Chapter 40: Preparing for the Pageant
NOW it was time to prepare for the Holy Maiden Popularity Contest—a beauty pageant, in other words. The townspeople would all cast their votes for who they felt was the best Holy Maiden candidate; the winner would then have an interview with the current Holy Maiden. If she deemed the chosen candidate worthy, they would be named the successor to the role, and formal training would begin. The interview stage ultimately screened out a lot of prospective candidates, but at that point, it wasn’t considered dishonorable to lose the race. Instead, the failed candidate would receive dozens of marriage proposals and a guaranteed job at the palace.
Camille would be busy for the foreseeable future. After all, there were a lot of story events she needed to get through before the contest, like developing a classy new container for Camille’s Camellia and starting a fashion trend in town—but she would need to grind charisma points working part-time if she wanted to clear those quests. Additionally, the popularity contest featured a dance segment, so she’d need to practice with her chosen love interest—in the form of a rhythm game—and design the dress she planned to wear for the occasion. After school, she’d be busy working downtown, improving her popularity with the citizens, and growing closer to her love interest.
Man, that game was so much fun, Iris sighed as she watched Camille hurry off campus. Sometimes the love interests would show up at Camille’s workplace, and they’d go on dates after her shift ended. Her dates with Cytisus were always classy; at the end, right when you thought he was going to kiss her, he’d plant a peck on her nose like she was a little kid. But right before you could get mad about it, he’d kiss her for real! The memory made Iris blush.
Of course, here in real life, Cytisus was still happily dating Pavot, so that route wouldn’t happen anytime soon. What about the prince, then? Reseda’s route was actually a little sad. They’d have secret dates away from the public eye, and there was this one scene where he pinned Camille up against the wall of a building to “hide” from other students who would recognize them. My god, that CG gave me a nosebleed!
Each time Camille learned something new about him, she fell for him even harder. Of course, she knew she wasn’t supposed to since he had a fiancée, so instead, she kept wishing these moments would last forever. Whenever she looked at him sadly, roses would bloom around him as he reached out and stroked her hair, and it would only make her heart ache… Oh, my poor, sweet Camille. Reseda clearly has a thing for playing with hair, doesn’t he? He’s been like that since he was young.
Compared to the rest, Nigel’s route was actually rather lighthearted. They would hold hands all throughout their downtown dates, giggling and flirting. Oh, yes, and there was a scene where they were looking for a lost kitten. As Iris recalled, they picked out a collar together. Then they bought necklaces with matching charms and made each other wear them, and when they parted ways, they would look back at each other over and over again… Ah, puppy love! Wait, but…those necklaces were totally foreshadowing the chains, weren’t they? Come to think of it, there was a cat in the tattoo he gave her, too… Yikes…
“Iris!”
At the sudden voice, Iris whirled around. Speak of the devil! “Wh-What is it, Nigel?”
“Have you been preparing for the popularity contest?”
“Uhhh…”
She averted her gaze. Truth be told, no. Iris was pretty sure no one liked her, so she was just going to lose anyway. That said, she figured she’d design a dress to wear, at least.
“Y-Yes, more or less. Have you been helping Miss Camille practice her steps?”
“No…? Why would I?”
“Oh, er, I don’t know… For some reason, I thought you might…”
“Well, I haven’t.”
That’s strange. In HanaKoro, the love interest with the highest affection points automatically became Camille’s partner. And considering Nigel had trained her before the monster dispatch mission, Iris figured he was in the lead. Was Camille not interested in him? Even after they spent all that alone time together? Iris fixed him with a pitying look; he blinked at her in confusion.
Just then, Reseda quietly appeared beside Iris.
“Well then, are you her dance partner, Your Highness?” she asked him.
“For one, I’m not Your Highness. And for another thing, why would you even think that?”
“Because…you’re in the same class together…?”
“Obviously, I’m going to be your dance partner,” he declared with a grin.
“Oh, no, I don’t really need to…”
“You don’t need to practice? Even though you’re on a losing streak? Are you trying to throw the contest? Do you despise me that much?”
“Nngh…” His rapid-fire questions made Iris falter. “It’s just…Miss Camille doesn’t have any experience when it comes to ballroom dancing. And if no one’s there to teach her, she’ll be at a tremendous disadvantage. It’s simply not fair to her.”
“Are you sure about that? I’m told Miss Camille is quite popular with the townsfolk—if anything, you’re at a disadvantage. I say we go undercover and scope things out for ourselves this weekend. Haven’t you ever wanted to get a look at where she works?”
He shot Iris a playful wink, and her heart fluttered. Oh, Reseda, that sounds like FAR too much fun for me to possibly refuse, you scoundrel!
“I’d love to!”
“In that case, let’s wear disguises like we did way back when. We can pretend it’s an enemy recon mission.”
“I’m coming too, just so you know,” Nigel cut in.
Reseda scowled at him.
“You’ll need a bodyguard, Your Highness,” he continued smugly.
“What are you talking about? I walk around unaccompanied all the time. Iris and I have done this since we were kids.”
“Yeah, but you had those mages with you back then.”
“What are you so worried about?”
“I’m worried about you, milord.”
“Not Iris?”
Nigel faltered; Reseda grinned impishly. “Not to worry—with Iris around, I’m in safe hands. She’s stronger than you are, remember?”
“Well, you could use a second bodyguard, just in case!”
“We’d draw too much attention. How about you grow up and stop clinging to your sister?”
Sparks flew between them. But Iris wasn’t listening to their argument; she was too distracted thinking about other things.
You could really tell this world was originally a video game, since apparently, royal family members could waltz around town with no trouble. Otherwise, Camille would never have had the opportunity to steal Reseda from his fiancée. Not that this was all that surprising, since it was an otome game.
These days, Iris had been far too busy with schoolwork to take any trips into town, so she was secretly looking forward to it. It’ll be so nice to see everyone again! I wonder if they’ll remember me…
“…Right, Iris?”
As Reseda turned the focus of the conversation to her, Iris snapped back to reality. “What?”
“You’re stronger, right?”
“Oh, er, yes,” she replied on reflex with no clue about the context of the question.
Nigel let out a heavy sigh.
“Then it’s decided! This weekend we’ll go on a date—just the two of us! Now there’s a first, eh?”
“You mean the enemy recon mission?”
“Yep! Except now, it’ll be more of an enemy recon date.”
As Reseda beamed at her, Iris realized that she’d walked face-first into a trap.