“Oooh! Mother! You mean...?” Emilia started. Her eyes glimmered with excitement as the queen had a crew member take out a large box.
“I had some time when I lived in the tower, so I covertly sewed some outfits,” the queen revealed. “Now’s the time that they’d come in handy!”
Just imagining a queen having enough free time on her hands to stitch up a few outfits is so... Yeah, never mind. None of my business. I was so afraid I’d say something stupid somehow I didn’t even think the rest of my thought.
Queen Belletochka, oblivious to my quiet impertinence, beamed with delight as she brought out one of her many outfits. It was a rather risqué take on what would probably be called a bedlah in my past life, and the fabric was mostly see-through. Okay, at least this has got a bottom bit. I-I guess we can just baaaarely wear this kind of outfit without totally revealing all of our unmentionables?
The initial outfit choice I’d been given was so awful that this skimpy outfit seemed leagues better in comparison—but upon closer inspection, it didn’t cover my body all that much either. Still, I decided to compromise on this outfit and whirled around to gauge the reactions of my friends...and every one of the other potential wearers, barring Emilia, shook their heads furiously. Only then did it hit me that my perception had been skewed, and I quickly came back down to reality. Yeah, no! This is still totally embarrassing!
“U-Um, do you...perchance have anything else?” I asked, clinging to the faintest sliver of hope.
“Hmm... Let’s see...” Queen Belletochka said. She shoved her head into a large, wooden chest and began rustling around for more clothes. “See, the first outfit was just so charming that I went ahead and made some more in the same cutesy vein.”
The queen then took out an outfit comprising a sleeveless top and a miniskirt. It was akin to an idol’s uniform, complete with adorable frills. The back of the attire was wide open, the norm for demons, but frankly, I was more than willing to put myself in this poofy garb over the barely-there bedlah.
“Personally, since both outfits have a bottom, we prefer the other one,” Emilia said. “It is far more charming and mature.”
“Emilia, please, we needn’t try so hard to come off as mature ladies when we’re not there yet,” I insisted, tears of blood flowing down my eyes as I grappled with an acute awareness that I was completely lacking in womanly charm. Maybe Magiluka could pull it off too, but please have mercy on the rest of us! “Let’s have the good grace to go the cutesy route.”
“Why do you look so devastated?!”
Safina and Sita were nodding vigorously in agreement with me.
“Mother, we forgot to ask. Do you make these outfits often?” Emilia inquired, gazing longingly at the bedlah. “We must say that we’re a touch surprised.”
“W-Well, truth be told, I was just bored to tears,” the queen replied. “I had so much time on my hands, and I wanted a way to keep myself busy. I brought them along with me just in case, so I’m so glad that they’ve come in handy.”
“Hmm. Since you were isolated in that tower for so long, we take it you weren’t making these with someone in mind.”
“R-Right.”
“Which means...you made these revealing and cutesy outfits so you yourself could—”
“Emilia! Come on! We’ve gotta tackle the matter at hand!” I interjected. I knew it was unladylike, but I felt I had to take the risk of raising my voice and segueing the conversation. I suspected that Emilia was genuinely just making observations, but I feared if she said anything further, it would hurt the queen’s delicate maiden heart.
“Ah, yes!” Emilia said. “Now then, Mary, what do you make of this orb of water?”
She didn’t seem particularly fixated on her mother’s private antics after all, seeming to confirm my idea she meant no ill will. The queen looked visibly relieved, her face and ears tinged a bright scarlet.
“Miss Frederika, the remaining magus technology on this stage appears to be this thing that can create balls of water and a device that seems to amplify sound,” Sita noted. “Is that correct?”
“Oho? Little Sita, you truly are so knowledgeable!” Frederika replied. “You’re right. It seemed the armors didn’t deem these necessary to travel to Xeoral, so they left them alone.”
Sita puffed out her chest proudly. I had no idea when she’d managed to look into it, but I had a hunch the denizen of the book she was holding on to had helped her take a peek into the inner workings of this stage. Good grief, I just take my eyes off them for one second... One day they’re gonna break something important with all their snooping around.
“Um,” Safina started gingerly, taking one for the team as we gazed at the water. “Must we be in the water at all times for this ritual?”
“No, it’s not for you guys,” Frederika reassured. “We just need this water to dance properly on land, that’s all.”
Phew. Guess we’re all clear on that end.
“Ahem,” Queen Belletochka said, clearing her throat as she regained her usual composure. “Frederika, there won’t be any mermaids dancing onstage this time around. We may need to reconsider some aspects of the performance with that in mind.”
“A-Ah, yes,” the mermaid replied. “I’m not sure what you have in mind, but I’ll accept any help I can get.”
Uh, is it just me, or does the queen seem more excited about this than Frederika? That whole “songstress” thing is really coming to the forefront. I wasn’t sure if the queen was genuinely interested in making music or what, but I was grateful for her support.
“Since we’ve got the water stage all prepared, let us practice!” Frederika said. “I’ll show you the dance to quell the spirit. The dance is usually done with five people, but let’s never mind that.”
Frederika slapped her cheeks, presumably to amp herself up, before she leaped into the sphere of water. It felt like I was gazing at a majestic fish in a massive tank.
“Wow! It feels like I’m at an aquarium—”
Before I could carry on with knowledge from my past life, Tutte, standing behind me, quickly cleared her throat to signal I was prattling on about nonsense, and I promptly snapped my mouth shut. Everyone gazed at Tutte and me quizzically.
“Hi, everyone!” Frederika shouted, ignoring me. “Thank you sooo much for joining me todaaay! ♪ Are we ready to kick things up a notch? ♪”
Her energy was infectious as she began her dance, uh, or rather, ritual to quell the spirit. I was sorta imagining a quieter, more solemn ceremony... You know, like a traditional Japanese dance, or some sort of elegant, spiritual kind of number... I’d been excited to take part in some rigid ritual choreography, but soon realized that my expectations were way off. Frederika’s song was way cheerier and more upbeat than I’d imagined, and she swam to and fro within the sphere of water. I’ve seen something like this before...
“It’s an idol concert...” I murmured softly under my breath.