The Princess and the Tea Party

After I had gone to teach Martine-sama magic several times, some time passed before I was invited to a tea party.

Apparently, Catherine-sama was having tea with Elisabeth-sama, so this tea party was supposed to be just Martine-sama and me. They planned to clear the area completely.

Why just the two of us...? I wondered about that as I headed to the Royal Palace. I was then guided to a gazebo in the garden of the North Palace.

Catherine-sama had explained that the Royal Palace was divided into four sections. The Central Palace was where the king's office and audience chamber were located, the East Palace was where the officials mainly worked, the West Palace was where the knights mainly worked, and the North Palace was the royal residence.

Tea and sweets had already been prepared in the gazebo. I sat in a chair and waited for Martine-sama.

After I had waited for a while, Martine-sama arrived with a single guard. Once Martine-sama took her seat, the guard withdrew far enough away that he could not hear our voices.

"Leon, hello. Thank you for coming today."

"Martine-sama, it is an honor to be invited."

Martine-sama was wearing a more elaborate dress than usual, perhaps because this was a tea party, and she had put on plenty of jewelry as well. Her features were so perfect that, combined with her clothing, she looked almost unreal...

I found myself staring intently at Martine-sama. So someone this adorable really did exist.

It was only a little while later that I realized what I was doing.

Oh no! I might have been staring too long!

I hurriedly looked away. I had always made sure not to stare at Martine-sama for too long.

Because if I didn't, wouldn't I just keep staring?

God must have put an incredible amount of effort into creating her perfect features, and then given her such an adorable, natural smile! No matter how many times I looked at her, I couldn't help being entranced!

"Leon, I always tell you that you can relax around me."

"But... you are the princess, Martine-sama."

"I say it's fine, so that doesn't matter. I want us to become closer."

Martine-sama said that while puffing out her cheeks in anger.

Lately, Martine-sama had always been telling me to relax around her. For some reason, she seemed to have taken a liking to me.

That made me extremely happy, but it was obviously strange for a commoner to call a princess by her name without an honorific.

Still, I was gradually finding it harder and harder to refuse her.

"But people around us might notice..."

"That's true, but today it's just the two of us. How about speaking less formally when we're alone?"

Martine-sama's face lit up as she proposed that, as though she had just thought of something wonderful.

Ugh... I had no excuse left to refuse...

Well, if it was only the two of us, no one would accuse me of being disrespectful, so I supposed it was fine. It wasn't as though we would be alone together very often.

"All right. But only when we're alone."

"Yes, that's fine! Then call me Martine. And no formal speech either!"

Martine-sama said that with an extremely pleased expression. There was no way I could resist that smile! I nodded with a wry smile.

"Yes."

"I'm happy that I feel closer to you now, Leon! We will be classmates at the Royal Academy, too. I'm really looking forward to attending the Royal Academy."

So we would be classmates at the Royal Academy, too... I wanted to keep a low profile and spend my time there quietly.

But I would be attending from the ducal household, so I was bound to attract attention. I had already said I would help improve the ducal family's influence, so there was nothing I could do about it now.

Still, I was going to keep the fact that I could use every attribute and the way I visualized magic hidden. Maybe I could get by without attracting too much attention? No, that was probably impossible...

I would probably only be able to hide quietly until I entered the Royal Academy. After that, I would have to do my best at school as a commoner backed by the ducal household. Then, after graduating, would I reveal that I could use every attribute and receive a noble title? It seemed I would be in the spotlight the entire time...

For now, I should enjoy my life as a commoner. It might be the only chance I get.

"A-at the Royal Academy, l-let's get along, Martine. I'm glad we're c-classmates."

Uuuugh! It was so difficult to talk like this! Speaking formally was much easier. Not using formal speech with a princess made me far too uncomfortable.

"You sound rather unnatural. I want you to speak more casually. You can think of us as equals."

I couldn't think of us that way! We weren't equals at all!

But I would just talk normally. Come on, me. Remember how you talked to the girls in your class!

"Okay."

Did that sound natural? It was only one word, but... I felt like I could manage this. I was getting used to it. That's more like it!

"Then let's have a pleasant chat from now on! I've been wanting to ask you so many things, Leon."

"Yeah. What did you want to ask me?"

"What is your favorite food, Leon?"

"My favorite food?"

"Yes! I know nothing about you, after all. I have to start with the basics."

That was true. We met often for magic practice, but we basically only talked about magic.

What was my favorite food? If I'd still been in Japan, it would have been sushi... and pizza, too.

Did this world have pizza? It might, but I had never seen it, so answering that would be risky.

Hmm... If I chose something that existed in this world... French toast, I suppose. The first sweet food I'd had in a long time left a powerful impression on me, and I came to love French toast.

"French toast, I guess. What about you, Martine?"

"Oh, so you like sweet things, Leon! I do too. But my favorite food is pizza, of course."

"Pizza!? They have pizza here!?"

I couldn't help blurting that out with far too much enthusiasm.

"They do, but how do you know about it? The royal palace chefs only developed it recently."

Oh no... I had let that slip again, for the first time in ages. I had gotten carried away...

"Uh, um, I happened to hear about it at the Townsend ducal household. Ha ha..."

I tried to cover it up, but Martine's suspicious gaze did not soften. If anything, it grew even more intense.

"Pizza should only have been made in the North Palace so far. Richard-sama and Catherine-sama never eat at the North Palace, so they shouldn't know about it."

Ugh... What should I do? How could I cover this up?

As I sat there with sweat pouring down my back and panicked frantically inside, Martine-sama made a slightly troubled expression.

"There is something I have wanted to ask you for a long time. Father absolutely told me not to ask you about it, but I cannot stop wondering. Besides, I do not think you are the sort of person who would get angry no matter what I asked you."

"Something you wanted to ask me...?"

Was there something Alexis-sama had forbidden her to ask me about? What could it be? I wouldn't get angry no matter what she asked me...

"I wouldn't get angry no matter what you asked me."

"I see... I will believe you. Then may I ask you about it? Will you keep it a secret that I asked you this?"

Was she really going to ask me something that serious...?

I was starting to get nervous. I swallowed hard, my heart pounding a little, and answered.

"I will not tell anyone else what we're about to discuss."

After I said that, Martine-sama stared at me with a serious expression. Then she let out a small breath, as though she had steeled herself.

"Thank you. ...Then, you can use magic of every attribute, can't you, Leon?"

"Yes."

Didn't everyone already know that?

"And you possess a great deal of knowledge, including knowledge that even we members of the royal family do not have."

"Y-yes..."

"We know of one person who possesses such abilities. The Apostle-sama."

"I've heard about the Apostle-sama from Richard-sama, too. But I'm not the Apostle-sama, you know?"

Hadn't that already been explained to everyone?

"Is that really true? Are you not hiding it for some reason? Most people probably think that you are the Apostle-sama, Leon. They assume that there is some reason you cannot reveal your identity. That is why asking you about the Apostle-sama is treated almost like a taboo."

Had things really gotten that far!? Well, if there were a child who possessed every attribute and so much knowledge, I suppose it was only natural that people would think so...

"I really am not the Apostle-sama. I didn't even know such a person existed until I heard about the Apostle-sama."

"Then, setting aside the fact that you can use magic of every attribute, where did you acquire all your knowledge?"

What should I do...? Would it be all right to tell her the truth? It would probably be easier to say that I was the Apostle-sama, but I didn't like lying...

Would Martine-sama hate me if she learned the truth? I was already effectively under the protection of Alexis-sama and Richard-sama, so even if Martine-sama came to dislike me, it probably wouldn't have much effect on me.

...But I did not want her to hate me. We had only just become close.

But not wanting her to hate me was no reason to lie. She had asked me so directly that I wanted to answer her honestly. I did not want to evade the question vaguely.

I did not know whether she would believe me, but I decided to tell her the truth.

All right! I steeled myself, looked directly into Martine-sama's eyes, and began to speak. Somehow, I slipped back into polite speech because I was nervous.

"I have never told anyone what I am about to say, so if possible, could you keep it a secret? It is not something I want a great many people to know about."

"I understand. I will treat this as a secret between us and will not tell anyone."

"Thank you. I... have memories of a life in another world. I lived there until after I had become an adult, in a world completely different from this one. I was probably caught up in some kind of explosion, and when I came to, I was eight-year-old Leon in this world. All the knowledge I possess came from my previous world."

After I said that, Martine-sama looked bewildered, then furrowed her brow and fell into thought.

"So you have memories of living as another person?"

"Yes."

"And it wasn't another country in this world, but a country in another world?"

"That's right."

"Could something like that really happen...?"

"If I heard a story like this from someone else, I would think it was hard to believe, too. But it is the truth."

Martine-sama remained lost in thought for a while. Would she find me creepy after hearing this? Or would she laugh and say it was impossible?

An awkward stretch of time continued. I sat there waiting, cold sweat beading from my nervousness.

Quite a while passed before Martine-sama finally raised her head. She seemed to have reached a conclusion.

She looked straight into my eyes and spoke with a resolute expression, as though she had made a decision.

"I have decided to believe what you told me. And I will not tell anyone."

After saying that, Martine-sama's expression became slightly bashful and almost pouty, and she continued.

"Living with a secret that you cannot tell anyone must be difficult. You can tell me anything. To start with... tell me about your life in the world before this one."

"Martine-sama..."

I nearly cried at those words from a nine-year-old girl. I must have been more on guard in this world than I had realized. Not being able to tell Mother or Father had really been weighing on me.

I felt somehow relieved, as though I had found a place where I could reveal my true self. The tension left my body.

Seeing Martine-sama smiling adorably with an expression that was both kind and slightly proud, I smiled too.

"Martine, will you listen to me talk about my past?"

"Yes, of course. We are friends, after all!"

Martine answered with a beautiful, radiant smile like a flower in full bloom.