As I had expected, they basically invalidated the contest and I just made them draw lots to decide who would accompany me instead.

In the end, Minnera ended up being the winner which meant that I would be going to the tea party with her and Katsuki.

Thankfully, the other girls didn't fight over it and accepted that result.

Well… Kind of accepted the result I would say… Since they basically made me make love to them for the entirety of the next day because of that.

Not that I mind, of course~

Anyway… The day of the tea party came pretty quickly and I found myself looking at an even bigger and much more comfy looking palanquin as the one that I saw before in front of the inn.

I guess this is the difference when it's the prime minister inviting you and the queen inviting you to the palace.

Or maybe this was specifically designed to carry more than one person.

Since I've already experienced this before, I didn't make any fuss and climbed into the palanquin with my girls in tow.

As I thought, the inside was way bigger and had enough space for all three of us to lie down comfortably if we wanted to.

Of course, the first thing I did was to dive right onto the bed and splay myself out on top of the mountain of pillows, enjoying the comfyness of the bed.

Ehehehe~ So comfyyyyy~

"I've seen this online back in our old World but I never thought that it would be like this," Minnera commented.

I giggled, "Ehehehe~ I'm pretty sure this is something that is unique only to here~ This is enchanted with magic so it wouldn't feel heavy for the carriers. Additionally, you also wouldn't feel any bumps and jolts from being carried because of the enchantment either!"

Katsuki tilted her head at me, "Mistress sounds like you really like this thing?"

"Well… It is pretty comfortable, right?" I pointed out, hugging one of the pillows to my chest. "I can lay down like this, which is something that I can't exactly do inside a carriage."

"If Mistress wishes to, shall I inform the Madam to change all of our carriages to palanquins instead?"

"Eh? No, no, no. It's not like I will be using them that often right? And this is only socially accepted here right? I would feel terrible if we took this over to Lehcarouc and everyone judged us as weird because of it."

"Mistress, I'm pretty sure if you were to use it, it would become the new trend instead of being seen as weird."

I waved my hand, "That's definitely not going to happen. But it's fine anyway, this is part of their culture isn't it? We can just come back here again if we really want to experience this again~"

The rest of the trip to the palace was enjoyed in silence as I immersed myself in the comfyness of the pillows that surrounded me.

I even got Minnera to cuddle beside me too and Katsuki even gave me a lap pillow~

Ahhhhh~ This is the best~

"Mistress, we're here."

Waaaahhhh!! Why do all the good things always end so quickly! Life is unfair!!

I straightened my dress before I let Katsuki pull back the curtain to allow me to step outside.

This time, instead of being left at the gate, it seems like they have carried me all the way to the front of the palace instead.

Clearly the treatment this time was completely different as compared to two days ago… Heck, I realised that even the Queen herself was standing in front of the palace waiting for me with a group of maids flanking her.

The Queen's lips curled up into a smile the moment she saw me, "I'm so glad that you could attend my tea party, Lady Aster~"

I bowed to her, acting like the middle citizen that I was supposed to be right now, "For the Queen to invite me to such a prestigious event, I would not miss it, your Majesty."

"Fufu~ What a charmer you are. Please, right now you are my guest, there is no need to hold yourself on ceremony."

I straightened myself, "Thank you, you Majesty."

"Now, I already know Lady Aster but your companions…"

I stepped aside and gestured to the two girls that were still bowed behind me, "The one on my right is Katsuki, my personal maid who I rely quite a lot on. The one on the left is Minnera, one of my lovers and the best artist anyone can ask for."

The Queen smiled at them, "My, my~ Please rise, any friend of Lady Aster's is also a friend of mine. It is my pleasure to meet you both."

Katsuki straightened herself, "It is my honour, Queen Asami. We thank you for this invitation."

Minnera also chimed in, "Thank you for the invitation, your Majesty."

"My, my, as expected of Lady Aster's company~ How polite~ I am Queen Asami Nekinumi, it is a pleasure. Now, shall we head inside for our tea?"

She turned and led the way into the castle, prompting us to follow after her while the maids took position behind us to escort us.

She brought us to a different part of the palace and ascended a flight of stairs that led to the upper floors of the castle.

I idly wondered if there were lifts in the castle just like the inn when Katsuki moved beside me to whisper, "The lifts in the inn were a recent invention, Mistress, and the castle was constructed way before that so there isn't any here, Mistress."

I see, thank you Katsuki~

We ascended until the third floor which brought us to a corridor that had multiple sliding doors on both sides.

I thought it was going to be an indoor type of tea party until she walked past all the doors without stopping at any of them.

Eventually, she reached a wooden sliding door which had a maid already waiting there for us and she quickly opened the door for the Queen to step through.

I realised that the door led to a balcony area that had a view of the city and several ornate tea tables were laid out around the balcony area.

My initial guess was that all those tables would be occupied by the attendees of this tea party until I realised that only the largest table here had cushions and cups laid out around it.

Judging by the number of cushions and cups, this tea party seemed to be arranged with only five people attending it.

Counting my group and the Queen, that would make four people so there was still one more person who we could be expecting I suppose.

I already know that the King was not attending this because this was specifically the Queen's tea party so I wonder who was going to show up.

The Queen looked around and frowned, "Where is he?"

The maid at the door quickly bowed her head, "His Highness has not yet arrived, your Majesty."

His highness huh… I knew it… They wanted to set me up with the prince, don't they? I figured as much…

Well, we've already gotten here anyway and all I need to do is just make some polite conversation and then leave afterwards.

I would be ok as long as they don't try to force me to do anything which I'm pretty sure they would avoid doing anyway so there shouldn't be anything to worry about.

Who knows? Maybe the prince is some cool dude?

The Queen turned to me, "My apologies, Lady Aster. It seems like one of us is still not here yet. No worries, we can start first while my servants go and fetch him here."

That seemed to be a not so subtle cue as the maid quickly ran off, undoubtedly to go get the prince here.

We were then escorted to the table and it looks like even the seating positions were already predetermined.

There was one cushion at the head of the table which was for the Queen and one cushion on the left of that. On the opposite side however, were three cushions side by side.

Guess that's where we were supposed to sit.

Unlike the time where I had to basically force Katsuki to sit with me at the sweets shop, she didn't voice any complaints and settled beside me wordlessly while I sat at the spot closest to the Queen.

The maids then moved to bring out several unfamiliar looking utensils which I assumed were their version of the tea set and the Queen personally started grinding what I presumed were tea leaves inside a small bowl.

Eh?! The Queen was personally preparing the tea herself?! I thought it would just be like those tea parties where we would just get served by the maids instead!

This is way bigger of a deal than I thought!!

Will this really be ok?!!

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