“A favor? You? To me?”

The question burst out carelessly due to hearing an unexpected answer.

“Yes.”

However, Kasha was confident. As if she knew he would grant that favor. Or as if she was demanding something that should naturally be accepted, her attitude was calm.

Come to think of it, her shoulders were straightened unlike usual. With different eyes and posture, she looked almost like a different person.

“What… favor?”

Daril felt inexplicably intimidated and asked carefully.

“Today’s ball, will you… escort me?”

“Yeah. I suppose so.”

Finally, a topic he could respond to came up. Today’s ball was also an issue he had been pondering.

“Perhaps, did you come to say you won’t attend the ball? That’s not allowed. You haven’t participated in any social events since your debut.”

Daril had also escorted Kasha at her debut. However… honestly, he had only gone along, without doing much of anything proper once there.

After the Countess’s death 7 years ago, the Lyuschino family completely cut off their social activities. To be precise, it would be more accurate to say they lived without even knowing such things were necessary.

Father was rather distant even from relatives, so there was no one to pressure him about marriage as the heir, allowing him to live freely without any interference.

Because of that, even at Kasha’s debut, he thought he had fulfilled his duty by simply bringing her to the ball and introducing her. For one thing, just standing there awkwardly with Kasha was unbearably awkward.

So he left his post to smoke cigars with a few friends. But that ended up taking longer than expected, and when he returned, he felt the atmosphere was somehow not right.

In the middle of the bustling palace hall, there was a circular space around Kasha.

As if no one had spoken to her. The entire time he was away.

‘Hey. Are you okay?’

When he approached carefully and awkwardly spoke to her, Kasha didn’t even look at his face. She just turned around coldly and stormed out of the place, almost causing a chill wind.

On the carriage ride back, he asked if anything had happened, but as expected, there was no response.

After that day, a few invitations came from families that were somewhat close to the Lyuschino family, but Kasha rejected them all.

Although Daril was insensitive, he could tell that her debut had not been successful. However, he didn’t think it would be a big problem.

She’s always alone anyway. Isn’t that what she prefers herself? If something had been uncomfortable, she would have said so.

He simply dismissed it with such simple thoughts.

Today’s ball was also an unwelcome social event for both of them, but the host was none other than Duke Tyrot. The entire capital’s social circle would be attending, so they couldn’t be the only ones to miss it.

His father’s letter suddenly came to mind. Duty. Responsibility. The categorical imperative of the Lyuschino family.

“…So we have to go. It’s our duty.”

Thinking he had finally said something quite brotherly, Daril looked at her. But the response he got was unexpected again.

“Of course, I will go. Absolutely.”

The glimmer in those fuchsia eyes looking at Daril was… something that could only be called determination.

What on earth about?

Moreover, glimmer. Isn’t that an expression that doesn’t suit Kasha at all?

Thinking such thoughts, Daril asked blankly.

“What…?”

“The favor… isn’t that.”

“Then what is it?”

Kasha hesitated a bit before slowly opening her mouth to say what she meant.

“…At the ball, you shouldn’t… leave the woman you’re escorting alone.”

“What?”

“I don’t have a… chaperone or anything, and I don’t know anyone in society. So you need to fulfill your duty as an escort.”

Daril silently opened his mouth. He had never imagined being pointed out like this by Kasha. But because that point was valid, he couldn’t make any retort.

Suddenly, the image of Kasha standing alone at her debut flashed through his mind, making his conscience sting. Then Kasha spoke again.

“Today, don’t leave… my side.”

“…Huh? Oh, that.”

“Don’t leave me alone.”

Thump.

The moment their eyes met as Kasha said that, Daril felt a shock as if something had struck his head.

Though she didn’t say it all, her reproachful eyes were rebuking him.

If you’re my brother, my family, protect me.

A half-heartedly fulfilled duty is not a duty at all.

A sense of anxiety that he had done something terribly wrong pressed down on his chest.

At that moment, Kasha did another unfamiliar thing.

Smile.

She smiled at Daril.

A smile that was a bit awkward, but one could feel she had done her best. A gesture trying to reach out to the other person with all her might.

Daril felt the pressure on his chest grow even more severe.

“I know that… my very existence is a huge nuisance to you, brother.”

And here I thought she was just an ignorant child. Just a troublesome brat who didn’t know any better.

“But from now on, at least I won’t be a disgrace to the family… you’ll see.”

Kasha said that as she slightly erased her unfamiliar smile.

Then, as if by magic, her expression became cold and clear.

Like someone who had aged after experiencing harsh trials, an unapproachable aura flowed from her.

Daril felt the back of his neck grow chilly for no reason.

After getting his assurance once more, Kasha quietly turned around, closed the door, and came out.

She knew very well that Daril Lyuschino valued duty and responsibility to the point of being old-fashioned.

Though they were family who had barely faced each other properly, hadn’t they lived in the same house for 7 years?

Although he may have disliked her existence, not once had he directly harmed her.

While disliking her, he thoroughly fulfilled his duty as an older brother.

So this time too, he will fulfill the duty that Kasha pointed out.

The reason why the past Daril had neglected Kasha’s isolation was because he was ridiculously ignorant about the social world and the lives of noble women.

The past Kasha knew this too, but she didn’t dare think of pointing it out or changing it.

Because she thought her very existence was a nuisance and disgrace to Daril, she just curled up and tried to erase her existence by staying in her room. Afraid of being hated more or rejected if she stepped out unnecessarily.

However, the current her had nothing to fear, nothing to lose.

Hatred? Rejection?

None of those are as painful as frostbitten toes in a winter prison. Not to mention the pain of having one’s neck cut off.

Walking down the corridor, she felt the gazes of the servants whispering as they looked at her.

“Why is the young lady roaming the mansion in broad daylight?”

“And she even went to the young lord’s room…”

Everyone’s gaze had changed.

From disgust and pity, to curiosity and puzzlement.

She found it amusing.

How would it be at today’s ball? The nobles with heads full of shit like fat pigs. Would they, too, recognize the changed her?

Clop-clop. Clop-clop.

The emblem of the Lyuschino family fluttered on the four-wheeled carriage moving at a steady pace.

“……”

The two people sitting face to face in the carriage. Silence lingered between the siblings in name only.

‘This is more comfortable anyway.’

Kasha thought as she continued to pretend to sleep.

Even with her eyes closed, she could tell that Daril kept observing her.

Was he still flustered because of their earlier conversation? Or was it because her appearance was unfamiliar?

Before leaving the mansion, Daril’s expression when he saw her coming down the stairs was quite worth seeing.

An expression oscillating between shock and admiration, as if he had witnessed a baby monkey reciting a magic formula.

‘Well, it’s understandable.’

Trying not to be conscious of the discomfort of the dress constricting her body, Kasha thought.

The expression of the maid Sena, when she saw the dress Kasha had chosen earlier, was not much different.

‘Young lady. Are you really going to wear this? Really? Really really?’

Is it that strange? Kasha almost felt discouraged, but quickly came to her senses.

Hadn’t she decided?

To do what she wanted to do, and have what she wanted to have.

This dress hanging in the dressing room was the most splendid and beautiful among what Kasha owned. One of the four dresses made by the tailor called for her before her debut.

In the past, she wouldn’t have even looked at this design. Firmly believing it wouldn’t suit her at all, that others would obviously laugh if they saw her in it.

However, now the important criterion for Kasha was not the gaze of others.

What do I want? That was most important.

In fact, the past her had fallen in love with this dress at first sight.

The vibrant and intense color like a freshly bloomed rose. The chiffon fabric wrapping the skirt hem in layers like a misty dream. The puff sleeves and slender waistline that emphasized both girlishness and sensuality, the exposed shoulders.

How many times had she stood in front of the mirror in the dead of night, holding this dress against her body.

She had wanted to try it on secretly just once, but always failed because she couldn’t tighten the strings on the back.

So it didn’t matter if anyone laughed.

Wasn’t this a chance gained from returning from death? She was determined to wear this dress.

But Sena’s reaction upon seeing her fully dressed and adorned was unexpected.

‘Oh my, young lady! Goodness. You’re so… so beautiful…!’

The gesture of cupping her cheeks with both hands and widening her eyes was convincing. It certainly wasn’t an act to console Kasha.

Kasha, who had been reading a magical tool research document while Sena was doing her makeup, finally looked in the mirror.

And she almost dropped the document in her hand in surprise.

‘It’s… pretty?’

This was an unexpected result. Was it the effect of putting up her hair as per Sena’s suggestion?

As her bluish-black hair, which always messily covered her face like seaweed stems, was pulled up, her delicate features were clearly revealed. Even the pale but fine skin, the slender neckline, and the shadows pooled in her collarbones below her shoulders.

Especially the color of her eyes, exactly matching the dress color, came alive vividly. Even her bloodless lips boasted luscious contours like flower buds with the power of makeup.

Sena placed a single fresh pink flower on top of the hair she had put up. Her fingertips were trembling slightly, whether from nervousness or excitement.

‘Peony.’

At Kasha’s murmur, Sena’s eyes widened.

‘You know the flower names. I picked it from the garden earlier thinking the color would go well with the dress.’

Sena seemed excited. The unpleasant gaze she had encountered right after returning was gone, and she seemed full of professional joy from doing proper work as a noble lady’s maid for the first time in years.

Kasha decided to let her savor that joy. For Kasha, who had almost no aesthetic sense, such passion from Sena was only welcome.

In any case, thanks to Sena’s passionate efforts, Kasha was able to enjoy quite an amusing sight when she stepped out of the room.

Everyone who encountered her opened their eyes wide and covered their mouths.

‘Who is that beauty? Why is she walking around our mansion so confidently?’

Even the insensitive servants whispered like that.

Given the circumstances, it would be quite surprising and burdensome for Daril to see his unfamiliar-looking younger sister as well.

Kasha suddenly muttered inwardly.

‘…I wonder how he will think of me when he sees me today.’

The reason why she was attending the ball today, knowingly risking the humiliation she would suffer. Leon Aranias.

He too would appear at today’s ball.