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Volume 5 Vampire Tea Party Part 5

「My oh my, what on earth are you saying? Are you not the one who attends every social gathering while being dressed as a man, even when you are being asked to dance with someone? I bet there is quite a large number of ladies who would be pretty thrilled at the thought of being lead in a dance by a beautiful princess dressing herself up as a man, you know? Sometimes it makes me wonder exactly how many innocent hearts has that disguise of yours stolen away?」

 

Lamia grinned with a particularly mean smile. Leticia grimaced after receiving such a harsh criticism and took her seat with a dejected sigh.

 

The two of them were both born as the members of the Vampire royal family, but even though they were both legitimate children, their positions could not have been more different. The eldest daughter, Leticia has been educated in the ways of the warrior so that she could one day succeed the royal title as the first heiress to the throne, while the second daughter, Lamia has been brought up as a princess so that one day she could take over all of the matters related to diplomacy. To put it in simple, plain terms, Lamia was little more than just a powerful political tool possessed by the royal family, and the possibilities for the future that was ahead of her could generally be simplified to two possible routes: she was either going to be married off to someone from the Communities allied with the royal family in order to strengthen that Community’s ties with them, or be married off to someone from another Pureblood Vampire clan in order to keep the purity of the royal family’s bloodline intact. But that was not the end of the differences between the two sisters. Leticia preferred dressing herself up the attires that would typically be associated with males and her position as a knight, while Lamia was always going around dressed in pretty dresses befitting of her status as a princess, and that difference in the taste of clothing was another thing that highlighted just how far apart from each other their positions truly were. Maybe Lamia was actually dissatisfied with that state of being, and that is what caused her to be so sarcastic towards Leticia just now.

 

「Maybe you should spend some time to learn how to sew, dear sister? If you only devote yourself to honing your sword arm and little else beside that, then I am afraid that you are going to lose the attention and affections of all the fine gentlemen.」

 

「Fufu, yes, definitely. Unfortunately I am not someone like you, who can devote the entirety of her day to learn how to perfectly brew delicious tea, and someone who would be satisfied with something like that. Luckily for you though, you can focus on such things wholeheartedly, because if you asked one hundred people if they wanted to marry you any time of the day, you would get one hundred positive replies every single time.」

 

Instead of utilizing irony in the same way Lamia did, Leticia answered her verbal jab with her own honest feelings. As for Leticia herself, she due to her personality and responsibilities she had no experience whatsoever when it comes to the matters related to love and all the nuances centered around it, so she took her sister’s words at their exact face value. That was one of her biggest flaws as a person: she was incredibly bad when it comes to reading out the mood and the people’s intentions, but she was especially bad with irony and its practical application in conversations.

 

Lamia turned towards her while erasing the smile from her face and sharpening her lips.

 

「True, but contrary to what you seem to be believing, there are exceptions even to that rule. I am sure that there are plenty of men out there in the world who would quite enjoy the company of a woman as strange as you, my dear sister.」

 

「Lady Lamia. What you said just now was very disrespectful towards Lady Leticia. Please refrain from making fun of her any further.」

 

Carla, who was simply standing by Leticia’s side up until this point grabbed Lamia’s mouth and pinched it between her fingers, causing her to wipe the smug smirk off of her face. When she finally let goof her, she proceeded to pour the black tea blended with the petals of the roses that grew in this very garden into Leticia’s teacup, and after she placed it in from of Leticia, she showed Lamia a very malicious-looking grin in the place of her master.

 

「The appearance of Her Royal Highness Lady Leticia, who rides a Dragon into battle with her golden hair fluttering ever-so beautifully in the wind is the one of a perfect flower blossoming on the battlefield, and there is no shortage of those who yearn for her because of that. The is no doubt in my mind that she is one of the most coveted battle maidens in the entire Little Garden, and because of that there are a great many of brave heroes who would wish to try their luck in proposing to her. Is that right?」

 

「Hmpf, I guess so. S-So tell me, dear sister. Among all those heroes would like to propose to you, is there anyone in particular who strikes your fancy and whom you would be willing to acknowledge as being worthy of your affections?」

 

Lamia asked that of Leticia while feeling a little uneasy after being reprimanded by the Head Maid. While answering her question, Leticia wore a slightly bitter and somewhat lonely smile on her face.

 

「Of course not. There is no one like that for me at the current moment, since I am not particularly fond of the Vampires who are as removed from the matters of love as I am. And besides, I have never given love any serious thought up until now, and before I ever start seriously considering it, I would first like to wait until I succeed the throne and settle down for a bit. Only then will I start seriously consider looking for the one who would be a suitable partner for me.」

 

In reaction to Leticia’s unusually romantic response, Lamia’s face began to shine again as she nodded vigorously.

 

「R-Right?! Yes, of course! As I was saying earlier, you are one of the greatest treasure of the entire Pureblood Vampire clan, so you absolutely cannot settle for anyone who is not going to be an anything less than an ideal match for you, dear sister!」

 

「I wholeheartedly agree with what Lady Lamia is saying. And besides, if anyone would dare to think about asking our beloved princess-general for her hand in marriage, they would first have go through us, Member Nr.1 and Member Nr.2 of her devout fanclub!」

 

Carla declared that with a great amount of pride, causing Lamia to turn her face away before Leticia could see that her cheeks immediately became bright red, but luckily for her she did not seem to have noticed anything, because she only laughed and took a sip of her tea.

 

「Well, if I ever had to pick someone for myself, then I would definitely not settle for anything less than a very brave hero, and he would also have to be the one skilled enough in battle to defeat Carla, whose swordsmanship is on the same level as the Knight Captain’s. And that is a very high hurdle to surmount when coming from me, someone who loses every third time when we are having our regular mock duels.」

 

「Yes, and I definitely would not want Lady Leticia’s chosen one to be just your average hero either. The ones who would like to become partners of our beloved princess Leticia definitely have to be able to breeze through such  trial with their eyes closed and one of their hands bound!」

 

「But of course! Truer words have never been spoken! Yes, yes!」

 

The Head Maid and the second princess both started nodding their heads vigorously. In order not to start giggling herself, Leticia had to resort to bringing her cup of tea to her mouth again. She then gazed at the scenery of the garden, enjoying the scent of the blooming roses. . . .  but then she clasped her hands together when she remembered something.

 

「Now that I think about it, our chosen ones would not have to necessarily be heroes.」

 

「Huh?」

 

「What was that, my dear sister?!」

 

「Oh, do not be like that. Do you remember those Demon Lords dispatched from 『Thousand Eyes』?」