“What dream? I just hadn’t seen you in a while, so I was curious how you were doing.”

“I see.”

Daniel didn’t think much of it and didn’t ask any more about the dream.

Instead, he changed the subject. The two had an in-depth discussion about swordsmanship for a while.

Then, around the time they emptied the teapot twice, Joshua asked discreetly.

“By the way, I heard your master is taking in an adopted daughter?”

“Has the rumor already spread?”

“It’s not a rumor, I overheard the conversation between my father and your master.”

“That’s right. We just haven’t gone through the official procedures yet, but she’s already staying at the mansion.”

A smile lingered on Daniel’s face as he thought of Rosette. Joshua leaned forward with some curiosity.

“You seem quite fond of her.”

“She’s just so cute and lovable. Anyone who sees her will like her.”

“You’re completely smitten. So, when are you going to introduce her to me?”

An awkward look crossed Daniel’s face, which had been smiling all along.

“The youngest is still very shy with strangers. I think it will take at least half a year for her to get used to the people in the mansion and formally show her face in social circles.”

“You’re not going to show her to me either?”

“No.”

Joshua burst out laughing at the answer without a hint of hesitation.

“Someone might think I’m going to eat that child.”

“But Your Highness. She’s even nervous around us. How do you think she’d react to seeing royalty? She might have a seizure and faint.”

“Can’t I meet her without revealing that I’m royalty?”

“That still won’t do. The dignity of royalty isn’t something that can be hidden just by concealing your status.”

Daniel rose from his seat with a light laugh.

“By the way, I’ve taken up too much of Your Highness’s time since early morning. I’ll take my leave now.”

“Alright.”

Joshua personally came out to see Daniel off outside the palace.

“Ah, right.”

Before Daniel closed the carriage window, Joshua hurriedly gestured to him. As Daniel approached, Joshua whispered in his ear.

“Be careful of carriage accidents for a while.”

“Pardon?”

“You’ve heard about Count Hartmann’s recent accident, right? Even a perfectly fine carriage can malfunction and cause an accident, so make sure to check before riding.”

“Thank you for your thoughtful words.”

“Well, it would be best to refrain from going out for a while if possible…”

“Pardon?”

The last words were too quiet to hear clearly. When Daniel asked again, Joshua shook his head.

“It’s nothing. Well then, take care. Be careful, and give my regards to Isabel and Lucas as well.”

“Yes. Please take care of your health too, Your Highness.”

“Mm.”

With that, the carriage carrying Daniel departed. Daniel briefly thought that Joshua was acting strange, but soon shook off the uneasiness.

“What? Your birthday is coming up soon?”

Lucas asked with his eyes wide open. Though she didn’t show it much, Isabel also seemed quite surprised.

Only Rosette answered nonchalantly.

“Yes. It’s in a week.”

“Why are you telling us this only now!”

Lucas shouted loudly.

So, to explain the current situation, it was like this.

After finishing his bath, Lucas, without even drying his hair properly, gave Rosette a tour of the mansion. Isabel, who said she had nothing particular to do, followed her two younger siblings.

Lucas showed her around various parts of the mansion, starting from the dining room she already knew.

−Alright, now I’ll show you my room!

He guided her to the room opposite Rosette’s room. After explaining each item in the room, he pointed to a sword hanging on the wall and said:

−That’s the sword father gave me as a birthday present last year. He said it was specially ordered. Isn’t it cool?

−Yes.

And then he casually asked:

−Come to think of it, when’s your birthday?

Rosette, counting the days without much thought, answered, ‘In a week.’ And that’s when this commotion started.

“Why, why didn’t you say anything!”

Rosette, not understanding which part Lucas was angry about, answered diligently.

“Nobody asked.”

Lucas grabbed the back of his neck.

“Still, why didn’t you tell us something so important! It’s the day you were born!”

Rosette carefully corrected him.

“It’s not the day I was born. It’s the day I was abandoned at the orphanage.”

Lucas opened and closed his mouth, seemingly unable to find words to reply. But Rosette really felt nothing special about her birthday.

The main reason was that it couldn’t be a special day since it wasn’t her birth date but the day she was abandoned at the orphanage, and secondly, they never particularly celebrated birthdays.

There were many children at the orphanage. With already scarce resources, they couldn’t afford to celebrate every child’s birthday as if it were a special day.

For them, cakes and presents only existed in fairy tales. If there was a gift on birthdays, it was getting a little more food than the other children.

‘At the Dallas house…’

At the Dallas house, they didn’t even do that much. Her sister, Elisha Dallas, had grand parties and received many birthday presents every year, but this didn’t apply to Rosette.

Rather, she ate better food on Elisha’s birthday than on her own. Because that day, there was an abundance of leftover food in the kitchen.

‘But is that really something to be so surprised about?’

As Rosette blinked with a puzzled expression, Lucas thumped his chest as if frustrated. Even Isabel sighed and shook her head.

Lucas, examining Rosette’s face, exclaimed boldly:

“Alright! I’ll throw you a perfect birthday party!”

After that, instead of continuing to introduce the mansion, he started laying out plans for the birthday party. Starting with “A 3-tier cake would be good,” he chattered on about having various foods and lots of presents!

She thought it was just a child’s whimsical talk, but the head butler, Sebastian, was seriously taking notes.

Even Isabel, who she thought would be indifferent, added her own opinions one by one. She even gathered the employees to collect their ideas.

‘Are they really going to have a birthday party?’

Rosette’s heart started pounding without her realizing. Just then, as the three children and the mansion’s employees were having a heated discussion:

“So this is where you all were.”

They heard the voice of Daniel, who had said he was going out early in the morning. He smiled upon seeing his three younger siblings.

“What are you all talking about so intensely? Are you showing Rose around the mansion?”

Lucas quickly ran to Daniel.

“Brother! The little one’s birthday is in a week!”

Daniel, who had been smiling all along, showed a slightly surprised look.

“In a week?”

“Yes! So we were talking about her birthday party!”

“I see, I see.”

Daniel gently patted Rosette’s head, who looked embarrassed.

“Why didn’t you say anything? We almost missed it.”

Rosette could only repeat the same words.

“I just thought it wasn’t a big deal…”

“How could that be?”

Daniel pinched Rosette’s cheek gently.

“It’s an important day. The day you were born.”

“But my birthday isn’t the day I was born, it’s the day I was abandoned at the orphanage…”

Daniel’s hand flinched for a moment, but then he pinched Rosette’s cheek once more.

“Then that’s even better. Because thanks to you going to that orphanage, we were able to meet you. Don’t you think?”

Oh, it can be thought of that way too. After hearing Daniel’s words, the birthday that she had only thought of as a day to eat a little more food suddenly felt a bit special.

Sensing that she had been persuaded, Daniel asked gently:

“Do you still think your birthday isn’t a big deal?”

“No.”

“Then we should all celebrate together that day. Is there anything you want to do?”

“I just…”

Actually, there was something she wanted. If they were going to have a party anyway, she wanted to enjoy it with elder sister Jane and the children from the orphanage.

She wanted to share delicious food and nice presents with them.

‘But that probably won’t be possible.’

It was only her second day here, and if she said she wanted to invite guests, she might be disliked. In the end, Rosette hid her true feelings.

“I just want to play together with everyone. With Lucas, Daniel, and Isabel.”

Although she hid her true feelings, it wasn’t a lie. Rosette was also happy to spend her birthday with the people of the Adrien family.

“Alright, I understand. Then I’ll be going now, you kids keep playing.”

“Yes.”

After patting the heads of his three younger siblings in turn, Daniel headed to his room.

“Ah…!”

Watching his retreating back, Rosette suddenly remembered something she wanted to tell him and scurried after him.

Sensing her presence, Daniel stopped and turned around.

“What is it?”

Rosette, panting heavily, barely managed to speak.

“I have, something, to tell you.”

“Something to tell me?”

“Yes.”

Daniel waited for Rosette to catch her breath.

“What could be so urgent that you ran after me like this? It could have waited until later.”

“Well…”

Unlike her bold dash, Rosette couldn’t easily open her mouth.

‘How should I say this?’

She was trying to warn Daniel about carriage accidents. But even to her, it seemed too abrupt to suddenly tell him to be careful of carriage accidents.

Moreover, Rosette didn’t have the ability to eloquently craft her words.

As she just moved her lips, unable to find the right words, Daniel smiled and lowered himself to her eye level.

“Is it something difficult to say?”

Rosette hesitated, then gathered her courage and said:

“I heard that carriage accidents happen a lot these days.”

“Huh?”

“Please tell the coachman to check the wheels one more time before riding.”

Daniel pondered the meaning of her words for a moment, then chuckled. As Rosette just blinked, not understanding, he quickly explained:

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t laughing at what you said.”

“…?”

“I was just happy thinking about how many people are worried about my safety.”

“Safety?”

“Yes.”

Rosette was curious about what he meant, but Daniel didn’t particularly explain. Rosette didn’t bother to ask either.

“Alright, I’ll be careful from now on.”

“Yes.”

“Now go play.”

“Yes.”

Rosette scurried back to Lucas and Isabel. Daniel watched her go, then headed back to his room.