Chapter 26
The Villainess Wonders; How do we Hold a Social Gathering?
“A Round Table gathering?”
As I was reading a book about Blood Magic next to Iris who was reading a magazine directed at women, I replied to Laursenpai’s statement .
“Yes, I’m thinking of opening a gathering for the Round Table . What do you think?”
“We are already meeting every day, so do you not think it is redundant?”
The Round Table has never put up an event until now . For better or worse, the big shot nobles’ children had their own circumstances so nobody had the time to plan anything .
“We’re also not sure if we have the time or not…”
“Right…if we can resolve that, I was thinking that we could call the alumni and make a lively gathering . Do you have any ideas?”
“I also think that having the chance to talk with the alumni is great and all, but…”
I too want to meet Varysenpai again after she graduated . She barely show up in the academy any more, so I guess she’s become so busy after marrying into a ducal family .
“A gathering, is it?”
Geh…why do you have to pop up right now, Friedrich .
“Shall I make some arrangements for it? I feel bad for saying this, but I believe we could interest more alumni to join if we can attract more guests . ”
“Oh my . May I have the honor, your Highness?”
If the annoying prince Friedrich does something behind the scene, I’m sure some other big shot nobles would come attend . That’s one of the tons of reasons Father wants someone from our family to establish a connection with the imperial household .
“That would solve the problem . I wish we could have the chance to do so every year, however . ”
“I shall also try my best as a member, so I believe it is possible to make it a tradition out of it . ”
Just like that, I witnessed the birth of a social gathering of the Spirits’ Round Table .
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“Alright . All that is left is to decide where . Would it be better for us to do it in the academy or outside?”
“How about we do it outside the academy? I am not sure how many alumni are going to be there, but I believe our academy cannot accommodate too many people . I also believe that it would be better for us to not bother other people in the academy . ”
I’d feel bad to use the academy’s facility to hold a huge gathering for nobles only . Sure, the academy could accommodate a lot of nobles, but how would you take care of the foods? Those are indispensable for a huge gathering .
“Then…do you have any suggestions?”
“We can hold it in my residence, but I think we should hold it in a better place . ”
Another place, huh…where would be best…
“Ah, don’t you think Havel Grand Hotel would be a great place? They have good service, and I heard it is a great place to hold an event”, said Friedrich .
Havel Grand Hotel is a high-class hotel, isn’t it? The fact that he could make that suggestion so casually really emphasizes his social standing . Luxury is something that he naturally enjoys .
By the way, Havel is the name of our country’s capital .
“That sounds good . The hotel is famous for its delicious dishes after all . ”
“Then we shall hold the gathering in Havel Grand Hotel . We have to decide the date and time and write invitations…we have a lot of preparations to do”, said Laursenpai pulling out a book from a cupboard .
“What is that?”
“The list of names of the Round Table members and their plans after graduation . With this, we can easily find and invite the alumni . ”
Perhaps because history of the Round Table go so far back, the book is quite thick .
“Do you know their addresses as well?”
“You’re asking the daughter of the Ministry of Postal Administration, you know? As long as I know their name, I can easily find the great nobility’s addresses . I’ll use this book to prepare the invitations . ”
I see . The big shot nobles had made their names well known so just knowing their name could allow her to find their address easily .
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“Alright, now that we can cross invitation off our to do list, we now need to prepare the venue . ”
“Yes . The Havel Grand Hotel is a very famous place, so we need to fit in the schedule for our gathering . ”
Judging by how famous it is, it would probably be full of bookings, so I hope we could get some time where we can book the place as well .
“Then how about I go and check if we can book it or not?”
“Is that okay? That would be a great help . If possible, we should pick a time that is not too soon to make sure everyone gets to receive our invitation first . About a month for now should be fine . ”
Alright, then I’ll have to go take a look at the Grand Hotel .
“Then I shall go with you . ”
Geh…why would you chime in right now, Friedrich…
“I-It wouldn’t take long, so I should be fine on my own . ”
“Please let me help you . I felt bad that that I pushed the work onto you after all . ”
You’re meddling too much, you annoyance!
“I would like to go too!”
Suddenly, Iris raised her voice this time .
My cute little Iris had finally grown accustomed to the Round Table which allowed her to smile a lot more, but she’d always stick close to me when I’m around . All the while, she would always keep an eye out for Friedrich . I only hope she didn’t go too far that Friedrich would snap…
“Very well, the three of us shall go . The more the merrier, correct?”
I’m not sure what made him think that way, but at least I can be sure that Friedrich isn’t mad just yet . Well, with a member of the royal family, the ducal house of Oldenburg and the ducal house of Braunschweig, the combined authority we all have is not something to be shrugged off .
“Very well then . The three of us shall make the reservation at the Havel Grand Hotel after school . ”
“Thank you~”
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And with that, we decided to head for the Havel Grand Hotel after school .
The Grand Hotel is right in the heart of Havel’s commercial district .
Our academy that we commute to every day is in the south side of Havel; the Imperial Palace is right in the middle of Havel, and the commercial district we’re going to is on the west side of Havel .
It was quite a distance for us to walk through . I could’ve dashed there and arrive quickly but then Iris wouldn’t be able to catch up . Friedrich? To hell with him, I wouldn’t want him to catch up .
So anyways, we decided to ride a carriage to the hotel .
That idea, as you might have guessed, came from Friedrich .
“I was surprised that you were so assertive for this, Astrid . That was unexpected . ”
“W-was it…?”
God damn it, why’d you have to strike up a conversation . Can’t you notice Iris is looking at you suspiciously? Also, Iris, please don’t glare at him too much, okay?
“I felt that you were rather evasive in regards of the Round Table at first . A lot of the time you didn’t come to the Round Table, and when you did, you mostly spent your time reading the books you borrowed from the library . ”
Obviously . At first I thought I was dragged into the Round Table so it was nothing more than an annoyance to me, you know? Then I get to meet Varysenpai and Laursenpai who are both nice ladies, and the senpais helped me study, so now I don’t think the Round Table is not all that bad .
I also think it’s a great place, a small circle for the shy Iris to make new friends .
“You are now a vital member of the Round Table . Be it through your studies, sports or sorcery, you have the power to bring people closer to you…and for that, I am jealous…” Friedrich said with his eyes looking at a distance .
Aah, right, this guy is not sure if he’s fit to be the next emperor . His father is , the charismatic military leader Wilhelm III after all, the Soldier King who leads the great Prussian Empire .
I guess he’d fall short compared to such splendid leader .
I kind of feel sorry for him, but can you please just say that to the Heroine instead? Stop talking to me!
Then, Iris suddenly said; “Is it not fine to just be just like his Highness the Emperor?”
Heeeyy, little sister of mine! Don’t carelessly step on the landmine!
“I can’t be like my father . I can’t be as strong as my father . I can’t be encouraged by the rhythm of the soldiers’ march; I can’t make a war cry that can lift their spirits, nor can risk my life in the battlefield . I can’t fill his shoes . ”
This is pretty serious . You’ll probably collapse before you get to be an emperor . You still have 5 years before you can be a high schooler, just hold on until then . By then you’ll get your head pet by the heroine and she’ll take care of your worries .
“I see . For me, I would like to be just like onee-sama” Iris said as smiled at me .
“You can just be yourself, Iris . You don’t need to be anyone else . There are a lot of good points about you just being you . If my cute little Iris turned out to be like me, I will probably cry . ”
Iris can say really cute stuff sometimes…but if you grow up living in a minefield surrounded by death flags, onee-chan would feel sad .
Friedrich whispered, “everyone has their own good points…huh”, but I’m not sure what he’s thinking when he did .
Are you going crazy already?
“You really are fascinating, Astrid . Please take care of me from now on . ”
“H-huh…”
I’m not sure what happened, but what I’m sure about is that Friedrich is still trying to put a landmine under my feet, so I only gave him a half-hearted, vague reply¹ . Can you not move your landmine around, it’s dangerous .
Hello? Miss Heroine? Can you come a bit quicker? Yeah, if possible please come before I go crazy . Though I’m still sad that even though you would come, I still wouldn’t be able to completely remove all of these destruction flags . I’ll be sure to not bully the heroine, but can I still safely go through high school…?
As I was busy thinking of that, we arrived at the hotel .
At the Havel Grand Hotel, Friedrich mentioned his name and the general manager came to us directly .
Seriously though, the general manager talking to 8-year-olds? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since Friedrich is a prince after all .
Afterwards, we managed to smoothly book the place for our gathering, and after successfully securing our venue, the general manager saw us off .
But…I find it extremely weird that on our way back, Friedrich kept smiling at me the whole time when we were in the carriage .