“Mom, I’m an adult now. I’ve had my comingofage ceremony properly. I even got flowers from a man, you know.”

I felt a tightness in my chest, as if I had lied to my mother.

But I shook my head.

The ceremony was what you make of it.

Even if I had recited the general’s speech that saved the empire from the brink of disaster, to Misha, that place was a party with classmates.

Last night, Duke Kaidel had acted according to the social norms he had learned, but when I received the rose he gave, I felt something had been completed.

As long as that feeling wasn’t false, my words didn’t have to be a lie either.

I took a comfortable breath and looked up at the oak leaves.

“I’m working at a herbal medicine shop lately, and the owner’s grandfather likes me. Someday I’ll take over Tolman’s herbal medicine shop, Mom.”

Mom sent a breeze instead of a reply.

“…I did well, didn’t I? I became an adult well, didn’t I?”

I felt my cheeks getting wet. I hurriedly wiped them away, but it was no use.

I buried my face in my knees, trying to continue the story by shedding just a few tears, but then a heavy arm wrapped around my shoulder. Even without looking up, I knew it was the count.

I think I cried in the count’s arms and then fell asleep. When I woke up, I was covered with a thin lace blanket that Moria had woven herself, lying on the living room sofa.

“You’re awake? …Oh dear.”

The count, who seemed to have just returned from tending the garden, looked at my face and made a troubled expression.

I also only halfsaw the count. My eyes were puffed up.

Upon seeing me, Moria clicked her tongue and brought a cold wet towel to cover my face. As it obstructed my vision, I folded it in half to uncover my eyes.

“Count, when did you arrive?”

“Before sunrise.”

“Oh. …The party ended well, didn’t it?”

“That depends on one’s perspective.”

The count’s answer was calm, but I immediately lowered my eyes. I was certain he knew about my prank.

“Perspective… sir?”

“If it were me, I would have chosen the 9th Emperor’s ‘Towards the Sea.'”

Of course.

I responded as if communicating with the garden ants.

“Ah……. That, I also liked the forwardlooking ambition of conquering Smilelan across the sea……, but I was a little afraid to touch His Majesty the Emperor.”

The count struggled to keep a stern face, his breath shaking with suppressed laughter.

“Duke Kaidel seemed quite troubled.”

The image of him laughing and shrugging his shoulders in the dark garden came to mind.

“……”

“You’re a greedy clever boy.”

That bastard even enchanted the count.

Though by now, I found it difficult to deny his human charm.

He had given me a rose and lent me a carriage, knowing I had insulted him in a letter… and yet, at the same time, he was unlucky.
In a word, her personality is inconsistent. Upon reflection, it’s a disadvantage. I found her disadvantage and felt relieved.

“Misha is satisfied with the party. Then I shouldn’t be sad either.”

The Count, saying that, looked sad. I felt like I was going to be killed in a flash.

“I’m sorry, my lord……. My mind was twisted at the time…….”

“Don’t leave the house at night. Even if you had come out with me at dawn, the arrival time would have been similar.”

“Yes…….”

I gave a crawling answer and pulled down the towel to cover my face. The towel was already lukewarm, but I was fortunate to have something to hide my expression.

Inside it, I was laughing a little. Like a madwoman.

I gently got up and came up to my room. When I got to the room, I thought that my mother must have met the Count and talked with him for the first time in a long time.

It wasn’t bad for the first day as an adult.

(This is a time separator.)

Phinid’s spell had a reverse effect. The Second Prince Grayian said he felt much more relaxed and recovered after the spell, but began to suffer from severe vomiting when it became night. It was a symptom he hadn’t had before.

Phinid stopped the spell and said he would find another method, but Grayian wanted it again, saying he was definitely recovered when he received the spell.

Since the vomiting could be a lucid reaction, Phinid decided to perform the spell just one more time. But the result was worse.

Grayian couldn’t eat all day, saying it felt like his stomach was turning inside out after vomiting.