"Greetings, Prince Ludwin. May I ask why you came to our humble abode?" I couldn't contain my nervousness. He came to me in person! Why did he come? I had never even made eye contact with him.
"I heard from some knights that they happily visited your villa and had the so-called barbecue party. I am curious. I thought girls only drank tea and ate a cookie when they had a party. So, I elected myself to come. Was I uninvited?" The prince smiled so radiantly I thought there was a halo behind him.
"Yes! You were uninvited!" I screamed in my head, but I couldn't tell him that.
"Of course not, Your Highness. Please come in."
"Hey, Eli! Let's grill another! Safira lost the coin-grabbing game!" the boys shouted as Alicia helped refill the feystone for the stove.
"Ugh! Damn it, gloating over a mere single victory! It is obvious I will lose in a physical game with a muscle brain like you! Eek! Your highness!" Safira complained but shrieked a moment later when she saw the second prince. I had never heard her make those sounds. She must be astounded. The fun and boisterous atmosphere froze in an instant. It was like somebody poured liquid nitrogen into the atmosphere. Nobody moved a muscle as the second prince entered.
"Hello, guys. I want to introduce someone…" I smiled wryly as I introduced the second prince's retainer. "Let me introduce you all. He is Prince Ludwin Seraphim, the second prince of the Althemer Empire."
"Greetings. I heard from Damian and Abel that Elidranthia was hosting a rather unique party. So, I got curious." All of us glared at the traitors. "How cruel of you not to invite me when our families were so close. Your grandfather is the current general of the empire, is he not?"
"Ah, Your Highness. I was merely trying to invite some other knights. I didn't know that this plebeian party would interest you." Abel, even though he was a noble himself, spoke for his fellow knights.
"Plebeians? Is that right, Eli? But I see quite a few nobles here." Prince Ludwin referred to mages such as me, Safira, and Nana. Mages were treated as nobles even though they didn't have titles.
"Yeah! Yeah! This party doesn't care about noble standings. Whether they were mages or nobilities, it didn't matter. The loser of the game had to serve the winner! Safira just lost and had to cook for others!" I absolutely messed up. If I knew Prince Ludwin would come, I would have studied etiquette better. I glanced at Alicia, and I could see her face fall to despair at my behavior.
"I see. Then, seeing as anybody could join as long as they threw away their status, I would like to join! This seems like a good change of pace. May I join?"
I could sense a glaring refusal behind me. I didn't even need to look at them to know they didn't want the prince to join. But, what can I do? I couldn't refuse a prince. Moreover, this party is for everyone.
"We would welcome Ludwin to join our party," I said, defeated. I could hear the knights groaning at my acceptance.
"Hey! What do you mean by that?" His henchmen glared at me.
"Gladeus, Thor. This party disregards status. Please call me Sir Ludwin here. Absolutely no Prince Ludwin or Your Highness. Isn't that right, Lady Elidranthia? Or should I call you Eli?" His voice, like a sweet whisper, sent shivers down my spine.
"Yes, sir."
"Alright! So, what is the game?"
"We are playing a coin-picking game. You throw a rubber ball up, then collect as many coins as possible. Then, after the ball bounces once from the floor, you have to catch it." Lily gave an example for the prince to follow. "Ah, you may not use magic."
"Why?"
"It would be unfair that way," Lily said.
"So, I have to stoop to the rank of the manaless for the game to be fun? I see. I didn't see it that way. Does Safira, Elidranthia, and Nana approve of such a rule?" The prince seemed to take offense but backed down when he knew other mages were okay with it.
"It was proposed by Miss Eli."
"Very well. This is her party. I shall follow her rules then," the prince reluctantly nodded.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
A few minutes later...
"Ugh! If only I was allowed to use magic! Holding this ball or shooting it into that target would be a piece of cake!" Prince Ludwin said as he roasted another barbecue as a punishment. "I had to do servants' work! Aren't you agitated, Eli?"
"No? It is fun even if you have to cook!" I honestly answered. I even thought it was better if I lost. The knights tensed a bit every time the prince complained, but he still did the punishment game. Alicia kept looking toward the prince somehow, gauging his reactions. Several times, she had to replace Ludwin when he was tired of doing the punishment game.
When the sun set, the prince finally returned with his two retainers. They sulked! I have offended the prince! What should I do now? Am I going to die early?
"Eli, are you okay?" Abel asked.
"She is not okay. This face is the one she made when she knew she screwed up somewhere."
"It is not my fault. Why did the prince even come here? We have never even talked to each other before!" I complained. "Alicia! Did he come here because of you?"
I stared accusingly at my maid. She had befriended every student in special classes in less than a month. I am sure she had attracted some imperial minister's son and asked the second prince to be a bridge so they could have a chance to marry her.
"No. I did not. Please stop your baseless accusations, Lady Eli. The prince specifically mentioned that he heard knights talk about your party. Unlike you, I never visited the knights' quarters."
It was futile to point fingers at one another. I could only pray the second prince would stay away from our party tomorrow. He was not a masochist, right? He wouldn't come to a party that he didn't enjoy. Right?
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"Prince Ludwin. Why would you visit that count's daughter? Are you interested in her?" Thor, my retainer, asked as we returned from that count's daughter.
"You were the one who told me about her party, Gladeus." I looked to my other guard.
"I just told you about a party I heard from Abel," Gladeus shrugged. They were apprentice royal guards. I had hoped Abel would fill the position, but he refused. So, I was left with these two Earl's sons. Abel was my childhood friend. I was so disappointed when he wouldn't serve me. He said he wanted to be a frontier guard or something. That may be why he tried getting closer with Elidranthia.
"Well, you seemed to enjoy the party too, Your Highness," Gladius smirked.
"What? I enjoyed such a rowdy, uncultured party?" I was fuming at his words. I am a talented triple magician with a talent level of 6 in water magic, 7 in dark magic, and 4 in earth magic. That party was for apes in the slums incapable of using mana. Moreover, I was asked to cook for those apes? They must be joking!
"Yes, Gladeus. Watch your mouth. His Highness only seemed interested simply to be polite to the Shadowstep family," Thor said, mocking her incessantly, picking on her every detail. "There is no way His Highness would be interested in such a creepy girl with red eyes like a murderer. Moreover, look at her blemished hands; she must have been so poor in the boonies that she had to cook for herself. She even brought daggers on her person! What kind of female behaves like that? Did she want to copy her brother? That brain-dead soldier is too good to wed with Bron's family."
"Yes. The Shadowstep family is important. They hold the third-largest army in our empire," I answered. Her hands had burn marks from somewhere. Even with those burns, she still maintained a dainty look, so the fact she had burns passed through their minds. "If her brother married, her house would rival royal armies in strength. Regardless of her looks, we must not be hostile to them."
"Well, I can confidently say she is stronger than every apprentice knight there if she were to be pitted one-on-one. She has seen murder, after all. Those eyes resemble my uncle's a bit. There is a difference in the eyes of a person who has killed someone," Gladeus said. His uncle was a decorated war hero in the war five years ago. His achievements alone elevated his prestige from knight to baron. He will soon be promoted to a viscount, just like the Shadowstep Family was with Eli's grandfather.
"Well, getting close to Elidranthia was necessary. Let us crash their party again tomorrow," I said as I relished the experience of the knights laughing at me when I lost. Oddly, I didn't feel offended by them. Their mockery was unlike those of the ministers in the castle.
I needed to become the crown prince. Or else, this kingdom could fall into ruins. The first prince's letter was talking about how mages should serve the masses. If we enacted his crazy idea and the mages were to leave our empire, it would bring us ruin. Then, the war on the western frontier would be lost. Eli is the key to getting Shadowstep Family into our faction. Moreover, that accursed princess who charmed my brother would come to our empire in three years. I would have the chance to harass them then.
However, I need to be prepared if Eli decides to join them. Eli is a mage, so she shouldn't join their faction that easily. However, from today's party, she clearly didn't hold such contempt for commoners. That attitude in itself was good. The kingdom has always walked on a tightrope between supporting the masses and the mages. But she and her family seemed to support the anti-mage faction even though she and her maid were mages.
If we support mages entirely, there could be a massive revolt from the masses. However, if we support the masses, the mages could leave the country. If we could perfect the hand cannon feystone, the war could have been effortless, and mages would hold all the power. The kingdom didn't have many mages as loyal to them as Duke Luca did, and that was straining our economy. Duke Luca had so many mages, and they were all loyal to him. Yeah, just like Alicia to Eli. We must adopt their method; otherwise, the kingdom could go bankrupt.
I heard that Shadowstep County had gone from red expenses to black just because Elidranthia and Alicia were helping them. They even started paying their debts to the kingdom now. I am a mage, while my brother was not. It was clear who should be the crown prince.
I should butter up to them some more. Now that I remember it, Elidranthia and Alicia never confirmed their attendance for the castle's banquet for this semester. They probably didn't have any partners. I should invite her to ensure her cooperation in the future. Maybe Gladius or Thor could ask Alicia out?