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It’s almost time for the party to start. Olivia and I are getting ready in separate rooms.

Clarissa won’t be participating though, and she doesn’t seem interested in it either, as she’s staying in the room while yawning in boredom.

“All done.”

Stella is helping me get ready, and she brings a large mirror so I can see myself.

I’m wearing a one piece dress, designed to camouflage my ball joints. The skirt’s hem is pretty low, and I’m wearing long sleeve gloves, so I doubt anyone will be able to notice I’m a magic automaton. I’m actually impressed they were able to tailor this dress in such a short time.

But the makeup Stella applied on me is even more impressive. I’ve never really worried too much about my own appearance, but my skin lacks a lot of details usually present on humans. Stella, however, skilfully drew in everything I lacked, making it appear like proper skin pigmented with blood, turning me into a beautiful silver haired lady.

“I’m glad it is to your liking.”

Stella bows politely, and almost on cue the door behind her opens.

“Oh, I see you’re done here too. Oh my, look Olivia, Natalia has also been prettied up.”

I turn around and see Lorraine there, accompanied by Olivia who she just helped get dressed up.

We’re both lost for words as we look at each other.

Her dress clearly accentuates all the curves on her body while concealing the bulkiness of her muscles, and her held up hair and bewitching eyes have a strong allure to them.

Looking at her like this is almost… But then again…

“Ah…so…”
“I can’t believe how beautiful my wife looks¹!”
“Who are you calling your wife!”

She’s clearly still the same Olivia of always.

As the sky gained some purple hues, many guests began to gather in the Gardeland mansion’s party hall.

But most of the guests were not aware of the party’s motive.

The invitation mentioned that it was a celebration for the family’s heir, Oswald, success in his first year at the Magic Academy, even though the celebration for being admitted to the Academy was less glamorous. It was strange to organize such a large party for a trivial motive, not to mention that even people with hardly any ties to the family had received invitations as well, including some that stood in opposition to them, making the matter all the more baffling.

Of course, there was no one brazen enough to point that out there, and some even decided this was a good opportunity to form a better connection with the Gardeland family. Others were expecting some sort of conflict to break out and were ready to fight back, and others simply were curious to see what would happen in the end.

When going inside the hall, they were greeted by their hosts, Marquis Gardeland and his wife, as well as the luxurious but not extravagant furnishings. The tables were covered with the best food the mansion’s chef could prepare, and showed just how much effort had been put into organizing the party.

There was still some time before the party started, and even if they did not know their hosts’ intentions, they were still nobles, so they would make use of any opportunity to exchange information or form new connections.

But the younger ones were not quite the same. While not exactly devoid of scheming or ulterior motives, they were far more innocent, and they formed their own group where they just chatted and laughed happily.

There was one figure who stood out to them though, a woman with silver hair and blue eyes standing in a corner of the hall.

She had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and did not mingle with the other groups, so the younger group kept looking at her with curiosity. She did not appear to be the daughter of any of the nobles there, and since someone with her beauty would have certainly been burned into everyone’s memory, coupled with her awkward demeanor, this was likely her first time taking part in such a social event. So everyone still kept whispering to each other in speculation about her identity.

Then one of the nobles walked out of the group and approached her.

“Hello, nice to meet you. I’m Jasper Roe Plowright². It appears to me you aren’t used to these settings, so may I offer myself to accompany you tonight?”

The young man, Jasper, spoke to her with a smile, but the silver haired woman just averted her gaze, looking bothered.

“I appreciate the offer, but it’d be wasted on me. I have a companion I’m waiting for, so I can’t leave on my own. Maybe on another occasion.”
“A companion? And who might that be? There’s quite a lot of people here, so if they lost their way, we could help you search.”
“…No, there’s no need for that. Please don’t worry about it.”

Jasper noticed how the woman stammered a bit. It was clear she was not used to such social settings.

That was something he could use to his advantage, and knew that the right questions would give him all the information he wanted, but just as he was about to speak again, the hall’s large doors opened.

It was time for the entrance of the central figures.

Everyone stopped talking and turned to look there. Jasper, while frustrated, also looked there to follow proper etiquette.

The first ones to appear were the marquis and his wife, their arms locked together as they walked in unison. Behind them was the star of the party, their son Oswald, but then everyone looked puzzled.

A girl no one had seen before was walking alongside him.

She was tall, the curves of her body accentuated, and her tied up hair accentuating the allure of her figure, though her face still had some traces of childhood on it. She looked older than Oswald, though he had no older sister, and there was no girl like that in their extended family either.

It was mostly those without any contact to Ingralowe’s Magic Academy in three years who were confused about her.

“Thank you everyone for taking a break off your busy days to come to this party to celebrate my son Oswald’s progress.”

The main host, Otis, greeted all the guests, his voice sounding a bit more casual than the tone of most nobles.

“My niece is also accompanying us today. She also just graduated from the Magic Academy recently, so let’s celebrate for her as well as for my son.”

1. Robinxen: I almost want to give her credit at this point.
2. Robinxen: That’s a name.