The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

When Alice and I went back down to the lobby, we found Claire and Leo there. It seemed that Claire was staying in the same room as Charlotte, while Leo was in a room with Jake.

Mia Crowfield was with Sophia, but... I honestly didn’t understand why they were paired up. "So they wouldn’t be uncomfortable together?" But wouldn’t they just be uncomfortable with each other?

However, upon thinking about it again, I realized that no matter who Mia was paired with, she probably would have been uncomfortable. Mia didn’t like getting close to anyone, and Sophia had only recently transferred, plus, as a foreigner, she didn’t have any ties to the Empire’s social circles. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Perhaps that’s why they assumed there would be no clashes. It would have been awkward to pair Mia with someone from the royal family or a powerful noble family like Claire.

"Oh, that."

When Alice took out the invitation she had brought downstairs, Claire reacted immediately.

"You got one too?"

"No, I didn’t get one."

Claire responded with a look of disappointment.

"But I saw Charlotte get one. From Roti."

"What’s this about?"

Leo, intrigued by the conversation, asked.

"It’s an invitation to some dull banquet tonight at our estate," Jake answered. Unlike his usual casual tone, his words had a strangely subdued atmosphere. Given Jake’s typically lighthearted demeanor, even the smallest shift made him seem much more serious.

"I’ll say it now, but there’s no need to go. My father didn’t send the invitations expecting everyone to show up," Jake continued.

"But we can’t turn down an invitation from the lord of the estate where we’re staying, can we?" Charlotte frowned slightly.

"The place isn’t being provided because we were invited. It’s part of the academy’s cooperation, and strictly speaking, we’re still in class, so it’s not the same as a regular invitation," Jake explained, glancing around at the others.

"Anyone else get one?"

The room fell quiet for a moment, and a girl cautiously raised her hand.

"I-I got one..."

It was Mia Crowfield.

After seeing her, it seemed everyone realized how the invitations had been distributed.

"How blunt... Does this mean no one from the commoner class got one?" Alice said in disbelief.

"Yeah. They were only sent to families around the count level," Jake said with a bitter smile, noticing the attention on him.

"Even a duke’s family being so obvious about it?"

"Well, I wouldn’t call it that bad. Even at banquets held by other dukes, barons don’t usually get invited unless they’re family. Certainly not commoners."

Alice opened the envelope and unfolded the invitation.

‘It would be an honor to have you grace our banquet tonight with your esteemed presence.’

The Duke’s signature, the venue, and time were listed. Other than the signature, nothing too significant—someone would come to fetch us anyway if we forgot.

"Are they trying to make connections before we even graduate?" Alice muttered, glancing out the window.

Once Alice becomes Empress, both she and I may never have the chance to come back here. As Empress, she would be occupied with ruling, and I would be busy supporting her.

So now was the best time to make connections. Not just with royalty like Alice, but also with the children of other high-ranking noble families.

"Well... I guess so?" Jake gave a vague response.

"I’m curious about this banquet," Sophia said, her eyes sparkling. Of course, Sophia, officially from a ‘heritage knight family,’ was barely considered a noble by rank. Technically, she wasn’t even a baron, so she didn’t receive an invitation.

"Well, to outsiders, it would probably look that way," Jake responded, but neither Alice, Charlotte, nor Mia, who had received the invitation, looked particularly excited. Neither did I.

...And I knew the Duke’s ulterior motives. I might not be involved in them directly, but for the sake of the other girls who would be caught up in it, it would be better if I went along.

"Hmm."

After hearing Sophia’s remark, Jake stroked his chin thoughtfully, then smiled mischievously.

"Hey, buddy."

"Wh-what?!"

Leo jumped in surprise as Jake suddenly threw an arm around him.

"Why don’t you want to come to the banquet? There’ll be plenty of pretty noble girls there."

At that, the girls around us glared at Jake with cold, disapproving looks. Even Sophia... Ah, now that I think about it, she had some lines about chastity, didn’t she?

"Uh? No, I—"

Leo, clearly uncomfortable, looked away, giving the expected reaction from an oblivious male character. But honestly, Leo’s reaction wasn’t that important.

The protagonist couldn’t possibly miss out on an important event like this.

In the original, after Jake figured out the Duke’s real intentions, he dragged Leo into the situation, causing everything to fall apart. I wasn’t sure if the same thing would play out here, but it couldn’t hurt to have the protagonist around.

"And, Leo’s sister."

"My name is Claire. And I’m not his little sister; I’m the older one."

"Right? Then Claire."

Jake smiled at Claire.

"How about you? Want to come to the banquet too?"

"Huh? Is that okay?"

"Of course. If I’m going, my sister can’t miss it. You too, Sophia."

...Hmm.

Well, this atmosphere was similar to the original, but now I understood why some fanfic writers adored Jake so much.

With his attitude, he was clearly the "heroine-charming" golden boy.

It almost seemed like he was deliberately setting the stage for that role.

Thankfully, Roti was still passing out invitations. Otherwise, I might have given Jake a smack on the back of his head.

"...What’s the deal here?"

"The deal? I just want to have fun with my friends," Jake replied casually.

Alice’s reaction was slightly different from the original.

Back then, Alice, who had been awkward about socializing because she focused on studying to beat Claire, almost refused the invitation. But after hearing Leo would go, she decided to go for sure.

The other girls had similar reasons.

In this version, Alice didn’t seem to have any romantic feelings for Leo, though.

"I’ll go."

I suddenly spoke up, and all eyes turned toward me.

"Really?"

"Seeing the Duke in person will be a lot different than just hearing about him," I said.

Honestly, I was more interested in joining Jake’s plan.

Well, of course.

In a setting like this, if there were a couple caught in forbidden love, it would be common sense to bring them together.

"Hmm."

Jake stared at me for a moment before shrugging.

"Alright, you’ve already got an invitation, so it’s fine."

"Is that alright?"

Alice, still a bit skeptical, asked quietly while glancing at Jake.

"I don’t think anything big will happen. And..."

I glanced at Claire and Sophia, who both seemed excited.

"If we don’t go, there’ll be at least two people who’ll be really disappointed."

"You’re too soft."

Alice chuckled bitterly at my words.

*

The southern part of Lindbergh territory was almost always under the blazing sun, but by September, the temperature swings became quite dramatic.

Of course, the car that picked us up in front of the hotel was warm. There was no need to worry about the cold.

"So the invitation..."

"It’s fine."

At the entrance to the mansion, before we could even hand over the invitation, Jake spoke to the doorman.

"I’ll vouch for everyone here. They’re my friends."

"Understood."

The doorman stepped aside without asking any further questions.

"Have a pleasant time."

"Hey, hey..."

As we walked confidently behind Jake, Claire tugged lightly at my sleeve, asking.

"Sis, do we not need to wear dresses or anything?"

It was such an adorable worry.

Wasn’t it a little late to be asking?

"We’re students, so our uniforms are enough," I replied.

It wasn’t really a full-fledged social event. The Duke had invited us because he wanted to see the "students."

Especially the girls who didn’t have fiancés.

He likely wanted to see which students would be suitable for marrying his son.

The Duke knew that Jake spent a lot of time with Roti.

A classic forbidden love, I suppose.

Well, in a game with this kind of background, forbidden love was basically designed to happen.