Emperor was surrounded by several nobles. Among them was the Marquis Tenor, whom I had just greeted earlier. My father wasn't around, nor was Elliot. It seemed like only adults were around.
"Thank you for inviting us today. On behalf of Her Majesty Queen of Menouet, I offer my deepest gratitude."
"The same goes for us from the Kingdom of Prelude. On behalf of my father, Cassini Ze Prelude III, I extend my thanks."
Both of them spoke their words of gratitude to the Emperor. Wow, both of them are speaking so naturally...
"Is Sakuraile enjoying herself as well? Hmm? That young lady there is..."
"R-Robert Kline Euphonium's daughter, Estelle Klime Euphonium, Your Majesty! I-I-I came to greet you...!"
Estelle was trembling with nervousness. The Emperor, as well as the other important nobles around us, must have made her feel overwhelmed.
"Ah, the Baron Euphonium's daughter. But... why is she here with Sakuraile and the others?"
"We're friends. Princess Tifania and Princess Lucari have been so kind as to join us in our games."
I interrupted Estelle's conversation with the Emperor. Normally, that would be an impolite act, but we're still not officially social debutantes, and we are, after all, aunt and niece. If this were a formal occasion, it would be different, but at a more relaxed event like today's party, no one would make a fuss over it.
"I see, you're getting along. That’s a good thing. I would hope that Elliot could join in on the fun as well."
"Oh, Your Majesty, there are things that girls can only discuss among themselves, you know? It's far too embarrassing to share them with the Crown Prince."
Seeing the Emperor push his son forward, I smiled and firmly declined. The conversation where the princesses were ridiculing Elliot was definitely something he should never hear.
It seemed the Emperor, realizing he was losing ground, simply smiled wryly and refrained from pushing further.
"Your Majesty, the Marquis of Ragtime..."
"Hmm..."
One of the nobles whispered this into the Emperor's ear, and his expression immediately shifted to one of concern. There was a strong sense of vigilance on his face. Could it be members of an opposing faction?
As long as there’s an "Emperor's faction," other factions exist as well.
These nobles are dissatisfied with the Emperor’s rule. I’ve heard that many of them are from old aristocratic families...
Soon, a gaunt nobleman appeared in front of the Emperor. His Kaiser-like beard and the dark circles under his eyes stood out strikingly.
Hmm, I don’t remember seeing this character in the game. Such a memorable face would be hard to forget.
"Your Majesty, congratulations. The stability of Symphonia has only grown stronger. With this, neighboring nations won't dare to interfere easily."
"Marquis Ragtime. I believe those words may be a bit inappropriate, especially in the presence of these two ladies from the Kingdom of Menouet and the Kingdom of Prelude."
The Emperor raised one eyebrow slightly at the words of Marquis Ragtime.
"Oh, my apologies. I was referring to the Empire's situation, not to imply anything else... Please do not misunderstand."
"I see."
The Empire, the Kingdom, and the Queen's Kingdom are the neighboring nations. Among them, only the Empire isn't on particularly good terms with the Empire of Symphonia. They even fought a war several decades ago. It’s understandable that the people of Symphonia would be cautious...
However, there’s something about this Marquis Ragtime. He speaks in such a theatrical manner. Every movement is exaggerated. Is he a stage actor?
As I stared intently at him, he noticed my gaze.
"Your Majesty, who might this young lady be?"
"This is Sakuraile. From the House of Philharmonie, Duke's family."
"Ah, so you are the daughter of the famous Duke Philharmonie..."
The Emperor's introduction made me curtsy and greet Marquis Ragtime. "I am Sakuraile La Philharmonie. It’s a pleasure to meet you."
"Barbora Tam Ragtime. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Marquis Ragtime also lowered his head slightly in greeting, but his gaze seemed to be sizing me up, which was frankly a little unsettling.
"Hmm... I had heard that the daughter of the Philharmonie family was frail, but you seem very well and healthy. I’m sure your father, the Duke, is quite relieved... By any chance, are you one of the Crown Prince's fiancée candidates?"
Marquis Ragtime's face was smiling, but his eyes weren't. His gaze seemed to suggest that he was uncomfortable with the idea of me being engaged to Elliot.
In response, the Emperor gave a wry smile.
"Ah, that discussion did come up, but Sakuraile turned him down. It seems she prefers older men. Elliot is apparently not in her range."
"Oh? Is that so? Well, certainly, even in the Imperial family, we can't disregard the feelings of the other party. That said, Miss Sakuraile must have quite the courage. If she were my daughter, I don’t think I could ever turn down a request from the Imperial family like that."
Upon hearing the Emperor's words, the pressure from Marquis Ragtime towards me vanished. So, in the end, he was just trying to push his own daughter to become Empress, and I was the obstacle. If that’s the case, I wasn’t bothered by it.
"Do you have a daughter, Marquis?"
"Yes. Ah, there, she's chatting amicably with the Crown Prince."
At the point where Marquis Ragtime was gesturing, Elliot was being cornered by a girl who was clearly pressing him, and it was obvious he was feeling uncomfortable. "Chatting amicably" indeed...
That must be Marquis Ragtime's daughter. Hmm? A red-haired, long wavy-haired girl with freckles... I’ve seen her in the game before... Ah!
I remember now! She's one of the girls who always surrounded me in Starlight Symphony!
She was one of my entourage as the villainess Sakuraile. One of the two subordinates.
She was a complete background character, and I never even knew her name. But she appeared several times in stills, so I'm sure of it. Although she's a child now, I can still see the resemblance. So, she's Marquis Ragtime’s daughter.
Looking closer, I can also see another girl, a chubby one, who seems to be part of my entourage as well. She isn’t interacting with Elliot, but she’s glaring at the first girl. If you look more closely, other young ladies are also glaring at the first girl with displeased faces.
It seems they don't like how the first girl is shamelessly clinging to Elliot. She clearly looks like the type to be disliked by other girls.
If I remember correctly, those two from my entourage, A and B, would escape by themselves if Sakuraile were ever cornered, fleeing abroad. As nobles, that would mark the end for them, but they’d sacrifice Sakuraile to survive. Ugh, I’m getting annoyed just thinking about it.
"Ahhhhh!"
As I was feeling irrationally irritated, a sudden scream echoed through the party hall.
Turning around, I saw a pitch-black dog, almost like a Doberman, growling. Wait, when did such a dog get in here!?
Grrrr... Gaaahhh!
The black dog charged straight toward Elliot. This is bad! Is Elliot about to be attacked!?
"[Throwing Precision]!"
The moment I thought that, Luca grabbed a fork from the table and hurled it with all her strength toward the black dog.
The fork hit the dog’s right eye, piercing it directly and blinding it in one eye. The black dog struggled and writhed in place, clearly in pain.
That was Luca's Gift, [Throwing Precision]. As the name suggests, this Gift ensures that no matter how the item is thrown, as long as it's within range, it will hit the target exactly, like a sniper’s shot.
In the game, she used this Gift to harass the protagonist Estelle quite a bit—throwing eggs, pepper bags, and such. Well, I was the one who taught her those mischievous tricks since I was the villainess who got exiled.
"Well done, Luca. Now, it's my turn. [Thunder Charge]!"
With a crackling sound, Tifa instantly closed the distance and touched the black dog, unleashing a brilliant spark at the moment her hand made contact.
"Yowww!"
The black dog collapsed to the ground and stopped moving, twitching as it convulsed. It had been electrocuted.
Tifa's Gift was [Thunder Charge]. It allowed her to transform into lightning, moving instantly over short distances, and inflict electric shocks with a touch—quite a powerful Gift.
I had only seen it once in the game, but it's an impressive Gift.
"Are you alright, Elliot?"
"Y-Yes, Father. Thanks to the two of you..."
The Emperor rushed to Elliot’s side. Since Elliot’s [Gravity Change] couldn’t be used unless within range, and if his level was still low, he may not have had the power to immobilize the dog. Honestly, it was a good thing these two were here.
"Tifa. And Luca too. Thank you for helping Elliot."
"Well, I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to earn some favor here, as a little Menouet," Tifa replied nonchalantly.
"I just didn’t want to get involved in something troublesome," Luca added.
Tifa and Luca responded as if it were no big deal. Honestly, I don’t think it’s something just anyone could do.
Soon, Elliot and the Emperor came over, repeatedly thanking the two. Then, Bianca, the villainess and childhood friend of Elliot, arrived, so I quickly took Estelle by the hand and slipped away, quietly leaving the scene.
I really didn’t want to meet any more new characters.
But... where did that dog come from? It’s practically impossible for such a creature to appear in a party hall filled with people. It’s too unnatural.
There’s a possibility that some Gift was used.
For example, if someone had a Gift that could make things invisible, they could easily sneak a dog in here. Or perhaps they used a shrinking Gift to secretly bring it in a pocket. A teleportation-type Gift could also do it.
Ah, summoning-type Gifts could work too. If someone had a Beast Summoning type Gift... Wait, could it be that someone else received the Gift that was originally meant for Sakuraile...?
But what could the purpose be? Who would bring in a dog like that... to ruin the party? Or perhaps they were targeting Crown Prince Elliot from the start? I can't figure it out.
But something’s strange. I’m pretty sure this venue had a barrier that sealed Gifts.
As I was discussing this with Estelle on the balcony, Luca and Tifa, looking exhausted, came over.
"You two are cheating. You left us behind."
"Yeah, exactly. Thanks to you, we were stuck listening to the Emperor's endless talk about the Crown Prince!"
Oh dear. It seems like the Emperor is really pushing his agenda.
"By the way, did you know Gifts could be used here at this venue?"
"No. I just used mine instinctively. I figured even if I couldn’t use it, throwing it would at least be a distraction," Luca said.
"I used mine because Luca did. I thought the security here was a bit lax," Tifa added.
That's right. The fact that Gifts could be used in this kind of setting puts the royal family in danger. Even with bodyguards around, something like this shouldn’t be possible. Someone must have deliberately broken the barrier that seals Gifts...
"By the way, that daughter of some marquis earlier... she was glaring at us with a lot of hate."
The daughter of some marquis? Ah, that must be Minion A.
"Maybe she thought she had lost the Crown Prince's attention to you two? She probably sees you both as rivals..." Estelle suggested.
"How bothersome. I’d rather just give her a gift with a nice ribbon tied around it," Tifa said, waving her hand in irritation. Wait, there’s a ribbon in this world too...?
Hmm, isn’t the treatment of our Crown Prince a bit harsh? He’s not a bad guy, you know?
"Well, never mind that. Let’s get back to Torampu! Let's continue!"
"Sakuraile, don't you have any other games to play?"
"Huh? U-Um, there’s this game called Daifugou..."
"Daifugou? What a grand name for a game..."
It’s also known as Daihinmin, but since that has a bad image, let’s stick with Daifugou.
I explained the rules of Daifugou to everyone and we decided to start playing. The four of us spent the rest of the party enjoying the game on the balcony. Estelle was ridiculously good at it, though.
I hope it’s not some kind of protagonist buff...?
There are still a lot of things I’m curious about, but I think we managed to get through it okay?
I don’t think I made any major mistakes... but this feels like it's diverging quite a bit from the original game (well, it hasn’t even started yet, though). I’d be in trouble if things followed the game too closely, though.
So maybe this is fine... right? Or is it?
◇ ◇ ◇
The party eventually ended, and I parted ways with everyone to join my father, mother, and maid Alisa, getting into the carriage.
Fatigue hit me all at once, and I slumped into the seat, exhausted.
"Are you tired? Ah, I can tell even without you answering," my father said with a wry smile, looking at me. Physically, I wasn't too bad, but mentally... how many times today was I shocked? Maybe it was the tension that was finally catching up to me, but I was so sleepy...
"Estelle-chan was there too. Did you make any other friends?"
"I became friends with the princesses of Prelude and Menouet..."
"“What!?”"
The two of them seemed surprised and were saying something, but I couldn’t make out what it was with the sleepiness overtaking my brain.
I’ll explain later when I wake up... please let me sleep for now...
—