“Oooh!” Tohka, dressed fabulously thanks to the match of illusion, looked around with glittering eyes. She wasn’t alone. The Yamai sisters and Yoshino were also taking in the scene excitedly.
This was perhaps inevitable. The ballroom where they found themselves was magnificent, a splendid space literally only seen in the world of fairy tales. There was a sparkling chandelier and a long seamless red carpet. Intricate designs covered the pillars and even the railing on the stairs, and tables that could have been ancient antiques were piled high with luxurious delicacies.
The people assembled in the lavish space were equally brilliant, no doubt the daughters of distinguished families. They wore gorgeous gowns and chatted pleasantly as they glided elegantly through the room.
Thanks to Kotori’s quick-wittedness, Shido and the Spirits had finally made it past the guard at the castle gates. Although he had still been somewhat suspicious when they suddenly appeared before him in their finery because he remembered them quite well from their earlier visit to his post.
“Aah, gang. I get how you feel, but don’t go wandering, okay?” Kotori said, brandishing the impromptu torch. “If you move outside the light, people’ll see what you really look like. That goes double for you, Tohka. You’ll be Japan’s most wanted in five seconds flat. Plus, it’d be a whole lot of yikes to show up at a party full of VIPs with a Japanese sword.”
“Mm-hmm! I understand!” Tohka replied enthusiastically.
But a few seconds later, the Yamai sisters let their enthusiasm carry them beyond the range of the torch.
“Whoa?!”
“Panic. We’ve done it now.”
The twins cried out in bewilderment as the lovely dresses they wore abruptly reverted to patchwork outfits. They twisted their bodies about like acrobats and leaped backward.
Several people heard the commotion and looked over dubiously, but it all happened so fast that they apparently didn’t see Hansel or Gretel.
“Honestly, I just told you.” Kotori sighed, heavily. “Be careful, yeah? I worked hard to get us in the door here.”
“S-sorry…”
“Apology. We will be careful from now on.”
The pair bowed their heads, sufficiently chastened.
“Woh-kay.” Kotori shrugged in exasperation. “So. Where is this mermaid, then?”
“Mm.” Shido whirled his head around to take in the ballroom. “I don’t see a mermaid anywhere.”
“Hello, miss. You’re looking lovely,” someone said out of nowhere.
“Huh?” Shido turned the direction of the voice and found a young man in a smart tuxedo standing there.
“Might I have this dance?” He smiled winningly and extended a respectful hand.
Shido looked down at Kotori. “Ha-ha! He’s inviting you to dance. Look at you, Kotori, queen of the dance floor. Your big bro here’s jealous.”
But the young man cocked his head curiously to one side and looked Shido squarely in the eye as he spoke once more. “No, not the smaller lady there. I was asking you.”
“………………What?” Shido was baffled for a moment but quickly remembered that he was currently in a dress in his Shiori persona, thanks to Kotori’s illusion match.
But he was not interested in dancing with men, and more importantly, the second he stepped out of range of the flames, he would return to his male form. And a woman turning into a man in the middle of the dance was very much not a Cinderella story.
“…So not her, then?” Shido indicated Kotori with his eyes, a trickle of sweat running down his cheek.
The young man shrugged his shoulders as if to say, Still you jest?
“You do have a sense of humor. But such a joke does in fact make me feel bad for the young lady. Look there. That table has many delicious cakes on it, yes? Why don’t you go and have some?” He smiled at Kotori as though placating a child.
Instantly, a vein started throbbing on Kotori’s forehead. “Wh-what did you say?!”
“Wh-whoa, calm down, Kotori.” Shido grabbed her shoulders in a panic. It wouldn’t do them any favors to cause a commotion.
At exactly that moment, a woman dressed as a chamberlain appeared on the stage at the far end of the ballroom.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” she said to the special guests gathered there. “Please excuse me for interrupting your pleasant conversation. I would ask that you direct your attention to the stage now. I have the pleasure of presenting to you a rare sight, a mermaid who will sing for us.”
Murmurs rippled through the hall. The man who had invited Shido to dance turned to the stage with a fascinated “Ooh.”
“S-see, Kotori?” Shido said. “That’s what we’re here for. Let’s move to where we can see better.”
“…Hmph. Well, fine. Let’s go, gang.” Still looking unhappy, Kotori beckoned the rest of the group with one hand and started to walk toward the stage as the curtains slowly parted to either side.
Instantly, the hall was abuzz with chatter and cries of admiration.
“Goodness…”
“It truly is a mermaid.”
“It’s beautiful, don’t you think?”
A thin sheet of water had been laid out across the stage with large rocks scattered about sparsely, perhaps intended to conjure a visual of the shore. On top of one of those rocks was a girl lovely to behold, a fish from the waist down. Her hair was slightly damp, her swimsuit appeared to have been fashioned from seashells, her skin was flawless, and her eyes were limpid pools. She really did look like a mermaid straight out of some fairy tale.
But exactly as they’d expected…
“Eek!” she shrieked, splashing her tail in the shallow water. “Wh-what is this place?! Where is my daaaarling?! Where iiiiis everyone?!”
It was the Spirit Miku, also swallowed up by the book and brought to this world with Shido and the others. At a glance, she was picture-perfect, but the panicked screeching somehow ruined the effect.
“Come now, be quiet,” the chamberlain reproached her. “You’re in front of an audience.”
“B-but that doesn’t change aaaanything…,” Miku said weakly, her eyebrows pulled up into an inverted V.
“You mustn’t complain at this late stage,” the chamberlain continued, half whispering in Miku’s ear. “You have been bought and paid for by the king. In which case, you must serve His Majesty. Now sing. Legend has it that mermaids have the most exquisite singing voices. Our honored guests have come from all over. You must let them hear you sing.”
“I will not!” Miku indignantly turned her face away. “The exquisite singing voice part is true, but I don’t recaaall agreeing to serve some king I’ve never even seeeeen! I have a rule that I never do work I haven’t agreed to!”
Miku’s attitude set off another flurry of whispers in the ballroom.
The chamberlain sharpened her gaze and glared at the mermaid, no doubt unhappy at her antagonistic attitude toward her king.
“You have been purchased by the crown, and that makes you the king’s property. If you do not do as you are told, His Majesty will be very cross with you.”
“Hmph!” Miku sniffed in outrage. “He can be as crooooosssss as he likes!”
“I suppose it’s come to this, then. A mermaid who will not sing is of no use to anyone. I shall get permission to use you as an ingredient in tomorrow’s soup.”
“Eeaah! I adoooore singing!” Miku plastered a forced smile across her face as sweat beaded on her forehead. Apparently, she was decidedly uninterested in being made into a broth.
Shido smiled helplessly. “Miku’s really gotten herself caught up in something again, huh?”
“Uh-huh. Looks like she got put into ‘The Little Mermaid,’” Kotori said, and then cocked her head curiously to one side. “Was this how the story went, though?”
Either way, they couldn’t leave her like this. It would be pretty awful if she was turned into a soup, and it would also be a pity if she was forced to sing.
Shido stepped closer to the stage together with Kotori and the others, and Miku’s eyes grew round as she caught sight of them.