Dinner Test

-----Yui's POV

Natalie: "All done~"

Yui: "Thank you, Natalie."

Finally, after what felt like an hour, I'm all dressed and ready for the dinner. What took the longest was my hair as Natalie insisted on doing a fancy, plaited bun. She did it quite tight that I can feel the roots of my hair wanting to snap off. This is exactly why ponytails are just better, but I suppose I need to look pretty for the queen.

But my hair was the least of my worries. Natalie put me into a long, white dress with golden ornaments placed around my neck and waist. It felt quite revealing in terms of my chest area, but thankfully it is a long dress and isn't overly frilly as the dress hugs my skin quite nicely. Although it is a double edged sword as it makes my chest even more exaggerated, along with my waistline, making me look overly feminine.

Natalie: "You look beautiful, Ellen."

Yui: "Thank you."

It's only for tonight Yui, come on, you got this!

...

We end up moving to the carriage that has come to pick us up from outside our mansion. Mom is obviously with us, along with Alice, but it seems as though Natalie is also coming along. I guess she does attend to me, so it makes sense.

Iris: "A fine job, Natalie."

Natalie: "Thank you, my lady."

I have to say though, screw these high heels. Thank god the carriage came to the mansion to pick us up as I feel like I would've broken both my ankles before we even got to the castle. Mom was wearing similar clothes to what I normally see from her, but all of her clothes are like this. As for me, I hope this is just a one and done thing. Alice was dressed in her usual attire, and the same went with Natalie in her maid uniform. And in the next few moments, the carriage began to move.

Yui: "You think this is another test?"

Iris: "You think so too? Hehe."

So mom had the same suspicions as me. Great, now I'm getting nervous on how this is all going to go.

Iris: "Just let me do most of the talking."

Yui: "Got it."

So don't speak unless spoken to, easy enough!

.....

...

Cecelia: "Ah! Ellen, you look beautiful!"

Yui: "T-thank you, your majesty."

And right when we arrived at the queens palace, she immediately greeted me as if her target was me from the get go, putting me on edge almost immediately.

We were escorted into a large dining hall with lit torches on the walls, creating a soothing, warm atmosphere. The table was lined up with a massive amount of food, ranging from all kinds of meat and vegetables.

Cecelia: "Come, sit wherever you like."

Is this part of the test? If we chose to sit at the wrong seats, would that count as us failing this so called "test?" Not wanting to fuck any of it up, I follow mom's guidance as we end up taking our seats close to the queen and her children. The queen sat at the head of the table, with mom taking the seat closest to the queen's right. I took my seat on the opposite side, sitting next to the queen's daughters who sat beside their mother on the other side, facing mom. The queen herself seems pleased so far as she sends a smile my way. Alice ends up sitting next to mom with Natalie sitting to my right.

Daughter1: "Pretty~"

Yui: "Thank you, hehe."

Daughter2: "My name's Undine, eldest daughter of the queen."

Daughter1: "Ona! Nice to meet you."

Yui: "Ellen. Nice to meet you too."

We share smiles with one another as I try my best to be as friendly as possible. I do remember mom saying that the Queen of Yarene doesn't have any sons, but I wonder why I don't see their father around? Undine has bright blue hair with the same golden eyes as her mother. Ona however, has hair that's more like aqua, but also with the same golden eyes. And unlike their mother who hid her ears when we first met, Undine and Ona openly displayed their ears as the color and shape of them match their mother's, confirming that they're all mermaids; at least as far as I know, I only know that name from stories back in my past life.

Cecelia: "Thank you for coming."

Iris: "No, thank you for inviting us. You didn't need to go as far to prepare this big of a feast, hehe."

Cecelia: "Well how am I supposed to know what you like? So I had everything prepared for you and your family."

Iris: "You honor me too much, your grace."

Cecelia: "Fufu~"

Seeing mom grab a piece of meat with her fork, I take it as a sign to also grab something. I end up taking what's in front of me, which is non other than fish! The fish ends up melting in my mouth as a wide grin slowly creeps on my face.

Undine: "You like eating fish that much?"

Yui: "Ye-"

Oh... Wait, did I just fuck up? Judging by Undine looking to be uneased from me eating fish, I take it that I did something wrong. Wait... Don't tell me that mermaids are considered fish, and I'm eating their own kind?!

Undine: "Pfft! I'm just messing with you."

Just then, Undine grabs some meat from the same fish I grabbed and ate some right in front of me.

Undine: "Why else would there be fish right in front of us?"

Ona: "Yeah! Fish is delicious."

Undine: "Mhmm!"

They got my heart racing for nothing... Phew, at least I didn't do something disturbing, but now I kind of feel put off from eating more of the fish...

Cecelia: "Didn't you also have a son, Iris?"

Iris: "Yes, but due to some recent events, he chose to stay back with his father. I do wish that he would've come with us."

Cecelia: "That's a shame."

Undine: "Hmm."

I notice Undine having a slight smile on her face as she continues to eat the fish along with some salad. But hearing my brother being mention makes my heart ache a little. I do recall writing that letter to him, but a part of me thinks he just screwed it up and tossed it somewhere. I basically said to him that his father is a lie so of course it'd be hard to swallow.

Iris: "How about you? I don't see the father of those two beautiful daughters of yours."

Undine: "Father died from you humans."

Cecelia: "Undine, manners."

Undine: "Yes yes~"

Cecelia: "Sorry about that."

Iris: "It's okay."

Interesting. So similar to how Sicily feels with humans, Undine seems to also have some distaste towards humans. Although in her case, it looks to be a lot more personal having lost her father.

Yui: "...What was he like?"

Undine: "Hmm?"

I know I said to not speak unless spoken to, but I can't help myself. I feel like I should try and connect with these girls somehow, the same way my mom is doing with the queen.

Yui: "Your father."

Undine: "He was weak."

Ona: "He saved us!"

Undine: "He could've made it back if he was stronger."

Seems as though Ona values her father more than Undine does. But maybe that's not the case, she did speak up when Iris asked about him, so maybe there's more to it.

Yui: "What about before? Before he... Died."

Ona: "He was so cool! We'd explore all around the forests together."

Undine: "Yeah, and that's exactly what lead to that happening. It wasn't cool, not one bit."

Ona: "That's not how I remember it. You were the one that was most excited about going out with father."

Undine: "Shut up."

Cecelia: "Undine!"

Undine: "Sorry."

Yeah, I think I'm actually fucking everything up. Now even the queen is raising her voice making this whole dinner awkward with silence. But interesting... Forests? Wouldn't mermaids be travelling through the ocean? Why explore out in the forest? Maybe it's because they've already gone all around the ocean and wanted to explore the land instead? Still, I maybe should've have said anything as I've made the atmosphere a little awkward. But-

Yui: "I know what's it's like."

Undine: "..."

Flashbacks from my past life come into mind. Not of this world, but my previous life. After all these years, I still miss my parents. I always thought my father was so "cool" when I was little, and even all the way up to high school. I remember when he first bought a gaming console for us and he'd play with me when I was little. We never used it much when I grew up, but even so, he'd always find something for us to do. Hell, he was the one that gave me the courage to confess to Kaede in the first place, even if he did end up discussing it with mom prior.

Yui: "I had a father who was like that. We'd do everything together. If it wasn't for him, I don't think I'd be the person I am today."

Undine: "But your mom makes it sound like he's alive."

Yui: "...I wasn't talking about that man."

I don't even consider him my father, so I choose to refer to him as but a man, which polarizes Undine as she looks at me questioningly. But I don't think I can explain everything over dinner. It took me basically all my life to tell mom about my previous life.

Yui: "I can explain later. Thank you for the dinner."

Undine: "Uh, Yeah."

I smile her way as we go back to eating. It might've been bumpy and I'm sorry about that mom, but I feel like I've opened a window for me to connect to the queen's daughters. Ona seems quite easy going, but Undine, the older sister will be tough to get through.