“Misha. It’s Lorisha’s comingofage birthday. Didn’t I tell you to prepare a gift beforehand?”

“Count!”

Startled by the rarely heard angry voice of her father, Misha jumped, and the Countess flared up.

I involuntarily smirked.

So it was the Count’s scolding that caused Misha to hand over a dress she didn’t wear to me.

Misha ran to the Count and earnestly grabbed his two hands.

“But Father. There are apprentices following Duke Kaidel, but most are coming to meet His Majesty’s third lion. They asked several times if they could meet you when they come to the party! We can’t disappoint them all at once, can we?”

Yes. The nobles. Looking at the connections like sunflowers.

It was rare for the Count, who rarely showed emotion, to get angry, and it was probably not just for my sake.

My comingofage meant that Misha would come of age in a few months.

But some part of Misha seemed not to grow at all. She looked like a child, blind and deaf, filled with herself in the whole world.

I couldn’t afford to disappoint the future leaders of the empire all at once. If there was no summons from His Majesty that day, there would have been quite a few families taking it as a personal insult.

“Count, I’m fine.”

I spoke as calmly as possible and then returned to my room.

And I sprawled out on the bed, muttering.

“If it’s left out in this sun, it’ll rot and fall apart…….”

I wasn’t cursing Misha. It was about my own fate.

In my life, things like birthdays never mattered. I was poor in Tunbar, and tormented in the Count’s estate.

It might have been nothing usual, but since my mom was involved, my heart seemed to ache a little.

I rolled over and forced myself to say,

“If I go alone, that’s fine, so what.”

(This is a time separator.)

When Rocard realized he had run into Misha Roar in the empty hallway of the academy, he thought he wanted to run away.

It was a thought he had never had since he was born in Kaidel. No, except for a few special cases….

Sending a reply to a woman who sent an unwanted letter was such an uncomfortable opponent.

But he had no way out, only the way forward. He walked at the same pace with a smile.

“Lady Roar.”

“Duke Kaidel.”

Misha gave a shy smile and pulled out a white envelope from her bosom.

Fear and anger were swirling in Rocard’s eyes, but Misha didn’t see it as she looked down.

“Um……. We’re having a party at our house. To relax before the finals. Will you please attend?”

Even if it wasn’t because of his aversion to Misha Roar, he was really busy.

Juggling a double life and frequenting the 2nd Imperial Palace, he had to squeeze any small gap to study. He hated wasting time leaving his tasks.

He looked at Misha’s face to find words of refusal and suddenly realized that this was the opportunity he had wanted.

Lorisha Roar lives in Misha Roar’s house.

Nothing was more important to him at that moment.

“Thank you for the invitation, Lady Roar.”

Misha’s face turned red like a ripe apple, and she ran off, shouting, ‘Yes!’

That was all Misha made for the party invitations. One handwritten for Rocard.

She knew that if Duke Kaidel moved, the whole academy would move. So she went to get his consent first.

But he unexpectedly agreed without delay, and then it was smooth sailing.

“Can you attend the party at our house next week? Duke Kaidel said he could…….”

Then the answer was one of two.

‘Thank you for inviting me, Lady Roar.’ Or ‘Does that mean I can greet His Majesty’s third lion? I’m so happy!’

Karlin Ankart’s answer was the same. She responded gracefully.

“If it’s an opportunity to greet the third lion, I’ll gladly.”
Misha had always been a bit difficult. Besides having excellent grades and being skilled in networking, she seemed to possess an unchildlike dignity.

When she confirmed that even Karin, with her background, was influenced by her, Misha felt a proud satisfaction.

However, Misha was completely unaware that no one had accepted her invitation to the party due to their friendship with her.

She was just very upset that the Count treated her as if he had forgotten Lorisha’s birthday. She couldn’t speak when she informed him of the party schedule because the Count was angry.

At the party that day, she would share the party food made by the best chefs with Lorisha. Shouldn’t she be pleased with that too? She had already given an expensive gift, as her father had commanded.

So Misha Roar believed that she genuinely favored Lorisha.

(This is a time separator.)

I spent the time from morning to night at the herbalist’s shop because I disliked the bustling atmosphere of the mansion due to the party preparations.

As the Count’s life entered its eighth year, it was the first time the noise from preparing for a party had bothered me so much.

Perhaps it was because the word “adult” was attached, but people had become unnecessarily sensitive.

Finally, on the morning of my birthday, I went to the Count to leave for the villa.

Then Misha, who had returned early to prepare for the party, saw me and spoke right away.