489 My First End Of Year Ceremony

Time really flies but it's the end of the school year already.

Right now I'm in the carriage on my way to attend the end of year ceremony at school.

I looked at the piece of paper in front of me with a complicated face.

"Katsuki? What is this?"

"The speech Mistress requested for me to prepare for your end of year speech, Mistress."

"Err… Doesn't the tone of it still sound a little… Arrogant?"

Katsuki tilted her head slightly, "How so, Mistress?"

"Err… I mean this part that seems like me intentionally goading them that I am standing in front of them because I am the best…"

Mother giggled while hugging me closer from behind, "Ara, ara~ That is only arrogance if it isn't true, my little one~"

I don't think that's how it works, Mother…

"I'm pretty sure if I were to speak all this aloud in front of my peers, they're all going to think I'm some arrogant prick…" I groaned.

Katsuki straightened herself, "If Mistress allows me to speak freely, I believe that anything less would make Mistress appear to be looking down on them."

"Eh? Why?"

"Ufufufu~ For my little one, this won't just be a case of you being modest you know? It's alright for my little one to be more confident of yourself~"

Urk… I don't know why but I feel like this would be sending me on the path to become those typical ojou-samas… If I start to curl my hair into drills and start laughing with "Ohohohoh!" I think the transformation will be complete…

…

Actually that kind of sounds like it'll be fun…

Nooo!! I won't!! Evil thoughts be gone!!

… Hehe… Maybe just a little for fun?

Ahem…

I looked back at the script and sighed, "Oh well… I'll go with this then."

"There's no need to feel obligated, Mistress. If you find any section unsuitable for you, there is no need to hesitate on skipping or changing the contents."

I mean… You did work hard in writing this out for me so I'll at least trust you… Though I suppose I might just adlib some parts if needed.

That is… If I can actually do so when I'm standing in front of the entire student body later… But seriously, I only glanced through the script just now but are the contents really fine?

The first few iterations that she gave me throughout the week leading up to the ceremony were actually much more pompous than this one and I asked her to lessen the tone of it several times…

But Mother also told me that it was fine after reading it so I guess maybe it's just me…

Not to mention that we're already here so I don't think I have time to think up another speech for myself now.

And on cue, the carriage came to a stop, shortly before the door to our carriage opened to reveal Mary in her guise as Lina holding the carriage door for us.

We stepped out from the carriage to join the crowd of students who are also accompanied by their own family attending the ceremony today.

It was a little weird since everyone here was practically dressed up to the nines in the best clothes they had as compared to the usual clothes they might wear.

I guess this was expected especially for the final year students since this would also be their graduation ceremony. 

As for students like myself who would just be moving up a year… I guess we just dressed up to fit in with the rest or we'd look out of place.

When I stepped out of my carriage, several students spotted me and waved at me enthusiastically.

I waved back at them while looking behind to see Odeta and Delmare alighting from a separate carriage that had been following behind ours, both of them also dressed up just as nicely.

Odeta looked quite uncomfortable in the dress she was wearing but I think she looked really cute~ The only thing that I felt was a waste was the fact that it did not show off her abs.

Both girls immediately came to my side when they alighted from their carriage, their arms wrapping around mine.

Just so you know, it's not time for the party yet so they weren't acting as my escorts right now. That would come after the ceremony.

"Ahhhh… I hate this dress so much," Odeta groaned, trying to bunch up as much of her skirt around her waist to avoid stepping on them.

Delamre simply smiled at me before cuddling her face to my shoulder in content.

"Ara, ara~ My little one is certainly popular, ufufufu~"

Nggh… I hope Mother doesn't embarrass me too much in front of my schoolmates…

"Aster! Aster!"

I looked up to see who was calling me.

"Oh, hello Charles," I greeted my fellow Special Class student.

If I remember correctly, his specialty was Aeromancy and he was quite a friendly guy. Although I never really interacted with him much, I at least didn't have a bad impression of him.

He stuck out his hand towards me, "Congratulations, Aster! I knew you would be named as the best student of our year! You definitely deserve it!"

I touched his hand with mine, "You flatter me, Charles. You have also worked quite hard yourself, haven't you?"

"Pshh, they're nothing to talk about compared to yours, Aster! You will be attending the party later, right?"

"Do I have a choice?"

He shrugged, "I dunno~ Mom said that I could choose not to go if I don't want to~"

That was when he noticed Mother standing behind me, "Oh! Is that your Sister?! Hello! You're really pretty like Aster!"

"Ara, ara~ You have such a nice friend, Aster~ Is he part of your harem too?"

I rolled my eyes, "Mother… Please…"

"Ufufufu~ I'm just joking, I know you have no interest in boys~"

I saw a slight shift in Charles's face but it looked more like a trick of the light than anything.

"Ah… Umm… That's your mom?" He whispered.

I giggled, "Yes, she is."

"Umm… Should I call her aunty?"

"Ara, ara? You can just call me big sister~ I don't mind~" Mother interjected.

"Oh look! We should be going into the school right now! Don't want to block the way do we?! I'll see you later Charles!" I interrupted, pulling all my companions along with me, Mother included.

I didn't look back to see what face he had as I ran away from him so that Mother can't embarrass me anymore.

Joining the rest of the crowd in moving towards the school's hall, I greeted the other students whom I recognised politely while accepting their congratulations for being the best student of the year.

There were even a few who seemed to have brought gifts for some reason, especially from the older students which I promptly handed over to Katsuki for safekeeping.

When we reached the front door of the school hall however, I got intercepted by the president of the student council himself.

"Aster? Over here please."

I turned to him, "Eh? Is something the matter, Daniel?"

"You will be delivering your speech right? You'll be going on stage with the others so you're entering separately."

Ugh… Just like that time we got introduced to the school I suppose…

I waved to the others and they entered the school hall without me, allowing me to follow Daniel towards a side room that several other students were waiting in.

All of them looked up at us the moment we entered and I assume that these were the top students of the other years.

I noticed that half of them smiled and either nodded or waved at me in greeting while the rest frowned at me.

It doesn't take a genius to guess that the latter group was probably envious or jealous of me or something.

Well, as I had said before, I don't intend to be friends with everyone in this school anyway so that doesn't really bother me.

Daniel grinned at me, "I suppose I should get you up to speed first since this would be your first end of year ceremony. Most important thing is that you would be the first out of all of us to deliver your speech."

Makes sense to go from the younger students and move up to the older ones, ending with the final year student since this would also be their graduation.

I nodded to show that I understood and he continued, "The principal will deliver her speech before us of course and we will wait backstage for her signal and enter the stage one by one. If you're intending to put on some kind of show, do let me know ahead of time."

I blinked at him, "Show?"

"Yeah. Some of the students like to put on some kind of performance or theatrics if you prefer. We had some interesting instances like a student impersonating the principal with Somatomancy magic, another one hired a band to play some kind of opening theme to their entrance and there was once a student who managed to ride a wyvern into the hall."

"... A what?"

"Oh you heard me. And I meant into the hall quite literally. Broke like part of the wall and ceiling. Which is why we need to know if you have anything planned for your entrance?"

"... No I don't."

"Perfect! Ah, looks like the principal is starting her speech soon. Shall we?"

I nodded, following him and the other top students to the hall through another door. Time to get this show on the road I guess.