The birthday girl, Bianca, had seen Emilia's interview on the TV, and was under the impression that she had 'beaten up tons of bad guys' and 'rescued children'.
To her, Emilia was like a real-life superhero.
Even after Emilia clarified that this wasn't exactly what happened, and that most of the credit should go to the employees who worked so hard to actually make it possible, the little girl only thought that her hero was being humble.
Emilia had already done some homework on the girl, also known as asking Dixie on the way to the party. Anyway, the girl was young and already had a good impression of her, so it wasn't too difficult to win her over even if she had been disappointed. It was even easier now, since that wasn't the case.
Bianca was shocked to learn that her 'superhero' knew her name, and became even more enthusiastic.
"Emilia! Emilia! Do you also go to school?"
With the little girl's white frock and platinum blonde hair, she looked like a little fairy when she jumped up and down excitedly. Emilia couldn't help but smile.
"That's right, big sister is still in year one of high school. What about Bianca?"
"Bianca is going to middle school next year!"
Bianca looked proud, her chest puffed up as if she had accomplished a great deed.
'Ah… she's still in elementary school…'
But of course, the way the little girl said it, she clearly wanted to appear older. Emilia decided not to burst her bubble. Anyway, she first had to make this little fairy call her big sister—
"I want to go to the same school as Emilia! Daddy! Daddy!!! I decided on my birthday gift!"
Emilia sighed. 'Another time, then.'
As the little girl bolted off towards her father, a chubby middle-aged man who couldn't hide his potbelly no matter what he wore, Emilia wondered how he would placate her.
After all, the Imperial Academy didn't have an elementary or middle school in place, and only started taking admissions from high school.
As Emilia was wondering how someone so exceedingly ugly like that politician could have such a cute daughter like Bianca, Cynthia ended up interrupting her with a hum.
'Have something to say, Cynthia?'
"No, I was just thinking why you wanted her to call you big sis. And I figured it out!"
Emilia smirked in her mind, wondering what tangent Cynthia would go to this time. 'Did you, really?'
Cynthia's tone was so cocky that Emilia could feel her smugness even without seeing her face.
"I did! If you need any favor from that politician in the future, can't you just send this little girl crying to her dad to get it done? A genius, nefarious plan that does not spare even the little children from your scheming! As expected of my villainess."
Emilia buried her face in Dixie's shoulder to hide her laugh, because she really couldn't help it.
The short-haired girl gave her a concerned look.
"You sleepy, princess? There's seating arrangements over there, if—"
"N-No, I'm okay, Dixie, don't worry."
Her knight could only nod in confusion. "Mhm… alright."
Emilia made sure to fortify her mind a little before speaking to her 'system' again.
'Ahem, anyway, you think too lightly of them, Cynthia. Politicians, ministers, court officials, whatever you call them, the more harmless and kind they appear, the more ruthless they really are.
'He shows a lot of love for the little girl, and dotes on her all the time, but if the time really comes that he has to choose between advancing his own goals and his 'precious' daughter… she's just as disposable to him as anyone else.'
Cynthia couldn't help but be stunned. She always thought these mortals attached a lot of importance to their offspring. For most of them, their life's primary purpose was procreation, which was why the 'disgusting' act of mating was so important to them.
That meant that their offspring were even more valuable to them than themselves. Even if there were some exceptions, Cynthia believed that the vast majority of mortals should work like that.
But she didn't pay too much attention to their interpersonal relationships. So maybe Emilia really did know more than her when it came to understanding the 'inner workings' of the mortal mindset.
"Is that really so?"
Emilia hummed in her mind, slowly getting used to 'projecting' her emotions and expressions along with her words without outwardly showing them.
'Not for all of them, he might be one of the exceptions, sure. But I can't go relying on something like that. What I said earlier is much more likely to be the case.'
Cynthia sighed, disappointed. "Hm… guess she's kinda useless then."
Emilia smiled. 'On the contrary, I think she's already served plenty of purpose.'
"What do you mean?"
'Think about it. As the star of the party, she showed such unequivocal attention to me, solidifying my status as the 'most important person' here. As this is my first party, this will have a considerable impact on my image.'
"Huh? It works like that?"
Emilia nodded. 'It can, if I play my cards right. I just have to make sure the next few times the events follow the same pattern, and then anyone who tries to 'change' things will have to accept that they'll appear as offending me in public.'
Cynthia made a 'hoh' sound, as if enlightened. But then another thought came to her, and she couldn't help but ask. "And what if they decide to do it anyway? Not everyone will be on your side, and those in the hero's camp won't care for offending you, I think."
'Heh… Isn't that all the better? I can use them as stepping stones without mercy at that point, and no one will think it was out of line.'
Cynthia nodded as she thought about it for a while, but then she couldn't help but cry out in frustration.
"Ahh, Emilia… I don't really get it though. What's the point of doing all that? Aside from looking cool, I mean. On one hand you get to be this 'key figure' thing as you call it, and on the other you get to humiliate your opponents. But what do we really get out of it, in the end?"
Emilia couldn't help but internally roll her eyes. 'The point is that it will make me a key figure in the younger generation of the upper circle in this country. As these children grow up under my heel and take over their companies, I will always have the upper hand in negotiations with them in the future.
'More importantly, they will instinctually not want to go against me, which will make it much harder for Amos to recruit allies once he needs them.'
"Ohhh… I think I get it."
Cynthia's curiosity was finally satisfied, and Emilia breathed a sigh of relief. From time to time, some young boys and girls would approach her to introduce themselves, and Emilia politely nodded to each of them, pretending to be 'shy' as she clung onto Dixie.
The short-haired girl ended up 'taking care' of their small talk before politely sending them away. Despite her general rudeness to Koko, Dixie was actually quite sharp and tactful with her words. Despite being effectively told 'go away', none of the 'children' seemed to realize it.
'Ahh… how nice it is to have such a reliable knight. No wonder she felt confident in turning my reputation around on her own. If I had someone like her in my last life, I wouldn't have—'
Emilia sighed, cutting off that thought as she didn't want to dwell on it anymore.
Soon enough, it was time for the main event, and most people gathered in a circle to watch the little girl cut the birthday cake.
Of course, not everyone needed to do so, and many decided to not bother. Such as the gloomy-looking hero, who was still leaning against a pillar with his head down.
It didn't take long for the waiters to come in with a catering cart. Emilia's view was blocked by the crowd, so she couldn't see it herself, but she heard people gasp as they supposedly caught sight of the cake.
'Uhh, based on Bianca's enthusiasm, don't tell me she had the horrifying idea of having the cake look like my face or something?!'