Now that I think about it, Adelaide─the first girl whose debutante ball I hosted─had nerves of steel. I dubbed over her lines in the play, but she acted with so much confidence. She’s apparently becoming a leader among the nobles in her age group, which doesn’t surprise me at all.
I could’ve sworn Beatrice had just as much spunk, though. The Ryners are a new noble family that only gained peerage during Adelaide’s grandfather’s generation, so maybe she still has the grit of a commoner.
Regardless, it’s too late to change anything now. Beatrice just has to go out there and knock our socks off!
The debutante ball was being held in the courtyard of the Bozeses’ mansion in the capital. To differentiate this ball from Adelaide’s, Mitsuha chose an outdoor setting. Many of tonight’s guests had already attended Adelaide’s party. There was also the matter of the Ryners having the rank of viscount, whereas the Bozeses were a count’s family that was soon to become marquis. This ball had to blow the other one out of the water.
The weather this time of year in the capital was not too hot or too cold. The evenings were cool. The wind was blowing from the northwest at ten miles an hour with clear skies. The sun had just set, and it was quickly growing dark.
In one corner of the courtyard, a temporary stage had been constructed against the mansion. Count Bozes, illuminated by the spotlight, was about to share his words of welcome to kick off the party.
Mitsuha was worried that the batteries wouldn’t provide enough electricity, so she’d set up generators nearby. The whole courtyard would have to be lit up when it came time for all the guests to mingle. LED lights didn’t consume much electricity, but she ended up needing a lot of electrical power.
“Greetings, everyone,” Count Bozes began. “Thank you very much for gathering tonight for the debut of my daughter, Beatrice.”
Girls weren’t valued as much as boys in the countries of this world. That was to be expected in this era of civilization. Most countries on Earth followed the same path.
Beatrice, however, was the Bozeses’ only daughter, and was doted on by her parents and siblings. She was close with the Lightning Archpriestess and Princess Sabine, and was even the owner of Beatrice Company. On top of that, she was the younger sibling of Alexis Bozes─the young man who was given his own title of nobility after his heroics in the battle to defend the capital, and was greatly admired and fawned over by fellow young nobles.
…But a sucker for his little sister.
Yeah, people are gonna salivate over Beatrice. Just as her parents and I feared. That doesn’t mean we’ll hold back on boasting about her virtues or sell her short, though. We’re gonna give everything we’ve got to celebrate her charm and worth. Her parents and I won’t budge on that.
Our goal is to win over as many talented and kind upper-class boys as possible─preferably third sons and younger. That way, Beatrice could pick a respectable character who she also happens to fancy. There’s no room for compromise.
Count Bozes wrapped up the introduction─at this point, the heroine wasn’t present yet─and walked off the stage. The spotlight switched off. The sky had gotten considerably darker.
After a brief moment─flash!─a beautiful picture was projected onto the white wall behind the stage. It appeared to be a room somewhere in the royal palace.
“WHOAAA!” The crowd stirred.
Mitsuha had set up a projector just like at Adelaide’s party. The stage was built against the mansion’s wall for this purpose. The guests who attended Adelaide’s party weren’t surprised by the image, but everyone else was understandably in awe.
A voice began to narrate over the speakers, “There was a young girl─a close friend of the royal princess─who soon became a court lady and began to work at the royal court…”
The sound system was installed high on the building, rendering the voice audible not just in the courtyard, but the entire vicinity of the Bozeses’ property. Mitsuha figured no one would complain about the noise. There wasn’t a lot of entertainment in this world, so they might’ve found the loud voice curious. I hope.
Mitsuha wasn’t doing the narration this time. She found someone from the Bozeses’ house staff who seemed to have a knack for it and trained them for the role. Beatrice’s lines weren’t going to be dubbed over, either. A small microphone had been attached to the girl’s dress collar so she could deliver them herself. It was the least Mitsuha could do to avoid the play being criticized as a rehash of Adelaide’s.
If I’m gonna use the same tricks, the impact needs to be several times bigger than the first time around.
Once the narrator finished their part, Beatrice took the stage. Here we go!
“Listen up, foul merchant!” she recited. “I see your evil ways, always scheming and sending your minions to court. You will never seize the princess, or any other members of the royal family, or the citizens of this kingdom for as long as I am here!”
Writing a story about an internal dispute in the royal court could’ve been problematic, so the villains in the script were corrupt merchants. No one would take issue with that.
Since Mitsuha didn’t have to dub the entire play herself, she was free to add more characters. She decided to include villains to the story. Each additional actor increased the cost of the play because she had to buy another mini microphone for them, but that wasn’t a big deal. Mics could be reused, and the count was paying for everything anyway.
The stage show progressed and next came Beatrice’s big scene. She struck a dramatic pose in her court lady’s uniform to intimidate the two villains. The play was nothing but a montage of highlights; there was no real story to it. The five-minute-long bit was pretty much a build-up to this one juicy fight scene.
The narrator began, “Some know her as the daughter of Count Bozes. To others, the owner of Beatrice Company. To the rest, an attendant of the third princess… But who is she really?!”
At that moment, seven stagehands (maids) walked onto the platform holding a long curtain-like fabric. They formed a single line in front of Beatrice and began to circle around her, using the curtain to obscure her from view.
Tension was building. Mitsuha was gripping a switch in her sweaty palm.
One, two, three… Now! Lights for Beatrice’s first outfit change, on!
Beams flashed from a disco ball hanging from the mansion roof and also from the foot of the stage. Colorful rays sparkled and danced across the yard.
“Bunny Flaaaaash!”
The plan was for Beatrice to slip out of the quick-change court lady costume and into a pair of slacks, which had been hidden in a floor compartment. There was also a specially made jacket to wear over the shirt she had under the court lady outfit. Once she was fully changed, she would kick her court lady outfit into the compartment and close the lid.
Please get this right! If the maids screw up the timing and expose Beatrice in her underwear, Lady Iris will kill me…literally!
The maids finished circling around Beatrice as rehearsed and started to exit to the other end of the stage. They could obviously tell if Beatrice was still in the middle of changing, so there shouldn’t be any mishaps. If she wasn’t ready, they would’ve kept circling her a few more times.
The last maid left Beatrice’s side, revealing the heroine to the crowd in a gallant new outfit…accessorized with bunny ears and a tail. She looks ear-resistible!
The outfit didn’t show any skin, of course. An actual bunny girl suit was out of the question. Women in this country weren’t shy about revealing their back and cleavage, but showing any skin above the knee was taboo. Beatrice was only fifteen. There was no way Mitsuha was going to let her wear an outfit that displayed her chest.
Be it top or bottom, no skin allowed!
Well, there are plenty of other fifteen-year-old girls here wearing dresses that expose their chest, but Beatrice ain’t wearing one of those on my watch! The dress she’ll change into later (made by the degenerate dressmaker) is modest too.
…And no, I didn’t dress her like that out of jealousy!
Anyway, the newly revealed outfit is inspired by a female version of the royal knight’s uniform with modern elements to give it a dash of “superhero” flavor. It looks incredibly cool! The dressmaker put in a lot of effort.
In Beatrice’s hand was a rapier─a real one. Borrowing it from the count was cheaper than buying a fake one in Japan.
She declared, “It is I, the angel of love who protects the peace of the royal palace! You can call me the Royal Rabbit!”
Time for light effect number two! Music, on!
“These long ears hear all that transpires within the royal court! You’re going down, villains!”
The evil merchant duo let out a battle cry. Clangs of their weapons reverberated through the courtyard.
Sweet, this turned out great!
Clap!