Reincarnated into a Game As the Hero’s Friend

The next day, the morning brought a story that messed up my schedule.

During the family meal, Norbert presented my father with a letter that arrived early in the morning with the same face as usual, and both my mother and I silently watched as he finished reading it with a frown on his face.

Incidentally, Lily was still in the position of a maid at the moment. The time for practical training for parlor maids in the drawing room was during the master’s meal time, so she was in the same room.

Be that as it may, a normal letter would not be brought in by a butler during mealtime. The fact that the letter was brought in during the meal means that it was either a major incident or a letter from a person in a high position. Either way, it was a case that required an immediate response or reply.

But somehow, the atmosphere was strange. It was neither angry nor bewildered. If I had to describe it, I would say resignation.

“Lily.”

“Yes?”

Father called Lily. I thought it might be another cup of tea, but apparently not. He looked at Lily and then told her.

“The Marquise Schramm has asked me to invite Lily to a tea party tomorrow afternoon.”

Ah, Lily froze. Was it that unreasonable? Or perhaps she was having a hard time understanding the content of the invitation, which was so unexpected.

“The person who invited us is Miss Rosemary El Schramm, the daughter of Marquis Schramm. It is said to be a casual tea party.”

It was an unorthodox way of inviting someone. Regardless of whether Miss Rosemary invited Lily or the Marquis summoned her under his daughter’s name, the tea party should be considered a friendly one, with no hidden intentions.

In this world, it was not so unusual for a noble daughter to invite a commoner. This was because it was common to invite commoners to a tea party to promote socializing, since both nobles and commoners attended the school.

Though, I think it was unusual for a young lady who was not a student of the school to invite a commoner to a tea party.

“Um, let’s just say it’s a casual tea party.”

“I’m also told that the Grand Duke Seyfart has given his permission for this.”

Before I could ask any questions, my father responded. Had he already taken care of it? I should say that as expected of an aristocrat in a higher position, right?

“You know the procedure, don’t you? It’s just a matter of switching positions.”

That’s what my mother said to Lily. As a parlor maid, Lily must have been present at the tea parties, and she should have witnessed the etiquette at the tea parties. Perhaps, the mother or head maid even taught Lily about them.

In this world, a woman who could not even make a cup of tea was treated very poorly as an aristocrat. It might be more like being treated like a child. I remembered that the female students at the school had a class related to tea parties because of this.

On the other hand, cooking skills were not necessary, but knowledge of cooking was important for noblewomen, but I wouldn’t go into the details of that. In short, they needed to know how to talk about various topics when they had guests over or when they were invited. It was similar to talking about old wine.

There was one other thing. The fact that the invitation was sent through my father, rather than directly to Lily, showed that they had no other intention. The invitation itself would serve as evidence, meaning that the marquise would take responsibility if Lily were to be harmed in any way.

In other words…

“What do you think, Welner?”

“Is it a faction problem with the Marquis Schramm?”

“Mm.”

Was that the right answer? At any rate, I should explain to Lily, who still seemed to be puzzled.

“In this country, there are two major factions, the civil faction and the military faction, but the Marquis of Schramm doesn’t belong to either of them. You know that much, right?”

“Yes.”

“However, since there are not many neutrals in terms of numbers, they often get along evenly with the leading figures of both factions. And Miss Rosemary’s mother was supposedly from a military aristocratic family, right?”

“I see, because they don’t have any blood relations with the civil faction, they have a desire to make a connection by becoming friends with me, who is currently under one of the civil factions.”

Good enough… Even though Lily didn’t have much information and experience, she had a good level of comprehension.

My personal assessment aside, Count Zeavert was part of the civil faction. And now that it became a count house with an ornamental crest, it would certainly be seen as one of the top counts in that faction, even if they may not be the highest ranking among the faction.

But that being said, it would cause unnecessary misunderstandings if the young lady called out to me, and would cause relationship problems if they invited people without any proper reason.

Therefore, by inviting Zeavert’s family as a guest, the family must have been considering using the invitation as a foothold for future exchanges. Perhaps, in the name of repaying the hospitality we received, my mother would invite the Marquis or Madame Schramm at a later date.

I thought that this was really a troublesome exchange between aristocratic families, and I hated to say it, but did I really need to mention this as well?

“Besides, there is also the relationship with Mazell they have to consider, after all, Rosemary-sama is engaged to the son of the Crown Prince.”

“…So instead of having a connection with my brother who is not in the capital, they wanted to have a connection with me instead?”

“That’s what they are implying, I think.”

It would also be a stepping stone to building a relationship between His Highness Louwen and Mazell when Mazell eventually returned to the Royal Capital. I think Lily would be unhappy about that, as well. However, the country had not publicly acknowledged Mazell’s existence as a true hero.

However, now that the state was openly protecting Mazell, his recognition would probably happen in the future, right?

As I was thinking this, Lily nodded and answered.

“I understand. I will accept the invitation.”

“Are you really okay with that?”

“Yes. I think it’s something I’ll have to do at some point.”

She responded nervously, but clearly to my father. Although she seemed to think that it would be a burden for our Zeavert house to say no after having obtained the Grand Duke’s permission, it still showed in her face that she was worried, showing that her poker face was not yet good enough to hide her feelings.

“Besides, I think it would be more helpful to Welner-sama.”

“That’s for sure.”

I resisted the urge to tear up as I listened to my father’s response. I was glad nothing was in my mouth. If that was what she was really worried about, I would have told her not to worry about it, but that’s a line I couldn’t say in my position right now. I really shouldn’t have to think about that yet.

But still, the siblings were so similar in their boldness.

“Claudia, please go and find her some clothes.”

“I will.”

Father said to Mother. Even a tea party with a casual purpose would require appropriate outfits, and I doubt that my mother’s dress would fit Lily. Height was an issue, you see.

There’s a rental clothing store in this world for aristocrats, too, so we might have to call them up soon, that’s for sure.

“Lily doesn’t have to work today.”

“Understood.”

The last few days, I was so occupied with the duel that I hadn’t made any progress on my investigations, but even without that, I still had a lot to do on the front lines. On the surface, that would mean I’ve got a lot of work to do. Today would be a full day of that side of work as well.

I was showing a disappointed look on my face, but since I would be doing paperwork today anyway, I guess it was fine.

“On that day, I’ll be at the royal castle in the afternoon. But before I go there, I’ll make sure to prepare the necessary authorization you would need.”

Lily was the one who was invited, but she would need someone to escort her to the Marquis’ house. My father only nodded lightly when I said so, but it was a good thing, since I was right in my decision.

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