The party celebrated in occasion of the fourteenth birthday of the ruler of Lucifenia, Riliane Lucifen d'Autriche, proceeded without delays.
The splendid furnishings placed in the Hall of Mirrors, and the expectant faces of the guests all reflected the might of Lucifenia in the region of Evillious.
Among the present were the ruler of the Kingdom of Elphegort, the Green Kingdom, Sohni Elphen, as well as the head of the trading guild, the wealthy merchant Keel Freesis. From the Kingdom of Marlon, the Blue Kingdom, the young ruler Kyle Marlon was in attendance. And so on, various sovereigns of foreign nations and other people of influence had come to the castle to celebrate the birthday of our young monarch.
They all kneeled before Riliane and offered their congratulations one after the other. The princess' influence was uncontested, both inside the Kingdom and outside its borders; it was no exaggeration to say that everything in the world existed for her sake, that a word from her made everything move.
As for me, the cleaning duty since noon, and the search for Riliane afterwards, weighted down on me, so by the time I finally reached the palace I was fighting to stay awake, but I had no time to take a rest. Since the search for the princess had involved the handworkers, the preparations for the ball had fallen behind schedule, so all servants had no choice but put all the energy into their work.
Even with the ball already underway, taking a rest was out of the question. In any case, we had many illustrious foreign visitors gathered under one roof. Things had to proceed without a hitch.
In a corner, some men that seemed to be aristocrats from another country were engaged in a lighthearted chat.
"This has turned into an age of power for women."
"And to think that a girl barely fourteen is a ruler of such a strong nation as Lucifenia…"
"Well, of the Three Heroes that contributed to the expansion of this country, aren't two of the three females?"
"And in the Kingdom of Marlon as well, although officially the ruler is the young king Kyle, the real power is in the hands of the Dowager Queen Prim, his mother."
"And even the merchant, Freesis-san, is under the thumb of his wife."
The aristocrats didn't even look at me. For them, we servants were not much different from livestock or rocks scattered to the side of the road. However, when presented with someone that had my same face, they flattered Riliane to no end, anxiously currying her favor.
We were born of the same mother, and yet our place in life is so different. Why?
Riliane and I –the roles we had in life could easily been reversed, if fate had taken a slightly different path.
"Are you tired, Allen?"
Perhaps concerned by my look of exhaustion, Mariam moved closer to speak to me.
"I'm alright, ma'am"
"If you are having a hard time, you should go to the servant's quarters right now and rest for a while, don't you think? After this we will have to clean up and put things in order, there's a lot to be done, after all."
Mariam, the head of the maids of the palace, was one of the "Three Heroes" just like Leonhart. Why was a great hero like her showing concern for a simple servant? Once, I tried to ask Leonhart about her, but he only replied: "In a country there are all types of women, you know? All types." I didn't really learn anything from that.
"There seems to be something on your mind…Something about Princess Riliane, perhaps?"
I hurriedly searched for words, but couldn't find a quick answer. Mariam's question was right on target.
"Even though you are different, being boy and girl, your face is the same. Then, why is your station in life is so different? You were thinking something along those lines, weren't you?" Mariam said with a slightly teasing tone.
"Ma'am, are you a mind reader?"
"Of course not. It's not like I'm Elluka…well, she says she doesn't read minds either."
The Court Magician, Elluka, was yet another member of the "Three Heroes".
"…Speaking of which, the fact that Princess Riliane and I resemble one another…isn't that a problem?"
The significance of my question seemed to elude Mariam for a second.
"What do you mean, Allen?"
"Well, there's not even a one in a ten thousand chance, that Riliane and I…"
"Princess Riliane, you mean"
"…I'm sorry. Princess Riliane and I…If it was discovered we are twins separated…" I enquired in a voice nobody but Mariam would hear.
I carry the blood of the royal family of Lucifenia in my veins; I am Riliane's younger brother…only five people knew that secret: the Three Heroes, Minister Minis and me.
"That won't be an issue. At first, some people seemed suspicious of how similar Princess Riliane and you were. But Elluka convinced all of them, apparently, just by saying that in this world, there are people who look identical, and they come in groups of three."
Could it really be that simple? Seeing my doubtful expression, Mariam continued her explanation.
"Well, it's because Elluka has many 'devotees' inside the castle that believe in her. You are probably not aware of that, but the effect of her words is unparalleled."
As a royal prince, I was officially dead. After the death of my father Alth, there was a political struggle within our kingdom. As a result, two of the ministers were assassinated, and during that incident, I, six years old at the time, became involved in the struggle and lost my life.
"Then there's Princess Riliane. There's a chance that she might remember you, but…that is likely to be a non-issue, too. It's been a year since you came here. She doesn't seem to have any suspicions about your parentage," Mariam said.
That was true. Why had Riliane forgotten about me…about her early childhood?
The obvious answer, when I thought about it, was Elluka. With her abilities known as "magic", it was possible that she had sealed away Riliane's memories. But why would she do that? I wasn't sure. Even if I asked Elluka or Mariam, they would likely refuse to answer.
If they had any intention to tell me, they would have said something already.
While I kept thinking about my sister and me, the gathering became more animated. It seemed like the main event was about to start.
"Welcome everyone, thank you for coming today! There's plenty of food and beverages and pleasant conversation awaiting us after this, so please eat to your heart's content, and enjoy yourselves!" Minister Minis greeted the crowd. Behind him, Princess Riliane sat smiling in her throne.
I felt relieved. She seemed to be in such a good mood that it was hard to believe that she had escaped the castle, and had been sulking until shortly before the party.
Probably the sight of all those adults gathering just for her sake and bowing their heads filled her with amusement.
I brought the food into the mirrored hall along with the other servants. By chance, I happened to see Leonhart guarding the entrance. He looked bored and his eyes wandered from place to place. As I went about my work, I kept thinking back to the things he said to me, when I was sweeping the gardens. How many people could be saved, by having just this amount of food delivered to the city? After carrying all the dishes, a sigh had just left my lips when Ney called out to me.
"Allen, we are not done yet! There's still one more thing, and it's big!"
What was she talking about? As far as I knew, that was everything…
"Everyone, this is a special treat Princess Riliane has arranged for your entertainment." The minister's voice was the sign for Ney, the other servants and me to bring into the Hall of Mirrors a unique item.
That castle was…It seemed like something straight out of a fairytale…A castle made of sweets.
It was perhaps about my height. The base was made of countless layers of cake. The outer walls were covered with pure white cream, and over them, the glossy roofs were made of chocolate. And there were so many candies decorating the princess' gift, it was impossible to count them all. It was so skillfully made that it didn't seem like a castle of sweets at all. It made me think that if I were to open its doors, a witch would beckon me in.
And that witch would smile in the same way Riliane was smiling then.
Thanks to the moving platform it was on, it wasn't particularly hard to transport the castle of sweets.
However…It was hard to believe Riliane had ordered such a thing to be done. From what I heard later, Riliane was hit with the idea that same morning and had the patissier bake it.
"Ooooooo" The party guests raised their voices in amazement. Apparently the castle of sweets had a sizeable effect towards demonstrating the might of Lucifenia. Though it wasn't like that was Riliane's objective in the first place. It was likely she just wanted to eat something like it; she just wanted to have some fun. There was nothing more to it.
With the jaw dropping in shock, Leonhart's face reddened. Looking clearly enraged, he stormed out of the Hall of Mirrors. I went after the flustered commander.
"Fa… Sir Leonhart, what about guard duty!?"