OHNIR – Chapter 15
Chapter 15: Invitation
“Hey, snap out of it. What are you looking at?”
A fair hand suddenly blocked Kelusta’s view of the corridor. Gloria waved it in front of her eyes. When Kelusta turned back to look at her, dazed, Gloria couldn’t help but break into a lighthearted smile.
“Have you been waiting long? …What did you need me for?”
To avoid the same trouble that occurred in Satrick’s route, Kelusta had always made a point not to seek out Gloria. The latter respected her wishes. Aside from that one night when she stood up for Kelusta in front of the administrator, Gloria had never shown her close relationship with the commoner girl in front of others.
Their meetings were limited to, at most, a light smile exchanged during chance encounters. Or, in the empty school building at dusk, Kelusta would deliberately choose that time for a brief and pleasant chat with the noble lady to maintain her favorability score.
Gloria always stayed late, leaving the school building by herself. Usually, no one else would be around at this time. Unexpectedly, this time, Kelusta happened to stumble upon a scene with the mastermind and the apparent antagonist together.
“…No, I haven’t been waiting long,” Kelusta blinked, hesitated for a moment, and asked cautiously, “Senior, who was that just now…?”
“You don’t know her?” Gloria was a little surprised. Logically, very few people at Holy Light Magic Academy wouldn’t recognize a member of the royal family. Even students from highly prestigious noble families like herself were generally well-known to everyone.
But then she remembered that Kelusta was from the remote Seaside Town and might genuinely not know the Second Princess, who was always much more low-key than the First Prince. So, she frowned slightly and informed Kelusta, “That’s Her Highness, Princess Starangui of the Nobili Royal Family. She’s currently a second-year student.”
After a pause, she added in a low voice: “She’s… not a simple person. You’d best stay away from her.”
Kelusta nodded with a look of naive trust, then asked in confusion: “Why would the princess be coming out with you, Senior? …Ah, could she hold something against you because I associate with you?”
“Ding, Gloria's favorability +1.”
The silver-haired, blue-eyed noble girl watched as Kelusta’s dazed expression gradually turned anxious as she spoke, and couldn’t help but relax a little. She covered her lips with her hand and let out a soft laugh, then poked the other girl’s forehead with a fingertip, her expression gentle. “Don’t worry needlessly. Who I associate with is my own business—besides, the Second Princess has always been magnanimous, treating nobles and commoners alike. Why would she hold a grudge against me over something like this?”
Kelusta covered the spot where she’d been poked and mumbled, “I’m just worried about you, Senior…”
Gloria’s eyes curved into crescents, clearly pleased. Since she was in a good mood, she didn’t avoid Kelusta’s question. After thinking for a moment, she answered her first query, “Her Highness and I were discussing matters for the tea party today, which is why we came out together. Did it give you a scare?”
Yes, my fragile heart was terrified. I had to bite back a few curses.
Kelusta rolled her eyes inwardly and forced a smile, but didn’t answer. As if deliberately changing the subject, she asked, “A tea party? What’s that?”
Her tone was tense yet slightly adrift, as if she were genuinely still struggling with the idea of “people discovering her familiarity with Gloria,” but had found an unrelated topic to distract the other girl because she didn’t want to make her worry.
Gloria pressed her lips together, her heart softening beyond measure. Her voice grew even gentler as she went along with the topic. “The tea party… is a social gathering organized by the Second Princess every semester, open to nobles. It’s usually held by Swan Lake in the style of a large afternoon tea.”
Kelusta’s eyes lit up, and she said with boundless longing, “Does that mean there’s lots of delicious food?!”
Gloria knew that she had always loved desserts. If this were a Silentdis family tea party, she might have decided on the spot to take Kelusta with her.
But the tea party at Holy Light Magic Academy…
She sighed and shook her head. Her voice was still soft, but her tone became much more decisive. “This tea party is special. I won’t take you—if you want some snacks, just wait. I’ll bring you some more from home next time.”
Kelusta’s smile froze. Hidden by her dress, her fingers instantly clenched.
Gloria looked at her wide, pretty eyes and gave a faint, indulgent smile. She said in a low voice, “I don’t know why you want to attend the tea party, Little Shell. But I must tell you—within this entire academy, for a commoner with no connections, nothing is more dangerous than a social event filled with nobles.”
Kelusta frowned deeply. Her intentions had not escaped the other girl’s notice after all.
Fortunately, however, although Gloria had seen through her, she didn’t seem to mind the reason, thanks to the concern Kelusta had shown earlier… This was probably the best possible outcome in the worst-case scenario.
“…Okay, I understand.” After Gloria finished her earnest speech, Kelusta put on a guilty expression, twisting the hem of her skirt with her fingertips. In a soft, pitiful voice, she said, “I’m sorry, Senior. I was just curious—”
Gloria helplessly ruffled her hair, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. “I’m not blaming you for anything… Alright, cheer up. Just remember what I said. You wanted snacks, didn’t you? The Pudding Workshop has officially started selling that new product I gave you last time. I’ll go buy you some more.”
Kelusta nodded, her face finally coaxed back into a smile.
However, the moment Gloria turned away, the happy expression on her face vanished. Her cherry-blossom lips flattened into a line, and her golden eyes grew dim. Kelusta blinked slowly, sighed silently, and whispered an apology to Gloria in her heart.
She could discern the concern for her in the silver-haired girl’s words, and she understood that the tea party was indeed a treacherous banquet for her. Under the watchful eyes of so many, if she encountered any danger, Gloria would be completely unable to step in and protect her, even if it happened right in front of her.
The Silentdis family was different from the royal family. Satrick and the others were normally gentle and polite towards commoners. Even if one of them suddenly went mad and showed special favor to someone, it wouldn’t cause much of a stir. Many would just assume it was a new tactic by the royal family to promote equality between bloodlines.
If Nobili was to continue developing, eliminating discrimination was an essential process. As the ruling power, the royal family had to actively promote this.
But the nobles were different. For them, being placed on the same starting line as commoners would undoubtedly be a direct blow to their interests.
As the First Ducal Family, the Silentdis’s fundamental position was different from the royal family’s. They had always been the head of Nobili’s aristocracy and were staunch defenders of their class’s esteemed status. If Gloria, as the eldest daughter of the Duke Silentdis, dared to publicly help a commoner, the Silentdis family would quickly become the target of public criticism in Nobili.
If it came to that, Kelusta herself would not be able to escape being crushed by the weight of power.
However, it was precisely because she understood Gloria’s reasons for telling her “not to attend the tea party” that Kelusta felt all the more guilty when faced with the mission’s demands. She knew that not going was the best choice for both of them, but to achieve the true ending, she had no choice but to defy Gloria and find a way to step into that “Last Supper.”
She lowered her head dejectedly and began to scheme for a new opening. Did she really have to sacrifice some of Gloria’s favorability to get an invitation to the tea party through Satrick? …The risk in doing so would be far too great.
As she was lost in thought, she vaguely caught a figure flash past the end of the corridor out of the corner of her eye. Kelusta froze, snapping out of her thoughts to look carefully in that direction, but the corner was empty. There wasn’t even the shadow of a pillar, let alone a person.
She muttered “I must have seen things” to herself, then lowered her head again, following behind Gloria step-for-step like a small child.
Because Kelusta had turned her gaze to the grass at her feet, she missed the silver-haired girl in front of her slightly tilting her head to also look toward the end of the corridor.
The elegant duke’s daughter narrowed her eyes, staring thoughtfully at the corner for a moment. In the end, she did nothing, simply retracting her gaze. She swung her arm back and pulled Kelusta to her side.
When the brown-haired girl looked up in confusion, meeting her gaze with those brilliant golden eyes, Gloria said calmly, “From now on, remember, never walk… where I can’t see you.”
Whether by my side or in front of me, only when I can see you do I have a chance to protect you.
Returning to her dorm room with a large bag of rose pudding, Kelusta couldn’t really say whether she had returned in defeat or in triumph.
“Should I really try to get it from Satrick…”
Kelusta casually unwrapped a pudding, placed it on a small plate, and poked its deep red, springy surface with a fork. She propped her chin on one hand, squishing her face into a wrinkled bun.
The rich fragrance of roses gradually filled the entire dorm room, like an invisible hand gently soothing her nerves. After a long while, the System finally broke the drowsy silence, stating in its rigid, calm voice: “Temporary Host, I do not recommend you do that. —For the true ending route, the most important character is undoubtedly Gloria. If you ruin her impression of you for this? Then during the subsequent missions, you will experience… what is truly meant by ‘nightmare difficulty’.”
“…No, I don’t want that,” Kelusta said resentfully, stabbing her fork into the pudding as if to vent her frustration. “To be honest—I feel like I’m already on ‘nightmare difficulty’.”
Gloria had vetoed her hope of attending the tea party through her, and Satrick was like a piece of sticky candy that was hard to shake off… Just from bumping into him that one time in the garden, Kelusta had since “coincidentally” run into him four or five times. If she owed him another huge favor, it would be a disaster.
Just thinking about it made her fear Gloria would hit her with a dark magic combo.
With no one to turn to for help, Kelusta lay sprawled on the table, sighing for a long time. Her mouth, however, was not idle; in the blink of an eye, she had eaten a third of the bag of rose pudding.
Just as the System, at the end of its patience, was about to remind her, “If you keep eating, you’ll go from a shell to a bloated clam,” a soft knock came from the door, interrupting the brown-haired girl as she was about to unwrap another pudding.
Kelusta paused, walked over, and opened the door to find a fairly familiar commoner girl from her class outside.
“Classmate Kelusta, sorry to bother you. Just now, downstairs, the administrator asked me to… ooh, wait,” the girl sniffed the air and said in surprise, “Wow, it smells so good—it’s the smell of rose pudding!”
“…”
Kelusta forced a somewhat reluctant smile and said to the enraptured girl, “Yes, I bought a couple for afternoon tea on my way back… Would you like to try one, Classmate Doris?”
Doris blushed and quickly waved her hands. “The new products from the Pudding Workshop are very expensive. You must have saved up for a long time to buy them, right? How could I possibly take one from you…”
Before she could finish, she saw the other girl turn and go back into her room, emerging a moment later holding a small pudding. Its simple, deep rose-colored packaging was sprinkled with fine golden glitter, giving it a perfectly elegant touch—the signature style of the Pudding Workshop.
Before Doris could refuse again, Kelusta placed the pudding in the girl’s hands and said with a smile, “It’s alright. Delicious things like this are meant to be shared with friends.”
Doris froze, a faint blush rising on her cheeks. She stared blankly at the pudding in her hand for a long time. It wasn’t until Kelusta couldn’t help but remind her that she hadn’t finished what she was saying that she snapped out of it with an “Ah!” and said quickly, “The administrator wants you to go to his office later to pick something up… I think it’s a package for you?”
“A package?” Kelusta was taken aback. Because Seaside Town was so remote, she and her father rarely even exchanged letters, let alone sent packages across nearly half the continent of Nobili.
But Doris nodded with certainty. “It’s definitely a package. The administrator told me himself.” She paused, then leaned closer to Kelusta conspiratorially and asked in a mysterious whisper, “When he told me to tell you to pick it up, his tone was quite polite… What did you do to get on his good side? He’s never spoken to me in any way other than shouting!”
Kelusta raised an eyebrow and glanced imperceptibly at the rose pudding in Doris’s hand, then said vaguely, “How else would I get on his good side… Just be a little sweet-tongued and help him out more often. Alright, alright, Classmate Doris, hurry back and eat your pudding. I need to change my shoes and go downstairs to get my package.”
Perhaps because she felt indebted after accepting the gift, Doris didn’t ask any more questions. She bid Kelusta a smiling farewell and skipped off toward her dorm room, holding the pudding.
Kelusta closed the door and grumbled to the System while changing her shoes, “That was pudding Gloria specifically bought for me… This Doris really has a knack for timing. She could have come any time, but she just had to show up while I was having a snack.”
The System thought to itself, other people just have a little something sweet for five minutes. Who’s like you, taking half an hour to wolf down snacks, and then having the nerve to blame others for their bad timing.
After changing her shoes, Kelusta slowly went downstairs to the administrator’s office. His attitude toward her was indeed polite, and when he handed her the flat, medium-sized package, his bow even carried a hint of fear and sycophancy.
The brown-haired girl took it calmly and gave him a toothy grin, which nearly made the little old man shudder in fear. He quickly put on a placating smile and personally opened the office door for her.
Kelusta walked out and went straight back to her dorm, paying no more mind to the administrator who bullied the weak and feared the strong. Instead, she carefully felt the package with her fingers and wondered aloud, “What is this… It’s so flat. Don’t tell me my dad sent me some of the dried seaweed from home?”
The System thought, good grief, all you think about is food, don’t you.
It was nearing curfew, so most students were obediently staying in their dorm rooms. Kelusta walked unimpeded back to her room with the package. After a moment’s thought, she cautiously had the System scan it to see if there were any problems.
“I hope it’s not some kind of forbidden magical item,” Kelusta said worriedly. “The kind that would blow me to bits.”
“…” The emotionless scanning tool said dryly, “There is no danger, Temporary Host. Have you been reading too many strange novels?”
Kelusta scoffed. “I’m being cautious.”
She crouched on the floor and, reassured, began to open the package.
The black outer bag, made of some unknown material, was easily torn open, revealing a white box inside. Kelusta let out a “Heh,” stood up with the box, and said emotionally, “Old Sy, look.”
System: “?”
Kelusta: “I’m willing to peel back your heart, layer by layer—”
System: “………………”
Ugh, is this heroine an idiot? Huh?
Perhaps Kelusta herself thought her singing was terrible, because she coughed twice. Ignoring the System, which felt like it was about to crack, she guiltily focused her attention on the box and opened it.
Then, her hands froze in mid-air.
In the snow-white gift box lay a neatly folded, pale blue evening gown. Tulle and lace held up tiny pearls, and lifelike, light purple roses bloomed across the soft fabric. Behind them, messy, dark markings resembling the thorns of a briar served as the perfect backdrop, making the roses appear even more vibrant.
On top of the gown rested a pale gold letter. On it, green vines and deep purple speedwell were intertwined to form the shape of an iris. The style was fresh yet magnificent, and in the bottom right corner were several snow-white swans with wings spread as if about to take flight.
—The iris was the unique symbol of Starangui, the second heir to the Nobili throne.
The nature of this letter was therefore perfectly clear.
Kelusta’s expression darkened. She stared coldly at the items before her for a long time before finally reaching out, turning over the exquisite envelope to reveal the deep red wax seal on the back.
She broke the seal and took out a thin card, on which was written in elegant script:
“Dear Miss Kelusta Breviou:
The noble tea party of Holy Light Magic Academy will be held as scheduled by Swan Lake. I am greatly honored to invite you to attend as this occasion’s special guest.
I have heard that you possess a wealth of knowledge and are well-versed in the entire history of Nobili. I admire you greatly for this, and unable to restrain my desire for knowledge, I have rashly sent this invitation. Please forgive me if I have been presumptuous.
If you have the time, I hope you will grace us with your presence this weekend at Swan Lake, on the east side of Holy Light Magic Academy. The tea party will be held there. I have already arranged an exclusive seat for you and hope you will spend a pleasant day with us.
On behalf of the Nobili Royal Family, I solemnly welcome you and look forward to your attendance.”
The signature read: Starangui Nobili.
“Starangui Nobili,” Kelusta’s lips curved, but her eyes held no trace of a smile. Her voice was icy. “I never thought the solution to this deadlock would come from her.”
“…Temporary Host, after analysis, I do not recommend you accept the other party’s invitation to attend,” the System said hesitantly. “If you agree… this tea party could become even more dangerous.”
“Of course I’m going.”
Kelusta bent her finger and flicked the iris on the envelope. Her gaze was placid, yet mingled with a complex emotion that was difficult to interpret.
She tossed the invitation back onto the table and pulled out the gown. Its long hem trailed on the floor, the roses embroidered with special thread glinting with a cold light. Kelusta nonchalantly held the dress up to herself and let out a soft sneer.
“An invitation from the esteemed Second Princess herself… If I didn’t go, wouldn’t that be terribly disrespectful?”
Get instant access to all the chapters now.
Comments
Post a Comment