A Tea Meant for Two

Commoner-born or not, she was an imperial princess now, and no mistake! I was terrified someone might see us like this. If word of it reached Asad, or Jay, there was no telling what they would make of the scene—that I was bullying Maria, perhaps.

"I don't quite know what you're thanking me for, but I understand. Please raise your head."

It may have come out a little too sharp, but I wanted Maria's head up without another moment's delay. Only then did she lift it, and speak in a faintly wilted voice.

"Did I... do something wrong again...?"

Ah. One look at that cowed face and I understood exactly where her mind was. Maria was only just finding her feet in high society, and wherever she went she was slighted—today she had even been slandered to her face. She was already thoroughly deflated, and my firm tone on top of that had only shrunk her further.

What was I supposed to do with this small, fragile princess? After a brief struggle, I decided to say now what I had always wanted to tell her while reading the book. It was the very part that had frustrated me most.

"Your Highness."

At the address, Maria slowly raised her eyes. The moment they met mine, she tried reflexively to look away. I spoke at once.

"Don't look away."

"...But..."

"You are Your Highness. With no empress at present, you are the highest-ranking woman in this empire."

Before, that place had been Aine's. It didn't matter. I hadn't wanted it, and I had no need of it.

"No one but His Imperial Majesty can defy your will. Point to a stone and call it gold, and it is gold. Do you understand?"

"......"

"So don't lose heart. Straighten your back and hold your head high. If anyone tries to disgrace you, say this."

I drew a breath and declared it, quite loudly.

"......"

Maria's expression shifted into something peculiar. Too late, I wondered whether that had been the wrong line—but words already spoken could not be gathered back up. Still, if I didn't say at least this much, Maria would go on exactly as she was. And that, stifled as it left me, I could not accept.

"...Haha."

Even so, perhaps I ought to have put it more gently. I was still turning the question over when laughter reached me all at once. At that soft, rustling sound, I looked at Maria.

I couldn't quite tell what had struck her as funny, but the sight of her laughing—bright and clear as a silver bell—made me think I understood why the male leads had fallen for her. That clean, innocent presence seemed as though it might wash even my own heart clean.

"Thank you."

When the laughter had faded, Maria spoke in a gentle voice.

"I feel so much better because of you. You took my side earlier, too, didn't you? Lady Foregreen."

"How do you know my name...?"

"I heard it in the middle of the conversation. I'm Maria. Though now I've become Maria lun Abella Hespaia."

She said it a little awkwardly.

"I'm Aine. Aine le Foregreen."

She had offered her name, and an imperial princess had offered hers first—I could hardly stay silent, so I introduced myself as well. Then, for some reason, Maria suddenly hesitated. Unable to make sense of it, I simply watched her, and at last she spoke with care.

"If you wouldn't mind... may I call you Miss Aine?"

So that was what she had been working herself up to. I answered with a bright face.

"Gladly."

The moment the word left me, a strange thrill ran through me. Heavens! I was exchanging names with the character I had loved most in Fairy's Garden! It was a little hard to believe, so I gave my cheek a small pinch. It hurt, of course.

"Please, just call me Aine."

"Th-then you can call me Maria too!"

"That won't do."

Absolutely not. Kind as she was, she was an imperial princess, and I only a duke's daughter. Address her by name alone, and the rumor would surely spread that I had her wrapped around my finger. That must never reach the male leads' ears. I could have wept. Those meddling male leads—I wanted to be friends with Maria too!

Even as I wailed inwardly, I looked at her with firm resolve. However fond I was of Maria, my own life mattered more. Still, seeing how quickly she wilted, I felt a little sorry.

"...Then I'll call you that only when it's just the two of us."

Surely that would be all right, if we were alone? I offered it carefully, though I rather doubted we would ever actually be alone. As if the disappointment had never happened, Maria nodded, bright once more.

"But the gathering fell apart because of me... I'm sorry."

She said it with a guilty look. No—why on earth would that be Maria's fault? The fault lay with those blinded by jealousy, whispering behind her back. I shook my head at once.

"It's all right. I was uncomfortable from the start. But are you all right, Your Highness?"

She must have come with real hopes. The carefully chosen dress alone made that plain. Maria shook her head, forcing a look of composure.

"It can't be helped. It was never a place I belonged to begin with."

This princess. I tell her to stand tall, and already she is crawling into a mouse hole. Frustration rose in me, and I was about to speak again when Maria abruptly seized both my hands. Startled, I stared down at the fingers wrapped tight around mine.

She was tended with every care the Imperial Palace could offer, and yet through the lace of her gloves I glimpsed skin that was still rough. I lifted my gaze. Maria's lime-green eyes were shining. Unease stirred in me for no reason I could name, and I looked at her with a face gone rather tense.

What burst from her then was nothing I had expected.

"Then how about we arrange another gathering? I want to invite you to the palace, Aine."

"P-pardon?"

At the wholly unexpected words, my eyes went wide. This had not been in the original story. Then again, neither had Aine taking Maria's side and razing the Young Ladies' Social Club. In any case, it was thoroughly unforeseen.

But true to a heroine who, once an idea took hold of her, drove straight ahead, Maria spoke with eyes that sparkled even brighter.

"Don't you think it's a good idea? A tea time just for you and me, with no one at all to interfere!"

"W-well, I..."

Flustered, I let my gaze dart. If I could help it, I didn't even want to turn my thoughts toward the Imperial Palace. By nature the palace was a gathering place for every scheme and every slander, and both the heroine, Maria, and the male lead, Asad, were tangled up in it. There was no sign of the storm yet, but it would break soon enough.

And yet I was the one who had just told Maria that no one alive could defy an imperial princess's word. That included me, of course.

"A-all right..."

With no other choice, I nodded. Well, as she said, it was only a modest tea. I would drink a cup and come home; it would be stranger if anything actually happened. So why did I feel so uneasy?

At my answer, Maria's face opened like a sunflower in full bloom, and then she laughed outright. She was already as warm as early spring; smiling like that, she seemed to shine.

A heroine's buff is a terrifying thing. No matter how Aine smiled, all anyone ever saw was a woman plotting...

"Then I'll send a formal invitation today! Are you free tomorrow?"

Maria was quick. But I understood. From her perspective, I was practically the first friend she had made since becoming royalty—and the very person who, at their dramatic first meeting, had defended her amid the gossip. Think of a girl in the bloom of adolescence, and wanting to invite someone to her own home was only natural.

"Yes. I'm free."

"Oh, thank you! Then I'll go on ahead! There's so much to prepare. See you tomorrow, Aine."

Already restored to full vitality, Maria let out a bright little laugh and left first. Left alone, I awkwardly scratched the back of my head. I felt uneasy somehow. It would be fine, though. Surely the heroine, purity itself, would never do anything to me.

Thinking so complacently, I returned to the ducal estate.

But the next day, I would regret this moment to the bone.

Just as I had at the count's estate, I presented the tea invitation that had arrived the night before, and a palace maid showed me the way. I had read of the Imperial Palace more than once, but seeing it with my own eyes was another matter, and I looked about in wonder.

It was splendid and immense, worthy of the name. Gold covered every wall as if it had been laid on like paint, and the floors were pure white marble. I had heard that no building in the empire was permitted to outshine the palace; set beside it, even the grand ducal houses and the ducal estates could not so much as present their cards. The Imperial Palace was lavish to that degree.

"Here we are. The guest who arrived ahead of you is already waiting."

The maid who had shown me in left those baffling words behind and withdrew.

A guest who arrived first?

Maria had clearly said it would be a tea for the two of us alone. Tilting my head, I stepped through the door she had opened for me.

Perhaps the place had been built solely for tea parties. Even after I entered, a long corridor stretched ahead, and as I walked its length I listened to the voices drifting toward me.

Maria?

Hers was the loudest, though another's soon wove through it. She would never chatter on like that alone; of course she had someone to talk to. A foreboding settled over me. Was it because the voice I only half caught was far too familiar?

At last the corridor ended, and a wide space like a greenhouse opened before me. Flowers and vines adorned the walls, an artificial sun wrought by magic lit the interior, and beneath a great tree sat a pretty tea table.

"Aine! I mean—Lady Foregreen, you're here?"

Maria welcomed me warmly, then, conscious of the one seated beside her, hastily corrected the address. I could not answer her greeting.

"...How are you here."

I murmured it in a daze—

"Lady Foregreen?"

Maria's companion, Asad, rose from his seat and looked at me in open confusion.