[Episode 58] - Children’s Social Circle (3)
The moment the adults burst into laughter and chatter behind them.
Titania was truly dying inside. The tea party’s theme was “the pets we raise,” yet there were puppies that had not arrived until now, and children who had begun crying because they were frightened of the gathering.
And the biggest problem of all was…
“Apologize to Ppugi right now!”
“Y-you, I told you to put that down! Waaah!”
“Emily…! Put the turtle down quickly! Mom said wolf turtles bite people, so you shouldn’t shove them at others!”
It was all the fault of six-year-old Emily, who had turned the tea party into a mess.
When a young lady who had brought a large parrot that looked as though it wore a crown said to Emily’s wolf turtle, “Turtles smell bad, don’t they? How can you raise something like that?” Emily brought her nose right up to the turtle and sniffed.
“Ugh… it’s frustrating, but she’s right…”
Having said that, Emily puffed her cheeks out in anger and began shoving the palm-sized wolf turtle at the young lady. The startled young lady told her to put the turtle away at once, but it was no use.
“But I’m angry!!”
It was no use even when Caroline tried to stop her. Emily chased the young lady around with the turtle, and the young lady began circling the round table to avoid Emily and the turtle.
In the midst of that chaos, Titania could only struggle to keep her smile from fading. She wanted to ask her mother for help with all her heart, but she could not borrow her mother’s hand today, of all days.
First, stopping the rampaging Emily and young lady was the priority. Titania sprang up from her chair, but Emily paid her no heed and diligently followed behind the young lady.
Caroline tried to grab Emily, but where that small body found such strength, Emily slipped away like a fish every time Caroline caught her.
Caroline, who had tried to restrain her, tired out first, and then the young lady being chased by Emily tired out as well. In the end, the young lady flopped down on the floor and burst into tears, and only then did Emily snort in satisfaction and glare at the young lady sprawled on the ground.
“Apologize to Ppugi!!”
“Hic, hic! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!!”
How on earth was she supposed to clean this up?
Was she going to ruin the tea party her mother had prepared? It was Titania’s first time attending a tea party, so she had prepared diligently in order not to ruin it. But…
*What am I supposed to do in a situation like this…?*
Titania’s vision went dark, for she had never imagined it would be ruined like this. She glanced at the maids standing nearby with eyes begging for help, but the maids did nothing except move to serve in the midst of the situation.
Was it because of her mother’s command to the maids before the tea party began: “Do not interfere in the children’s social circle no matter what.” The maids only provided the minimum service and did not help Titania.
Just as she was feeling frustrated and helpless and wiping her face, Einsel began calling to Titania with a trembling, terrified voice.
“Y-Your Highness…! Behind you…!”
“Behind me…?”
The moment the princess glanced behind her, she saw the Minister of Education running toward her with a bright smile. The Minister of Education was running while holding a large leash, panting heavily alongside something.
“I say, Princess! Sorry I’m late! These puppies suddenly wouldn’t listen, hehe!”
“Huff, huff, huff, huff.”
Though they were still far away, everyone at the tea party fell silent at the sight. The leash the Minister of Education held was too large to be called a leash, and the four-legged animal beside him was too large to be called a puppy.
No, it was not an animal that could be called a puppy in the first place. Titania had never seen that animal before, but the knowledge she had learned from books let her know at a glance what kind of animal this “puppy” standing beside the Minister of Education was.
And there were not one, but two.
*Wolves…?*
The wolves stood on either side of the Minister of Education. One was a grey wolf with glossy, soft fur, and the other was a white wolf with snow-white fur. The Minister of Education, having approached Titania with those wolves, grinned and handed the leashes to Titania.
And then what he said was…
“I’ve made them remember Your Highness’s scent, so these puppies will think of you as family! First impressions are the most important at tea parties like this! I’ve brought the most gallant and handsome fellows, so rest assured!”
The Minister of Education winked as if asking if he had done well. Titania forced the corners of her mouth up at that sight and looked at the wolves standing on either side of her. Standing on four legs, they were taller than she was, their long tongues hanging out as they breathed roughly.
Upon closer look, their teeth were sharp too, and they smelled strange. Titania felt as though she might cry at any moment, but she knew that if she cried here, the tea party would be completely ruined. So she forced a smile and took the wolf leashes the Minister of Education thrust at her.
The thick leashes held in both hands were too thick to fully grasp. When Titania raised her head to look at the young ladies, Emily and the young lady who had been fighting until just a moment ago were hugging each other on the floor, trembling like aspen leaves as they stared at the wolves.
“Now! Princess! Introduce the puppies!”
When the Minister of Education urged her, Titania’s mind stopped working properly. She only thought that she should introduce the pet? as he said and continue the tea party. Truly, no other thought entered her mind.
“H-here are the puppies…”
“Huff, huff.”
“That I raise…”
“Huff, huff.”
But no matter how much she tried to introduce them, the wolves’ panting beside her was louder than Titania’s voice. Still, inevitably, somehow, as she was continuing the wolves’ introduction—
Slurp—
The grey wolf standing beside her and sniffing Titania’s scent licked her face with its tongue. The hot, slimy tongue reeking of wolf saliva lapped at Titania’s face, and in the end, Titania burst into the tears she had been holding back.
“Waaaaaah!!! Waaaaah!!”
“Weeeee!! Waaaaah!!!”
“W-why is everyone crying…!”
When Titania began to sob, the tea party turned into a pandemonium in an instant. The young ladies who had been holding back their tears like Titania eventually flailed in terror of the wolves and fled. Tables overturned onto the floor, and trays fell to the floor with sharp crashes.
The maids grabbed the other young ladies who had collapsed crying on the floor and somehow escaped, but they could not approach Titania, who was crying between the two large wolves. In the moment the maids were at a loss, the parents in the back and Vivian looked at the ruined tea party in shock.
“W-what is that…!”
“Waaaaaaah!! Mommy!!! Mommmy!!”
When Titania sobbed, calling for Vivian while holding the wolf leashes, Vivian picked up a fallen tray from the floor and strode to Titania’s side. Then she quickly pulled Titania behind her and swung the tray hard at the Minister of Education, who was standing nearby with a bewildered look.
“You crazy bastard! You said they were puppies!!!!”
“Aack!!”
Clang!
The Minister of Education, who had been hit so hard the silver tray caved in, shed tears of pain. Fortunately, the wolves seemed well-trained and only stood there panting, while the Minister of Education rubbed his stinging head and looked at Vivian with a wronged expression.
“N-no…! These children are really well-trained…! I found them as pups on the Northern Plateau and raised them with care…! They absolutely never bite people…!”
“Get hit again!”
Clang!! Clang!!
She had said one more hit, but the sound from the Minister of Education’s head rang out twice. Vivian furrowed her brows as the Foreign Minister’s face flickered before her eyes. She instantly understood why the Foreign Minister hated the Minister of Education and was afraid of “puppies,” then looked down at the Minister of Education and shouted.
“Put your head down right now! You crazy human!”
***
Having judged that the tea party could no longer continue, I bowed my head and apologized to everyone. The young ladies would not leave their parents’ arms and were busy crying waaaah waaaah. Of course, Titania in my arms was the same.
“…I am sorry, everyone. I never imagined the puppies the Minister of Education would bring would be like that. No, it is my fault for blindly trusting and waiting for the Minister of Education without checking properly. As the Queen of this nation, and as a parent to a child, I sincerely apologize.”
When I bowed my head deeply, the ladies quickly begged me to raise my head. I could not raise my head because I was truly sorry, wondering if I had given the children trauma like the Foreign Minister. Really… I should have paid a little more attention…
“It is alright… Rare animals usually appear at events like this… A Northern Plateau wolf… I truly never imagined, but…”
“Sigh…”
I kept my head bowed and glared at the Minister of Education, who was beside me in a prostrating position with his head pressed to the floor. That human is the Minister of Education? I had thought he was the most sensible among this country’s ministers, but not at all.
“This is too painful a punishment for an old man…”
“If you want to resign your ministerial post, get up.”
“Waaah…”
The large wolves were fortunately being handled by the knights stationed at the palace. After finishing my apologies to the ladies and young ladies and taking a moment to console the children, one lady approached me and spoke as though whispering.
“Your Majesty is truly remarkable… To think you moved directly and resolved the situation when everyone was at a loss…”
“What…?”
“The wolves. No one could approach the Princess surrounded by the wolves… yet Your Majesty approached the Princess without hesitation in such a situation? I truly thought it was remarkable.”
…I had simply been out of it.
Had I unconsciously thought leashed wolves would be safe? When I came to my senses, I was already hiding the Princess behind me and had just struck the Minister of Education’s head with the tray.
Looking at the princess burying her face in my shoulder and sniffling, it now felt somewhat real. How dangerous the situation had been, and how dangerous an action I had taken.
The lady looking at me and the princess in my arms smiled brightly.
“Surely, the Princess growing up under Your Majesty will be happy.”
What the lady said with a bright smile was the answer to whether I, as a stepmother, could make the Princess happy, which I had been worrying about earlier. I too looked at the lady and smiled brightly, then nodded with gratitude.
“That aside… they are excellent wolves. I imagine they hunt well.”
“Hehe… they really do hunt well. It is not for nothing that they are called hunters of the Northern Plateau. Sometimes when I let them loose at hunting contests, they very…”
“Minister of Education, shut your mouth.”
“Huu…”
When the lady glanced back and murmured in admiration at the wolves being held by the knights, the Minister of Education, prostrating beside me, answered with a broad smile. As if he were being praised for his own child. I ordered him to shut his mouth because he was unsightly.
“If… if it is alright with Your Majesty, how about attending the ‘Hunting Contest’ to be held next month with the Princess and those excellent wolves? I am sure it would be enjoyable.”
“…Hunting Contest?”
“Yes, it is a ‘Hunting Contest’ our family hosts every year. In the forest our family owns—”
I could not help but be surprised at the lady’s sudden proposal. There was an event to attend the “Hunting Contest” in the game as well, but to attend the hunting contest, the Princess’s “social evaluation” had to be quite high. So I had thought it was a story for next year…
“Ah, if the Princess is afraid of wolves and it is difficult…”
“No. It is fine. But if Titania is afraid of wolves, I would like to attend without the wolves… would that still be alright?”
“Of course! We would be delighted simply by the Princess’s attendance!”
*I couldn’t miss this opportunity,* so I nodded immediately that I would attend the Hunting Contest. Even if it was a coincidence, it was good to do the “Hunting Contest” quickly. I was sorry to the princess sniffling in my arms, but it could not be helped.
*I can finally meet them…*
In the game, there exists a “fixed event” that unconditionally occurs in the forest where the first Hunting Contest is held. An event where the princess, wandering the forest searching for game, gets lost in thick fog.
And there existed a very small “cabin” that she discovers while lost and wandering in the forest. A cabin so small an adult would have difficulty entering. And there, she meets…
The princess’s first dwarf.
*Unlike the game, this time I’ll be walking through the forest with the princess. Einsel is here too, and I’ve learned some magic, so…*
The dwarves all live in different regions, so gathering all seven is impossible, but at least the first dwarf she meets is a “fairy” I definitely want to keep by the princess’s side.
I smiled brightly and answered that I would attend the “Hunting Contest,” then looked at the gathered ladies around me and showed a smile. It was not a situation to smile, but I had to smile somehow now.
“I shall await the invitation with anticipation. And… today’s tea party must end here. I shall prepare properly and invite you again next time… will you come again?”
“We would be delighted to, Your Majesty.”
“…I am glad to hear that.”
Today’s tea party was ruined by my poor preparation and a certain someone sprawled on the floor, but I intended to be careful not to make such mistakes and hold another children’s social circle. The children might not know, but… I had grown quite fond of the ladies gathered here.