Chapter 111

Audyst: “Thank you for inviting us on this evening’s banquet.”

Prime Minister: “No no, please enjoy yourself!”

Both the delegation leader Covemainne and the prime minister of this kingdom, Courson kingdom, were exchanging formal greetings with each other.

The banquet is designed so that the people who has done the actual work for the kingdom could relax and interact with each other on an informal basis without any royalty. Thus, the number of attendants should not be a lot, and… it was supposed to be a relaxing and peaceful time for them to eat…

However, for some reason, the number of attendants on their side is considerably larger than what the earl had heard, and there are many young men and boys with good looks who cannot be considered as workers mixed in as well.

And, for some reason, the king, the first prince, and the second prince are sitting in the upper seat.

Earl Covemainne who saw them sighed.

(As I thought…)

Yes, it was just like what Princess Shrine Maiden-dono and he predicted.

In addition, there are invitees who are ogling the delegation members with a suspicious face as well.

After a while, one of them finally asked Earl Covemainne.

Attendant: “Umm… Is Princess Shrine Maiden-dono…”

Audyst: “If it’s Princess Shrine Maiden-dono, she’s sightseeing the royal capital with Her Highness Princess Sabine, though?”

Attendant: “Eh?”

The person who asked him did not understand what he just said.

Attendant: “N-no, she should have gotten the invitation for the evening party too, so that’s impossible…”

Earl Covemainne himself made a confused face seemingly wanting to say 『Eh?』 as well.

Audyst: “The ones who were invited are all of the delegation members, no?”

Of course, everyone except the maids and escorts, which means only the legitimate delegation members.

Attendant: “Y-yes, that’s right! That’s why, Princess Shrine Maiden-dono is of course…”

The earl who heard it, thought that this is just what they had planned and made a sinful smile.

Audyst: “Yes, like what I had said before, all of the members are currently participating in this. Except for those three people who are not one of the delegation members but only fellow travelers instead…”

Attendant: “Eh?”

Attendants: “””Eehh?”””

More Attendants: “””””EEEEEEEEEEEEEHHH~~!?!”””””

Yes, Courson Kingdom’s plan are now completely blown off.

The king and princes who seemed to be able to hear the conversation also opened their eyes wide and had a cramp on their faces.

(Well, if the plan that they thought it can recover them from their hopeless situation went amiss like this, they would become this agitated, right…?)

Earl Covemainne could not help but gave a pitiful look towards them.

Mitsuha: “Alright, let’s go!”

Sabine & Colette: “”Ei! Ei! Oohh!””

The frontman and the other guests turned their smiles toward the three girls who pushed their arms up in front of the inn’s lobby.

The guests did not know that the girls are princess and head of a noble household from another kingdom and instead only thought them as children who were left by their parents for a party and got too bored.

And now they know the girls’ identity, though the frontman is not too nervous with them since they had talked various things before with him.

Even if it’s evening, it is still the center of royal capital. Hence, the security around the inn is not that bad, but it’s still a little problem for girls around 10 years old to wander around without their guardians’ supervision. Therefore, when the guests and frontman tried to stop the girls from adventuring,

???: “Princess, would you give me the honor to be your escort?”

A boy around 15 years of age with a gentle atmosphere spoke to the girls.

“””H-His Highness Prince!”””

The guests around the girls and the inn employees shouted in surprise.

Yes, it was the third prince who was absent from the evening party because of poor physical condition.

His succession rank for the throne is third, and he’s the only one of the three princes who was born from a concubine mother. He’s gentle and clever, but he has a little chance on succeeding the throne. In addition, since his mother’s status is not that high, he is free to act as a prince without worrying about political problems.

He has a good relationship with his older brothers, older sisters, as well as his little sister and he’s a person who would likely say 『there’s no harm on accompanying』 towards nobles. And for the princess whose hurdles are a little too high to aim for crown princess title, he’s relatively the right person.

Wha…… His Highness Prince?

What in the world is this~!?

The royalty should have forced themselves into the evening party, specifically the banquet. My little grey cells have made that conclusion!

However, well, there’s no helping for what is already there. The problem is what order the prince is.

Yeah, I’m not very good at remembering people’s faces. That’s why I don’t remember what the princes’ faces are as it has nothing to do with the content of our meeting that time.

Mitsuha: “U-umm, His Highness Prince…”

Savas: “Aah, It’s Savas, the third prince. A concubine child who has a little chance of succeeding the throne. Well, please just call me Savas-sama.”

Thank you for the explanation dialogue.

No, perhaps he guessed that I didn’t remember his face nor his name, though.

And it’s not as if it’s arrogant for him wanting to be called with 『-sama』. Most likely, he doesn’t like being called as His Highness. Therefore, his favorability is still safe.

……Maybe he had calculated everything, but it’s always better than being arrogant.

It’s that, you know! That!

『Hypocrisy is also “good”. It’s million times better than doing an evil deed』 or 『Hypocrisy rather than not doing any good』.

A hypocrite who donates 1 million yen is 100,000 times better than a good person who doesn’t donate even a single yen and criticizes him.

Mitsuha: “So, what is His Majesty doing here…?”

Savas: “No, I told you earlier, escorting the princess.”

Certainly, he said that.

And his score is high as he said princess instead of Princess Shrine Maiden-sama.

Everyone had been disregarding Sabine-chan, but he wholeheartedly sees her as our kingdom’s Her Highness Princess.

Sabine-chan has the highest social status among the delegation members. If she’s neglected, then it’s an insult to our kingdom. Me? I’m just a lowly viscount here.

He has a warm and gentle eyes and seems like a person who won’t do anything strange. At any rate, he had offered himself as our escort publicly with a lot of people looking, and among the guests, there are people from other kingdoms as well. If we screw up here, we probably won’t be able to seal everyone’s mouth.

Mitsuha: “Sabine-chan, what to do?”

Yeah, it’s Sabine-chan who received the invitation, so she has the right to decide. And…

Sabine-chan: “…Gladly, please take care of me.”

Sabine-chan pulled both sides of her skirt and gave her gratitude with a courtesy pleasant smile.

Yup, Sabine-chan, who always have a sloven way of talking can also be like this when she needs to.

The smart and always properly studying, Sabine-chan can act as the perfect princess if she’s interested in it.

……or rather, acting or not, she’s originally a real princess, though.

With that said, four people, including the prince went out together.

Surprisingly, this prince knows quite a lot of secret places. A tasty restaurant not for aristocrats, but instead for commoners, an archery range for children (a game center where you use bows and arrows), a candy store, a trendy sundries store, souvenir shop, and such…

Why does the prince know about these kind of places?

Did he bother searching these places just for us? Or, is he usually playing around here…?

Araara-oneesan: “Ara, if it isn’t Saa-chan! It’s rare for you taking three cute girls along with you!”

……I see. He usually plays around here…

Sabine: “Thank you very much for today.”

Sabine-chan goes courtesy again according to my words. Collete-chan is also bowing down.

The prince behaved like a gentleman without even discriminating Colette-chan. Colette-chan seemed to be nervous at first but she was gradually having fun.

……it can’t be helped. Seems like he has a trick up his sleeve, but he had entertained us so should I give a souvenir as a gratitude for him?

This is perfect as he showed us his sincerity and we originally need a common ground with this kingdom.

It’s unrelated to us which person got the achievement and it doesn’t matter even if the one who got it is an interesting and capable prince.

But it’s not interesting to break the ice normally, you see…. Alright!

Mitsuha: “It was really fun so I would like to thank you for today. Therefore, please choose one of these three: dispatching the real delegation for the negotiation, demonstrating the new weapon, or kissing our hands.”

Fufufu, an option to embarrass a girl. It’s fine to be troubled to your heart’s content!

Savas: “Of course, the kiss!”

Mitsuha: “Eeeeeehhh!?”

What an instant reply! Moreover, it was an option that absolutely cannot be chosen for a prince!

Seems like allowing one’s hand is not a big deal for Sabine-chan. Even though she’s 10 years old, is this a daily routine for a princess?

Colette-chan seems to have no idea what’s going on.

In the end, it was me who took the most damage. Damn it!