Chapter 842: She Wants To Show Off Sometimes Too
Surprisingly, I didn\'t feed Emilia like the others, which I assume it\'s either because it was Emilia or because her special prize got her something else other than getting me to feed her.
She didn\'t seem to mind so I didn\'t ask either.
Thankfully, the \'event\' after that was just having me mingle with my schoolmates in the centre of the hall while the ensemble at the back played soothing music.
The first group I approached was Haddock\'s group who seemed to be keeping to themselves in a corner of the room.
A few of the boys shrunk back a little as I approached them but Haddock actually stood his ground and turned to face me.
"Lady Aster," He greeted with a nod. "Happy birthday."
"Thank you for attending, Haddock. So what do you think about my reveal?"
He grimaced, "I think I already made my thoughts clear earlier didn\'t I? If I had known that you were the young lady of the Nilm Family, I would not have done what I did at all."
I hid a smirk and tried to act like I didn\'t know what he was talking about, "What did you do? I\'m not sure what you\'re talking about."
"Ugh… Please let me apologise once again for my attitude to you before this… Not only were we completely wrong about your relationship with Big Sis Odeta, we were even rude to someone from such a prestigious family as well…"
Oh wow, I was definitely not expecting such an apology from him.
Now I felt a little bad for bullying him like this so I guess I\'ll just accept it and move on.
That\'s why I simply gave him a smile and told him that I accept his apology and to enjoy his time at the party.
The next person I approached was, of course, Aeta.
The girl was standing a short distance away and was currently stuffing her face with food that she had taken from the table.
She didn\'t even notice that I was approaching her until I appeared in front of her and she looked up to see me while some noodles were still hanging out of her mouth.
"Hello Aeta, having fun?" I asked.
"Blurgh blurgh?" She answered eloquently.
I chuckled, "You can swallow first. I know the food tastes great so I\'m not judging."
She quickly turned around and tried to finish swallowing the noodles that had been in her mouth before she turned back to face me again.
"Ahem… Happy birthday Aster! Tha… Thank you for the invitation to your party!"
I smiled at her, "Thank you for attending the party, Aeta."
She made a face, "I\'m guessing you\'re here to show how wrong I was when I said that I could provide Delmare a better chance to show off her talents, aren\'t you?"
I simply smiled at her without saying anything.
She grimaced, "Ok, ok… I was absolutely and totally wrong to even assume that… If you wanted to, there was absolutely no way that my family could even match what you could do for Delmare… If you wanted to, you could even just buy me out and take over the entire thing."
"I did tell you that Delmare didn\'t wish for it."
"Yes… I know that already… Please allow me to apologise for how I acted before this once again."
"Mmm~ So how are the idol group doing actually? I\'m curious if they are performing well?"
She nodded, "Yes actually. They just got an invitation to perform at a noble\'s mansion for a party they are hosting so I would say that we\'re doing pretty good."
I frowned slightly, more because that sounds like a plot where some rich guy saw them performing somewhere and got the idea that he wants to possess them for himself. He would then invite the idols to his place, feed them some kind of drug after they perform, then have his way with them.
"Who is the noble? Are you sure he won\'t do anything like… Take advantage of them?" I asked.
"Oh, no need to worry. First, the nobles who hired them are trustworthy. Secondly, they can protect themselves and thirdly they hired my idols for a party held for their child… Wait…"
Both of us shared a look, realising both of us came to the same conclusion.
She pointed at me and I immediately shook my head to show that I most definitely had no idea about this.
As though on cue, Katsuki appeared at the end of the hall to address all of us.
"Everyone, thank you for attending my Mistress\'s birthday party. For our next event, we have a very special group that is here to perform for us. Please welcome the Siren Sisters."
Four girls appeared on the stage wearing idol costumes and waving out at the crowd.
"Hello everyone!!"
"Are you all having a good time?"
"Thank you for having us today!"
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"Are we all ready to party?!"
Surprisingly, quite a number of my schoolmates let out gasps.
"The Siren Sisters?! They got them to perform as well?!"
"Aren\'t they really popular right now?!"
"As expected of the Nilm Family!"
Oh wow, it seems like they\'re more popular than I thought.
Aeta made a face at me, "Did you really not know this?"
I gave her a look, "This was supposed to be a surprise party for me so I had no hand in the planning for this. I\'m more curious how you didn\'t even know about this."
"The person who approached me never said that it was for the Nilm Family! They… Oh… I get it now…"
I raised an eyebrow at her, silently asking what she realised.
She turned to look at Levianne and Tiara standing a short distance away right as the idols started their song.
"I was told the people who wanted to hire them was the Royal Family… I didn\'t want to say that at first because it was supposed to be a secret…"
I turned my attention to the stage where the idols were now dancing in front of the crowd of my schoolmates that had gathered to watch them.
"I wonder though… Why did Lev-- Ahem… Why did the Queen hire them for the party? I never thought that she was interested in idols in the first place."
Aeta also scratched her head in confusion, "I… Let me go check something."
I watched as the idol manager left me to approach the stage, completely forgetting the food that she was still carrying in her hands and leaving me alone.
That was when I felt a tug on my arm and I turned to see Delmare smiling at me.
Wait…
I looked back at the idols, then at Delmare who had an innocent smile on her face before pointing a finger at her.
She nodded, still maintaining the innocent smile.
Wait, wait… So Delmare was the one who hired them to perform at this party… Most likely through requesting it to Katsuki who in turn got our maids at the palace involved whom I suspect went to Levianne to request for her permission to make use of the Royal Family\'s name.
I\'m guessing the Queen allowed it on the account that she would also be invited to the party as part of an agreement or something…
"But… Why?" I asked, leaving out the part where she obviously disliked Aeta and, by extension, the idols as well.
I mean… She had initially suggested a plan to completely ruin her idol business in the first place so I was quite surprised that she would even think about hiring them.
She stretched her hands out to me and it took me a moment to realise what she wanted so I lifted her up to carry my Siren in my arms, allowing her to stop her spell to change her legs back into her tail.
She cuddled her face against mine, "I would have to ask for your forgiveness, Aster… I might have been influenced a little to be more selfish today…"
I instantly knew who was responsible and narrowed my eyes at her, "What did Lisa tell you?"
"Umm… Promise that you won\'t be mad?"
"That will depend on what you have planned…"
"Umm… So… Lisa might have overheard our situation with Aeta and she asked if I would like to show off my love for you… I… I agreed so she suggested this plan to me…"
"And what is the plan?"
"I… Invite them here secretly… And then since I know Aeta will be here as well… Have them perform in front of everyone… Then after they are done…"
Things clicked into place for me as my eyes widened, "You\'re going to sing as well? With your magic?"
She nodded, "I want to show off a little… If you would allow me to, Aster…"
"But… That would…"
"Don\'t worry, we already took precautions for it. I just… Want to ask for your permission to sing for you on stage."
Well… Since we\'ve already reached this point… Fuck it, let\'s do it.