Since yesterday, the castle has been quite agitated.

As I walked through the castle, I noticed a few glances my way. Those glances came from castle servants; at first, I assumed they were just curious looks from those who were curious about the cute little boy that I was, but I quickly 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 week it was.

Today is my birthday.

I had completely forgotten that my birthday was coming up this week, having always celebrated it at the Rosetta Manor, where the preparation made it nearly impossible to miss it.

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

"What could it be?" I said, feigning 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.

"What kind of person would forget his own birthday?"

"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 would held,” I reassured.

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

"Where to?"

"To your birthday 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 pretend nor stay here 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; to where 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.

Before my eyes could adjust to the sudden brightness, a burst of loud applause erupted in the hall from every direction of the room.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RONANDT!" Many voices across the room, among which I recognized Syrius’s, shouted in unison.

I could see the interior of the room clearly after my eyes adjusted to the light, and I noticed two rows of ridiculously long tables parallel to one another on each side of the room, and a smaller table perpendicular to the two long tables on the room's opposite end.

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

Lord Emilien began to approach me and stood about two meters away from me, where he was 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.

It had been years since I had taught that was how nobles wished each other happy birthday, and today was my first time receiving such a greeting.

"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 myself from calling him such, for I believe that would be suspicious.

I assumed he understood and agreed with me because he never complained about me still calling him "Lord Emilien."

With this, 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.

***

With today being 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 swing the sword around to see that its blade could slice through a fangwolf or some puny warthog 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 real sword before, but the grip feels very natural and familiar to me. 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 Mael’s attendants 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 with three translucent jade-like orbs the size of an eyeball encrusted onto the cover, as well as a small knife.

"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 mumbled, somewhat embarrassed by his own request.

I guess that was 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 translucent color began to change, and soon, dark smoke appeared inside the three spheres, wiping away all traces of its previous translucent appearance.

The dark smoke acted like effervescent water.

The appearance of the three small orbs, 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 fist in front of his mouth, as if he was trying to understand something he was having a hard time grasping onto. As I returned my attention to Mael, I saw him nodding, visibly pleased with the outcome.

When I looked at the book, I noticed that the orbs had altogether ceased to behave as they had previously. They've changed their color to a static gray 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. And 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 orbs. The one I dropped my blood on had static gray-colored orbs, 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 explained to me, "This book allows you to capture whatever is before your eyes in one of its sheets,'' Mael said with a voice finally displaying 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 orbs 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 entrance.

It was the sound of a door being opened.

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

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

Having learned my lesson, before assuming whether that small figure belonged to a boy or a girl, I thoroughly examined whether it was a him or a her, and no doubt I got my answer, as challenging as it was to ascertain.

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, without doubt in mind, that the small figure belonged to a girl.

She, I could tell, 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 boyishly and arrogantly confident. 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 rose up from my seat, and went over to her, to introduce myself, "This one is Ronandt, and may Djeem the accursed almighty blessing be upon us."

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

Her words confirmed my pending assessments, this girl was indeed 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 to us from very far away 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.

Grandfather 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 simply wasn't expecting it to be her; in fact, I had no idea that the not-so-famous cousin was a girl and even less her to be that Sister, I was once mentioned.

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 apologized, bowing her head, which was quickly followed by several other female attendants, who all behind her, harbored exhausted expressions, as if they had run to arrive at this room.

"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.

"Oh, I see." Grandfather nodded, casting a sidelong glance at me.

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

It was at that moment that Syrius 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 didn't think she looked at us because she was suspicious of Syrius' identity, but because there was a strange masked man in the middle of what appeared to be a normal party. But still, I didn’t voice out a negative answer, for this could be a good opportunity 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, for a certain place calls my presence," before standing up and exiting the room, escorted by Syrius.

"The Young Lord didn't have to go to such lengths to accompany me outside, … but I appreciate it," Syrus said, sounding as sarcastic as ever.

"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. By the way, Syrius. How much do you know about Ramia?" I asked Syrius as we walked.

The real reason I wanted to leave the room was Ramia, who from the moment she entered the room, was constantly glaring at me.

"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 had come from. "This is your best chance to get along."

"Any wise suggestions?"

"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."

With these words, Syrus and I parted ways.

I only noticed it on my way back, but Syrus and I had traveled a long distance. Walking back to the room where the party was held, I heard a loud bang on the other side of the hallway, followed by hasty footsteps coming toward me.

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

The glares from earlier were one thing, but 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 lifted slightly off the ground while a punch was flying straight into my face.

.

"Communication is key,"

Indeed, but always remember that violence can be, though somewhat barbaric, a form of communication.

And I, Ronandt, have been blissfully ignorant of that fact.