The list of friends invited to the party included all the names of the kids who were with me at the Papal State that day.
Now that I think about it, as the one who suggested such an idea, it’s a bit too late to say this, but gathering friends on the last day of the year isn’t as easy as it sounds.
Sure, there are some friends who want to celebrate the new year by clinking beer glasses with others outside, but honestly, when you reach around thirty, some of them start to get girlfriends and wonder if they should get married or not—and those guys usually want to spend the day with their girlfriends.
Not that I could crash into that situation. Of course, it’s not just me and my two friends gathering; if it were a meeting where everyone came together, sometimes friends would bring their girlfriends to introduce them. But since I don’t have a girlfriend, I skipped those kinds of gatherings altogether.
…So what I want to say is, there are people who don’t particularly want to spend January 1st with friends.
If not that, it’s often a family affair on January 1st anyway.
Especially if the person is aristocratic, I remembered that the day after suggesting the idea.
“Huh? Isn’t that not a big deal?”
But Alice reacted as if it was nothing after hearing me.
“Among nobles, those who like to party never miss the last day of the year or the first day’s banquet, right?”
…Ah, that’s true.
Because they’re ‘nobles.’ While many think of attending a banquet as a chore, there are plenty who enjoy the banquet for what it is.
Naturally, there would be a party on January 1st as well.
“Well, that’s a relief.”
And I quickly came to accept it.
Among my friends, there’s no one who enjoys such parties. Well, maybe Charlotte could go for it, but even then, it seems more like she just thinks she has to go rather than truly enjoying herself.
If she really wanted to enjoy it, there have been countless banquets even within the Imperial Capital. No one would stop her if she dropped the royal name, but from the looks of it, she doesn’t seem to be one for enjoying banquets.
Alice acted like she didn’t attend such places because she was busy studying, but deep down, I suspect it’s just her nature.
Even in that fantasy world, after I purposefully built a reputation and became somewhat famous, Alice still didn’t show up at any banquets for a long time. She hadn’t even considered it in the first place.
Claire, who spent time with Alice like that, was no different.
Claire’s brother, Leo, is the same. Otherwise, there’s no way a person could be that clueless. Male nobles nearly always have to dance at a banquet, after all.
Even if Roti attended, she wouldn’t have been treated properly as a noble, and Jake would have participated in the banquet to protect Roti, so he certainly didn’t enjoy himself much either. After all, he’s just escorting women around, yet the only one he’s actually dating is Roti.
Sofia probably wouldn’t be able to fit in at such a grand banquet because her disguised identity isn’t high enough. Plus, being a devoutly religious person, I doubt she would’ve liked it much either.
Mia… well, there’s really no need to imagine how she’d feel.
“What’s up?”
Alice asked, looking at my expression.
“Uh, it’s just… I’m surprised to find out there isn’t a single typical noble among the people around me.”
“I don’t get why you think you’re the most unique one here,” Alice replied with a laugh as if she found it ridiculous.
I couldn’t think of a rebuttal.
*
When I first suggested the idea, it wasn’t about throwing a grand party.
Just as Alice thought, it was simply an informal suggestion to sit and drink tea together. If anyone really wanted to drink, I would gladly sponsor that.
“…Why is there a box of alcohol on the table?”
Right. A box full of alcohol was proudly sitting on the round table meant for the tea set.
It wasn’t even high-quality alcohol. In fact, it was the kind of liquor that didn’t quite suit noble families. The reason I knew that is because I had heard that it was often used for cooking purposes.
“It’s the best to drink heavily on a day like this. Plus, if you use expensive liquor for that purpose, the taste doesn’t stand out,” Jennifer replied, who had placed the box on the table.
“Well, don’t worry, I’m not planning to give any of you students alcohol,” she added.
I seriously regretted inviting Jennifer.
“I apologize for what my student doesn’t know.”
Then, blocking the view of my apologetic self, the Sword Saint placed a very old-looking bottle on the alcohol box, as if he’d just dusted it off.
It wasn’t even a glass bottle. Judging by its white porcelain, it looked like some strong liquor imported from the far east.
“First, before drinking heavily, you savor the expensive liquor. That way, you can tell what makes good liquor good. Don’t worry too much. I’m not planning to give it to rookies who don’t even know the taste of alcohol,” he said.
And now I regretted calling the Sword Saint.
Since the people who were with me that day should be invited, it felt rude not to, but after inviting him, he immediately started bringing in all this alcohol, as if he had made up his mind.
“Really? You really won’t let the students drink, right?”
Our homeroom teacher, Carolyn, asked.
While it isn’t illegal for us to drink, depending on the observer, some might frown upon it, while others could be more lenient. Generally, educators tend to look unfavorably on it.
Well, it would be enough if I just didn’t drink, but the issue was the location.
The reason I picked my room was that I genuinely wanted to have ‘tea time.’
So why am I suddenly having all these things coming into my room?
The formerly bare room was now decorated with pink lace hanging from various places.
“Oh, that.”
When I asked, Alice rolled her eyes and explained.
“They said they were told that several nobles would be invited to your room. Since the people visiting are all important in their own right, they took it to mean that it was going to be quite a gathering. So it seems the staff have interpreted it as a banquet.”
Moreover, that ‘party’ was scheduled for today.
In the end, combined with the tight timeline and the bureaucratic situation of the Imperial Palace, and with the Crown Princess offering a testimony, it seems that they concluded with “we need to get banquet preparations done right away.” Apparently, the whole process was so rushed that no one even questioned why the banquet location was not a banquet hall.
“…”
With a dumbfounded look on my face, I stared at Alice, who quickly averted her gaze.
“Big sister!”
And someone else butted in between us.
“Since we’re all gathered, let’s take a picture! The first-year class is nearing its end. When else would we have such a great day for photos?”
Claire, appearing with a camera, sparkled with excitement.
“…”
I surveyed the table piled high with alcohol, the busy servants decorating the room, and the guests caught between it all, not knowing what to do.
I decided it would be better to stay outside until the preparations were done.
“Alright, then let’s take the picture in the courtyard. The Gryphon happens to be there as well.”
Well, ‘happens to be’ isn’t quite right; the Gryphon is always there.
At my words, Claire’s face lit up with joy.
*
And it turned out to be quite a good choice. The sun was still hanging slightly in the sky, providing ample light with just the sunset.
The Gryphon likely has no idea what a camera is. This would probably be its first time seeing one.
While the initial reason for getting everyone to step outside was to escape the crowded room, upon getting outside, I felt it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to capture the Gryphon in a photo.
Later on, if I say that there are memories but no video footage, they’d think it’s all a lie.
Well, as for the descendants, they’ll handle their own stories.
More importantly, I wonder if I’ll even have descendants.
…
That’s something to think about later.
We’re still young. No matter how much I am originally thirty or whatever, in the eyes of others, I’ll ultimately just be accepted as sixteen.
That means there’s plenty of time ahead.
How to weave our stories can be thought about slowly over time.
“Everyone’s here, right? Good.”
Claire had even brought a tripod, having prepared who knows when.
She could’ve easily had someone else do it, but it seems she’s taken a liking to taking pictures herself.
…But if it were a different story—
—No, there’s really no need to worry about that.
Whether it follows the original story or not, here we are right now.
No one is dead, and everyone is alive. It can’t be called a perfect ending, but…
The fact that everyone could be smiling makes it enough.
Yeah.
“Alright, then everyone, please smile!”
Claire said that and quickly ran over after pressing the camera lever.
The way she slipped into the gap left open for herself showed that she was quite trained.
Yeah. That’s all that matters.
All of us gathered, smiling without fail,
And among us was clearly me,
A happy ending.
This was what I had envisioned since the moment I first came here.
I smiled at the camera.
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