How About a Refill? ~The Elegant Tea Party of the Grand Witches~ - Chapter 0

Prologue

Ah, how did it get to this?

“Hey now, why the gloomy face? What’s wrong Millie? Come, have a cup of tea.”

Miriam, the second daughter of Marquess Caparoni of the Kingdom of Avilier was feeling perplexed.

The woman in front of her, urging her to drink tea… she had peculiar red hair like the glow of a burning flame, and bright blue eyes reminiscent of the sky at dawn. 

Her name was Beatrice, the Witch of the Capital. 

They were at her personal residence in the Royal Palace of the Kingdom of Avilier.

To the right of Beatrice was a beautiful petite woman with a dazzling porcelain face. She had flowing golden hair and eyes the colour of lapis lazuli. Her name was Valeria, the Witch of the Forest.

On her left was a woman with hair like black silken thread, and long-slit silver eyes with a cool gaze. Her ears were a bit pointed, probably because of her bloodline. She was the Witch of the Frontiers, Eleonora.      

Now, before one talks about these three witches, one must first explain the history of the Avilier Kingdom.

Well then, let’s have a look.

__ 800 years ago, an evil dragon woke up and brought upon the world, which had been peaceful until then, an era of chaos. People’s lives were exposed to fear as demons and magical beasts became widespread in the world.

King Avilier of that time, in order to overcome the situation, tried to subdue the evil dragon, but it ended in a failure.

The vast land abundant in farmland, and endowed with beautiful seas and mountains was slowly corrupted by the Evil. The only place left was the Capital which was surrounded by the bottomless Grand Valley, and the Forest of the Abyss which kept both man and demon from venturing forth. 

At last, when it felt like all mankind would be wiped out, the King’s younger sister, who was also a witch, received a divine revelation. 

　“The noble One”

　“The One sent from a distant place”

　“The Halfblood”

　When the three gather,

　With the Holy blood they shall be marked with eternal time,

　It shall appease the blood of the Evil,

　The lamentable Black Dragon shall be put to eternal sleep.

Beatrice, the Princess who received the revelation, together with Valeria, the girl summoned from another world, and Eleonora, the child of a human and a dark elf, drank the blood of the holy dragon and managed to seal away the evil dragon.

After that, Valeria went to the Forest of the Abyss, Eleonora retreated into the Valley at the frontier, and Beatrice remained at the castle in the Capital while forming a magical barrier.

The kingdom of Avilier had gained eternal peace by receiving the divine protection of the three Grand Witches.

（Excerpt from the Introduction to the History of Avilier) __

That’s right. The three women smiling and enjoying their tea in front of Miriam were the exact same Grand Witches who had received eternal life those 800 years ago.

And, the Marquess’ daughter, Miriam, attending this tea party of said Witches was feeling quite perplexed. That’s because the clothing she was wearing was not something you wore for calling on someone, nor was it a day dress, rather she was wearing her favourite soft, lacy nightdress.

“… Lady Beatrice, it is a great honour to be invited to your tea party…”

“I’m also really happy you could come!”

The smile Beatrice flashed to the forcefully smiling Miriam was like a flower blooming.

“Pfft,” the woman on her right let out a snicker.

“Ahahahaha! I can’t hold it in anymore! Millie! Why are you wearing a nightdress!” Valeria burst out in laughter while holding her belly. The beautiful woman was a mess right now.

If you looked to the left, you could see that Eleonora was also turned away and trying to hold in her laughter.

“See this is why! Haven’t I always said so; if you let me know in advance I can show up myself in a proper manner! Then why is it always the summoning spell that calls me!” Miriam, her face bright red, shouted with a loud bang on the round table in front of her.

The three Witches watched that scene while trying to hold in their laughter.

“I was going to sleep and had just about climbed in bed! That’s why I’m in my nightdress! I’m not even wearing a dressing gown! To begin with, please don’t hold a tea party this late at night!” 

The three took no notice of the huffing Miriam and began conversing.

“Well I never know when I get into the mood for a tea party, so I can’t let you know in advance. Right, Ellie?” Beatrice turned to the girl on her left.

“Yeah, sometimes you just want to talk to people, even if it’s this late at night.” Eleonora, who has a slightly masculine manner of speaking, agreed while lifting a teacup up to her androgenous face.

“But, in the first place, isn’t a tea party something you should hold during the day?!”

“Hmm~ If all you want is to talk to each other while drinking tea isn’t it alright to have a tea party regardless of whether it’s day or night?”

“That’s right, if we feel like chatting over a cup of tea, it’s already a tea party, you know.”

The Witches laughed as they self-righteously refuted the complaint Miriam had brought up.　

“Oh nooo! This isn’t good!” Beatrice slammed down her hand as if she had suddenly recalled something. 

“He asked me to inform him when I summon Millie to the tea party. Aah, I completely forgot. I’m soo sorry. I’ll call him right away!” Saying so, Beatrice raised her right arm with her index finger pointed out, and made a circular motion in the air. As she did so, a dawn coloured light appeared and gradually spread out into the shape of a magical square.

“Umm? I’m asking just in case but who are you… ? …it can’t be!” Miriam asked Beatrice in panic. The face of a certain person had come to her mind.

“Emilio, of course.”

At that moment, a young man with a rough appearance, wearing only a white shirt and trousers, appeared from the magic square. The man called Emilio, full name: Emilio Vittorio Beget Avilier, was the First Prince of the Kingdom.  

Emilio looked around restlessly wondering what had just occurred. His eyes landed on Miriam’s when suddenly his face turned red and with a flustered appearance, he quickly averted his gaze.

“So-sorry! I didn’t see anything!” 

“Hm? What…” Miriam began to say but suddenly remembered. …She was in her nightdress.

“Aaaaaaah!”

With Miriam’s scream, and the laughing voices of the Witches in the background, the night at the Royal Palace went on like usual.