After talking with Lilliwood-san for a while, I spent the rest of the tea party as promised—returning to Isis-san’s table and making brief rounds to visit the others.
Between the tea party and the Harmonic Symphony, I felt like I’d grown quite close to the members of the Seven Princesses. Amel, for some reason I couldn't quite fathom, had taken a massive liking to me. She was incredibly reluctant to say goodbye and made me promise that she could come visit my house soon.
By the time the wonderful tea party ended and I made it back home, the hour had grown late. I was just considering having dinner and a bath before heading to bed when Anima arrived with a letter addressed to me.
Anima screens all the mail that arrives at the house. She filters out things like formal invitations to noble tea parties from strangers, while personal letters from regular correspondents like Noin-san or Chris-san are brought straight to me.
"Master, one of today's letters appears to be an invitation."
"An invitation? This envelope looks rather fancy... If you're bringing it to me personally, does that mean it's from someone I know?"
Recalling how my last invitation turned out, I flipped the envelope over to check the sender.
"Wait, Mitsunaga-kun? Ah, that’s right—his wedding with Cattleya-san!"
The envelope was indeed from Mitsunaga-kun. Inside was a formal invitation and an RSVP card for his upcoming wedding ceremony.
After finishing his Hero-role, Mitsunaga-kun had been granted a noble title. Because he was set to marry Princess Cattleya, he hadn't just received a title, but actual territory as well. I’d heard he had already moved there and was busy learning the ropes of lordship under Cattleya-san’s guidance.
While the two were already engaged, they hadn't held the official ceremony yet. The official reason was that Mitsunaga-kun wanted to become a capable lord first, but in truth, they were likely waiting for Aoi-chan, Hina-chan, and me to return to this world. It seemed they'd only started the final preparations once they knew for sure we were back.
"The date is still a ways off, but I’m looking forward to it. Anima, I’ve marked my RSVP as 'attending,' so could you send this back for me?"
"Yes, please leave it to me."
"Thanks, I appreciate it."
I decided to attend without a moment's hesitation. The ceremony was a little over three months away, so there was still plenty of time. Given that Mitsunaga-kun was a noble and Cattleya-san was a princess, there would likely be a massive number of guests, so I suppose they needed to confirm the headcount early.
Then again, I've never been invited to a wedding before, so for all I know, this is just the standard amount of lead time.
The following morning, the three of us gathered around the breakfast table. Naturally, the conversation turned to Mitsunaga-kun's wedding.
"Wow... To think Seigi is actually getting married. Life really does move fast, doesn't it?"
"Actually, since Mitsunaga-kun has been living here the entire time we were away, doesn't that make him older than me now? It feels so weird..."
"Oh, you're right. While we were back on Earth, nearly two years passed in this world. And unlike Aoi-chan or Hina-chan, whose physical growth Shiro-san reverted to their state from a year ago when we arrived, he just kept aging normally. That would put Mitsunaga-kun at eighteen or nineteen now."
Since Aoi-chan and Hina-chan were in the middle of their growth spurts, they had grown noticeably taller during the year they were away. Shiro-san had reverted their bodies to the state they were in when they were first summoned, while keeping their magical development intact.
However, since Mitsunaga-kun had decided to immigrate to this world permanently, no such measures were taken. Having spent nearly three years here in total, he had technically overtaken Aoi-chan, who used to be his senior in their club.
"I haven't seen Katy in quite some time myself, so I'm certainly looking forward to the big day," Lilia-san added, joining the conversation.
As Cattleya-san's aunt, Lilia-san had naturally received an invitation of her own. As we chatted excitedly about the wedding, Luna-san entered the room with a troubled expression and approached Lilia-san.
"Milady... I'm afraid it was a dead end."
"I see. I suppose it was a long shot. It's a shame, but shall we give up for now...?"
I didn't know the details, but I could tell the news wasn't good. Hina-chan seemed just as curious and spoke up hesitantly.
"Lilia-san? Is everything okay?"
"Oh, it's just that the manager of one of my shops came to me with an idea for a new product. It was brilliant, but the recipe requires specialty materials from the Winged Race. I tried leveraging every connection I have, but unfortunately, I hit a brick wall."
"The Winged Race rarely interacts with other species, making trade with them incredibly difficult," Luna-san elaborated. "Milady has more influence than she used to, but even then, finding a lead with the authority to actually negotiate is nearly impossible."
We all nodded in understanding. Judging by the way they were talking, they had searched for anyone who could bridge the gap to the Winged Race and come up completely empty.
Luna-san then let out a small, weary chuckle.
"Maybe we should just ask Miyama-sama? If it's him, he might just happen to have a connection to the Winged Race tucked away somewhere."
"Haha, that's a thought," Lilia-san joked. "What do you say, Kaito-san? Do you happen to have any Winged Race acquaintances you could introduce us to?"
Luna-san was clearly teasing, and Lilia-san was playing along. The problem was... well, I did have one.
"...Um, well, I actually met Amel, the leader of the Winged Race, at the tea party yesterday?"
A split second later, there was a sickening thud as Lilia-san’s head slammed face-first into the table.
Serious-senpai: At last... Well, it’s still a few months off, but Seigi is finally making his return after several years of absence... And as usual, another stomach is being pulverized.