Act 5:
Confession
I RECEIVED A SUDDEN INVITATION to a tea party, which was unusual. It was just a tea party, but be that as it may, it was a tea party. If all I had to look forward to was enjoying tasty pastries, drinking tea, and chatting and giggling, the invitation would have arrived a week before the date of the event. This one had arrived only a day before.
Typically, I would have said no, but the hostess was someone I knew well: Liz. Of course I was happy to accept an invitation from her, even if it had arrived with such short notice.
I quickly penned a reply and inquired to make sure that the palace maids would be available to help me get ready.
It was the day of the party. After formally greeting each other, we took our seats. Just as I was taking my first sip of tea, Liz asked, “So, Sei. Is there something you might have neglected to mention?”
“What do you mean?”
Liz rarely did this. Usually, even during our convivial friends-only parties, we started with small talk. Today, she instantly jumped to what appeared to be the main reason she had put this together.
Was there something that important to discuss? I couldn’t imagine why else Liz, former fiancée of the prince, would ignore standard procedure in this manner.
I wondered what she might be getting at as I tried to answer her question. “Hmm. I can’t think of anything in particular.”
“Really? You haven’t the slightest idea as to what you might need to tell me? Or is this the sort of thing you can’t discuss?”
“While there are indeed some things I mustn’t discuss outside specific contexts, I’m not exactly sure what you mean. Thus I don’t know how to answer your question.”
“So that’s how it is. Very well, then, I shall ask you plainly: What is your relationship with Grand Magus Drewes?”
“Grand Magus Drewes?”
My mind filled with question marks. Why was Liz asking about Yuri? I supposed I’d just have to ask her after I explained. First, I needed to answer her question. As for our relationship, the only way I could think to correctly describe it was that of a teacher and his student. Oh, though we were also colleagues who went on monster-slaying expeditions together. As we were employed by different organizations, there was no simple way to capture our dynamic.
“Let me think… A mentor-mentee relationship, I guess? He teaches me about the arcane.”
“Is that all?” Liz squinted at me accusingly.
“Uh, yes?”
Huh? What? Why is she looking at me like that? That’s really the only way I can think to frame it.
As I was at a loss for how else to respond, Liz snapped her fan open to cover her mouth and breathed out a very obvious sigh. “Don’t you know the rumors everyone in the palace is spreading about you two?”
“Huh? What rumors?” I hadn’t heard about any rumors.
Nobles lived for the latest gossip. For a time, everyone had been talking about the Saint’s powers of purification and the potency of my Healing Magic, but that had been quite a while ago and had since died down. I hadn’t released any new skincare products either, so I doubted anyone was talking about those. Same thing with the food we had served at the food festival I hosted at the palace. Although those dishes were still a popular topic of discussion, I doubted everyone was talking about them.
So what rumors was Liz referring to?
Wait a minute. Do they have something to do with the grand magus? She did say “grand magus,” right? And as for my relationship with him…
Just as I realized what was going on, Liz declared, “I hear that you’re now engaged to Lord Drewes.”
“What?!” I screeched in a most unladylike manner. Then, as I heard more details from Liz, I found myself deeply troubled.
According to her, all the nobles were gossiping about me and Yuri. Someone had started the rumors because they’d seen our behavior at the theater. They had witnessed our friendly conversation in the opera box and begun spinning wild speculations about the nature of our relationship. That original speculation had been even more hugely exaggerated, and now baseless rumors were circulating throughout the palace—the most groundless of these being that Yuri and I were now engaged.
Liz had been shocked when she heard these allegations, which was why she was inquiring as to their veracity. “Then it is true that you went to the theater with Lord Drewes?”
“Yes. He told me that his family had tickets that no one else could use.”
“That’s a typical way to invite a lady.”
“But this is Lord Drewes we’re talking about. He couldn’t give a fig about anything unmagical. I doubt he imagined these rumors would pick up.”
“That’s true. I understand how you feel. However, you were careless.”
“Uuugh…”
“And now you’re paying for your mistake. It was foolish of you to agree to go with a man to the theater alone. You were practically begging to become the target of gossip.”
“I’m sorry…” In the face of Liz’s exasperated expression, all I could do was apologize.
This lecture pertained to something I had actually learned in my classes at the palace. The fact that I had accepted Yuri’s invitation even though I knew better had been total carelessness on my part.
Liz was right that a man and woman going somewhere by themselves was always cause for rumor—especially since we had been in box seats, in which you could claim we had been practically alone.
On top of that, it turned out that box seats were often how people flaunted intimacy when they went with someone other than their family or betrothed. Furthermore, the two persons of interest in this matter were the grand magus and the Saint. According to Liz, it was only a matter of course that everyone who’d spotted us and cared even a little about gossip had immediately told everyone they knew.
“I’m certain people will talk about it for a time, but it ought to die down before long,” Liz said.
“You think so?”
“Yes. They’ll move on to the next big rumor in no time. I suggest you learn your lesson from this and be wary of invitations from men in the future.”
“Yeah. I’ll be careful from now on.”
I took Liz’s generous advice to heart, after which our tea party came to a close.
Two days later, I was still dealing with the rumors.
I was crouched in the herb garden at the institute, staring at the ground as I mentally harangued myself. I didn’t voice this out loud because I didn’t want anyone to overhear and think I was losing my mind. Apparently I still had it in me to think logically about potential risks. However, I was full of regret over my own stupidity. Specifically, ever since I left Liz’s tea party, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about certain…things.