For some reason, Athanasia still can’t sit back and enjoy the fruits of her labor. I mean, her night went exactly as she had hoped. Her dad escorted her to the ball and danced with her like she requested, Duke A-something didn’t get the chance to mess things up, and her surprise gift at the very end blew everyone’s socks off. At the very least, it must have touched Claude’s heart. So what could she possibly be unhappy about? Nevertheless, Athanasia feels uneasy. Sometimes, you just gotta live in the moment and enjoy life, or else you’ll find yourself in your 60s, realizing that you’ve done nothing but stress and worry.
This is when Lucas shows up. On the one hand, he’s checking in on her, which is nice. On the other hand, why didn’t he do this earlier before she’s supposed to have gone to bed? Yeah, she’s awake now, so… what? Did he sense that she hadn’t gone to sleep yet, so that’s why he’s here? Even worse, however, is the fact that the narrative is now slowly pushing him more and more as a potential love interest. I’m definitely not looking forward to that. How would you feel if your daughter started dating a shapeshifting, centuries-old wizard? His true feelings? C’mon, man, who falls in love with a teenager? Unfortunately, he has insane job security. When her magic overflows, Lucas is the only one who can save her. So of course, Athanasia’s magic literally starts overflowing at this very moment. Lucas pins the blame on her “mood swings,” but I mean, he did start teasing her. Whose fault is it really?
The next morning, a bunch of invitations have arrived. Ah, look who’s lil’ miss popular now? Look, man, being a shut-in is not a good thing. But let’s sort this out. Some of these invitations are from suitors. I know they marry young back in the day, but the thought still grosses me out. Then you have people who are just in it to gain influence with the royal family. They might even think they can manipulate someone as young as Athanasia. Finally, somewhere in that pile, maybe there’s a genuine friend or two to be had. Ultimately, however, you gotta live your life and not be so cynical about everything (except centuries-old wizards). The girl also needs to socialize with people her own age. Athanasia might get hurt in the process, but making and learning from our mistakes is also a crucial part of our growth and development into adulthood. Claude wants to keep his daughter in bubble wrap, especially since he lost his wife so early, but he can’t do this forever. One day, he’s going to die as well. Would he want Athanasia to be completely ill-equipped to face the world without him? Hell, judging by the way he talks to people, it sounds like he needs some socializing tips himself…
As a compromise, instead of leaving the palace grounds, Claude lets his daughter invite people over to her place — her place being an elaborate flower garden. Eh… yeah, it’s a start. It’s certainly better than nothing. Jennette is one of the first people to receive an invite, which is nice. Unfortunately, Claude accosts her as soon as she arrives. This whole situation is kinda weird, if you ask me. If the princess is accepting guests, you expect said guests to be accompanied by a servant, maid, attendant, what have you. But we have Jennette wandering the palace grounds all by her lonesome. Am I to believe she entered without anyone noticing? Probably not. Did she sneak in then? Even less likely. She must have arrived, was greeted at the entrance, and then was left to her own devices. Again, weird. Well, whatever.
The princess finally gets her tea party, and… all they do is talk about boys. Why am I not surprised? Bechdel test? Never heard of it! What could the girls be talking about instead? I mean, they’re relative strangers, so how ’bout getting to know one another? After all, the princess has been a shut-in all this time. What has she been up to? What is it like to live on the palace grounds? What is her father like? What does the princess like to do? Who does she talk to? Has she ever wanted to see what her kingdom is like? But nope, we can only talk about boys.
Apparently, Felix has quite the reputation. Thanks to the power of anime, Felix hasn’t aged a day even though we’ve known him since Athanasia was a toddler. But no matter how much the girls drool over him, he better not pull a Drake. Next, the girls’ attention turns to Lucas and Ijikiel. Sheesh, what is going through their heads? Y’know what? Claude was right. ‘Tis silly to venture out into the real world or invite it in. There is nothing of value to be had. I’m only half-kidding, because immediately, we already see a benefit from this tea party despite the ill choice of a conversation topic. Athanasia finds it difficult to speak as the girls pepper her with questions. Like I’ve said, she needs to learn how to socialize, and she’s had little practice. She should’ve started talking to kids her own age way earlier, but it’s better late than never.
Jennette comes to Athanasia’s aid, but when our princess gets a small window to be alone, she still can’t help but be apprehensive. Nevertheless, Jennette goes after her like a puppy for love and attention. The girl even offers the princess an invitation to her own home. Soon after, everyone else follows suit. I think… Jennette is a good person. There’s no evidence to suggest otherwise. The problem is the people around her. But again, you can’t worry about every little thing. For now, Athanasia has made friends and that’s a good enough win on its own. Too bad we only know the name of one of those friends.
We end the episode with Lucas picking off some… dark miasma thingie that has somehow attached itself to the princess. He laters notices that Claude shares the same affliction. So, uh, he’s going to tell them about this, right? Unfortunately, I think this foreshadows ill tidings for Athanasia’s dear father. Lucas will probably keep her safe, but I doubt Claude will let anyone but his daughter come close enough to protect him.
Stray thoughts & observations:
- What’s with all the nasty flowers in this universe? It’s funny how the pond is full of death traps even though Claude is generally overprotective of his daughter. I know they offered an explanation for this a while back, but I still don’t find it very convincing.
- I’m surprised that one teenager freaking out in her father’s lap is enough to tip the boat over. Maybe the emperor needs to buy a better boat.
- I swear, they only eat sweets on the palace grounds. There are some club sandwiches tucked away in the shadows, but 95% of the table is full of sugar. At least there are fresh fruit mixed in there, I guess.
- So these girls have names, right? I doubt they’ll become important characters in the plot, but still, give them names!
