Case 28: To an eventful evening’s end.

*****

''...''

In the corner of the hall, Kiara sat still.

Her eyes were glued to the ground, where only the faint shadows of others disturbed the stillness—not because there was something noteworthy, but because she didn't have the courage to meet eyes with anyone.

She could hardly hear the music playing in her ears.

'Rin... Ran... why didn't you guys come...?'

She was abandoned in this scary place. Of course, not literally. Her two subordinates, the twins, were the only ones she had the confidence to call 'friends,' yet they couldn't make it to the banquet.

Her parents had to greet other nobles.

Even her potential fiancé... was whisked away by another lady. Was it because she got too excited when Cecilia looked at her earlier? Kiara felt terrible when Cecilia ignored her.

'In the end...'

In the end, there was only Kiara. Alone, in this crowd of people.

She could only blame herself for this. She knew it was nearly impossible to get in between Cecilia and her partners. It was merely a spurt of confidence that had long fizzled out.

'Why am I... this useless...'

It was even more torturous not having Mr.Chief here to talk with. Thinking back, if not for Mr.Chief, she would have been holing up in her room by now, unable even to talk.

'Right, let's recount my memories with him.'

Kiara considered this an excellent way to cherish her time with the eagle. So, she gently, gently closed her eyes...

''Oh, here you are.''

''...?''

Suddenly, a shadow befell the floor. As Kiara lifted her head, an elegant hand came into view.

Cecilia was there, bearing the same kind smile she had shown her many times—with the same eyes that only reflected herself and the same breathtaking beauty that shook her heart.

Unconsciously, Kiara took the hand.

Only then, Cecilia's smile widened even more, looking like a delicate flower blooming in winter.

''Sorry, I was late.'' She whispered. ''Shall we go together?''

''Ah... okay.''

Logically, it wouldn't make any sense.

Kiara hadn't made any promises to Cecilia, and she didn't give a specific signal for this impromptu companionship either. It was as if the woman before her knew what she was going through.

'It's cold.'

The frail woman's hand was cold, yet perhaps for the better since Kiara's was burning from the amalgamation of emotions swirling inside her.

*****

Whew... fortunately, it seemed I made it.

I wasn't sure how long Penelope kissed me, but the banquet had just stepped into its later stages. At least we got time to party... no, in that sense, did I fail because I made her wait for half the duration?

A-Anyway, Kiara obediently followed me, which was a good thing, but I had several problems on my hands.

One was that I would get scolded by the jealous Penelope, who had been sizing up Kiara as she walked behind us. Kiara herself didn't seem to have realized, though.

Two was that I would get scolded by the jealous Rachael, who waited for me for definitely too long at this point. Not to mention the attention-needy Lyra...

Yeah, trying to please several women at a time was obviously going to be hard. What was I thinking?

True to my predictions, as soon as we stepped onto the balcony earlier, I felt two burning gazes shoot right through my head. At first, it was a shudder, and only seconds later, when Rachael saw what was going on, my legs were shaking.

It got cold out here all of a sudden.

''Ahahah... I accidentally met them on the way back...''

'''' ... ''''

''W-Well, let's sit down together, shall we? It's a new year; we ought to have some fun...!''

Naturally, I sat back on my previous seat, which was between Rachael and Lyra. The other two soon settled down as well, and only then did I dare to take a breather.

''Oh.''

I also noticed Lyra staring at me with her round, curious, yet a bit scary eyes, so I patted her head and took back the heating orb from her lap.

As I felt the comfortable heat spreading, Rachael lightly took a flock of my hair. Her eyes narrowed. ''Why did it take so long?''

''There was a bit of an accident, Your Highness. I'm sorry.''

''...I see.''

That look... sorry, Blaire or whatever your name was. It seemed you wouldn't escape this easily.

''...''

''...''

''Um, Your Highness?''

For what I thought was Rachael's rage toward whoever was responsible for the 'incident,' which reflected on her cold, hostile stare, it was actually something else, apparently. Her orange eyes closely inspected my appearance, scanning from top to bottom, making my body want to cower.

''Come here.''

''Eh—''

Before I could react, my waist was brought forward, and in half a heartbeat, my lips were stolen by Rachael. Once I could feel the stunning softness transmitting to my brain, she dug in ever further before bringing her tongue forward.

''Mn...!''

It was short, sure, but at the same time, the sheer possessiveness shown through her tongue's vicious attack made me realize something—she was jealous, incredibly so.

So she noticed, hahah...

After she pulled away, the imperial princess still held my body firmly, perhaps conscious of my tendency to melt. Then, almost gleefully, she licked her lips, which were tainted with my lipstick.

My whole face was burning. Imagining the faces of everybody else made me want to explode right then and there.

Mean woman.

''We'll get to this matter later, alright?'' Rachael whispered into my ear. ''In my bedroom.''

''U-Understood...''

While Lyra looked slightly annoyed and Kiara was blushing shyly, Penelope appeared just as composed as she was at any given time, even when Rachael intentionally shot her a mocking gaze.

'''' ... ''''

Um...

''Well? Since we're here already, let's celebrate a new year together.''

The invisible fight only ended when Rachael killed her momentum, switching the topic altogether. I let out a real breather this time, hugging my little sister loosely.

So scary...

Then, Penelope took the initiative and poured everyone a drink. We clunk our glasses, said 'Happy New Year,' and drank at the same time. For a moment, this was a real party.

Although the table was still awkward, thanks to Kiara, who happily took the conversations with me, the mood wasn't wholly dead.

In the end, we took a picture together and spent some time until the banquet slowly came to a close. I took a glance at the cars dashing out of the palace before turning back to everybody.

As I cleared my throat, Lyra perked up, and the other three also looked at me.

''I'm... thankful that you are all here,'' I said. ''It was a fun time, ladies. I hope we can be together like this a lot more in the future.''

''Together, huh... sure.''

''Of course, Lady Cecilia.''

''I hope so... too.''

Thus marked the end of an eventful evening. Overall, it wasn't too bad, really, although I showed my little sister an inappropriate moment.

Well, at least I could see them smile as they did now.