“Hmm. Winter is coming soon, it’s quite cold. Don’t you think so, Penton?”

“…?”

“…”

It was when Yune was eating cookies she had baked herself with the Penton family.

Due to the cold wind blowing, we didn’t even know a carriage had arrived outside until the door opened. Baron Kito took off his gloves nonchalantly as if entering his own home.

“…Baron?”

“Oh? Lize is here too! This is lucky.”

Everyone, including the Duke and Duchess Penton sitting on the sofa and myself, was surprised with our mouths agape.

Two weeks later, Baron Kito will have his final match for the champion title. I thought he would be training his mind in the capital ahead of such an important match… Why is he here?

Baron Kito ignored the bewildered faces directed at him and took off his outer coat.

“Oh, cookies? I was just craving something sweet.”

“I baked them myself! Baron!”

“Yune did? You really baked them well, Yune. You’ll soon catch up to me, won’t you?”

Baron Kito took a bite of a cookie and gave advice like the butter flavor is good, it would be better with a bit more milk, and so on. At those words, Yune vowed to make even more delicious cookies next time. It was a conversation just between the two of them.

“…Excuse me, Baron. Don’t you have the final game in two weeks?”

“It’s been postponed. It’s my first time experiencing this too.”

“What?”

This was the first I’d heard of the final game being postponed. Duke Penton, who was with us, seemed equally surprised as he frowned at Baron Kito.

“This is the first I’m hearing of this.”

“It’s not officially announced yet. To summarize… it seems some of the players who made it to the finals cheated. The tournament organizers haven’t disclosed exactly how the cheating occurred, but apparently it was quite large-scale, so they’re discussing how to rule on it. And there might be more undiscovered cheaters.”

“So?”

“I just finished being investigated and came down. But it’ll take a few days to investigate all the participants. In the end, the final game has been postponed, and I heard it’s scheduled for exactly one month from now.”

Baron Kito spoke as if talking about someone else’s affairs, with no change in his expression. Duke Penton, the Duchess, and Yurik’s faces were serious, having unexpectedly heard this disappointing news. My face probably wasn’t much different.

“Well. Fortunately, they haven’t sold tickets for the final match yet. Oh, that reminds me, I bought some gifts in the capital.”

Baron Kito brought over the bag he had entrusted to a maid when he arrived.

Inside the large bag were three neatly wrapped gift boxes. Two were about palm-sized, but the remaining one was so large I wondered how it could fit in the bag.

“Here, this is for Yurik. It’s yours!”

“Th…thank you.”

“Go ahead and open it!”

Baron Kito spoke with even more joy than the recipient. Yurik unwrapped the package with a slightly puzzled look and saw the small rabbit doll inside. Yurik’s face gradually turned red.

“I… I don’t like these things anymore…”

“Hm? Did you become an adult while I was away? You used to like cute things like this before.”

“Baron! What about mine? Is there one for me too?”

“Of course there’s one for Yune too.”

Baron Kito handed a small box to Yune. So then, who was that large box for?

“Lize.”

“…Yes?”

Baron Kito took out the large box, having noticed my gaze. With a thought of ‘could it be’, that box was placed in front of me. As I sat there dazed, unable to believe it, Baron Kito pushed the box closer to me.

“It’s for you.”

“…”

“You turned eleven a week ago, right? Congratulations, Lize.”

So it was mine.

I stared at the box and untied the red ribbon that matched my hair color.

After removing the wrapping paper, I examined the items hidden inside the box. One of the two gifts was a silver watch with a lark engraved on it, and the other was an incredibly thick book.

Each page of the book was blank. It wasn’t an ordinary book, but one I could use and record in whenever I wanted. The texture of the paper was firm yet soft. It seemed like a quill would write well on it.

“Do you like it?”

“…Very much. Thank you, Baron.”

I couldn’t help but smile. So this is how nice birthdays are… Gifts are so meaningful.

I’ve had many birthdays before, but none where I received as much celebration as this one.

Due to work, my father hadn’t come to the mansion for several days. Because of that, I was able to go to the Pholong house where I received many gifts from my siblings and ate delicious cake.

The next day, I was led by Yurik’s hand to the Penton house to receive congratulations. The Duchess and Duke gave me three summer dresses and three winter dresses as gifts, and Yune carefully wrapped muffins she had made all night.

Lastly, Yurik personally put a sapphire necklace around my neck. I don’t know how Yurik, only twelve years old, got such an expensive thing, but I was happy.

Yurik looked at my face and vowed to give me an even better gift next year.

For the first time, I thought I wished it could be my birthday all year round. But I never expected to receive congratulations again just a week later…

“And this.”

Baron Kito handed me a piece of paper as I was examining the silver watch.

“Huh? Isn’t this an admission ticket, Kito?”

“Yes. I brought it secretly. It’s for the best seats.”

“Is that allowed?”

“Of course not. Keep it a secret.”

The Duke sighed, saying it was outrageous. There were five admission tickets in total, including those for the Penton family.

It was for the final chess match to be held in the Imperial Palace a month later. Baron Kito had given me good seats among those spectator seats.

“Is it alright for me to go?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“But… I’m worried I might distract you, Baron.”

Baron Kito laughed out loud as I stammered my words.

“If my mental strength were that weak, do you think I would have come this far? Don’t worry. Rather, having you there will give me more strength, Lize.”

The Baron patted my head. That touch felt good.

“I’ll definitely come.”

“Good. I plan to go to the capital in two weeks. Until then, would you like to play chess with me to your heart’s content? I’d like to catch up on our conversations too.”

“Yes!”

My excited heart beat rapidly.

After having dinner at Duke Penton’s house, I came outside. As Baron Kito said, the wind was chilly, and I could see my breath slightly when I exhaled.

At that moment, something wrapped around my empty neck. When I turned my head, Yurik was putting a scarf identical to his own around my neck.

“Ah, thank you.”

When I spoke, Yurik smiled slightly and then took my hand.

“Let’s go. I’ll take you home.”

“It’s okay. I can go by myself. It’s close.”

“I’m worried. Please let me go with you, for my sake. Okay? Lize.”

Unfairly using his face as a weapon.

“…Alright.”

With that angelic face pleading, it seemed I could agree to anything, even bad things.

Yurik tightly gripped my hand in his and walked at a slow pace. At this rate, we’d arrive at the Marsen mansion in thirty minutes.

“What are you going to do tomorrow?”

Yurik asked out of the blue.

“Hmm… I’ll probably play chess with Baron Kito? Then I’ll likely be at the mansion all day.”

“What about the day after?”

“Probably the same as the day before?”

“…Sigh. I want to see you tomorrow too.”

I chuckled at Yurik’s whining.

“You can’t. You’re going to see your grandfather, remember?”

“Grandfather will just complain as soon as he sees my face. He’s been nagging about school entrance exams lately. Saying I need to go to a good school to get into a good university, and I need to start preparing for entrance exams now to get into a good school.”

“You don’t want to go to school? Why?”

It was unexpected. I thought Yurik would like going to boarding school.

He glanced at me and then lowered his head slightly.

“It’s far away…”

“You’re still a child, Yurik.”

“Lize.”

He quickly blushed at my joke. And then I couldn’t help but laugh at Yurik’s gaze that seemed to pierce me as if I was being mischievous.

“You’re pretending not to know while knowing everything, right? Lize.”

“…If it’s because of what I said before, you’re really foolish. I don’t want to be apart from you either. You also said you’d stay by my side, right? You know that doesn’t mean being together all day, don’t you? Even if you go to boarding school, you and I are eternal friends, and we’re connected, so it doesn’t matter. Just don’t disappear from in front of me without any notice.”

While speaking, Roger’s face came to mind.

Even though it had only been a few months since I’d seen him, I had forgotten what expressions Roger usually made. In my memory, Roger was that face crying with his knees pulled up under the tree. That face full of bitterness, anger, and sadness.

I didn’t know where Roger was. I had consistently left letters in front of the Bakus mansion, but even that had become a useless act now.

It was a mansion I thought Roger would return to someday. Until a month ago, when employees came to clear out the furniture inside the mansion.

The reason was that the owner of the mansion, Rick Bakus, Roger’s father, suddenly sold the mansion.

And he told them to dispose of the furniture as they saw fit, then sold the house and disappeared.

The letters I sent were destined to end up in the incinerator without reaching Roger’s hands.

‘Please! If you see Rick Bakus, please deliver this letter! Please…! I’ll give you money here!’

I emptied all the money I had and entrusted the letter to an employee. After that, with nothing else I could do, I quietly watched the Bakus mansion.

The employees worked skillfully and quickly. In just a few hours, the once splendid Bakus mansion became as cold as if ghosts might appear.

“…I will never disappear without a word or hurt you like that guy did.”

Yurik said, gritting his teeth. We had already arrived in front of the Marsen mansion.

“…”

Even though we had arrived, Yurik didn’t let go of my hand until the end. Rather, he held it strongly as if he wouldn’t let go. His grip was so strong it was a bit hard to bear.

“Yu, Yurik.”

“And what I said… it wasn’t about our hearts being connected, or being eternal friends or anything like that.”

“…”

“I meant I want to be with you all day. That’s why I don’t want to go to boarding school, Lize. Because I don’t want to be apart from you even for an hour. It’s good that our hearts are connected, but I don’t want only our hearts to be connected.”

“…”

“Lize. I’m afraid of you.”

Yurik’s voice was lower than usual.

“You’re probably afraid I might suddenly leave like Roger, that guy. But I’m even more afraid than that. I’m afraid that you might not need me anymore. That you might push me away saying it’s okay.”

“…”

“You might not be like that.”

With those final words, Yurik let go of my hand. My hand fell down with a thud.

“Sorry. The talk went on too long. It’s cold, so hurry inside, Lize.”

Yurik’s back gradually moved away.

After standing still for a while, I entered the mansion with that dazed look. The Marsen mansion, with only minimal lighting, was excessively quiet. Although I could hear the footsteps of maids, it still felt empty and silent.

‘I’m also, I’m actually afraid of you too, Yurik. You who are young and bold. Your sincere feelings.’

In truth, I know that you, more than anyone, would reject me coldly.

But now you’re the only one left by my side.

Trying not to be greedy and maintain boundaries, afraid of hurting your young heart and you never seeing me again…

Yet you keep trying to cross over.