Since yesterday, the castle has been agitated.

I noticed a few glances rolled at me as I wandered through the castle. Those glances came from the castle servants; at first, I assumed they were just curious gazes from those who were curious about who that handsome young boy could be, but I realized that wasn't the case when I noticed that even those who had seen me many times were acting in a similar manner.

Then I remembered what day it was.

My birthday is today.

I'd completely forgotten what day it was today because my birthday is always celebrated in the Rosetta Manor, and when it's approaching, it's hard to ignore.

"You've noticed it, haven't you?" Mael asked inquiringly.

"What could it be?" I feigned ignorance.

Instead of staring as if he wasn't sure if I was telling the truth or not, he simply remained silent, leaving my question in suspense.

"Okay, I admit it, I noticed; after all, it's my birthday." I couldn’t help but vent a small guffaw. "How could I forget my own birthday?" she says.

"Rufus was certain you had forgotten."

"Aaaah Rufus, this man is a mystery even to me... but that being said, I didn't expect you all to throw me a party."

"Was it that obvious ?" He asks, leaning back in his chair and looking up at the ceiling.

"Maybe I wouldn't have noticed if everyone in the castle except you, Rufus, and Lord Emilien wasn't looking at me with a seeking yet avoiding gaze."

"So it was that obvious," Mael said with a sigh. "In any event, I was tasked with taking you to the room where we held your birthday party. I at least hope that this information has not leaked"

Don't worry, I only know that a party was thrown for me but have no idea where it was held.

"I hope it’s true. So let us go then. "

"Was it really that obvious?" Leaning back in his chair and looking up at the ceiling, he asks.

"Perhaps I wouldn't have noticed if everyone in the castle except you, Rufus, and Lord Emilien hadn't been staring at me with a seeking yet avoiding gaze."

With a sigh, Mael said, "So it was that obvious." At any rate, I was given the task of taking you to the room where we held your birthday party. "At the very least, I hope that this information has not been leaked."

"Don't worry, I only know that a party was thrown for me but have no idea where it was held."

"I'm hoping it's true. So, then, let us go. "

"Where to?"

"To your party, obviously."

"I thought you were here as a decoy while they were adjusting the final preparation."

"Everything has been ready since yesterday; my role here was only to give you the appearance of a normal day, but as you already know, there's no need for us to stay any longer."

"I hope I didn't completely disrupt your entire schedule and preparation."

"What are you talking about? If something has gone wrong, it was definitely not your fault, but rather ours... Here, come. " While saying that, he stood up, grabbed my hand, and dragged me out of the library.

Upon opening the library’s door, we were welcomed by Mael’s attendant.

As soon as he saw us, one of the attendants stationed on the other side of the corridor dashed to the inner sanctum of the castle as if his life depended on it.

Mael ignored his attendants and dragged me along with him to where the attendant from earlier was going; we were immediately followed by the attendants.

We eventually arrived at a large door that led to a room I'd never seen before. From the inside, the door gradually opened, revealing what was on the other side.

Nothing.

To be more specific, there wasn't even a sliver of light inside the room, so I couldn't see anything.

Mael pushed me into the room from behind.

When we got to a certain point in the room, the lights went out. The way the room brightened reminded me vaguely of how the chandelier in the library lit up when the door was shut.

A sudden and loud round of applause could be heard from every direction of the room before my eyes could adjust to the sudden brightness.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RONANDT!" Many people across the room shouted in unison, and I recognized Syrus's voice among them.

Once I could see the interior of the room clearly, I noticed two rows of ridiculously long tables parallel to one another on one side of the room, and a smaller table perpendicular to the two long tables on the opposite side of the room.

The small table had three seats, and Lord Emilien was standing behind one of them, while the two other tables were filled with visibly delicious and varied dishes, and the servants and attendants stood, heads bowed, lined up behind the two rows of tables.

Lord Emilien began to approach me and stood about two meters away from me.

He was soon joined by Mael.

"May the grace of Kiady the Eternal grant you a long and fruitful life." Lord Emilien and Mael both said this as they placed one hand behind their backs, raised their forearms around their chest level, fist firmly clenched, and slightly but dignifiedly bowed while keeping their blue eyes fixed on me.

I immediately responded in kind to their gesture.

I struck a similar pose to theirs, but instead of clenching my fist, I let my palm open wide, my two last fingers half retracted.

We remained there for about three or four seconds before resuming our normal posture.

That was how the nobility wished each other a happy birthday.

It was my first time seeing it done by a noble.

I've been taught about it since I was three years old, thanks to a certain someone, but never had the opportunity to perform it. To a point where I was even wondering when I would ever have the opportunity to be able to use it.

Thank you, Maa; I wouldn't have known how to respond to this if it hadn't been for you.

"There's only a year until this little boy becomes a full-fledged noble," Lord Emilien said as he patted my head.

"Thank you very much, Lord Emilien, for the party. It was a pleasant surprise." I said this as I cast a glance at Mael, who was simply smiling at me.

"It is nothing. And from now on, you can refer to me as "Grandpa Emilien" or "Grandfather Emilien." In a cheerful tone, Lord Emilien announced.

Lord Emilien had already instructed me to refer to him as "grandfather" while we were on the road, but when I met Mael, I decided to refrain.

Since he never said anything about me still calling him "Lord Emilien,", I assumed he understood and agreed with me.

He has now given me permission to refer to him in that manner once more.

"Yes, Grandfather."

"All right, then, let us take a seat," he said as he gently pushed Mael and me in the back toward the smaller table where he had stood earlier.

As we moved closer to the smaller table, Grandfather Emilien took his hand from our back and made two short claps.

Only then did everyone else in the room raise their heads.

❀⊱┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄⊰❀

Since it was my birthday, I was given a seat in the middle of the table, as it was a little early to start eating. They had decided to give me their gifts first.

Grandfather was the first to present me with his gift.

A straight black sword.

The scabbard was adorned with menacing patterns.

When I unsheathed the sword, I noticed snakelike patterns engraved in its guard all the way to the hilt.

I didn't have to swivel the sword to see that it could slice through a fangwolf like butter.

There were other swords as sharp as this one in the secret room, but most of them were too big for my small frame, but this one was so perfect for my frame, that it felt custom-made for me.

"How's it going, Boy?" Is it to your taste?" Grandfather inquired.

"I've never held a sword before, but the grip feels very natural to me, and I adore it."

"That's good then," he said, howling with laughter.

Mael stood up from his chair, seemingly preparing to present me with his gift.

"My present is a little different; I hope you will like it." As he spoke, one of his assistants appeared from the other side of the room, holding a purple pillow, and when he reached me, he kneeled just enough to show me what was on the pillow.

It was a thick black book that came with a small knife.

Three transparent jadey spheres the size of an eyeball were encrusted on the book cover.

"It's a strange question, but could you... drip a little bit of your blood into the three spheres?" "A drop on each sphere will suffice," Mael said, clearly embarrassed by his own request.

I guess that's what the knife was for.

I took the knife, cut the tip of my finger, and dropped several droplets onto each red sphere.

As soon as I did, the three spheres began to react.

For about two seconds, the transparent color began to change, and dark smoke appeared inside the three spheres, wiping away all traces of its previous appearance.

The dark smoke acted like effervescent water. The spherical appearance of the three small spheres, combined with the intense movement inside, gave me the impression that they could explode at any time.

When I looked at Grandfather to see what he thought about these spheres' reactions, he had his hand in front of his mouth, as if he was trying to come up with a solution to a problem.

I returned my gaze to Mael, who nodded, clearly pleased with the outcome.

When I looked at the book, I noticed that the spheres had ceased to behave as they had previously.

They've changed their color to a dark grey with a faint shade of red.

"This book is called "Reality Figer" and it allows you to do this," Mael explained as he took something from his pocket and tossed it into the air.

A book appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.

As if that wasn't impressive enough, it also managed to stay afloat in midair.

The book he summoned was similar to the one I spilled my blood on, with the only difference being the colors of their three small spheres. The one I dropped my blood on had dark grey spheres, whereas Mael's had crimson blood-red spheres.

The book, which was still in midair, opened on its own, revealing blank pages, but only for a few seconds, because shortly after silhouettes began to take shape on the book's blank pages, a perfect reproduction of the background could be seen on the book's formerly blank page after a few seconds.

Mael casually picked up the book suspended in midair, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and then said to me.

"This book allows you to capture whatever is before your eyes in one of its sheets,'' Mael said with a voice full of confidence. "So how is it? Do you like it? "

"Of course, this is awesome. Can you show me how to do what you did earlier? "

"What? Capturing the image in one of the book sheets or ?"

"Yes, also that, but I was referring to how you summoned it out of your pocket."

"Aaa that! All you have to do is to-" Mael's voice was interrupted by a noise coming from the door. A young boy, panting as if he had run a marathon, appeared from the small gap between the door and ran to where we were to murmur something to Grandfather's ears.

When the man finished saying what he came to say, Grandfather let out a small sigh.

"Did something happen ?" Mael inquired, visibly concerned by this unexpected interruption.

"She’s here," said Grandfather with a resigned sigh.

Mael's face that showed concern earlier had immediately morphed into a dejected one.

"Why? Today, out of all days, " he muttered, weary. "Sorry, Ronandt; I'll show you how to do it later." He then pressed two diametrically opposed corners of the book he was holding, and the book shrank as magically as it appeared until it could fit between Mael's palms. "For the time being, I must prevent a certain someone from reaching this room." While saying that, he showed me what the book had turned into. It had now taken the appearance of one of the small red spheres encrusted on his book cover.

He stuffed it back into one of his pockets and was about to leave when he heard another noise coming from the doors.

The earlier noise made by the door was brief because the man was in a hurry to report what he had to say. However, this time, the noise coming from the door was sluggish and even suspenseful.

Before the door had even fully opened, a small figure emerged.

Before assuming whether that small figure belonged to a boy or a girl, I thoroughly examined him or her.

The small figure approached the table we were seated at without throwing a single glance at the servants and attendants lined up along the two rows of a large table, and once it was one meter away from us, I could finally tell that the small figure belonged to a girl.

I could tell she was the same age as me or Mael.

She was dressed in a boyish waistcoat, under which was a long-sleeved white shirt and black trousers.

Her stride could only be described as confident and masculine.

In her left hand, she held a red scabbarded straight sword. The sword guard was designed in the shape of a rose.

Her face, however, was the most eye-catching feature about her.

Her brown hair occasionally flashed a faint red color, which was accentuated by her crimson eyes.

Her eyes were the same color as mine and my father's, with the exception that hers exuded a certain fierceness.

I remembered what Grandfather had told me about my father, about how he was married and even had a daughter.

" Good day, Grandfather. Mael, good morning, and..." She looked at me, or more accurately, glared at me.

I stood up and went over to her.

"This is Ronandt, and may Djeem the accursed almighty blessing be upon us."

"May the dazzling blessing of Kine the flamboyant be upon us, this Ramia, first daughter of Luke Aubrecht."

That confirmed my suspicions: this girl is my sister.

My half-big sister, my big-half sister, or whatever it is called.

When we finished greeting each other, she just stood there staring at me, and if it hadn't been for Grandfather, she would have stood there for a long time.

"Ronandt, this little girl over here is the granddaughter of the current Duke of the Beaumont Duchy, Charles Aubrecht." He said this as he rested his hand on Ramia's head. He then looked at me, his gaze clearly saying, "This is your big sister boy."

"Ramia, this is Ronandt. He is a friend's son, and he has come especially to see your great-grandfather. " And, as you can see, we were celebrating his birthday, so it's an excellent opportunity for you two to meet and get along. "

She didn't respond to Grandfather's words and just stared at me.

To the attention of one of the attendants, Grandfather ordered, "Get a seat for her."

The attendant immediately assigned her a seat next to Mael.

He then motioned for us to take a seat.

Ramia sat next to Mael, putting himself between me and her.

"Say, Mael, why haven't you paid me a visit in the last two weeks? I waited for you so you'd know." As she rested her head on Mael's shoulder, she said.

"I've been extremely busy recently." And I had a feeling you'd find a way to get here even if you were grounded. " Mael simply explained.

"You know me well, as one would expect from Mael." She said this while rubbing her head against Mael's shoulder in the manner of a cat.

It wasn't until I saw these two interact that I remembered Mael had mentioned a cousin.

I wasn't expecting it to be her; in fact, I had no idea that the not-so-famous cousin was a girl.

The door suddenly reverberated once again.

This time, it revealed a woman whose outfit and hairstyle reminded me of Maa, as well as a group of three female attendants behind her.

"Please accept our apologies, Lord Emilien; we were unable to prevent the young lady from interfering with this festivity," the leading lady said, bowing her head, which was quickly followed by the female attendant behind her.

"It's nothing." "How's Luke doing?" Grandfather asked casually, flailing his hand around to encourage them to raise their hands.

When the woman was about to respond to Grandfather's question, she was interrupted by a voice.

"Papa was at the castle when I left," Ramia explained.

"Ah, I see." Grandfather nods and casts a sidelong glance at me.

It appears that the fateful meeting will not take place today.

Syrus suddenly approached me, bowed down, and murmured into my ears.

"I believe I should leave the room. That person knows who I am, and I'm afraid it won't take her long to see through my disguise. "

I wasn't sure who he was referring to, but then I noticed the woman with the "Maa" vibes glancing suspiciously at us.

I don't think she looked at us because she was suspicious of Syrus' identity, but because there was a strange masked man in the middle of what appeared to be a normal party.

In either case, it's a good chance for me to get some fresh air.

I said to everyone's attention at the table, "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'll have to leave you all for a while because a certain location requires my presence,"

I stood up and exited the room, obviously being followed by Syrus.

"The Young Lord didn't have to go to such lengths to accompany me outside, but I appreciate it," Syrus said confidently, a smile hidden beneath his mask.

The real reason I wanted to leave the room was Ramia, who was constantly staring at me.

Shania cried the first time she saw me; those red eyes of hers were terrifying.

"That was nothing; I needed to take a breath as well." So, Syrus, who was that woman? " As we walked down the hall, I asked. "An old flame of yours?"

" Certainly not. She had been seconding Mathilda's when I was serving Lord Luke, so she was well acquainted with me. I had not anticipated her becoming Lady Ramia's Lady's Maid. "

What a shame, because I was expecting juicy details about one of his previous conquests.

"Ah, I see. "How much do you know about Ramia?"

"Little to nothing." After all, when I left the castle, she was still a newborn. In any case, good luck befriending her, as Lord Emilien said." With that, he put his hand on my shoulder and forced me to turn around in the direction we came from. "This is your best chance to get along."

"Can you recommend anything?" I inquired.

"As long as you don't tell that weird story of yours, everything should be fine. That being said, I wish you good luck, Young Lord."

"Thanks, it will be welcomed."

After that, Syrus and I parted ways.

I only noticed it on my way back, but Syrus and I had traveled a long distance.

I was walking back to my room slowly when I heard a loud bang on the other side of the hallway, followed by hasty footsteps.

The owner of the footsteps appeared in no time. It was Ramia, and the moment she saw me, she let out a Humph.

This time, her face was openly hostile towards me.

Maybe I should talk about it.

Yes, let's do it; after all, wasn't it said that "communication is key"?

As she passed by, I said.

"Listen, we just me- Blergh"

My words were cut short by a sharp pain in my stomach. Before I realized what had happened, I noticed that my feet had slipped slightly off the ground and a punch was flying straight into my face.

Communication is key and the best medium, indeed, but that is as long as your opponent does not resort to violence as a means of communication.

And I, Ronandt, have been blissfully ignorant of this.