FWDA 76

Chapter 76

“This… this is the first time I’ve ever seen so much food!”

“It’s incredible! How many cakes are there?”

Before even tasting anything, the young ladies were already gasping in awe.

The grand dining hall was filled wall to wall with food — hundreds of dishes, at least at a glance.

“Even a royal birthday banquet wouldn’t be this big.”

There were five birthday cakes alone, and each layer of those cakes had a different flavor.

“What? The chocolate cake isn’t just one flavor? Every layer tastes different!”

They decided to count how many different types of chocolate cakes there were.
A cute cake thickly coated with chocolate and topped with tiny figurines.
A forêt noire cake covered with finely ground chocolate and rare seasonal cherries.
A rich, smooth chocolat cake made with dark chocolate.
And a choco-vanilla cake alternating layers of cocoa sponge and plain genoise.

“Wow…”

“Do you get to eat things like this every day, Jaina?”

There were also chocolate éclairs with ganache filling, chocolate tarts, and even a chocolate fondue fountain to dip treats into — enough to make up an entire dessert table of nothing but chocolate.

“Jaina, do you like chocolate the most or something?”

Jaina tilted her head, looking confused.

“Not really. I do like it… but it’s not my favorite.”

Even so, it was obvious how much care had gone into preparing all this.
There were also appetizing salads and soups, tender veal steaks that somehow stayed warm as if freshly grilled, buttery lobster, roasted bluefin tuna collar, turkey, roast chicken, truffle lasagna, ravioli, escargot… the list went on and on.

“How is all this food still hot, like it was just cooked?”

“It’s the preservation magic of the dining hall. The Tower mages designed it together.”

The girls tried to count all the dishes but eventually gave up — it was endless. So they decided to move on to the main event: cutting the cakes.

“…Which cake do we even start with?”

“…And where do we put the candles?”

There were so many cakes that even simple things became complicated.
In the end, they agreed that Jaina should use wind magic to set the candles in place.

As the floating candles drifted upward, Marilyn sighed dramatically.

“Making the birthday girl set her own candles…”

But the cakes were so tall that no one else could reach them.

“Jaina, you’re guilty of having too much talent.”

“What were you all doing instead of learning magic?”

Once the candles were lit, the girls looked at Jaina with sparkling eyes.
Jaina closed hers and made a silent wish.

After stuffing themselves, drowsiness naturally followed.
The girls, nodding off like sleepy chicks, decided to play a game to wake up.

“Let’s play that game Jaina taught us last time!”

It was the Mafia Game Jaina had once introduced — a game from her old world, Earth.

“Jaina always comes up with such interesting games.”

She had also taught them string games, jacks, and other simple pastimes.
Of course, they’d adapted it a bit — “Mafia” became “Thief,” “Police” became “Knight,” and so on.

“Ahem, let’s begin!”

One of the girls acted as moderator. Everyone closed their eyes while she secretly assigned roles: thief, knight, doctor, or citizen.
Then they all opened their eyes and began to look around suspiciously.

“I think Jaina’s suspicious!”

Marilyn jumped up and pointed at her dramatically.

“Oh, now that you mention it—yeah!”

“She does look a little tense.”

Jaina blinked in disbelief at the sudden accusation.

“I didn’t do anything! Why would I be the thief? My face always looks the same!”

But Marilyn refused to back down.

“I can just feel it. The atmosphere’s different. I’ve seen you too many times not to know!”

Though accused, Jaina wasn’t too worried — “atmosphere” wasn’t exactly solid evidence.

However…

“Last night, an innocent citizen was killed.”

At the moderator’s words, Jaina’s turn was over — she’d been eliminated.

“Wait, Jaina wasn’t the thief?”

“Huh? Really?”

Jaina looked around, betrayed, but her friends averted their eyes.
Only Marilyn had the nerve to meet her gaze, shrugging.

“I couldn’t help it. I only had eyes for you.”

Another girl added, “Yeah, we love you too much, so we kept suspecting you.”

“You just looked too calm in the Tower. Everyone else was nervous, so you stood out.”

And thus, the citizens lost.

One quiet girl who had barely spoken all game scratched her head.

“Huh. I didn’t even do anything, but I won.”

She had been the Mafia.

The victor received a plate of desserts from the center as her prize.

“There’s no way someone loses every Mafia game, right?”

But “no way” turned out to be exactly the case — Jaina lost every single round.

“Well, last time Jaina’s blank face helped her win all the games.”

“She’s so calm that we all followed her lead and lost.”

“So this time we just decided to vote her out right away…”

Soon everyone was eating cakes, tiramisu, scones, cookies, brownies…
Everyone except Jaina.

Feeling bad, the girls started feeding her one bite at a time.

“We can’t let Jaina go hungry! Say ‘ahh!’”

“Ahhh~!”

Jaina, overwhelmed, ended up taking every bite they offered.
And just like that, her mock outrage melted away.

Her friends squealed at the sight of her cream-covered cheeks.

One girl hugged her tightly.

“Our sweet Jaina— I can’t bear to see you married off someday!”

“Me neither!”

They still remembered how cherubic she’d looked when they first met — those soft, round cheeks.
Now she was growing into a fine young lady with a sharper jawline and elegant features, but to them, she was still the same adorable Jaina.

“Aww, our cute Jaina. So precious!”

Even Marilyn, perhaps feeling guilty for accusing her, clung to her and nuzzled her cheek.

“This is ridiculous,” Jaina muttered.

“We’ve got Jaina, that’s all we need!”

“Jaina, we love you!”

Though flustered, Jaina stayed still, warmed by their affection.
Her friends giggled at how cute she looked like that.

As night fell, the girls changed into pajamas and gathered together for chatter.

“I want to eat that cake again.”

“I ate too much chocolate—I’ll never fall asleep!”

Their voices blended like a flowing melody, one sentence leading to another, never-ending.

“So, have you decided which boutique will make your debutante dress?”

At that, their expressions turned serious — this was their current biggest concern.

“I’m going to Belia’s Atelier. It’s the most famous.”

“But it’s impossible to get a reservation there!”

“Well, if you can’t, Sorfina Atelier is a good backup.”

The talk of dresses soon turned into talk of their futures.

“After my debut, I’ll probably marry my fiancé within a few years.”

“Same here.”

“I haven’t chosen a partner yet, so marriage feels far away.”

“I thought things were going well with Sir Randolph?”

“He seems a bit… flirty.”

“Then you should go for Young Master Bernadette instead!”

“Write him a letter right now!”

One girl shyly started writing, and soon the others joined in, writing to their own partners.

‘A partner, huh…’

Jaina, who had no fiancé, hesitated.
One friend grinned mischievously.

“If you don’t have a fiancé, why not write to someone you like?”

Marilyn, who was also single, began writing something too.
But Jaina just stared at her paper. She didn’t even have a crush — not a single person came to mind.

Seeing her lost in thought, another friend teased with a sly look.

“Now that I think about it, when we first met, wasn’t it Prince Rojian who brought you?”

“That’s right! He’s at the academy now, so he can’t attend your debutante ball.”

“Jaina, you still keep in touch with His Highness, right?”

“I do.”

“Ahh, our handsome Prince Rojian… he doesn’t even come back on holidays.”

He had truly devoted himself to his studies — even his mother, Lady Elia, hadn’t seen him.

‘He really meant it when he said he’d work hard.’

Jaina thought of him — sometimes she missed him.
When messenger birds flew around the Tower, or when she happened upon a dish he used to like.

‘Well, it’s not like I have anyone else to write to…’

When Jaina finally picked up her pen, her friends exchanged mischievous glances.

Then—