CH 76

The car stopped after it drove for a while. It looked like we’d arrived at our destination.

“Excuse me. Lady Sakuya, we have arrived.”

“Yes.”

I was called to and got down from the opened door. I could see a grand estate in front of me. There was a tall Western-style building in front; behind it, I could barely see a Japanese-style building. This was a prime location in the city centre, but there were still multiple buildings on this huge site.

“As expected of the Konoe family.”

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“Yes… It rivals the Kujou family estate…”

I nodded, but in my opinion, it was grander than the Kujou family’s. Of course, I knew every corner of the Kujou family estate and I had only just arrived at the Konoe family’s, but even if they were both equal, they left quite different impressions.

I had now arrived at the house where every member of the Konoe family usually lived. This wasn’t a venue or facility that was rented for the party. This was genuinely where Ibuki and the others lived.

“Elznsxl yde vbydj usw qsa nsxkdt, Iwfsw Fyjwuy-pyxy. R okzz twkel usw. Vzlypl nsxl vbkp oyu.”

“Zlp.”

Mbl nya bye ldvlale vbl aswdeycswv vbyv oyp aktbv kd qasdv sq vbl ldvaydnl, ps R eked’v vbkdj vblal oyp yduoblal vs twkel xl vs, cwv vblu nswzed’v nwv nsadlap yde pyu “Kwpv tlv kd vbl essa kd qasdv sq usw cu uswaplzq”. G pzktbvzu sze cwvzla twkele xl yde ol ldvlale vbl Elpvlad-pvuzl cwkzekdt.

“Elznsxl, Fyjwuy-nbyd!”

“Yyeyx… Mbydj usw qsa kdhkvkdt xl vseyu.”

Yap. Isdsl olznsxle xl vbl xsxldv R ldvlale. R oyp pwarakple pkdnl R eked’v vbkdj vbyv Yap. Isdsl oswze cl vblal vss. R nswzed’v zlv xu pwarakpl pbso, vbswtb, yde bye vs alprsde lzltydvzu.

“Xb! Fyjwuy! Zsw’hl nsxl!”

“Isdsl-pyxy, vbydj usw qsa vbl kdhkvyvksd.”

Ibuki just acted the exact same until the end… I was envious of that… I didn’t want to be like that, but…

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“You don’t have to be that polite, Sakuya-chan. I wouldn’t let you stand in a place like this. Then, go ahead.”

“Excuse me.”

The place looked Western, but you apparently removed your shoes inside. Well, this was a place where Japanese people lived. If this was a venue rented for the party, then we could probably keep on wearing our shoes, but this was still a Japanese residence no matter how Western it looked.

Rather than a party, this was more a small gathering among friends, so escorts weren’t permitted. Momiji and the other drivers weren’t here. They had all left.

“Here it is. A lot of people have come already, so feel free to relax and converse.”

“Yes. Thank you very much.”

Mrs. Konoe guided me and we entered a room. This place looked like a hall but in a Western-style building. It wasn’t a living room or dining room; it was a place prepared specifically for these kinds of gatherings.

“Hey, Kujou-san.”

“You’re here, Sakuya-chan.”

“Greetings, Takatsukasa-sama, Hirohata-sama.”

The minute I entered the hall, Enju and Mizuki both greeted me. Looking around, almost everyone was here. The only other person who hadn’t come was Akane-chan.

“Sakuya-sama! That dress is absolutely stunning!”

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“Thanks, Azami-chan. Your dress fits you quite well too.”

Azami-chan pushed Enju and Mizuki over and came. Then, everyone else came over.

“Greetings, Sakuya-chan.”

“Greetings, Satsuki-chan.”

Satsuki-chan, lifting the skirt of her cute dress, greeted me. I greeted her with the same courtesy. I didn’t have to do it; it was simple play. We laughed since the both of us greeted each other like that.

“That dress also looks good, but… Sakuya-chan, you’d look great in more alluring clothes too, you know? If it annoys you to show that to the other boys, won’t you just let your big sister see you? Okay? That’s fine, right?”

“Kaya-san… greetings…”

Kaya-san acted the exact same too… Lots of the people surrounding Lady Sakuya lived in their own peculiar worlds or something, but…

“Sakuya-chan, thanks for inviting me today.”

“No, but this is… Konoe-sama’s party, therefore Konoe-sama is the one who has invited you. It was not me…”

Tsubaki-chan! What were you saying inside the Konoe family’s house! What if they heard that you said I invited you!? Wouldn’t you think the Konoe family would say “What? This person says that she invites people to someone else’s party like she’s the host?”?

“But if you hadn’t recommended me, Sakuya-chan, I wouldn’t be invited, so thank you.”

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“No… haha…”

I was breaking out in a cold sweat. Please give me a break already, Tsubaki-chan…

“Forgive me for being late!”

Then, while we were having that conversation, Akane-chan, who arrived a little later than me, came in. But she wasn’t late yet. Everyone was already here, but it was still before the official start time.

“The party hasn’t begun yet, so you’re not late, Higashiboujou-san.”

“Ta-Takatsukasa-sama, sorry!”

Woah… Akane-chan was acting too serious… and, Enju. Why were you managing this? Wouldn’t Ibuki normally be stepping in here?

“Now, it looks like everyone’s here. First of all, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this Konoe family party.”

“Wait! I! I was gonna do the introduction!”

When Ibuki heard Mrs. Konoe smoothly begin the introduction, he hurriedly butt in. Maybe he had prepared lots of notes, memorised them, and practiced a lot in preparation for greeting us all here. If he didn’t, he probably wouldn’t have rudely interrupted his mom like that while she was talking.

“*sigh*… that’s right. Then, please begin the introduction, Ibuki. Everyone, it appears that my son will continue the introductions. Please don’t laugh and listen attentively even if he makes a mistake.”

Hmm… was Mrs. Konoe like this? And Ibuki should’ve been a more put-together noble son… Why was he becoming a disappointing prince…

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Ibuki was definitely a self-centred “Arrogant Prince”, but he had the corresponding education, courage, and charisma to be called that. His grades and reflexes were good and he was handsome; from those things alone, his specs were perfect. His only weakness was that he had a horrible personality, was selfish and didn’t know anything about people’s emotions…

But then, what about this Ibuki? He was a useless prince, or rather, a disappointing prince… I couldn’t see the self-centred “Arrogant Prince” walking his own path…

Of course, he might become like that in the future as he grew up. But, looking at his current self, I didn’t think he’d become the “Arrogant Prince” of “Love Flowers” in the future. 

At the very least, even if he were to end up like that, wouldn’t the people around Ibuki laugh at him in the future since they knew who the current him was ? No matter how much he pretended, he’d just be the butt of a joke to people who knew the current Ibuki, right?

I didn’t really get it… Was this another effect of the world changing? Or would he actually become the “Arrogant Prince” from the game?

Before I knew it, Enju was also becoming a “Black-Hearted Prince” instead of the fragile “Snow-White Prince” that he was in-game. If I didn’t pay attention, I wouldn’t know where and how this world had changed, and what effects that change had. It wouldn’t be funny if those changes somehow affected Lady Sakuya’s future…

“Oh! You guys! Welcome to my and Sakuya’s party! Go and enjoy!”

“…”

It got silent. There was a dampened atmosphere among the women. In the first place, what was “my and Sakuya’s party”? People might read too deeply into it! I wasn’t involved with you at all! This party was just me having to come because you had said unnecessary things and my brother had said even more unnecessary things. I wasn’t involved.

“Well, I thought this was going to happen. Now, everyone, please leave Ibuki alone and enjoy the party.”

“Ahaha… aunt is harsh on Ibuki as usual.”

“Enju-kun~? It’s “big sister”, right? It can’t be helped that other people call me Ibuki’s mom, but I’m “big sister” to you, right?”

“Y-Yes, right… I am sorry, big sister.”

At Mrs. Konoe’s words, Enju sweated and called her big sister instead. Hmm… was Mrs. Konoe like this?

No… I didn’t know anything about her private life though, you know? I just knew her as far as her appearance in-game; I didn’t know how she acted normally or what type of character she was…

At the very least, she only appeared in-game during terrible times for Lady Sakuya. She appeared when Lady Sakuya was being condemned and ruined. She also played a large role when the Kujou family’s illegal actions were brought to light. So she wasn’t my favourite, but…

“Then, Sakuya-sama! Would you like to talk over there?”

“Sakuya-chan, let us eat.”

“Oh… wait…”

Everyone was dragging me. While I didn’t have any interest in Mrs. Konoe or Enju, it was likely they’d play a large role in my—no, Lady Sakuya’s—future. I wanted to at least gather information since I was already here, but…

Well, whatever. It was also fine to participate in this party and have fun with everyone. Something like… since everyone invited here were my friends, it was a little fun to be surrounded by people and talk about stuff.

I didn’t have anything to worry about, and no one hated the very sight of me. I probably didn’t have to care about making a few mistakes or being ill-mannered; I could just relax and have fun.

Was that so…? Was a party something this fun? I had thought that a party was filled with people you didn’t know where you felt constant tension as you were trying not to make mistakes.

That was the case at a normal party. But… with a gathering of friends like this, it wasn’t that different from the salon, much less a party. It felt like I was with my usual lunchtime circle except with Kaya-san included.

“Sakuya-chan, big sister’ll give you food. Which one do you want?”

“Th-Thank you. Then, I will have that one…”

“Sakuya-chan, this is about our outing, but apart from Nyan-chan Land, there’s also this…”

“Oh, that sounds good. Let us adjust the order and time of what is planned in our schedule so that we can do that as well…”

“Sakuya-sama!”

“Sakuya-chan.”

Everyone was excitedly gathering around me. I couldn’t respond to all of them. If these were people I didn’t know or we were being formal, greetings would be pretty annoying. But… it was very fun to be with everyone like this.

Just a little… maybe I was just the smallest bit thankful to Ibuki… I didn’t know that parties were this fun. Maybe I could be the slightest bit grateful… to Ibuki, who gave me the opportunity to find out about that.

～～～～～～～

The party progressed well and time passed in the blink of an eye. It was already quite late and the end was nearing.

“How was the party? Sakuya-chan.”

“Konoe-sama… yes, I had a lot of fun.”

When no one was around me, Mrs. Konoe came up to me and asked that question. That was why I answered with what I honestly thought.

“I see. That’s good. At any rate, you’re quite popular, Sakuya-chan.”

“…huh?”

I was popular? There was no way. I didn’t have charisma or popularity. That was why I was treated like a tumour at the academy, and why people talked behind my back when I showed up at parties. If I was popular or charismatic, I’d probably be treated very differently. 

“That is because many of my friends were invited here. On the contrary, such a situation would not have happened without those gathered here. It is only because this place was filled with my close friends. I cannot thank you enough for such consideration, Konoe-sama.”

“That’s wrong. It’s quite significant to have this many close friends who are not calculating or acting out of their own interests. I don’t want to say this, but… in our society, socialising is a front. We just socialise to take advantage of the other person, get closer to them, and get the upper hand. It’s quite significant to have this many people as just friends without any additional calculation.”

“That… may be true… All my friends are too good for me…”

I could understand what Mrs. Konoe was saying. The upper class definitely had wide social circles, but all of their relationships were superficial. They were desperate to go to the parties of people they could use, but they wouldn’t waste their time on the parties of people who weren’t much use to them. No matter how much you glossed over it, that was how close they were…

Compared to that, everyone gathered here was… everyone gathered here was…?

Everyone was pretty calculating, were they not? It felt like everyone was making various calculations and aimed for things, right?

I didn’t think that everyone was calculating to obtain money, concessions, or an advantage in negotiations like adults, but… I also didn’t think that everyone was honestly following their own desires. Well, that was fine, but…

“By the way, Sakuya-chan. Won’t you get engaged to my Ibuki?”

“I absolutely refuse!”

What was that “by the way”!? She nonchalantly dropped an unthinkable bombshell on me! So that was what she was aiming for!

“Now, don’t say that… what about this? Why don’t you try dating as marriage candidates?”

“I cannot do that!”

Absolutely not! That’d be rocketing straight to a route in “Love Flowers”, right!? I absolutely refused to do that!