Depositing cash at the bank isn’t a good idea either. The tellers would definitely remember my face if I showed up with that much money, and they might even usher me to the back where the branch manager’s office is. I’d end up on security footage too, which could be used to identify me.
That leaves me with no choice. I’ll have to pay them directly in cash like last time. Wiring money from my overseas account sounds like too much of a pain. Scrounging up that much in cash is gonna take a few days. The workshop chief will have to wait. I’ve got errands to take care of today, and the chief said there’s no rush…
Withdrawing money from my Japanese bank account would be quick, but then I’d have to spend time replenishing it with money from abroad that I made by “selling sculptures.” That money would be taxed heavily, too.
This expense isn’t for me. It’s for a mysterious client who, perchance, might be an otherworldly princess named Nanoha. That means there’s no reason for “Mitsuha Yamano” to pay taxes on it!
She nodded to herself.
I’m afraid I’ll get stuck listening to the workshop chief and his employees geek out about fireworks again when I go back there, but oh well… I don’t see any other choice.
The next day, Mitsuha returned to the Bozeses’ mansion. She had to collect the LED lights, power cables, generators and batteries, meet with the count to discuss payment and review the event’s outcome, and some other things.
All right, let’s go find him!
“Mitsuha, that was the BEST PARTY EVER! Last night will be remembered in the kingdom forever along with my name!” Beatrice threw her arms around her friend.
“You’ve really done it this time, Mitsuha…” Count Bozes looked exasperated. Lady Iris stood beside him, seeming tense.
…He clearly didn’t mean that as praise.
The count continued, “You announced to the entire city that large, loud flowers of flame were going to bloom in the sky in celebration of Beatrice’s debutante ball─which was perfectly necessary, I’m not blaming you. If you’d put on that kind of show without giving the people prior notice, it would’ve caused an unprecedented panic. The problem is…”
He took a deep breath.
“Many of the people in the capital who saw the display believe that it was sent by the Goddess in celebration of ‘Saint Beatrice’ reaching adulthood. They reveled all through the night, and some are still out there toasting to it as we speak!”
Yikes! I jumped right to my Japanese house last night to take a shower and crash, so I had no idea any of that was happening.
“Umm, what if we asked the archbishop to deny that it was the Goddess’s doing?” Mitsuha suggested.
“The archbishop is the one who spread the word in the first place! He’s been proclaiming that last night was a ‘miracle of the Goddess’ and that a ‘new saint has been born’ for all to hear!”
“Aw, dang,” sighed Mitsuha.
Now that I think about it, I didn’t give a heads-up to the church.
“Also…”
There’s more?!
“We’ve been getting an endless stream of messengers from other royal families since early this morning, all of them carrying marriage proposals for Beatrice. We have over thirty of them now! They’re all desperate to form familial ties with us and welcome a saint into their home.
“What the hell are we going to do?! Beatrice just turned fifteen four days ago! Tell me you can fix this!”
Jeez, I’ve never seen him so mad! He’s always said he won’t let Beatrice get married for as long as possible, and that he’ll make sure her husband takes their name rather than the other way around. That’s not gonna be easy, given that she isn’t the heir and won’t become a countess or marchioness…
Mitsuha glanced at Lady Iris. Surprisingly, she didn’t seem very angry. Her feelings about the marriage proposals aligned with the count’s, but she was a woman, after all; she knew how happy she would’ve been to receive a debutante ball that grand, and how hard Mitsuha worked for Beatrice. So no matter how bad the situation was, Lady Iris wasn’t going to yell at her.
“Also…” added Count Bozes.
What?! We’re not done?!
“His Majesty said that he expects Princess Sabine’s debutante ball to be every bit as spectacular as Beatrice’s. And that you’d better not forget Prince Leuhen’s coming-of-age ceremony either.”
“NO-O-O-O-O!” Mitsuha screamed.
Sabine and Leuhen had made the same threat last night.
A part of her knew she’d end up having to throw Sabine’s debutante ball eventually. She was just trying not to think about it. The first and second princesses had already reached adulthood. Phew, Mitsuha was relieved─so relieved that Prince Leuhen’s coming-of-age ceremony never even crossed her mind. She only associated fancy coming-of-age parties with girls, but of course boys had them too.
Theodore, Count Bozes’s youngest son, was already fifteen when Mitsuha met him, but Leuhen was much younger. It’d be an embarrassment for the royal family if the second prince’s coming-of-age party failed to live up to the debutante ball of the daughter of a count’s. But unfortunately, between the fireworks, food stalls, and electrical parade, Mitsuha had already used all her hidden aces.
Craptacular… These parties are gonna be the death of me.
Oh, something just occurred to me. How come I don’t get invited to debutante balls as a guest that often? I’m asked to organize them all the time─which I always turn down─but it’s pretty rare for me to receive an invitation. I get invited to other kinds of parties all the time…
Curious, Mitsuha asked that question to the count.
“…Are you dense?” he said bluntly. “Debutante balls are a noble girl’s biggest chance to be the star of the show and display their appeal to young men. What kind of girl would invite an obviously superior marriage prospect who’d steal all the attention? You’d only be invited to a debutante if the girl is not yet interested in getting engaged, or if forming a connection with you was a higher priority to her or her parents.”
Oh, that explains it…
And I know what he really meant by “obviously superior marriage prospect.” He wasn’t talking about my attractiveness or, you know… The sizes of certain body parts… He was referring to the fact that I’m a viscountess, the princess of a powerful nation who can summon divine soldiers at will, and a close friend to Zegleus’s royal family. Which means I’d get invited if the girl’s parents aren’t ready to let her leave the nest or if they really want to form a friendship with the Lightning Archpriestess.
That’s too bad. I’m a hot commodity at parties in Vanel, though.