[Chapter 62] - The First Friend I Made (3)
‘What on earth is going on...’
After following Lady Serina into the room I had been shown to, I had nowhere to rest my eyes, so I simply stared down at the wineglass in my hand. I had thought we would merely be drinking, since she said she had something to discuss, but that was not the case at all. Immediately after we arrived in the room—
*
“Would you change into a negligee? A dress is uncomfortable, isn’t it?”
With that, Lady Serina smiled sweetly and lent me a “negligee.” It was sleeveless, with a deeply cut neckline. It was made of silk, so it was not transparent enough for everything to show through clearly, but it was still a nightgown far too insufficient to hide everything away.
I frowned as I looked at the negligee Lady Serina had handed me. I had come because she suggested we drink, and now she was suddenly telling me to change into sleepwear? When I looked at her with an expression that said I did not understand, Lady Serina laughed softly and unfolded the negligee in her hands to show me.
“We’ll be drinking on the bed, not at a table. It would be troublesome if you happened to spill wine on your dress.”
“On the bed?”
“Er... did you not know before you came?”
Know what? When I tilted my head, Lady Serina tilted hers in the exact same way. After that bewildered situation continued for a moment, Lady Serina seemed to realize what was going on. Her eyes widened, and she continued.
“Ah... Your Majesty has not shown your face in social circles lately. So you would not know the ‘slang’ that has recently appeared among women, where drinking ‘in a room’ means... I was mistaken for a moment.”
“Slang?”
“Mm... well, how should I explain this... It isn’t anything terribly significant.”
Lady Serina stroked her chin, pondering for a moment over what words to use, then soon smiled at me. “Slang” used among ladies... perhaps it suited this murky social world, but even the way the lady looked at me somehow seemed to carry a sinister atmosphere.
“The ‘slang’ about drinking in a room means exactly that—having drinks together. However, it means drinking more comfortably than usual, ‘in a room’ where there is no need to mind others’ gazes. So most of us drink comfortably on the bed, wearing negligees without worrying about anyone else watching. That is the ‘ladies’ secret tea party’ that has recently come into fashion.”
“I-is that so...? But to suddenly wear such a see-through negligee...”
“That... I apologize. All of the negligees in our mansion are made of this sort of material... If Your Majesty is uncomfortable, then it would be fine to drink normally at a table...”
I glanced once more at the negligee Lady Serina was holding. No matter how I looked at it, the translucent negligee seemed embarrassing to wear in front of others. That sort of negligee was something I would wear only in my own room. Aside from the princess, who slept with me, I had never once shown myself in such clothing to anyone else.
Judging from Lady Serina’s explanation, the “slang” about drinking “in a room” seemed to mean being invited to a ladies’ “pajama party.” Climbing onto the bed together in sleepwear and chatting. Could it be that what I had been invited to now was a gathering meant to foster friendship, like a pajama party?
It would be easy to refuse the negligee Lady Serina offered me. After all, I was the “queen.” But if I refused here, would that not be the same as being invited to a pajama party and saying, “No thanks. I’ll keep my clothes on”? Would that not make me someone who completely failed to read the room?
Even now, I had been making an effort to set foot in society. The princess was also beginning to enter children’s society, so I had thought it would be good if I could become her support within social circles. Of course, once the princess turned eighteen, I would leave the royal castle anyway...
‘In any case... if I refuse for no reason here, won’t I end up looking tactless? Lady Serina is someone with at least some influence in society. And there’s the young countess beside her, too. Wouldn’t accepting be more beneficial than refusing here? Or not?’
Perhaps the thoughts of a drunk person were not very deep. I tried hard to think with my alcohol-soaked brain, but I merely ran in circles like a hamster on a wheel. Since I did not know what the correct answer was, I simply stood there silently—
“...I apologize. It seems my thoughtlessness has made Your Majesty uncomfortable.”
“W-wait...!”
Lady Serina turned her head with a dejected expression. She looked so sorrowful that, without realizing it, I stopped her. But once I had called out to her, I felt as though there was no turning back. I did not even know why I had stopped her. My mouth had opened before my thoughts could catch up.
“Truly, is this sort of thing normal in society these days? I think I understand what sort of intent you had in using that ‘slang’ with me. However, even if it is for the sake of growing closer, wearing only undergarments is...”
“I believe I understand what Your Majesty is thinking. Even if it is only among women, you must think it improper to face one another wearing nothing but a single layer of cloth like this. And since we have only just met twice, it is only natural that you would think so all the more.”
I nodded slightly. My drunken mind was no longer working properly, and I could fully sympathize with Lady Serina’s words. It felt as though she had said exactly what I had only been thinking but had not been able to put into words.
“In truth, I do not know whether all the other ladies use this sort of ‘slang.’ No matter how much influence I may have in society, it is not as if I am on good terms with every lady.”
“Is that so...?”
“However, all of the ladies in the ‘tea party’ I joined use this ‘slang’ to foster friendship in this way. When we sit on a bed with the distance between us narrowed and talk after taking off our stifling dresses, there are times when our true feelings come out. The things we could not tell others become a little easier to say.”
Lady Serina draped the negligee over her own body and continued speaking as she swayed lightly. The fluttering negligee created the illusion that she was wearing it. If I judged solely by the lady’s words, then using this “slang” truly was this world’s version of a “pajama party.”
“Well... if one reveals too much of one’s true feelings, other things may happen as well.”
“Mm? What did you say?”
“No. I did not say anything at all.”
I was certain she had said something... Did I mishear? Her voice had been so faint, almost like a mumble, that I could not tell what she had said. In the end, Lady Serina, speaking in a voice that sounded slightly tearful, glanced at me and lowered her head deeply.
“I merely thought that Your Majesty seemed to have many worries... and used this slang so that you might speak a little more comfortably...”
“......”
I did always have many worries. I did not think I had shown them in particular... And since she said she had spoken out of consideration for me in that way, the atmosphere made it even harder to refuse. In the end, I squeezed my eyes shut and reluctantly held out my hand to the lady.
“Give it to me.”
“Your Majesty... You do not need to force yourself...”
It was too late to say that now. No, in the first place, she had spoken tearfully so I would not be able to refuse! I took the negligee from Lady Serina’s hands almost as if snatching it away, then let out a small sigh.
“...I will be back after changing, so wait here. As you said, I have many worries. If I at least wear this, perhaps my tongue will loosen.”
I strode into what looked like a dressing room and let out a sigh where Lady Serina and the countess would not hear me. There was no use regretting it now. In the end, it had been my choice to wear this. We were only supposed to drink, so what could possibly happen...
—What could happen? From what I can see, that lady truly seems worried about you.
“Really? For some reason, I feel uneasy...”
With an inexplicable tightness in my chest, I sighed again and began struggling to take off the dress I was wearing. I tried to reach my arm behind my back to lower the zipper—
‘Oh, right. The dress I’m wearing today is the type I can’t take off unless someone else helps me.’
The dress I wore today was the result of the maids’ efforts to dress me up with all their might, since I was leaving the castle for the first time in a while. Perhaps because of that, it was much more constricting than usual, and I could not take it off without someone else’s help.
No matter how hard I tried to grab the zipper, my hand could not reach it, as it was placed in the awkward spot right in the middle of my back. Even when I rubbed my back against the wall, it only hurt; the zipper did not move down.
“Hoo... Is there really no other choice...?”
I hated it, and I truly did not want to call her, but in this situation, the only choice I could make was...
“Lady... could you help me take off the dress...? I can put the other one on by myself...”
“O-of course! Your Majesty!”
I had no choice but to borrow the hands of Lady Serina or the countess. The lady was startled when she saw me and rushed over, then laughed softly as she took hold of the zipper that had no intention of going down. Then she carefully lowered it and even attended to me while I changed clothes.
I had clearly said I would change by myself...
*
And now, I was up on the bed, busy sipping my wine. After all... I had been so flustered that I had not realized it, but I was not the only one wearing a negligee here.
The lady and the young countess, too, were sitting before me in thin negligees that looked just like mine, conversing with one another. The room was dark, so I could not see properly, but it was still enough for me to understand what sort of state the lady and the countess in front of me were in.
That was why I had nowhere to rest my eyes. What? Taking off a stifling dress makes one’s heart more at ease? Climbing onto the narrow bed together brings one closer? Not at all. Rather, the emotional distance between us had grown farther than before, and I had no choice but to squeeze my eyes shut.
Even when I drank, the embarrassment seemed to keep blowing away the effects of the alcohol. Then suddenly, I became curious about who had created this sort of drinking gathering. Usually, nobles were extremely reluctant to undress in front of others...
I sipped the wine in my hand and asked the lady sitting right in front of me.
“Come to think of it... who first began this secretive drinking gathering? You said that this kind of drinking party appeared only recently, did you not?”
“Ah, Your Majesty knows her name as well. She is not from our country... I heard it began in a secret social club run by a lady I recently became personally close to.”
“A secret social club...? Someone I know...?”
The thought flashed through my mind—did I know any foreigners...?—and in that instant, one name sprang to mind. A foreigner, and a lady said to have started a business jointly with Countess Serina.
“Lady Elise Sergio...?”
“No. They share the same surname, but it is a different lady. Originally, was there not a lady who was invited to the princess’s first tea party?”
“Come to think of it... Due to personal circumstances, her family member, Lady Elise Sergio, attended in her place. Her name was certainly...”
As I recalled the name, Lady Serina smiled at me as if to say I was correct. Was she saying that someone who was not even a noble had burrowed into our country’s society and even created a trend like this?
“It is slang that began in the secret social club hosted by the businesswoman I invested in, Lady Catherine Sergio. I also attend as a member there.”