"Camellya Seradain, was it?" Louise asked as she watched Leon head over to the Clemons siblings, and Camellya, raising a hand to call over a passing waiter, nodded.
"Yes, Lady Louise."
She picked up a glass from the tray the waiter held, but after perceiving the wine and realising it was a flavour that she wasn't fond of, she set it back down and chose another.
"You're not a noble of the Empire, are you?"
Camellya froze at that question, then silently glanced at the waiter, who quickly moved away, before looking back at Louise.
"And how certain are you of that? The Empire has hundreds of noble families."
The answer Louise gave was one Camellya already knew and expected due to her knowledge of Deity Rising.
"I know the names of all the Empire's 768 Noble Families. None is called 'Seradain'," Louise said calmly, crossing her arms in front of her chest before continuing. "It's only natural to assume you're a foreigner in that case, no?"
Camellya took a sip of her wine, frowning slightly as the taste still wasn't to her satisfaction before she replied.
"You're quite knowledgeable, Lady Louise. Not many nobles of your standing care to learn the names of lower nobles."
Louise couldn't refute that statement, as she knew most other children of Dukes and Duchesses looked down on the lower nobility, and some even went further and claimed they were a stain on nobility.
'Pampered fools who don't understand how the world works.'
Louise's internal disgust was concealed under a calm smile as she replied to Camellya's compliment.
"Thank you," she said, and before Camellya could get a word in, she continued, "So? Where are you from?"
Camellya felt Louise was being rather persistent, but she didn't voice that thought and answered the question.
"Asteau."
"Oh, the republic."
"Yes. Is that a problem?"
After asking that question, Camellya finished her wine and looked around for any passing servants to get rid of the empty glass while Louise responded.
"No, it's not a problem. Why would it be?"
"You seemed rather insistent on knowing," Camellya replied instantly, finally spotting one and beckoning them over.
"Insistent, you say? It's nothing of the sort. I was just lightly curious about my dear friend's associates, that's all."
Camellya turned to Louise after hearing that, staring at her in silence for a moment, and Louise continued speaking.
"If you were in my position, wouldn't you be curious?" she said. "I just want to know how you got to know Leon."
That didn't sound like all she wanted to know, but Camellya held herself back from retorting before answering.
"He helped my mum out when she got injured. That's how we met."
"Is that so? Leon is as kind as always," Louise muttered with a proud smile, however, that smile disappeared right after Camellya's next words.
"I'm sure it was merely a whim of his. The both of us finding a common goal to work towards after that was just a coincidence as well."
Camellya spoke casually and dismissively, her eyes on the orchestra members who were slowly returning to their seats for the next dance. In truth, her full attention was still on Louise, and she didn't miss the moment Louise's smile faded after hearing her words.
"A whim, you say?" Louise asked in a low voice, and hearing it, Camellya gave her a side glance.
'I might be overthinking it, but…'
She put that thought on hold for now and answered, wanting to test the theory she had in mind.
"Yes. A whim," she said. "Spend a few days alone with him, and you'd know he does a lot of things on a whim."
Louise didn't respond right away, staying silent for a moment before asking, "And where exactly did you spend a few days 'alone with' Leon?"
Seeing that Louise had bitten the bait she threw out, Camellya internally pumped a fist and responded.
"A dungeon. I did mention we had a common goal earlier, didn't I?"
"…yes, you did."
"Exactly. Besides that, when we went to Frobert, I had to stay with him at his home while his mother went out to deal with official business, and his impulsiveness left me stumped."
Camellya carefully watched Louise's reactions to her words, but the young woman didn't so much as twitch an eyebrow.
'Maybe I was wrong, then.'
But just as she'd concluded she was wrong, Louise finally spoke.
"A dungeon, huh? It reminds me of the first time Leon and I met outside the Imperial Palace."
A trace of nostalgia crossed Louise's expression as she continued, "We were exploring a dungeon filled with ancient rune crafting materials and tools, but unfortunately, our exit from the dungeon got sealed by a landslide, and we had to spend a week navigating through the labyrinth before we finally made it out."
The memory of the then 13-year-old Leon crossed Louise's mind, and she smiled softly.
"Can't believe it's already been 4 years since then."
"…"
Camellya blinked in silence for a moment, completely certain it wasn't her imagination that Louise placed a lot of emphasis on the word 'years'.
The thought she'd just dismissed came back to her mind, and now she was sure she'd been wrong when she thought she was wrong.
'She's wary of me… and is trying to show off how long she's known, Leon? Why? To keep me in check or something?'
She didn't respond to Louise and simply turned to Leon, who was giving Vivian a gift, and after a few seconds, the realisation hit her.
"Ah, so that's what it is," she muttered.
However, Louise, who was right next to her, heard her clearly.
"That's what what is?"
"Hmm? Don't worry. It's nothing serious."
And indeed, it wasn't anything serious as far as Camellya was concerned.
'Thinking about it from her perspective, it's only been a month since Leon went to Asteau, and he returned with another girl he met there and appears to have gotten close enough to bring her as his partner to a party…something he's only ever done with her.
I suppose she must feel somewhat threatened.'
Deity Rising's DLC made it fairly clear that Louise had feelings for Leon, but not when she started having said feelings.
'But it's pretty clear she's been into him for quite a while…whether she's noticed it herself or not.'
Louise's feelings for Leon weren't a problem for Camellya. Or rather, she couldn't afford to let them become one.
Not when she had far more pressing matters to handle.
Just as she had that thought, Leon brought the Clemons siblings over, introducing Camellya to them. The conversation between them flowed fairly well, even though Camellya was new to their group.
Still, the Clemons siblings didn't stay with them for long and soon left to introduce their younger sister to other high-ranking nobles so she could become acquainted with them.
While they were doing that, the orchestra began playing a new piece, and Leon and Louise took to the dance floor at Louise's suggestion.
With Leon occupied dancing with Louise, Camellya quickly made herself scarce to avoid any stops or interrogations from the young lords and ladies who were endlessly curious about her and everything concerning her.
'I'm sure some of them already have their family's intelligence agents looking into me with just my face.'
She heaved an exasperated sigh at that thought as she entered one of the resting rooms on the first floor of the building.