‘Why a sudden tasting party?’

Though I felt a bit dubious, I sat down as they asked.

Sebastian promptly handed me a fork, while Mina cut the cake into bite-sized pieces and passed them to me. The Duke began mixing honey into milk with the most serious expression in the world.

The series of actions flowed smoothly like a well-rehearsed play. I moved my fork habitually while examining these suspiciously acting people with skeptical eyes.

‘Gasp, this is delicious.’

But the moment I took a bite of the cake, my eyes flew wide open. When I looked down, the piece of cake on the plate seemed to be radiating light, unlike before.

With this level of taste… the tasting party is worth it!

‘Come to think of it, we should release new products at Milessia Bakery soon too. Was irite dye safe for food use?’

I thought while busily moving my fork to finish the cake. While I was considering various things, the Duke called me in quite a careful voice.

「Um, Terry.」

“Yes?”

「How was the tea party at Count Imeg’s? I’m sorry I’m late in asking, I’ve been busy.」

Ah, right. Since the Duke got busy, we haven’t had meals together or talked since I returned from the tea party.

It makes sense that he’s curious since it was my first real interaction with others besides Harien, Libel, and Merlin. I swallowed the mouthful of cake and answered.

“Umm… it was just normal. Ah! Don’t worry, I definitely promoted the new product well.”

「I know you well enough not to worry about that part.」

The Duke smiled gently while shaking his head lightly.

Seeing that face, I felt a strange mix of embarrassment and pride, scratching my cheek while grinning. This kind of trust feels good.

「This was your first time directly accepting an invitation from someone who isn’t an Everdeen vassal. Was it alright?」

The Duke stirred the muddler with now-practiced movements to mix the honey and milk. I briefly recalled the tea party and said.

“Yes. Everyone was kind?”

「…Was there anyone else who caught your eye?」

The moment that question dropped, was it my imagination that the air in the room seemed to subtly stiffen?

But Sebastian and Mina were still attending to us with calm faces.

Even the Duke who asked the question kept his gaze fixed on the honey milk glass. As if it wasn’t a question loaded with great meaning.

‘Someone who caught my eye.’

So I could answer without feeling pressured too.

Hmm. There is one? Someone who caught my eye so much they even made my head spin.

“Maybe one person…?”

「Oh? What kind of person?」

…What kind of person?

That question suddenly pierced through the center of my heart. Due to shock, or surprise, I unconsciously froze.

‘Come to think of it, I…’

Why am I so concerned about that ‘boy’ anyway?

It was a question I’d had numerous times before. And each time, I’d pushed it to a corner of my mind without finding an answer.

What does Damian Carpendier mean to me?

What exactly are these feelings I have for him?

‘First love never works out…’

It was then that a memory from when I was even younger, at the Oblene Viscount’s mansion, came to mind.

At that time, I hadn’t finished reading all the books in the library. So while flipping through various books with the ghosts, I came across a phrase I couldn’t understand.

‘First love never works out.’

A sentence whose meaning I couldn’t even guess. So I asked Tommy.

‘Tommy, what does this mean? Why doesn’t first love work out?’

<Hmm, it’s just as it says. They say first love usually never works out, or even if it miraculously does, it ends badly soon after, that’s why that saying exists.>

‘What’s so special about first love? Isn’t it just the meaning of the first love?’

<Rather than special, it’s more about being inexperienced. Like you said, it’s the first time experiencing feelings of love, so you’re clumsy at both expressing it and accepting it, which ends up just hurting each other.>

‘I seeee…’

It had sounded like gibberish to me, so I’d just dragged out my response and turned back to the book.

Actually, I still don’t completely understand it. My world stopped when mom passed away, and it only started moving again after I came to Everdeen.

Anyway, I thought I didn’t need to spend time on words I couldn’t understand, so I quickly lost interest.

But Tommy seemed to think differently. After hearing my response, he scratched the back of his head and let out a groan.

<Ah geez. As expected, trying to explain it in words just makes the kid respond lifelessly.>

‘You said you died when you weren’t much older than me too, right? That’s why you’re in a child’s form, you said.’

<Isn’t being a few years senior still being senior? Anyway, I’m still hundreds of years your senior in life experience, you know. Well, since we’re on the topic.>

Tommy crossed his legs in mid-air and folded his arms. He spoke with an unprecedented solemn face.

<Terry, love is, you know. It doesn’t need to be explained in words. When you experience first love yourself, you’ll be the first one to know it before anyone else.>

How did I respond to those words back then? Let me think.

‘…You.’

<Ha, even I think I was pretty cool just now. You can call me oppa if you want.>

‘You just sounded really like a con artist.’

<Hey! Where did you learn to say such things!>

‘What! Why! What! I learned it from you!’

…Let’s stop thinking about it.

Let’s forget about how we pinched each other’s cheeks and fought afterward, Tommy. We only have beautiful memories and friendship left between us, okay?

Anyway, the story went on quite a tangent. But if there’s a clear reason why this memory comes up at this moment, of all times.

‘Find out who I am.’

‘I want you to be a bit more obsessed with me.’

Though not as clear as a painting, I still had all the emotions from that day intact.

The sensation of awkwardly moving my feet among the bustling crowd, the warmth transmitted through our held hands. The slightly chilly autumn night breeze in contrast.

Those purple eyes that tickled people inexplicably. That laugh that swayed like leaves in the wind.

‘…First love.’

Ah, so that was the reason.

I felt strangely deflated. Once I became aware of what this feeling was, it seemed ridiculous that I hadn’t known until now.

‘I’ll take back calling you a con artist, Tommy.’

It really is an unmistakable feeling, this one. Like someone tickling your heart with a feather.

When I let out a short, hollow laugh, the Duke sitting across from me tilted his head. Only then did I remember he was still waiting for my answer.

I picked up my fork again and opened my mouth. Perhaps because I’d resolved what had been puzzling me all this time, the answer came out lightly.

“Hmm. If I had to say… something like first love?”

Crash!

Along with my answer, a sharp sound pierced my ears. The Duke had dropped the honey milk glass he’d been diligently stirring. He was frozen like a snow statue at the snow festival, not even blinking his eyes.

“…M-Master! Are you alright!”

“I’ll, I’ll clean it up!”

A beat later, screams erupted from Sebastian and Mina too. Sebastian checked on the Duke’s wellbeing, while Mina quickly cleaned up the broken glass and spilled honey milk.

Before long, they handed the Duke a new glass, milk, and muddler as if nothing had happened.

Though he’s clearly translucent and bluish, somehow it feels like all color has drained from the Duke’s face. He finally started moving again, pouring milk into the new glass and adding honey.

「S-s-so, so I s-see. F-first l-love, you say…」

Clink clink clink clink clink.

Every time the Duke uttered a syllable, the loud clinking of the glass drowned out his words.

Beyond his hand holding the muddler, the Duke’s entire body was shaking as if an earthquake was happening. The vibrations were so severe that his golden eyes seemed to split into four.

…Why is he acting like that? Was my saying I had first love that shocking? Tommy said everyone gets first love…

<First love… first love…? Is this good? But no… if not that then… ah, no. Is it good after all?>

And what’s wrong with you?

The Duke’s reaction was hard enough to understand, but Rick was acting strange too, making it worse.

He had been sitting quietly on my lap but now was muttering incomprehensible words like a madman. His words were so fast that I probably couldn’t understand about 80% of it.

“Kuhup, kup, kuk…”

“Huuh… Huuuh…”

I heard more strange sounds and looked up. Mina was crying with a runny nose on the Duke’s left side, while Sebastian was sighing so much I worried he might get breathing difficulties.

‘What, what’s with this atmosphere.’

What exactly did I do wrong…?

I thought hard about it until the end of the increasingly chaotic tasting party, but couldn’t figure it out. My head hurt from thinking too much, and I ended up with indigestion.

…This’ll teach me to stop eating things I find lying around.