Jeord Stuart’s Melancholy Tea-Time

“Hm... these tarts are delicious,” I said while stuffing my mouth with the wonderful tarts that were in front of me on a table in one of the castle’s guest rooms.

“I am glad you enjoy them. I bought them from a famous patisserie just for you, Katarina,” said the golden-haired, blue-eyed, smiling prince sitting in front of me.

“Nom nom nom... Thank you very much. May I, uhm, partake of those cookies as well?” I asked, putting my sights on the next target while still thanking him for the tart.

“Of course. I have prepared all of these sweets for you, so you may eat however much you please,” he said, still smiling. “However, why is everyone here? I recall inviting my fiancée for tea, and no one else,” he continued, looking at Keith, Mary, Alan, Sophia, Nicol, and Maria, who were all sitting together with us.

“I have been instructed to accompany Big Sister whenever she goes out for tea,” replied Keith with a smile.

“The more the merrier when having tea! Is that not so, Alan?” asked Mary, smiling as well.

“Yeah, definitely,” said Alan, who had come here with her. For some reason, he seemed to be avoiding his brother’s gaze.

“So Alan was the one who informed all of you...” mumbled Jeord with a menacing smile that made Alan shiver.

“Indeed, it is much more fun to have tea with lots of friends. However, I thought that you two, Jeord, Alan, were going to be busy preparing the party at the castle. I understand that there is not much time left,” Nicol said to break the tension that had started forming in the room.

“We have taken care of the dresses and all information that had to be shared about the special guests, so we actually do not have much left to do,” replied Jeord, still displaying his dark, scary smile.

“Oh, good then. I heard that it is going to be a big party, so I assumed that the preparations would be troublesome as well.”

“Yes, our oldest brother took things into his hands and decided to make the event exceptionally large,” Jeord explained, sounding annoyed.

That was understandable; the larger the party, the more burdensome it would be for those being celebrated. But I was looking forward to it — a castle party for the princes’ graduation meant one thing: delicious treats. I still remembered how good the buffet at their 15th birthday party was... I can’t wait to see what dishes they have this time!

“...and so we have been asking those who are coming from far away and those who are most close to us. What do you say, Katarina?”

“A-Ah, yes.”

I was so busy thinking of the buffet that I didn’t really hear what Jeord was saying, so I ended up replying without having a clue. Everyone seemed to get tense around me... Wait, what happened?

“Big Sister, were you listening?” asked Keith with a stern expression on his face.

“Well, I, uhm...”

“...As you can see, she did not really hear. So her answer does not count, Jeord.”

“Yes, it appears that she was slightly distracted. Let me repeat myself then, Katarina. Will you stay the night at the castle after the party? We will have the best snacks for the night and a wonderful breakfast waiting for you in the morning.”

“It shall be my pleasure!” I instantly replied to Jeord’s enticing proposal. The snacks and breakfast served at the castle... I couldn’t pass on that.

“...Then I will stay the night too. My family would not allow Katarina to stay at the castle by herself,” Keith said with a sigh.

That’s true enough...

“There is no reason to worry, Keith. I, her fiancé, am at the castle. She would not be by herself.”

“I appreciate the thought, but I cannot let that be.”

“But you see, we need time together to deepen our bond.”

Jeord and Keith kept talking to each other, both of them smiling.

“Deepening the bond between fiancés? That sounds wonderful,” Mary joined them, smiling as well. “Alan, may I stay the night at the castle too? To deepen our bond, you know.”

“Huh? What are you talking...”

“Oh, so I can? Thank you!”

“...Yeah,” Alan said, nodding with an indecipherable expression.

“That must be nice...” Sophia said to herself.

“If all the others are going to stay, why don’t we do the same ourselves? Father said that he would be so busy on that day that he’d have to spend the night at the castle, so I will ask whether we can stay too,” said Nicol, who was, as always, looking out for his sister.

“Really? Thank you so much, Big Brother!” Sophia said with her eyes twinkling. He didn’t show it on his face, but Nicol was obviously very pleased at Sophia’s reaction.

So we’re all going to stay at the castle together after all! Great! But wait...

“Of course, I will also ask for a room for you. Do not worry,” Nicol said to Maria, who was looking disappointed.

That’s Nicol for you. Always the thoughtful big brother.

I was already anticipating spending the night at the castle with all of us there.

“...So be it. You may all stay the night at the castle after the party,” Jeord said with a sigh. Then he continued, “And once the party is over, you may all go to your rooms and rest, for I am sure you will be very tired.”

“But Prince Jeord,” said Mary, “since we will all be together, it would be such a waste to go to sleep so early. Perhaps we should have a tea party amongst girls.”

“A pajama party! What a wonderful idea!” I said, and Mary gave me a confused stare.

“A pajama party? What would that be?”

That’s... Hm, that’s difficult to explain.

“It’s a wonderful party where girls chat until morning,” I explained, and all of a sudden Mary, Sophia, and Maria were excitedly nodding in unison.

In my previous life I sometimes stayed over at my friend’s place for (otaku) pajama parties, but I’d never done so in this world, so I was really looking forward to it.

We were already deciding what time to meet and what to bring with us when Jeord called out to Mary.

“Lady Mary, I remember you saying that you wanted to deepen your bond with Alan. If you have a party with the girls, what would be the point in staying the night?”

“Did I say that?” she said with a smile, dodging the question, but I didn’t even hear that exchange.

Now that we had a pajama party to look forward to, I was even more excited about the party at the castle. I couldn’t wait.

★★★★★★★

After seeing my fiancée, Katarina Claes, off, I was walking through the hallway on the way to my room. I was eager to give my little brother Alan a piece of my mind, but he was probably savvy enough to realize this and run off somewhere.

I was not in the mood to go after him, so I decided that it could wait. Even if he had not informed Mary about my plans, she would have likely found out about them from a different source.

More importantly, Keith was supposed to be accompanying his father the Duke on his official affairs, so why was he here with Katarina today? I made a note to myself to investigate this.

Truly, things could not have turned out any worse.

I had invited Katarina for tea, looking forward to spending some time alone with her, and she had arrived with a whole battalion alongside her. That was enough to indicate that my plans would not go smoothly...

At least she would stay the night at the castle, so I only needed to find a way to be alone with her. I knew that it would prove difficult — not so much because of Katarina herself, but because of all the others who vehemently guarded her.

If anything, I was surprised at how defenseless she still was. She took very little convincing...

That could have been acceptable when we first met as eight-year-old children, but she was now a lady of eighteen. It was nigh unbelievable that she would so easily agree to stay the night at the home (well, the castle) of her fiancé.

Had I known nothing about her, I would have believed that she was extraordinarily enthusiastic about our relationship... but she had just accepted without thinking too much about it. She did not realize that she was a fine lady in the flower of her youth. If she was so forgiving to my invitations despite the heavy-handedness of my advances, I could barely imagine how oblivious she would be to other men. In particular, I was sure that her guard was completely down in regard to her adopted brother Keith, and that made me furious.

I wanted to make her mine without delay. I wanted to be the only one to enjoy her endearing obliviousness.

I had wanted to marry her as soon as we graduated from the academy, but, because of the circumstances at the time, I had to wait. This made me all the more anxious.

I was displaying my usual smile, but on the inside, I was agitated.

“And we should put something more shiny over there...” I heard someone say. It was Jeffrey, my oldest brother, joyfully preparing for the party.

Why he was so ecstatic about this, and why he would go to the trouble of directing the decorations, something that the servants were more than capable of doing on their own, was a complete mystery to me. However, staying there long enough to find out could mean that Jeffrey would see me, and that was the last thing I wanted, so I swiftly went past him.

Once I was at a safe distance, I started wallowing in my hate for that carefree, oblivious face of his. He was one of the reasons Katarina was not yet mine.

He had a fiancée, but he seemed in no hurry to marry her. Not that they disliked each other, at least as far as I could tell, but they were simply waiting, despite the many voices telling them to make haste so that he may succeed Father.

My second older brother was also refraining from marriage in a needless act of consideration towards his elder. It seemed that he was so close to his own fiancée, however, that he would have married her instantly had it not been for that.

And if I were to take the lead and be the first to marry, the people around me would include me in the competition for the crown. That would be terrible; if I had to worry about succeeding as king, I would be left with little time to enjoy with my Katarina.

I would be willing to struggle for the throne if she asked me to, but, quite to the contrary, she seemed to prefer the peaceful life of lower ranks, so much so that she talked about wanting to become a farmer... words that no other noble woman would ever utter. If I did become king, I could imagine her leaving to escape the responsibility. She was a very unique lady, but that was what I loved most about her.

I still did not know why Ian was waiting so long to marry. He said that he wanted to become king, but it did not seem like he meant it. I could never tell what he was thinking. And to think that my other older brother, Jeffrey, was so much more genuine and easy to read... I very much wanted him to hasten his pace and marry, even if it meant an empty marriage done only for show.

Lately the supporters of my two older brothers, weary of waiting for them to proceed, had started inciting me to consider becoming king. Sending them away was increasingly bothersome. Between chasing them off, helping the next student council succeed ours after graduation, and preparing for the party, I was sick and tired of it all.

Thinking too much had made my head hurt. I felt a sharp pain in my forehead and placed a hand onto it. Now more than ever, I needed Katarina’s innocent smile. I really wished I could have enjoyed it peacefully today, just the two of us...

“Jeord!”

Maybe because of what I had been thinking, I first believed that I was hallucinating. But sure enough...

“Jeord!” said that voice once again, and, as I turned around to look, I found that it came from the very person I was thinking about.

“I finally reached you... You walk too fast!” said Katarina, smiling as she tried to catch her breath.

“I thought you had gone home... What happened?”

I had seen her off all the way to the carriage, so why was she here? I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

“I was already on my way home, but I forgot something. Since we were still close enough to the castle, I asked to come back.”

What could have she forgotten? There was nothing left in the room where she was having tea. While I looked at her in confusion, she started searching her bag and finally took out a paper bag which she then offered to me.

“I wanted to give you this, but I forgot!”

“...Thank you,” I said, taking the paper bag, which seemed to be full of tea leaves.

“It’s a special tea that helps with tiredness, since lately you’ve been looking so exhausted. It works best when it’s fresh, so I wanted you to have it today. Drink it as soon as you have the time, will you?” she said with a smile.

Katarina was thick. Extremely, unfathomably thick. When it came to love, she was so thick that it had me worried.

However, when it came to my being tired, or otherwise weak, she was surprisingly attentive. I had hidden my true self since I was a child, and could veil my weak, tired moments with a smile. I never showed that side of myself, pretending to always be fine.

Most people were tricked by that... but not Katarina.

And then she would show me her kindness, like she did right now, without even realizing how much that meant to me. She had asked for the carriage to come back to the castle, and then she had run all the way here — just to give me this tea. Looking at her still catching her breath filled me with more love than I could ever explain.

Before I had time to think about it, I had already grabbed her supple body from the shoulders and hugged it against my chest.

“P-Prince Jeord?!” she said in surprise, trying to get away.

“Please. Just a while longer,” I said, with a slightly hoarse voice, and she stopped moving. She was so receptive to changes in my well-being that she must have realized how much I needed this.

I relished in Katarina’s soft warmth as I basked in her kindness. The headache that had been vexing me until moments ago was now completely gone, as was all the tiredness I had been feeling.

Katarina started moving again, indicating that this hug was to finish. Years ago we could have hugged much longer, but now that she had finally started seeing me as a man, she would become too embarrassed after a while. It was a shame, but at least she saw me as a man.

I grudgingly let her go, but what she did next surprised me.

She grabbed me, hugged my head against her chest, and started caressing my hair while chanting something I did not understand.

“Pain, pain, go away! Come back another day!”