The Tea Party

Alicia had been feeling that the others were becoming hostile toward her lately because of her love for Prince Wolter so she decided to take measures to repair her friendships with them by throwing a tea party for the ladies. She also wanted to take the opportunity to meet and befriend Guy's sister. All of her years as the Empress of Wütendes Menschenreich had taught her to be proactive in protecting alliances even with people that she might not fully share common goals with, such as the Council of Magic. She knew the most important friendship to protect was between her and Madeline. The others could bend a little, but she absolutely must remain close friends with Madeline if she was to protect her man and her country.

Alicia had found a nice tea shop just off the campus with a private room for social gatherings like hers that would be perfect. First, she put together the room and ordered appropriate snacks for them and then she gathered the ladies together and wouldn't accept a no from any of them. Thankfully once they all gathered together, it was business as usual and conversations all fell into place naturally. Madeline was smiling and asked Renée, "So, what's this I hear about you and Claude?"

Renée blushed and then said in a soft almost timid voice, "He rescued me from an ambush in town, and then we went shopping together, it was nothing strange."

Alicia looked surprised and then asked, "Was it an alley near the discount shopping area?"

Renée nodded at her and smiled, "Yes it was, it was my own fault, I should have gone with a friend to that side of town, but I still felt a little like I wasn't sure who my friends were at that point. I am still a little disoriented."

Alicia thought for a bit and then said, "How interesting, many years ago when I first fell in love with Claude, it was that same alley when we first really talked. I wonder if Claude is fated with it?"

Renée asked, "Do you still have feelings for Claude?"

Alicia shook her head, "Even though I am young again in the body, my mind remembers the man as someone I was together with when I was a child. No offense to any of you here, I only spent a short time with him before he passed. We had a child together, yes, but he had passed before I really knew that he was a father. Wolter has been my only love for over a decade now."

Doreen grew curious and asked, "Do you find the current Wolter to be the same as the man you remember?"

Alicia sighed and shook her head, "No, but I see flashes of the man I loved in him. When Wolter was younger he was angry and impatient. The Wolter I fell in love with was very patient and had lost the edge on his anger. Rather than making snap decisions, he would think things through. He was a very caring and patient lover."

Madeline nodded and said, "I think I know what you mean. Wolter seems to be a little greedy now."

Alicia nodded at Madeline and said, "I'm sorry, he keeps flirting with you, even when I am on his arm."

Doreen stirred a cube of sugar into her tea and while looking at Renée asked Alicia, "So, I have to ask, which one is bigger."

Alicia looked at Doreen and giggled, "You all know Claude is a monster in that way." She grinned and then said defensively, "Wolter is big enough, he's no Montfort in that way." She looked at Madeline and covered her mouth, "Sorry, Madeline."

Madeline pouted and said, "It wasn't that small... Really."

All of the girls laughed and then Renée asked, "How many times have you all lived through this world?"

They looked at each other and then Madeline said, "All of us aside from Alicia traveled to the future of this world after my wedding, Alicia had to live through it. Because of Guy's interference in the normal flow of things, the world became a horrible place."

Alicia smiled and said, "It wasn't all bad, but close to it."

Madeline nodded and went on, "We looked for a way to return to this time and set things right. Guy, your brother took it upon himself to go back and stop himself coming here. None of us remember that world but me. I waited there for ten years without him. It was a miserable world just like the one we left behind the first time. Olivier's brothers killed him and each other battling over the throne and then Wolter led his armies on a rampage over the rest of the world. I decided I would come back and fix things myself at that point only to find that everyone else was here too."

Renée made a worried face and then asked, "Has Aoi, I mean Guy, told you all about what happens in the game?"

They all looked at each other and then Alicia smiled and answered, "I believe Guy has never really spoken much about the game only that there are heroines and capture targets."

Renée looked at Alicia and said, "There is only one character you get to play as in the series, and that is you, Alicia. All of the endings are bad for the world no matter which man," She looked right at Doreen and then said, "Or woman, you choose. It's one of the things that made the fans crazy about the game. They even created bonus discs to think of even more gruesome endings. The game developer, that is the writer for the series said that it was to throw out the idea of the perfect happy ending."

Alicia looked at Renée with an intense stare, "Are you suggesting that I have to die to save the world?"

Renée shook her head and just said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that, I just meant that the game itself was written that way, this is a real world that merely reflects what was in a game in my world."

All of the women at the table started to get quiet until Doreen asked, "In the world where I am together with Alicia, what was the ending like?"

Renée bit her lip and then said, "The men were outraged and had you burned at the stake for being a witch. Then a war started between men and women until no one was left alive in the Kingdom."

Madeline looked shocked and then asked, "What about Guy and Alicia?"

"You kill them both and House Aumont rebels against the throne leading to a long and bloody civil war." She replied.

Ella asked, "What about Alicia with Olivier?"

"His brother Albert has them killed and steals the throne, but his distrust of everyone but his Queen leads to him killing all the nobles and then the Queen kills him," Renée replied.

All of the girls shake their heads and then looked at Alicia, "Thank goodness this isn't a game." Madeline said, "Oh that reminds me, did any of the game routes have an airship?"

Renée looked at Madeline and shook her head, "No, that wasn't in the game at all."

Madeline beamed and said, "Good, good!"

Just then one of the ladies from the tea shop came in looking distraught. Doreen asked, "What's wrong?"

The lady shook her head and said, "Oh it's just dreadful. They found two girls murdered at the Academy de L'échec. I thought of you girls and couldn't help worry for you."

Everyone in the room unconsciously looked at Renée.