CH 4.17

A lady approached me as soon as I took a step.

She appeared very familiar, and as soon as I heard the word “fan,” I remembered her.

“Ah, at the Jean—Jean something store!”

“Right! You gave us a fan as a gift at the time. Do you remember?”

“Ah, yes. I recall now.”

“Here’s the fan you gave us. I wanted to personally express my gratitude to you.”

The woman flipped open the fan she was holding.

The lavender dress she’s wearing wasn’t particularly expensive, but the white ostrich feather fan she’s holding was.

An unknown lady standing next to her also held a gold-colored feathered fan, which looked great on both of them.

“Thanks to the lady, I was able to have what I have been wanting to have.”

“T-Thank you.”

The two young girls thanked me.

I was rendered speechless by a mixture of perplexity and joy.

Can we be friends?

I said those words in hushed tones and even tried to flee quickly in case they didn’t like it.

On the contrary, they seemed pleased with my suggestion, which made my nose sting.

“Can the ladies tell me their names?”

Could you please tell me? Would they tell me?

All I recall from my school days was being a willing outsider. As a result, I lacked the ability to make new friends. That’s not to say I didn’t want to make friends. I just didn’t know how, and I didn’t have enough time to make friends because I was too busy making money.

A few tense moments passed, and the ladies spoke.

“I’m Raziana Delac.”

“I’m Cynthia Wilson.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. Titania Oberon is my name. I don’t know many people in the capital, so it’s nice to know two more.”

Did I say something inappropriate? Should I have been a little friendlier?

I approached the ladies with all my fears of coming across as arrogant on the inside, then I held their hands tightly as if I had met my best friend for ten years.

“Please come in and look around. Thank you for coming.”

“Oh, no. We were curious as well.”

“Lady Oberon owns this wonderful place… I’m very jealous. My father doesn’t even like it when I go out.”

Their family appears to be oppressive or patriarchal.

Cynthia who has an innocent face that looked genuinely envious, and Raziana who looked shy, but is actually friendly.  

I really liked them both from the start.

“By the way, will Sir Lacius be here today?”

Cynthia raised her hand and asked a question in place of Raziana, who was biting her lower lip as if she wanted to ask a question. I gave them a shrug.

“I’m not sure either. He dislikes crowded places, so perhaps he won’t?”

“ah… It’s a real shame. I wanted to get a good look at him at least once.”

“Lacius was so attractive that just looking at him made you feel full even if you were only eating bread.”

Raziana and Cynthia didn’t appear to be among his crazed followers. They wanted to see him because he’s famous. However, I really had no idea whether Lacius would show up or not.

I didn’t even tell him we were throwing a party like this.

I left the invitation in his room just in case, but I didn’t expect much.

He has been victimised by numerous people up to this point. It would be even odder if he showed up.

‘Please do not attend.’

The memory of that day’s forehead kiss faded over time, but it didn’t make me feel any better.

I think I would be unable to make physical contact with him without getting conscious, unlike before.

* * *

While one street in the capital city is particularly noisy.

The Archduchy of Schweiden, not far away, was very quiet.

It was never a particularly noisy place because there were so few people living there, but it was especially so today. This is because Shay, who had made ten people alone, dragged all of her maids out.

Lacius paused for a moment, perplexed by the cold air he encountered upon his return to the mansion.

“Did she go to a party?”

“Yes.”

“How come I’m not aware of it?”

“She didn’t want me to tell you, and the lady forced me to promise.”

“Haa.”

Lacius looked at the invitation from the butler, Theobalt, with astonishment on his face.

The letters in neat handwriting were playful.

If you want to play, then come play.

There was only one sentence, but this itself revealed Shay.

Lacius smiled as he remembered the way she would turn her head and raise her chin proudly.

“Come if you want to. I believe this means I have to come.”

“As far as I can tell, yes.”

“I should change into new clothes.”

“I’ve already prepared it ahead of time.”

He only said it once, but the response came quickly.

It was as if Theobalt had been anticipating this moment.

“How is the Lakum case coming along?”

“It won’t look good if I go by myself, but his Majesty said it’s better to go check.”

Lacius had met and dined with His Majesty the Emperor today.

A big festival will be held in the desert soon.

‘Lakum.’

It is a traditional desert festival held once every three years by all clans.

It was the day they chose their glorious warriors, to be precise.

Because the premise was for a fight in the first place, the period is filled with suspense. Many people died in battle as a result of the wild festival. The neighbouring countries had to pay attention because it was a day when the entire desert clan gathered. Especially since the Desert Clan had once threatened Terran.

“It’ll be a while before you can return this time.”

“My skin will surely burn a bit.”

“The sun’s heat only strengthens you, My Lord. Get your strength from where the sun shines.”

Theobalt’s jokes had a deeper meaning. He’s not sure if the sun’s heat actually makes him stronger, but he knows it doesn’t make him weak. When everyone else collapsed or was having trouble due to the heat, he was the only one who was fine.

“However, I can’t help but worry that I’ll be leaving without Shay.”

“She’ll be just fine.”

“No, I misspoke. I’m worried about having to live without Shay.”