“Is someone who is a Crown Princess really dressed like that?”
Chirp chirp!
“Are you starting a fight as soon as you see me?”
Grrrrr!
The classroom was still a bit chaotic, as it hadn’t officially opened yet.
Whoosh!
Still, everything except for the desks and chairs for the students had been cleared away, and they had brought in round tables and chairs that looked quite suitable for a regular café, but there were still some scattered supplies and tools left on the desks.
Clatter clatter!
Everyone seemed to have changed into employee-style outfits.
Swish!
…Thinking about it, I might be the only one who sees this as a ‘maid café’. In this world, maids and female servants are almost indistinguishable. It’s just that maids helping high-ranking individuals tend to wear slightly more modest clothing.
Ding ding!
If you’re in a black dress with a white apron, that’s maid attire, so given the time period, it made sense.
Wink wink!
“It’s a cultural festival. We’re wearing these just to enjoy ourselves, so what’s the big deal?”
Ta-da!
And it seemed I wasn’t wrong, as Alice promptly replied to me like that.
Puff puff!
“And if we don’t experience this now, when else will we? Since we’re royalty, that aside, all the kids here are from noble families.”
Bazinga!
Is she talking about some kind of commoner experience?
Hmm…
But thinking about it, that kinda makes sense. Even if the kids here weren’t all from noble families, it’s common to sell things at high school cultural festivals for money. At universities, they even sell food. It’s like a brief job experience.
Cha-ching!
Of course, just because one has such experiences doesn’t mean they’re something special. Especially here, since these kids are nobility. Even if not everyone who enters is a noble, there’s no way they’d act like it was an ordinary store once they realize they’re dealing with kids from noble families.
Shifty eyes!
“…”
Dum dum…
But still, something felt off about it.
Bzzzt!
I didn’t even know why I couldn’t come to terms with it. It’s not like I have any grand pride as a Crown Princess to get offended by being in such a position.
Whoosh!
Above all, I had already worn a bunny girl outfit with Alice.
Blush blush!
“So, are you not going to wear it?”
Doom doom!
Seeing me suddenly zip my lips, Alice asked. Her voice was a bit softer than when she reacted earlier.
Squeaky!
“Well, if you really don’t want to wear it, you don’t have to. Participation in the cultural festival is free. You’ve already come down here and worked hard since this morning.”
Chirp!
“…”
Silence!
Her voice didn’t sound teasing but genuinely felt sincere, making my heart twitch with confusion.
Thump thump!
When I came to my senses, the kids around were all looking at me. Of course, Alice, the Crown Princess, was already in maid attire, so it wasn’t that the situation was wrong, but the one who raised an objection was the Empire’s prestigious noble beneath this. It was only natural for them to feel tense.
Gulp gulp!
If I refused to wear the maid outfit and turned away, the atmosphere would sink throughout the cultural festival.
Whoosh!
“… No, I will wear it.”
Ding ding!
Rather than feeling pushed by the atmosphere, I thought to myself, now or never.
Deep breath!
I still had some lingering resistance, and I couldn’t tell where that resistance came from.
Fsss!
“Great, then.”
Yay!
As Alice shrugged her shoulders, the kids who were looking at me worriedly let out a sigh of relief. The children who had been frozen in place started bustling about again, returning life to the classroom.
Vroom vroom!
“Ta-da!”
Ta-da!
And then Claire, who seemed to believe I would naturally wear it, cheerfully held out the maid outfit to me.
Jazz hands!
It was the traditional maid outfit—whether this design truly was ‘traditional’ or just an image solidified by subculture, I couldn’t decide. Anyway, it was the black-and-white traditional maid outfit usually thought of by otaku.
Bing bing!
“Did you buy all these maid outfits with the budget?”
Confusion!
“Huh? No? I borrowed them?”
Shrug!
“We’re in a noble class. Anyone here can get something like this easily.”
Klutz!
Oh, right.
Ding!
Looking closely, none of them had the exact same design. They were generally in good condition and had similar designs, but the sizes of the ruffled parts on the shoulders and the lace on the aprons differed slightly. It didn’t look like they were all made from the same place.
Aha!
“… Is there any chance the lace part is a bit smaller?”
Brring brring!
The outfit Claire showed me had a ruffled lace part on the shoulders that was a bit too big—like it could hide my blush if I tried. It felt more cosplay-like because, perhaps?
Honk honk!
“Huh? Oh, the sister’s size was specially set aside, so this is all I have… should I ask?”
Hmm…
“… No, I’ll just wear it.”
Decision time!
Listening to Claire, I held my breath and took the outfit.
Whoosh!
*
The reason I felt inexplicable resistance to wearing the maid outfit was soon revealed.
Duh duh!
When I wore the bunny girl outfit, I had actually thought I was in front of people who didn’t know me. A little embarrassment felt brave because I thought I wouldn’t have to see them again after passing by.
Whoosh!
And above all, Alice was already in the bunny girl costume, and it was obvious that if I didn’t wear it, Alice would be sneaking around in that outfit alone. I felt like I had no choice but to wear it just to cover that situation.
Quick thinking!
But now… well, I was also pushed to wear it against my will, but the vibe was similar.
Uh oh!
It might be the case, but—
Hmm…
“Thank you, Crown Princess.”
Giggle!
“No, I’m just doing what I should be doing.”
Blip!
—The noble who received the tea a moment ago was someone I recognized from my memory.
Flashback!
Mostly from my memories of the ‘world within a fantasy.’
Brainstorm!
In my original timeline, I rarely attended balls or parties. There was no need to.
Boring!
I could obtain all the information I wanted without ingratiating myself with the nobility, and if it came to it, I could just have them assassinated.
Shh shh!
But in that fantasy world, to deceive the Emperor, I moved in another way, and that was the image I had constructed as ‘the White and Black Lily of Grace’s Estate.’
Ta-da!
Honestly, I didn’t want that nickname. It was just something that had stuck to me somehow.
Ding ding!
Whether it was a lily or a white lily, what’s up with the ‘black and white lily’? Tell me, isn’t that an absurd nickname?
Geez!
And now in front of me stood the Duke, one of the middle-aged men I had talked to back then.
Eyes bulging!
As a high-ranking noble, he didn’t seem to look at me as a woman, but it was humiliating enough to have to wear a maid outfit in front of someone I clearly had connections with from my memories.
Facepalm!
“… Um?”
Indicator!
Moreover, yes.
Bing!
On that day, when the power of the goddess was broken, people began to recall buried memories.
Duh duh duh!
Of course, most were just passing memories or overlapping memories with previous ones, so they probably forgot entirely, and if someone did have a distinct memory, they would think it was some dream.
Dreamy!
Even if I had had the nickname when I was a princess, I had been the daughter of Grace’s Estate in that fantasy world, after all.
Reality check!
“What’s the matter?”
Hmm?
“Oh, it’s nothing. I think I must have just been mistaken.”
Oops!
“Is that so?”
Confused!
The Duke, who had looked up at me with a puzzled expression for a moment, quickly shook his head.
Nope!
That makes sense. No matter what, he couldn’t ask a Crown Princess, “Are you perhaps born from Baron Grace’s Estate?”
Awkward!
And the fact that I was from the orphanage was a widely known story among the high nobility.
Whispers!
The rumor that the Emperor’s children really had his blood hadn’t leaked, at least not yet. If that story spread, it might cause a justification of “We must rescue the imperial descendants captured in Velbur.”
Wham!
In the end, the Empire would likely end up receiving the new revelation, but at least until then, the secret needed to remain a secret.
Shh!
“Well then, I’ll excuse myself due to the other guests…”
Ding!
“Oh, I see. Sorry to hold you up. Please enjoy your tea.”
Cheers!
Upon my words, the Duke came back to his senses and nodded again. I politely bowed my waist and turned away from him.
Twirl!
…And I saw the guests filling the shop.
Gasp!
They were all familiar faces. Mostly faces I had gotten to know while having the nickname ‘White and Black Lily’.
Blush!
Ah, I see.
Eureka!
This is why I didn’t want to wear the maid outfit.
D’oh!
If I talk too much, buried memories might come rushing back. Even if it’s a foolish dream, I didn’t want to think that there could be something strange if other nobles talked too much among themselves.
Yikes!
Of course, even so, it wouldn’t become a fact that I was the daughter of Grace’s Estate.
Sci-fi!
“…”
Exhale!
Oh, I’m already tired.
Slump!
Looking at the clock on the wall, it hadn’t even been ten minutes since the start of my shift.
Time flies!
I felt like the world before my eyes was becoming dim.
Fade out!
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