Chapter 1

A good morning to you! I am your Hibiki Wataru… ☆

Amazing! Let us shine with the radiance of love befitting this auspicious day when we celebrate the Lord’s birth!

Let us sing our blessings to extol the joy of living—Let it resound throughout the world with everyone! Fuhahaha… ☆

Good morning, Wataru. You’re so energetic even in the mornings; I envy that.

Oh? You do look a little tired, Eichi!

What’s the matter? Did Santa put you on the naughty list and neglect to give you any presents?

Who are you calling naughty…? Every year on Christmas Eve, my family hosts a party for all kinds of people… like celebrities, business associates, and other wealthy people.

I had to dance the night away, so of course I’d be tired.

My shoulders are stiff, too… Wataru, since you’ve got so much energy, won’t you give me a massage?

With pleasure! But this is quite unexpected; I was under the impression that you’d been putting less of a priority on that kind of socializing lately.

Yes, but it’s necessary to be amiable with influential people for the sake of my future.

My father, the current head of the conglomerate, is weak right now, likely due to the cold he caught in the cold weather.

He told me he might not have long to live, so I should do what I can to gain influence and lay the groundwork.

So I played the part of a good kid and made the rounds with my father.

Thanks to that, I got a lot of presents I didn’t even want.

Hiyori-kun was unexpectedly there too, and we put on a show for everyone and sang together.

It’s not my role to play the jester, but…

Because Tori was there, I dragged him in and had him sing with us. I would hate to have been the only one who was humiliated, you know? ♪

Y–yeah. It was a pretty weird day, like it was all a dream…

Mama and Papa haven’t come home yet, so I showed up for a bit out of obligation before getting the heck out of there.

Oh my, so your parents haven’t returned from overseas yet? You poor thing.

Then I assume you didn’t get any presents from Santa…?

Huh? What’re you talking about?

Shhh… You mustn’t say that, Hibiki-sama. The master doesn’t know who Santa truly is.

Every year, the family invites Santa over to hand-deliver the presents.

I see~ In that case, did you receive any presents, Butler-san?

Sigh… I am the one who decides on what to give, so there’s nothing particularly interesting about it.

But it’s off-putting if I’m the only one who doesn’t receive anything.

This year, I got clothespins. I was in need of a few more.

Well, if it brings a smile to your face, I’m sure Santa is satisfied, but…

Butler-san, you’re not very greedy, are you? Where’s the fun in living?

Everyone always says that to me, but I’m still enjoying myself every day.

Ehehe, well I got a giant stuffed squirrel from Santa!

He had a zipper on his back too, and when I opened it there were a whole bunch more presents inside… ☆

Fufu, that’s wonderful, Tori.

Actually, Wataru, you’ve been been talking about presents an awful lot… Could it be that you’re waiting for someone to direct that question at you?

What did you get this year?

I knew you would see right through me, Eichi! I was gifted a new mask… ☆

It’s made of tempered glass, and it’s so transparent that there’s almost no sense in even wearing it. It’s simply delightful!

Santa is absolutely incredible—He knows exactly what I would like!

I wanted to bring it and show it off to everyone, but even though it is strong, it’s still made of glass…

It would be far too tragic to drop it and have it crack, so I’ll just show you pictures~ ♪

Look, look! I even took a video! The color changes depending on the lighting… ☆

Wait, is this your house, Rapunzel? I didn’t expect it to be so… simple.

Well now, compared to the stately mansions you all live in, most homes are nothing more than rabbit pens to you.

It’s not a matter of size, it’s more like… I always thought your walls would be all the colors of the rainbow or something crazy like that.

But it’s actually pretty neat and nicely decorated. That’s why I didn’t expect it.

Fufufu, but if I could, I would live in a pyramid, or perhaps a castle in the sky~ ♪

If that’s what you want, then next Christmas I’ll give it to you to live in.

…I wonder, how much would a pyramid cost?

It’s one of mankind’s greatest treasures; you can’t put a price tag on that, can you? You’re joking, aren’t you Eichi? Though your eyes look serious…?

Fufufu. Well, that aside… We’ve been chattling idly amongst ourselves for some time now, but we should get down to business.

Today, Starlight Festival—or Star Fes, as it is commonly known—will be held as planned.

We’re currently in the middle of the admittance process, and the show will begin in thirty minutes.

It will be a grueling day of work, beginning in the morning and ending deep into the night.

I shouldn’t be the one saying this, but I’d like to ask everyone not to push themselves too hard… If you start to feel sick, don’t hesitate to let me know.

Umm… Should I assume, then, that we will be going with our original plan for moderation and keeping our activities light?

Is that a problem?

…No, I have no particular complaints.

Are you all right with that, sir?

…Yeah. My proposal was rejected, and we didn’t do any special practice or anything.

So we’ll keep things simple, just like we planned.