"How about we all have a little get-together tomorrow to celebrate the end of the semester?"

At Princess Seraphine's unexpected suggestion, everyone's gaze in the student council room shifted towards her—except for one person, Orion, who remained absorbed in his book, showing no interest.

“Hmmm~. It sounds like a hassle, so I’ll pass~.”

…Well, that was to be expected. Honestly, it was surprising that Orion even showed up in the student council room in the first place.

Of course, the remaining five of us, except for Orion, were naturally intrigued or interested in Seraphine's proposal for a get-together.

“A get-together at the end of the semester?”

“Yes, Gwyn. I thought it might be a bit of a shame to end the semester like this, so I wanted to have a small gathering.”

“In that case, the first thing we need to do is secure a location. Most of the buildings on the academy grounds will be occupied for supplementary lectures starting the day after tomorrow, so I’ll check if we can find a suitable place off-campus.”

“There’s no need to worry about the location. We’ll be using the sub-hall of the guest lounge. My brother, McHart, returned to the royal palace four days ago, so the only ones currently using the guest lounge are Luke and me. There won’t be any problems.”

“Ah, then there’s no need to rent a venue.”

As soon as Vice President Gwyn Evelt confirmed that the location had already been secured, he nodded and stepped back. As someone from a mercenary background, his first instinct after hearing about the get-together was to start addressing any issues that needed to be resolved.

He seemed to have no intention of declining Seraphine’s suggestion, given that it came from his superior.

“We’ll meet after the student council duties conclude tomorrow. The head chef of the guest lounge will be employed for one more day to prepare the food, and I’m sure Luke will take care of the other miscellaneous preparations. Isn’t that right, Luke?”

“Leave it to me, Princess Seraphine.”

Of course, if there was a get-together, Luke would naturally be involved.

It wouldn’t make sense for Seraphine’s personal maid and bodyguard not to participate. Judging by Luke’s calm response, she must have been in on the plan from the start.

“Hmmm… A get-together, huh.”

“Hmm…”

Lizzy and Ethan seemed to hesitate slightly at the sudden suggestion. Both appeared to be contemplating whether to participate, as returning home might be delayed by a day.

At some point, their gazes naturally turned toward me.

“What do you want to do, Lillis?”

“Are you going to participate, Lillis?”

“…Huh?”

I was a bit taken aback by their nearly simultaneous questions. If I wanted to participate, I could; if not, then I wouldn’t. Why were they suddenly asking for my opinion?

‘Well, I understand why Lizzy might care about whether I participate since we’re the closest in the student council…’

But as for Ethan, why was he asking me when he was the one who should decide? Shouldn’t he be the one making the decision?

If he participates, I’ll participate; if he doesn’t, then I won’t either. Since this was an important matter, I couldn’t make the decision myself, so I simply deferred it back to Ethan.

“As Master Ethan’s personal maid, I will, of course, follow his wishes.”

“Then as your master, I command you to decide whether or not to participate.”

“……”

Damn it, really?

Should I be happy that Ethan gave me the choice, or should I be annoyed that he passed the potential conflict with Seraphine onto me?

Ethan probably didn’t mean any harm by letting me choose. He likely just wanted to give me the option.

Honestly, I was a bit skeptical about Seraphine’s idea of a get-together.

Having played the original game to the point of exhaustion, I found it suspicious to hold a get-together at this time of year.

‘As far as I remember, the get-together was held at the end of the first semester, right before the student council disbanded, not at the end of the second semester.’

I’ve spent over 2000 hours on Luminor Academy, so there’s no way I wouldn’t know that.

Joining Seraphine's student council was necessary not only when pursuing her route but also when aiming for Luke's route or building a relationship with Orion.

And the student council’s term ran from the start of the second semester to the end of the first semester of the following year.

In other words, in the game, the student council’s closing ceremony, held at the end of the first semester of the following year, served as the get-together event. That’s why Seraphine’s suggestion to have a get-together at the end of this semester felt strange.

Even more puzzling was Seraphine’s uncharacteristically hasty behavior in organizing the event.

“President Seraphine, may I ask you something?”

“Of course, Lillis.”

“Isn’t it a bit early to have a student council get-together at the end of the second semester? There’s still half a year left in the student council’s activities.”

“Ah, actually, I didn’t plan on telling you this….”

“…?”

“The get-together tomorrow is actually intended to serve as our student council’s inaugural ceremony as well.”

…Oh.

Right, the inaugural ceremony. That was a student council event, too.

Now that I think about it, we never held the inaugural ceremony for this student council. If we had, I definitely would have remembered it.

“There was a bit of a dangerous situation for you at the start of the student council term, Lillis. We couldn’t hold the inaugural ceremony without you, so we skipped it this semester.”

“Ah, y-yes, that’s right…”

“So, now that we have some free time, I thought it would be nice to have a simple meal together and chat. But does that burden you, Lillis?”

…Now that she put it that way, how could I refuse? If I declined after hearing that, I’d feel terribly guilty.

Considering that I was the reason the inaugural ceremony didn’t happen, if the get-together fell apart too, it would be like I was letting Seraphine down.

Not that I had any real reason not to participate. Turning down an invitation from someone like Seraphine would require a significant excuse, which would be a hassle to come up with. It was easier just to attend for a day.

“Alright. If my participation wouldn’t be a burden to you, President Seraphine, I’ll join the get-together.”

“Burden? Not at all. Please, feel at ease, Lillis.”

“Since my personal maid is attending, I will, of course, participate as well.”

“I-I’ll join too. I can just send a letter to my family saying I’ll be returning home a day later.”

“Haha, I’m glad everyone’s joining in.”

…It’s a bit unsettling that this event wasn’t in the original game.

But the semester is over, so what could possibly happen?

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Two days before Seraphine proposed the get-together to the student council members.

Princess Seraphine was waiting for an expected guest in her private room in the guest lounge.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet on such short notice, Princess Seraphine.”

It was none other than the Hero of Prophecy, Bolt. He was the hero from another world who had supported her in many ways over the past year, both inside and outside the academy.

“Welcome, Hero. In fact, I’ve been expecting you, so there’s no need to apologize.”

“…I see. Could it be that you foresaw this meeting…?”

“Yes, I did. The full moon was just a few days ago, after all. Of course, it was my choice to meet with you instead of dining with Count Verco.”

“…I see. It seems I’ve caused you some inconvenience by visiting on a day like this.”

“Please don’t worry about it, Hero Bolt. After all, the number of lives you’ve saved thanks to your efforts is countless. Meeting with you is far more important to me than merely discussing personal gains with the Count.”

“…Hearing that from you, I’ll gladly accept your kindness, Princess Seraphine.”

“Haha, thank you.”

Seraphine’s genuine smile, one she rarely showed in front of others, reached Bolt’s eyes.

It was a smile free of pretense, full of sincere goodwill.

Given the person she was smiling at, Bolt felt an almost bewitching sense of being captivated by her expression alone.

“Today, I don’t see Miss Cerista, who usually accompanies you. She’s always by your side, isn’t she?”

“…Yes. Cerista doesn’t particularly like it when I talk about other women.”

“Oh my, are you charming another woman again? After winning over Miss Cerista and the elf from the Forest of the World Tree, are you planning to add another to your collection? Perhaps you should be called the Hero of Debauchery instead of the Hero of Prophecy?”

“Please, Princess, even you shouldn’t tease me. You know very well why Cerista and Silena stay by my side.”

“Haha, of course. I was just joking.”

Recently, Seraphine had been expressing her jealousy in small ways toward the Hero, who kept adding more women to his circle despite knowing she harbored feelings for him.

Of course, as a princess, she couldn’t openly display her affection for him, which could cause many problems. So she only showed these feelings when they were alone.

Her affection wasn’t simply because he was a hero who saved many lives. It was also because, in believing in her foresight and coming to her aid whenever needed, he seemed like a real-life prince on a white horse.

…The problem was that Bolt was not just the hero of this world but the prince on a white horse for many women, not just Seraphine.

‘He’ll never understand how I felt when I helped Miss Cerista out of that crisis. Yet he keeps surrounding himself with more women, which could disrupt my future plans.’

“So, which woman can I help you charm today? It was Miss Natalie last time, so is it Miss Agnes that you mentioned earlier?”

“Princess…”

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop teasing you.”

With a mix of seriousness and humor, Princess Seraphine and Hero Bolt finally began to discuss the real purpose of their meeting after the atmosphere settled down.

“The truth is, Princess, I need your help arranging a meeting with someone.”

“For you to request my help in meeting someone, this must be quite the lady. Could it be my sister?”

“No, it’s someone of much lower status than Princess Luchetia. It’s someone who already has a connection with you, Princess.”

“That’s a relief. No matter how much I respect you, I doubt I could ever get along with my sister.”

“…Pardon?”

“…Never mind. So, who is it? Someone who has ties with you and yet is difficult for you to meet?”

Seraphine expected him to name a duchess or the daughter of a marquis, perhaps even a foreign royal or noble lady.

But the name that came from his lips took Seraphine by surprise, so much so that she couldn’t hide her astonishment.

“Lillis… Blackwood Rosewood.”

“…What?”

“I’d like you to arrange a meeting with her, the personal maid of Ethan Richard Blackwood.”