CH 101

The outing where all seven of us gathered had ended, and now I was going to play one-on-one with the girls who were available… the month had changed, and it was now December. It was the day of the last big event this year, the Takatsukasa family’s party.

After this, I’d be playing with everyone one-on-one and I’d be going on a family vacation at the end of the year. But when specifically talking about large, public events, this would be the last one of the year.

I honestly… I honestly didn’t want to go. Azami-chan, Satsuki-chan, and Kaya-san were going, so it’d be nice to see the people I usually met at the salon, but… it made me feel really dispirited to think that Ibuki and Enju might be planning something unpleasant.

However, my parents were going so I had to go. If I didn’t, they’d find out immediately. It was better to instead go quietly.

By the way, my plans to hang out weren’t within this year. There were even plans for next year. It was hard to find a convenient time even though there were only two people involved. Everyone was pretty busy… being a young lady wasn’t easy.

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“Sakuya, it is about time for him to come. Have you finished preparations?”

“Yes. I am going now.”

After I’d changed into my dress and finished preparing, my mom called to me and I appeared. You couldn’t attend today’s party without a partner. My partner was Ibuki, and he had come to pick me up today. That was why my mom was hurrying me and telling me to hurry and get out.

Rd xu srkdksd, kv oyp ldswtb vs fwpv ts swa sod oyup, xllv wr yv vbl ynvwyz ryavu, yde yvvlde, cwv… Rcwjk yde Odfw olal xllvkdt vblka ryavdlap yde tskdt vstlvbla, ps R bye vs es vbyv. Yu casvbla bye yzps yzalyeu tsdl vs xllv bkp ryavdla.

Rcwjk bye nsxl vs xllv xl. R nswzed’v jllr vbl psd sq vbl Isdsl qyxkzu oykvkdt, ps R bye vs yrrlya clqsal bl yaakhle. Yu yppkpvydv vseyu oypd’v Ysxkfk. Rv pbswzed’v byhl xyvvlale vbyv R oyp clkdt rknjle wr cu vbl Isdsl qyxkzu, cwv xu yppkpvydv bye yzalyeu tsdl vs vbl Myjyvpwjypy qyxkzu’p bswpl. Ebyv byrrldle vs Ysxkfk?

“…vblu byhl yaakhle.”

“Fyjwuy… es usw alxlxcla Isdsl-pyxy’p nya?”

“Bx, olzz…”

R elqkdkvlzu alxlxclale vbl nya, nszswa, yde rzyvl dwxcla, cwv vblal olald’v xydu rlsrzl obs eashl zkxswpkdlp kd vbl qkapv rzynl… Rq vblal oyp y zkxswpkdl svbla vbyd swap nsxkdt vs swa bswpl, ydusdl oswze yppwxl vbyv kv oyp vbl Isdsl qyxkzu’p…

Gde kv oypd’v fwpv vbyv. Rd xu nypl, R eked’v oydv vs cl kdhszhle okvb vbl Isdsl qyxkzu, sa ayvbla Rcwjk yzz vbyv xwnb, ps R alxlxclale vbl wdkiwl nbyaynvlakpvknp yde rzyvl dwxcla sq bkp nya. Jlnywpl y zsv sq nyap zkjl vbl Isdsl qyxkzu’p tyvblale yv vbl ynyelxu aswdeycswv, R xktbv kdyehlavldvzu ts dlya vblka nya kq R eked’v rasrlazu alnstdkpl kv.

R oyp elqkdkvlzu ykxkdt qsa vbl qakldepbkr ldekdt clvolld Rcwjk yde Odfw, obknb oyp obu R eked’v byhl ydu alypsd vs nyalzlppzu yrrasynb vblx. Rv oyp xspv kxrsavydv vs xykdvykd vbl rasrla ekpvydnl yde jllr y rasrla alzyvksdpbkr.

“Sakuya!”

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“…greetings, Konoe-sama.”

Ibuki got down from the limousine that stopped in front of my house. I lowered my head towards him, but it seemed that Ibuki couldn’t greet me.

“Uh… that… that thing… um~… the dress… looks good on you.”

“…thank you.”

That didn’t make me happy… it was pretty rare for compliments to make people unhappy. Did he even mean what he said in the first place?

I couldn’t imagine the Unfortunate Prince Ibuki in this world reading so was capable of acting like that to make a woman second-guess herself. Someone had probably advised him that if he were to pick up a girl, he should first compliment her outfit and accessories. He then just did that. It felt like that was what he did. 

“Then, let’s go! Come with me!”

“…yes.”

It felt like we were going on some sort of adventure… Being assertive and a leader who enthusiastically led people places may have been good, but I got worried that this guy would lead me to a horrible place. 

Of course, the driver was driving the car, so I wasn’t talking about actually being driven to a strange place. I was talking about the future he’d lead us to.

“Oh…”

“…”

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When we entered the limousine, Ibuki, who sat opposite from me, said something. But he didn’t say anything like earlier. He just made that sound.

“Uh~…”

“…”

“Well…”

If you had nothing to talk about, then you don’t have to talk… 

In the end, we arrived at the Takatsukasa family estate without Ibuki volunteering a topic.

～～～～～～～

Once we got down from the limousine, standing there was…

“Oh… so this is the Takatsukasa family’s estate…”

The estate was very stylish. It was quite different from the dark-coloured Japanese-style Kujou family estate and the Konoe estate with a Western-style building in front but a Japanese garden and secondary building in the back. It was a completely Western and slightly stylish house.

Of course, I could tell that it was large just from looking at the outside. There was a hall that was big enough to hold all of the Five Norths Association salon members—not just the kids, but also the parents called to the party. It was large enough that one would wonder how much of that space was necessary.

“Hi Ibuki, Kujou-san. Welcome.”

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“Hey!”

“Greetings, Takatsukasa-sama.”

I didn’t know if it was by chance or if he was the greeter, but Enju had come and welcomed us. Quite a lot of people had already gathered in the party hall we’d passed through. Enju’s parents were greeting all of those participants. I hadn’t really met or talked to his dad, so I didn’t remember him, but I remembered his transiently beautiful mother well.

Originally, Enju was supposed to be a transient Snow White Prince like his mother, but… from some mistake somewhere, he had already become a Black-Hearted Prince in first grade. Satsuki-chan was quite black-hearted too, but I didn’t know whose heart was blacker…

“Sakuya-sama!”

“Sakuya-chan.”

“Azami-chan! Satsuki-chan!”

Once I entered the hall, two voices immediately called to me. It looked like the two of them had arrived earlier. Satsuki-chan’s partner was Enju, so she had come with him to the entrance, and Azami-chan’s partner Mizuki was also leisurely coming towards us. I couldn’t see my brother or Kaya-san. Had the two of them still not arrived?

“Has Kaya-san not come yet?”

“Oh? I’m here.”

“Huh!?”

As I was looking for Kaya-san, someone rested their hand on my shoulder. When I turned around…

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“Kaya-san!”

“Fufu.”

Kaya-san was standing behind me. When had she gotten there… come to think of it, why did she come from behind?

“Now it is only my brother. …come to think of it, who is his partner?”

I still didn’t know who my brother’s partner was. When I first asked him, he didn’t give a definite answer, so I wasn’t able to ask again after. You had to attend this party with a partner so it didn’t really mean anything, but I was still curious as to who my brother’s partner was. Kaya-san’s partner was probably some boy I’d seen at the salon. I didn’t know who he was, but I’d just pretend I didn’t see him. I didn’t have to be unnecessarily involved. 

“Huh? You didn’t hear?”

“Yes…”

Enju answered honestly. Enju was hosting, so he knew who was attending and who their partners were.

“You’ll know when they come. More importantly, Sakuya! Do you want me to get you something to drink? Or eat?”

“Oh~… then, I will have a drink…”

I really wanted to say that I didn’t want anything, but Ibuki and I were partners. If he said that, I had no choice but to act as his partner. I had no problem with Ibuki not saying anything unnecessary and staying quiet, but… he couldn’t do that, apparently…

“Sakuya!”

“Thank you…”

He called my name and passed me a glass… or rather, just shoved it towards me… Wasn’t this Unfortunate Prince just too useless? Doesn’t he usually have something more witty to say? Come to think of it, he rarely spoke in long sentences towards me. He just called my name and said hey.

Before even saying that he was bad at romance or just a first-grader with no experience, didn’t he just lack communication skills? This wasn’t something I’d worry about, but it was worrying for the Konoe Conglomerate’s future.

“Sakuya-chan, let us talk over there?”

“Now now, Sakuya-sama, let’s go.”

“Yes. Then, Konoe-sama, I shall talk to Satsuki-chan and Azami-chan for a while. Thank you for bringing me here.”

“Ok!”

I said that and hurriedly left that place. Satsuki-chan and Azami-chan were probably aiming for that. They definitely said it that way to take me away from here.

“That was stifling.”

“Truly… if we were able to move around freely alone, that would have been fine, however…”

Oh… Azami-chan and Satsuki-chan were also fed up of today’s party. They didn’t really hate Mizuki and Enju, but instead the stress that came with having to wander around together since they were partners. I could understand that feeling too. If I had to wander around with Ibuki, I’d want to tear off my hair.

When the actual party started, we probably had to move in pairs again, but the party hadn’t started yet. I at least wanted to move freely before it started.

“Sakuya-chan, let’s sit there.”

“Woah! K-Kaya-san, you were with us…?”

I was surprised when she called to me from behind… it looked like Kaya-san had come with us. I wanted her to stop erasing her presence and quietly following us from behind. It was bad for my heart.

“Is big sister not allowed to come with you guys?”

“Oh, I am sorry. I did not mean that you were not allowed. I just did not notice, so I was surprised.”

She was acting like she was going to cry, so I quickly followed up. I knew she wasn’t going to actually cry, but I couldn’t act like I didn’t care after she said something so cruel.

There was still time until the party started. We sat in a slightly far-away place with few people and talked as we gazed at the hall.

The topics themselves were trifling. We were just absentmindedly watching the people in the hall while engaging in lively conversation just to kill time.

“It’s about time, so let’s go.”

“My partner Azami-chan too, okay?”

Enju and Mizuki came to collect their own partners. Kaya-san was parading her partner around as usual. Poor guy… then, as for my partner…

“Hm…”

“…”

He was facing me with his elbow stuck out. Was he trying an elbow strike?

“Hm!”

“…*sigh*.”

I got it. He wanted us to link arms? I didn’t want to link arms with Ibuki, but we did come as a pair, so it was a normal development to link arms. Satsuki-chan and Azami-chan were just holding hands with their partners. Ibuki was the only one insisting on linking arms.

By the way, Kaya-san’s partner was… I’ll pretend I didn’t see that.

“*cough*!”

“—agh!? Please don’t make those weird noises…”

I linked my arm through Ibuki’s shoved arm and he suddenly made a weird noise. It was so surprising that I twitched. It was really strange…

When us four pairs walked to the center of the hall, everyone around us was clamouring noisily. It was quite a large reaction. They normally wouldn’t react like this even if something happened. Those from upper-class families were not trained to be noisy at parties.

“Everyone, thank you for coming to the Takatsukasa family’s party today.”

Everyone paid attention to us four pairs standing at the center of the hall. Enju, in the very center, started greeting the participants. It was a normal introduction with nothing too special, so I ignored it. The slightly noisy surroundings quoted down at the host beginning to speak.

At that time… the entrance door opened and a boy and girl pair entered. The lighting in the hall fell on us standing in the center, and the spotlight was only on us. Even so, another spotlight shined on the pair entering the hall. 

“Hey, everyone. Maybe we’re a little late?”

My brother was the one who’d entered. He walked in while linking arms with his partner. Up until he walked from the entrance to the center of the hall where we were standing… the spotlight followed his and his partner’s movements, illuminating them the whole time. Then, they came up to us and stopped.

“Sorry, Enju-kun. Are we late?”

“No, Yoshizane-san. We have just started.”

The two of them were having a staged exchange. The orchestration was good, so maybe this was something they’d planned before. Right after they began, my brother would enter and draw attention. That was the orchestration they planned.

But… I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I couldn’t understand what had just happened in front of me. Because… because my brother’s partner was…

“Momiji?”

“…”

Holding on to my brother’s arm and sticking so close as if embracing him was… the person I hadn’t seen at all today, Momiji.