The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

"Is it truly fitting for the Crown Princess to wear such an outfit?"

"Are you seriously picking a fight the moment you see me?"

The classroom was still a bit chaotic, likely because the café hadn't officially opened yet.

The desks and chairs, aside from the ones students were actually using, had been cleared out, replaced with round tables and chairs that wouldn't look out of place in an actual café.

Still, the room wasn’t quite ready—ingredients and utensils were scattered across some remaining desks.

Even so, all the students had already changed into their uniforms.

...Come to think of it, maybe I was the only one thinking of this as a maid café.

In this world, there wasn’t a huge distinction between maids and general waitstaff. The only real difference was that maids, who worked directly under high-ranking individuals, tended to wear slightly more formal attire.

If you wore a black dress with a white apron, it was a maid uniform. By this world’s historical standards, that made perfect sense.

"It's a festival. We're just dressing up for fun. What's the big deal?"

Alice, ever pragmatic, got straight to the point.

"And it's not like we'd ever get to experience something like this otherwise. I mean, we're royalty. And almost everyone here is from noble families."

That... sounded like some sort of "commoner experience" argument.

But now that I thought about it, she wasn’t wrong.

Even in real-life high school festivals, selling things for money wasn’t unheard of. College students sometimes even made and sold street food.

So, I guess this could be considered a short-lived job experience.

Of course, nothing about it would actually be a realistic learning experience—especially for nobles.

Even if not every customer here was nobility, the fact that they were serving noble kids meant no one would treat this like a regular café.

"..."

Still, something about it didn’t sit right with me.

Not because of any grand sense of pride in my status as a princess—

And certainly not because I thought it was beneath me.

After all, I had already worn a bunny girl outfit.

"So, are you going to wear it or not?"

Alice, noticing my sudden silence, asked me again. Her voice was softer this time, less teasing than before.

"If you really don’t want to, you don’t have to. The festival is voluntary, after all. And you’ve already been busy since morning."

"..."

There was no mockery in her tone.

She genuinely meant it.

That realization made something in me twist uncomfortably.

By the time I came to my senses, I noticed that everyone in the room was watching me.

Of course, since Alice—the Crown Princess—was already wearing a maid outfit, my participation shouldn’t have been a big deal.

But I was second in line to the throne.

And the one who had questioned this whole situation.

It made sense that everyone was nervous.

If I flat-out refused now and left, the entire festival’s atmosphere would drop like a lead weight.

"...No, I’ll wear it."

It wasn’t so much that I was pressured into it—

It was more like...

It just felt pointless to resist now.

I still couldn’t shake my unease.

And I still didn’t know why I felt that way.

"Alright, then."

Alice shrugged.

The moment she did, the students—who had been holding their breath—let out relieved sighs.

The tension in the room vanished, and everyone resumed moving around, bringing life back to the classroom.

"Tada~!"

And as if she had never once doubted I would agree, Claire beamed and held out a maid uniform for me.

A traditional maid outfit.

I wasn’t sure if this design was truly "traditional" or just the result of years of pop culture cementing a specific image—

But it was the exact black-and-white uniform that otaku instantly associated with maids.

"Were all the maid uniforms purchased using the budget?"

"Huh? Oh, no, we borrowed them."

"This is the nobles' class. Everyone here can get their hands on outfits like this if they really want to."

Ah. Right.

Now that I looked closer, none of them were exactly identical.

They were all similar in design and in good condition, but there were slight variations.

Some had larger shoulder frills.

Some had different lace patterns on the aprons.

They clearly weren’t all made in the same place.

"...Do you have one # Nоvеlight # with smaller lace?"

The one Claire was holding had huge frills at the shoulders.

Big enough that, if positioned just right, they might even hide my cheeks.

Which, honestly, only made it look more like a cosplay outfit.

"Huh? Oh, but this one was specially set aside for you, so it’s the only one in your size... Should I check with the others?"

"...No, it’s fine. I’ll wear it."

Suppressing a sigh, I took the outfit from her.

*

The reason for my inexplicable resistance to wearing the maid outfit soon became painfully clear.

When I had worn the bunny girl costume, it had been in front of people who didn’t know me.

Even if I was embarrassed, I could tell myself that once I passed through that moment, I’d never see those people again.

Besides, Alice had already been dressed like that first.

If I refused, she would’ve been the only one infiltrating in that outfit. I had worn it because I had no other choice.

But now...

Well, I had been pressured into this by the atmosphere, just like before.

But—

"Thank you, Your Highness."

"Not at all. I’m merely doing what’s expected of me."

—The noble who had just received his tea from me was someone I recognized.

Specifically, from my time in that "illusory world."

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

In my original timeline, I had rarely attended balls or banquets.

I simply hadn’t needed to.

I could extract any information I wanted without socializing with nobles.

And if it came down to it, I could always resort to assassination.

But in that world, I had moved differently to deceive the Emperor’s gaze.

That strategy had led to the creation of my infamous persona—"The Black and White Lily of House Grace."

Not a title I had wanted.

It had simply stuck.

A lily was already a lily—what was the point of adding "black and white"? Sure, the bai in bailian (white lily) didn’t actually mean white, but still, it was an annoyingly pretentious name.

And this duke before me had been one of the middle-aged men I had spoken to back then.

Being a high-ranking noble, he likely didn’t view me as a woman.

But standing here in front of someone I had known in that other world—while dressed like this—was mortifying.

"...Hm?"

On top of that—

Yes.

When the goddess’s power had shattered that day, people had begun recalling buried memories.

Of course, most of those memories overlapped with existing ones.

So the majority likely dismissed them as mere dreams.

If I had been known as the "Black and White Lily" while still being a princess, that might have stuck in their minds.

But in that other world, I had been the daughter of House Grace.

"Is something wrong?"

"Ah, no. I must have simply mistaken something."

"I see."

The duke, who had been watching me with a slightly puzzled expression, quickly shook his head.

Of course.

No matter what, he couldn’t very well ask the Crown Princess if she had been born a baron’s daughter.

And my orphanage origins were already public knowledge among the high-ranking nobility.

The fact that the Emperor’s children actually carried his bloodline was still classified information.

If that leaked, it could spark a movement to rescue the imperial descendants still held captive in Velbur.

Eventually, the Empire would reclaim them.

But until then, secrecy was paramount.

"Then, if you'll excuse me, I must tend to other guests..."

"Ah, of course. My apologies for keeping you. Please enjoy your tea."

The duke, snapping back to his senses, gave me a polite nod.

I returned the gesture and turned away—

—Only to be met with a room full of familiar faces.

Everywhere I looked, I saw nobles I had known as the Black and White Lily.

Ah.

So this was why I hadn’t wanted to wear the maid outfit.

It wasn’t just discomfort.

It was dangerous.

If I ended up talking too much, someone might unintentionally recall old memories.

Even if they themselves dismissed them as a bizarre dream, if multiple nobles compared notes, they might notice inconsistencies.

No, it wouldn’t be enough to prove I had once been the daughter of House Grace.

But...

"..."

God, I was already exhausted.

A quick glance at the clock on the wall told me it hadn’t even been ten minutes since I’d started.

And yet, I already felt like I was drowning.