Shomin no Aji - Chapter 604.1 (Patreon)

For now, let's leave things as they are.
After the greetings were done and everyone had taken their seats, Miria began serving tea.
Starting with black tea, from the second cup on, they could request green tea or anything else they preferred.
She explained that this time, the food and drink would be served buffet-style.

In the girls-only gatherings, we used a three-tiered tray for afternoon tea, but since the guests this time were boys, who likely eat a lot more than girls, I decided to make it a buffet so they could take as much as they liked.
Otherwise, it would be hard on Miria who was serving.

There might be complaints about making the Crown Prince serve himself, but at the Adelia Academy, even royals are expected to do things for themselves, so it's probably fine.
Besides, even at palace parties, unless it's a formal banquet, it's often buffet-style, so it's fine, yes, it's just a very small, private tea party, but it's fine.

"This is quite a sight with so much laid out!"

Crown Prince Raymond, unaware of my excuses and worries, walked happily toward the table laden with sweets.

"Your Highness, please be careful not to eat too much?"

My brother followed him, looking exasperated.

"Aren't you the same? You're always complaining that you want to eat Miss Cristea's homemade food."
"Of course. Even though we're in the same academy, I rarely get to see Cristea, let alone eat her homemade food. I can't miss any opportunity."

Although the Prince's retort was teasing, Oniisama answered quite seriously, making him a bit puzzled with a "O-oh, right...?"

Oniisama... just like during the greetings earlier, though I'm used to it, I'd appreciate it if you could tone down the sis-con remarks in public.
Ah, look, Alicia-sama is pulling away again... I knew my brother's behavior wasn't normal.

Even from my past life, I thought he might be too much of a sis-con, but since he was like this even before I regained my past life memories, I didn't really question it... Maybe this is normal for noble siblings?
It's hard to judge various things with my past life's common sense mixed in...

While I was thinking about that, Ruby contacted me telepathically, sighing, "You're so clueless. That's not sis-con, it's the obsession one has for their beloved."

Eh? Huh? Be-beloved?
O-obession!?
Hearing an unfamiliar word with no connection to me, I froze.

"Cristea-sama? What's wrong? Your face is red.”

Alicia-sama asked, peering at my face with concern.

"Oh? Ah, um, no, it's just that I got a bit hot from the tea!"

I hastily made an excuse and began fanning my face with my hands.
Alicia-sama admonished me, "At least use a fan," so I discreetly took a fan out of my inventory and began to cool my flushed cheeks.

Ah, that startled me.
Oh, that's right.
I had completely forgotten that Oniisama had confessed to me.
His affection was always evident, and he hadn't blatantly changed his behavior since then, so...
Right, I thought it was just because of his sis-con tendencies, but Oniisama has liked me romantically for a long time...

(That's right. You should at least be conscious of it. It's not fun for me to watch otherwise, you know?)

Ruby said teasingly via telepathy, noticing my troubled thoughts.
Ruby! Oniisama is respecting my feelings and waiting for me, so stop teasing!
And don't casually read people's minds!

(Yeah, yeah. Even without reading your mind, your thoughts are leaking out... But still, you should be more aware, or your brother will be too pitiful.)

Ugh, that...
I realized it was pretty terrible of me to have forgotten, so I bit my lip, and Ruby looked at me as if saying, "You're such a hopeless child," before moving to his seat, having Mariel-chan serve him the desserts he had chosen.

Next: https://www.patreon.com/posts/107788022/