“Let’s not dilly-galle-y anymore and start the tea party!” I suggested in hopes of clearing away some of the awkwardness.
With the arrival of the rest of my knights, my original plan was thrown into disarray. I’d been hoping to have tea with just the two knights who hailed from Galle Village. But when I’d served Mirach the Galle Gold Leaf tea without any clue as to what it might be, he gulped the whole thing down all at once without noticing anything at all. I was afraid the same thing might keep happening if I didn’t change my tactics.
But I was quick on my feet, so I decided on a plan B—subtly dropping some hints in my speech about the true purpose behind this gathering.
But once I invited Lukbar to take a seat at the table, Scheat, Fackt, and Miaplacidus also voiced their desire to take part.
“Princess! Let us sit here and drink tea with you as well!”
“Just before we came here, the vice-commander had us run ten laps around the castle, so we’re all feeling parched!”
“Our legs are so shaky that we can hardly stand upright!”
Oh, sheesh. Considering how buff they were, my knights sure didn’t seem to have much endurance. Sounds like they might need a cup of Galle Gold Leaf tea too. I asked the lady-in-waiting to bring over some extra chairs.
But the three extra knights went to get the chairs by themselves and lined them up next to me.
“Lukbar, it’s 10,000 years too early for you to be sitting anywhere near Princess Serafina! You don’t understand even a fraction of her wonderfulness! You may think you do, but in my eyes, your comprehension is severely lacking!”
“Don’t expect to be forgiven just because you apologized!”
“I mean, it’s not like you had to undergo Vice-Commander Sirius’s drills, so you must still be at full strength! You don’t need a chair! You should stay in a half-squat position throughout the entire tea party as part of your training.”
My knights still seemed to be treating Lukbar with disdain.
“Are you sure about that?” I asked. “If he’s the only one who trains while the rest of you galle-vant around and drink tea, he’ll end up with the strongest muscles, won’t he?”
When I pointed out the reality they hadn’t considered, the three knights pressed their lips together tightly.
“F-fine! We’ll at least allow you to use a chair!”
Though Scheat grudgingly allowed Lukbar to take a proper seat, it seemed his anger toward the other knight was overshadowed by the annoyance he felt at the thought of him becoming muscular.
Now we can finally start the tea party, I thought, relieved. I asked the lady-in-waiting to pour us another cup.
“Time to galle-ax with some tea!” I chirped cheerfully, motioning to the full cups, but for some reason, the knights looked wary.
I should’ve anticipated this from my clever knights. They’d quickly realized I was up to something. The same went for Mirach—unlike before, he was just staring at his teacup.
Lukbar, on the other hand, was the only one who didn’t seem aware of what was afoot.
“I humbly partake in your generous offer, Princess,” he said, taking a large swig of his tea. I suppose he was the most naive of the bunch.
The knights of the Royal Red Shield silently observed Lukbar as he drank his tea. Only after he said “It’s delicious” and appeared to be in no distress did they pick up their own cups. Apparently, he’d been quietly chosen to serve as their test subject.
“Oh dear. The sheer galle of my knights keeps growing by the minute!” I murmured to myself.
As I mused whether that was a good thing or not, Mirach—after drinking about half his cup—paused as if he was deep in thought.
“What kind of tea is this? I downed the last cup so quickly that I didn’t notice, but now I can feel my body surging with energy after each sip.”
“Galle-y-gosh! Is that so?”
This was the Mirach I knew! Since Galle Gold Leaf helped reduce susceptibility to many diseases, he was clearly in tune with the changes happening inside him. The other knights started rubbing their muscles, seemingly noticing the effects as well. It looked like they were all the type who were sensitive to such shifts.
“To have caught onto to the minor effects of the tea so quickly, your powers of deduction are in-galle-ible!”
“A knight’s physique is his greatest asset. When you spend every day focusing on your own body, you become so attuned to it that even the slightest changes are easily noticed,” Mirach explained.
Well, that made perfect sense.
Still, I’d been throwing out hints left, right, and center for a while now. It was about time that somebody picked up on them. Maybe I needed to present them with a clue so obvious that even these brawny knights would take notice.
It was time—I decided it was time to drop the biggest hint of all.
“Drat! My hair keeps getting in the way when I drink my tea! Perhaps I need something to ele-galle-ntly hold it back.” I said as casually as I could, gesturing for my lady-in-waiting to put in the hair ornament I’d already prepared.
Even though the knights didn’t seem very interested in what we were doing, they still kept an eye on what my lady-in-waiting and I were doing.
Well, what do you think of my Galle Gold Leaf hair clip?! I silently searched their faces.
Then, to my surprise, they started nodding like they were genuinely impressed.
“Oh! You’ve got a Galle Gold Leaf-inspired hair ornament!”
“It’s very shiny. It suits you perfectly, Princess.”
…Seriously? They seemed to realize that I had adorned myself with a sparkling leaf—how could they not make the connection? At this rate, I was left with no option but to drop every hint I could.
“Thank you so much! I’m so galle-ad you noticed! It’s galle-immering so brightly! Galle-inting in the sun!”
I couldn’t pass up the chance to ever-so-subtly point out the Galle Gold Leaf in my hair, gesturing with my hand to show off how brilliantly it sparkled. The knights, however, looked a little taken aback.