Tea Party with Their Majesties
I peeked out from behind His Majesty and made eye contact with Prince Albert, so I gave him a sly grin.
Seeing that, Prince Albert clicked his tongue.
"Al... Well then, My Queen must be waiting, so why don't we have some tea?"
At His Majesty's words, we headed to the terrace, where a noblewoman with a gentle-looking smile was seated. Three maids stood nearby.
She was a beautiful woman with softly flowing orange hair and sky-blue eyes.
And there was also Prince Fred, who had arrived at the terrace earlier. He looked our way but quickly averted his gaze when our eyes met.
"My Queen, sorry to keep you waiting. I apologize."
The Queen gracefully stood up and said,
"No, it's quite all right. I was able to watch the pegasus flying from here too, so I waited without getting bored. Besides, I’m sure Fred and Albert asked of something unreasonable, didn’t they?"
"Well, something like that."
With those words, His Majesty looked toward Father. Father nodded and stepped forward.
"Your Majesty the Queen, please pardon my interruption. I am Stanley Lampail, Margrave of the Frontier. These are my children..."
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Noel, eldest son of the Lampail family."
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Gene, second son of the Lampail family."
"Nice to meet you. I’m Joan Lampail, the eldest daughter of the Lampail family."
"It's been a while, Margrave Lampail. And this is my first time meeting your children. I am Queen Amy Exzaria. Now then, let’s begin with tea."
Saying so, she instructed the maids to make preparations.
"Oh, right. Miss Joan brought us some sweets. Please bring them over."
A chamberlain brought over the basket I had brought.
The food taster checked the pound cake and widened his eyes.
"Hmm? What is it?"
The Chancellor asked.
"M-My sincerest apologies. U-Umm… It’s so delicious. Ah, there’s no poison. I truly apologize."
"Wahaha, is that so? That good, huh? Now I’m really looking forward to it."
His Majesty laughed.
"U-Umm, may I speak?"
When I asked His Majesty,
"Hmm? Miss Joan, go ahead. This is a private setting, so you don’t need to be so formal."
"Thank you. Umm, if it's alright, I’d like to offer these to all the castle staff… though I’m not sure if there’s enough for everyone."
I took out about five of the same lamb raisin pound cakes that had passed the tasting from my pouch. The maids and the food taster swallowed audibly upon seeing them.
"My, Lady Joan, what a thoughtful young lady you are. Please, don’t hold back. Just make sure there’s no fighting over them."
The Queen smiled as she spoke.
[Thank you very much!]I was glad they liked them.
I gave the maids a cheerful smile and sat down.
"Still, your bag is quite something, Joan. Mind if I take a look?"
Prince Albert reached out his hand, so I removed it from my shoulder and handed it to him.
"Hmm? Huh? I thought it was a magic tool, but it’s just a regular bag?"
"Yes, that’s right."
"Huh? But you pulled all those cakes out of it earlier, didn’t you?"
"Ah—um..."
At a loss for how to respond, I looked at His Majesty, who gave a nod.
"I used my skill to deploy a storage space inside the bag."
"Why go through all that? Storage skills aren’t exactly rare, are they?"
Prince Fred asked.
"Well… my storage skill is an S-rank."
"“Haaah!?”"
"I didn’t want anyone to know it was S-rank, so I made it look like a magic tool..."
"“Aahh, so that’s what it is.”"
Their voices were so in sync, it was clear how close they were as brothers.
"By the way, since when did you and Miss Joan get close enough to drop the honorifics?"
"Oh, just now when she let me ride the pegasus. Right, Joan?"
"Um, well, yes."
I answered vaguely, and Prince Fred said,
"Wait, what? You’re not happy being called without honorifics by my brother?"
"It’s not that I’m unhappy. I’m honored, truly… Prince Fred, may I have a word with you? …whisper, whisper..."
"Pfft! Hey, you can’t say that!"
"Then let’s keep it between us."
"What is it, Fred? What did Joan say?"
"Uh, well, she said—"
"Prince Fred. You laughed too, so you are equally guilty."
I interjected, and Fred said,
"… She said my brother is… so handsome, it’s a problem."
Like I’d ever say something as dark-hearted as that out loud.
Prince Albert shot me a glare from the corner of his eye…
"Joan, lying isn’t good."
Noel gently scolded, but I shook my head.
"Why can’t you say it?"
Jean asked.
"… It wasn’t a lie."
"Pffft…"
Fred burst out laughing at my words.
"Fred—Joan—"
"“We’re sorry!!”"
When Albert called our names, we reflexively apologized in unison. Our three older brothers could only chuckle.
After that, Prince Albert and my brothers chatted about the academy, Father and the others discussed the Lampail territory, and I had tea with the Queen and Prince Fred while talking about dried fruits.
"Ah!! I forgot!"
Suddenly, His Majesty shouted, startling everyone present. The Queen responded,
"What is it, Your Majesty? Why such a loud voice?"
"Ah—sorry, sorry. I forgot something important. My Queen, this girl Joan also has memories of her past life."
"No shit! For reals!?"
"Ahem, Your Majesty?"
A maid gently prompted her.
"Ah, I apolgoize… But really? Lady Joan, I have memories of my past life too."
[Ehhhhh!?]My brothers and I were shocked.
To think I’d meet someone else with memories of a past life in a place like this…
The world really is a small place.
To meet someone like this in such a setting… If she’s Japanese too, we’ll probably have lots to talk about—maybe.
What do you think about this chapter?
