Crown Prince Severian waited for a long time for the messenger of the Assassins Guild without knowing anything. However, there was no way the messenger would come. Chession and Gremory had already taken care of everything.
After lunch, he was wandering around the Crown Prince's palace garden, feeling irritated, when Evelia stopped him.
"Brother."
"What are you? If you're going to say something like that again, get out."
"If a prophet speaks the truth, shouldn't it be considered a blessing?"
"You always bring bad news. So get out."
Severian tried to pass by by hitting Evelia on the shoulder, but Evelia did not budge and warned him.
"I know what my brother did. If you want to know what it means, ask the Emperor."
With those words, Evelia went on her way.
"...What is that guy?"
Severian, who felt something eerie, tried to ignore Evelia's words, but he found himself becoming more and more concerned.
'What's wrong with showing the guy who threw me in the Crown Prince's palace an example?'
In the end, Severian disobeyed the order and went to the Emperor's palace. The Emperor only sighed when he saw Severian, and did not say anything about disobeying the order. After all, the order given to him was not a real order, but just a warning.
For a moment, the Emperor was enraged when he heard of Severian's atrocities.
"What you did was nothing short of declaring war against the Grand Duke! You idiot! Do you really not understand why I have left the Grand Duke alone until now?"
"I wouldn't have just stood by and watched! I know that Father sent assassins periodically!"
"Those I sent were people who couldn't do any harm to the Grand Duke! They were sent to check and spy on the Grand Duke, so what if you send assassins like that?"
The Emperor eventually confessed to the Crown Prince what had happened. After Iris was witch-hunted, the outraged Chession awakened his fighting ability and poisoned the Imperial Family. And the Emperor, who could foresee death, foresaw that all the Imperial Family would be killed by Chession.
"So, Your Majesty, you made a deal with that Chession guy? In exchange for announcing that there are no witches in the world, you banished him to the outskirts?"
"Yes. I had an uneasy feeling even after sending him to the border. That's why I sent a watcher to check on him to see if he was preparing to attack the royal family!"
Severian began to sweat coldly on his back. What if Luke's assassin had caused significant damage to the Grand Duke? What if he had made Chession angry?
"Father, I really didn't know! I really didn't know that Chession was so strong that he could kill us all!"
"Damn it, there's nothing I can do. I have no choice but to appease the Grand Duke appropriately at this imperial banquet. How much time is left for the banquet?"
"There are about two weeks left.".
"Damn it, Severian, you should write a letter of reflection. Send it with the invitation. The Grand Duke would have dealt with the assassin you sent by now and probably figured out that you were the one behind it."
"Yes..."
And Evelia, who was passing by the Imperial Palace.
"This is a real mess. Isn't it?"
She picked up a gray cat that was wandering around the palace and walked leisurely across the garden.
***
"...What is this?"
Chession was dumbfounded when he saw Severian's reflection. The reflection contained a detailed explanation of the situation along with a pitiful apology.
Before Chession could finish reading it, Gremory snatched it away and threw it into the fireplace.
"Wow, it rides well."
"...Mori, that's blasphemy."
Then Anna appeared with some beef jerky.
"Miss! Have a snack!"
"Wow! It's beef jerky!"
Chession shook his head as he watched Mori, who seemed more interested in jerky than in the crime of insulting the imperial family.
Fortunately, Mori did not burn the invitation to the imperial banquet.
'The invitation is unusually extravagant.'
In most cases, no invitation was sent at all, or a messenger was sent informing people something like, "Come or not."
'I should tell Isolene and Mori in advance. There's something I absolutely have to do at the banquet.'
At that moment, Isolene burst open the office door and barged in.
"Your Highness! Can we have a tea party this weekend?"
"Yes."
"Wow! Mori! We can have a tea party!"
Chession looked at the scene beyond the open office door. Mori was chewing on the jerky and evaluating its taste, Anna was listening intently, and Isolene was jumping around while talking passionately about the tea party.
'There is no such thing as a market street.'
He gave a sly smile and put the invitation in the drawer. It's a tea party. I guess they can talk about the headache after the tea party.
When the story seemed to be coming to a close, Chession called Isolene aside.
"Isolene. I have something to ask you."
"What is it?"
"You, you were badly injured by the assassin. Are you okay? You look so fine that I'm worried. If you're not okay, I..."
"It's okay. Getting hurt and stabbed is the fate of black-haired witches. I'm used to it."
Isolene smiled and joked. Chession, relieved, returned the ring on his little finger to Isolene. The color of the gem, which had been dark until yesterday, had returned to an emerald color.
"Yes, you do it well. Now I'll give it back to you."
"Oh my, this is a ring that Your Highness used to wear. It brings back special memories. I will make sure to use it well."
Isolene made another pointless joke and left.
In this way, it seemed that peace had returned to the Grand Duke's palace. Severian had also promised in his letter of reflection that he would never send assassins again, and the Emperor had sent an invitation expressing his intention to treat them with great hospitality as a sign of reconciliation.
The problem, ironically, arose at the Tea Party.
***
The tea party was prepared just as Isolene had wanted. Gremory, who had no idea what a proper tea party was, was just lazing around watching Isolene do her thing.
Regardless, Isolene, who was excited about the tea party after a long time, didn't care about the fact that she was working alone. She just taught Mori wholeheartedly how to host a tea party. Even so, Gremory barely listened.
Isolene personally wrote invitations to the four young ladies she was close with. Since Isolene had a very temperamental personality, these young ladies were not ones she could call 'friends'.
Fortunately, she received a reply from all four of them saying they would attend. They also expressed their affectionate desire to become closer to Isolene through this opportunity.
Even more excited, Isolene enlisted the help of her family, the Counts of Sien, to import the finest tea leaves. Except for the Rilke tea leaves that had caused the horrific incident.
And then the long-awaited day of the tea party arrived. The six young ladies, including Gremory and Isolene, sat around a round table.
"Thank you all for coming! I missed you all."
"It's Young Lady Sien's tea party, so of course we have to come. We wanted to see you too!"
"I was waiting to hear when you would call me to the Grand Duchy! By the way, who is the short-haired lady next to you?"
"Call her 'Mori.' She's still new to tea parties, so please be gentle with her."
"Yes, Mori! Nice to meet you. My name is Katrin."
The four young ladies roughly figured out who Mori was and acted accordingly. A friend without a last name, unfamiliar with things like tea parties. It was clear that she was a victim of the witch hunt that the Grand Duke had saved.
"Nice to meet you. I'm glad we can enjoy this together."
Gremory gave a formal greeting as she had learned from Isolene. She smiled slightly, the corners of her lips tugging at them.
The young ladies responded with smiles and shared their recent news with each other, creating a warm atmosphere.
"My paintings will be exhibited at the Daymar Art Museum this time. If you have time, how about coming to see them next weekend?"
"Oh my, congratulations, Karen! Of course I have to go see it!"
"The Daymar Art Museum? It's amazing!"
As the conversation flowed with laughter, an uninvited guest with fluttering red hair approached the table.
"Oh my Isolene! What if you throw a tea party and don't send an invitation to me? I thought you missed it and came looking for you, but you missed it? You don't have many friends, so there's no way you wouldn't invite me, your best friend."
Catherine Ortega. She was the second daughter of the Ortega family, and a woman who enjoyed treating lower-ranking ladies as her maids. In addition, she was also a long-time enemy of Isolene, who once fought over Chesion.
She scanned the table, then forcibly dragged the lowest-ranking-looking woman out and sat down in a chair.
The woman who was dragged out was, of course, Mori.
"Is this my seat? It's right next to you, and my favorite apple pie is right there too... ugh!"
Gremory immediately grabbed Catherine by the hair.
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