Chapter 44: Contest Prep In…Progress?
WHEN Iris walked up to Camille, Mégane took one look at her and shrieked.
“Are your contest preparations coming along, Miss Camille?”
“Um…yes…?” She smiled nervously—what was she so nervous about?
“Do you have a dress ready?”
“Just barely…”
“I see. What about the dance? Do you have the steps all memorized?”
She let out an awkward laugh and looked away.
“I take it that’s a no, then?”
“…Well, Miss Mégane has been teaching me…”
Mégane was only first-generation nobility. There was simply no way she knew enough about ballroom dancing to teach Camille.
In HanaKoro, the player was tasked with completing a rhythm mini-game with their chosen love interest, and Mégane wasn’t an option. Therefore, the way things were currently headed, chances were high Camille would make a mistake on the day of the contest. This Iris simply could not abide. She needed Camille to win the competition by a landslide so no one would dare contest the results. Otherwise, it might lead to infighting among the Fairy Leaders.
Iris let out a sigh, and Mégane flinched. She leaned in and whispered in Mégane’s ear: “Miss Mégane, what about Nigel or His Highness the Prince? They haven’t been helping her at all?”
“Eeeek! N-No!” she whimpered.
“Well, that simply won’t do,” Iris muttered under her breath, and Mégane shrank back. Camille shot Iris a confused look, so she told her, “Come to my room later tonight. I shall teach you everything you need to know.”
At this, the other girls both blushed.
“L-Lady Iris, what are you saying?!” Mégane yelped, flustered.
“Why, I’m going to teach her how to dance, of course.”
They both heaved a sigh of relief.
“But Lady Iris, I’m your rival… It wouldn’t be right to make you teach me,” Camille protested, hanging her head in defeat.
“If you make a fool of yourself at the popularity contest, it’ll make me look bad by association. Besides, do you really think I’m going to give you all the tips you’ll need to outperform me?”
Iris snorted, drunk on her own haughty performance. She was acting like such a villain. It was delightful! And so, she strolled merrily from the classroom, leaving Camille and Mégane staring after her, their mouths agape.
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LATER that night, back in Iris’s dorm room, she had pushed her sofa up against the wall to create enough space to dance in. The fairies all gathered around her to help.
Then Camille turned up, wearing a fuzzy nightgown in place of her uniform. This was another outfit Iris recognized from the game. Ugh, I always hoped the devs would do some sort of collab with a fashion company to make those in real life! They sell them locally?! Wait…who am I kidding? Of course they do! Unfortunately, HanaKoro was not a mainstream otome game, so it never got any crossover merch.
“My, I love that nightgown you’re wearing. Where can I buy one?” Iris asked before she could stop herself.
Camille smiled bashfully. “They sell them at a clothing store downtown. I work there part-time, so if you’d like, I can pick one up for you. D-Do you…want to match?”
She looked up at Iris with her puppy-dog eyes, and Iris reeled.
“Because they do have other colors—”
“Let’s match!!!” Iris blurted eagerly.
“Oh, but your nightgown is really pretty, too…”
Iris’s was made of flower-patterned white silk with a wrap front and a loosely tied ribbon at the waist. It was faintly visible through the sheer dressing gown she was wearing over it.
“Thank you,” Iris told her brusquely.
Camille gazed at Iris with admiration in her eyes. A commoner like her would never dream of wearing silk every night like it was no big deal. Not only that, but she was flattered that Iris didn’t make fun of her ordinary clothes—in fact, she had made it sound as though she genuinely liked them. To Camille, Iris was a role model to aspire to.
And so began their dance practice. The room wasn’t large enough to accommodate much twirling, but they could at least go over the basics.
From Camille’s perspective, being in Iris’s room was like a dream come true. Add in the fact that Iris was in a nightgown with her hand on Camille’s waist, and she couldn’t quite think straight. She kept tripping over her own two feet…and stepping on Iris’s.
“Ack! Sorry!”
“Stay focused.”
“R-Right—gah!”
Just like that, it was all over in a flash.
“It appears you aren’t quite so perfect after all,” Iris mused with a chuckle. Camille started blushing, so she hastily added, “I apologize—I’m not trying to insult you. It’s just refreshing to learn that you have flaws. Back home, they call that gap moe.”
“Gap moe…?” she repeated, perplexed.
Iris realized her mistake and averted her eyes. “What I mean is…it’s a charming contrast.”
“Oh…uh…thank you…” Camille’s face was so hot, you could fry an egg on it.
“Now then, let’s call it a night. Once you’ve got the basics down, I’ll find you a proper partner and a wide, open space. That being said, I don’t have many male friends, so if you have someone in mind already, by all means, ask them.”
At this, Camille looked up. Now was her chance to finally ask…
“Good night, my dear.”
She grabbed Iris’s arm. “Um, Lady Iris!”
“What is it?”
“Are you trying to help me win?” she asked bluntly.
Iris smiled wryly. She’d forgotten Camille was like this—overly bold, overly direct, and overly single-minded. At her question, Iris nodded quietly.
“How come?”
“Surely you understand by now. I have no mana, Lady Camille. I don’t know how I was nominated as a candidate, but I would have nothing to offer this kingdom if I were to win. I wouldn’t be capable of helping the royal subjects. Nevertheless, I’m barred from underperforming, and I’m in no position to forfeit, so here we are.”
“But if you can never be the Holy Maiden no matter what, then…then this whole competition is designed to do nothing but hurt you!” Camille protested tearfully.
Smiling, Iris rolled up her left sleeve and showed Camille her scars. “That isn’t necessarily true. Holy Maiden candidates are guaranteed a career working at the royal palace, and since I can’t expect to get married, I’ll need to work to support myself.”
“But Lady Iris…”
“Please, just win,” Iris cut in sharply. “You have to be the Holy Maiden. I don’t want anyone thinking I deserve the title instead.”
Iris took Camille by the hand. Regardless of any happy-bad or fully-bad endings, Iris just wasn’t fit for the job. If they gave it to her, she’d only create more problems for the people. Thus, she needed someone like Camille with a strong mana supply to fill the role instead.
“Please. Do it for me.”
The desperation in Iris’s voice made Camille’s heart ache.
“Okay…I’ll do it. Just you wait—I’ll win the title of Holy Maiden!”
“Thank you, Miss Camille!”
And so, the two prospective maidens were in agreement…