By the time Adelaide, who was weak in the mornings, came to her senses, she was already seated in her designated spot, receiving Vivian’s hospitality. On top of that, the thorough Duke Berthier had not forgotten to include Draco’s cage.

“I’m Cavil Wordsworth. Is this the Draco I’ve only heard about in rumors?”

“That’s right. Isn’t it adorable? But you’d best be careful. Draco turns vicious around anyone but Adel.”

Violet fielded the swarm of poets crowding around to see Draco in Adelaide’s place.

“I’m Harold Rius. My lady, if it’s not too much trouble, might I take a closer look at Draco?”

“I’ve already been struck with inspiration for a poem about a dragon and a lady! Lady Berthier, I’d like to publish a collection of poems with you as the motif. Please give me your permission!”

“Out of the way, Fred! My lady, this fellow’s poetry is dreadful. Please read my work first and consider carefully,”

“Allow me to recite a verse that just came to me! The title is The Dragon and the Lady. Ah, a descendant of a fallen ancient civilization has met a new master…”

One of them even began reciting poetry without any invitation. Adelaide opened the cage door. Draco, excited to be somewhere new, shot into the air breathing fire. With admirable precision, Draco scored a direct hit on the reciting poet’s hat.

“Aaagh! Fire, fire, fire! Fire!”

The poet with his hat on fire ran about in a panic, and everyone scrambled away to keep their distance.

Back at the Berthier estate, Draco had always gotten a stern scolding from Adelaide for breathing fire freely, and so it glanced over at its owner to gauge her reaction.

“Didn’t everyone say they wanted to see Draco? Take a good look.”

When Adelaide showed no sign of scolding it, Draco ran wild. It breathed out all the fire it had been holding back, soared up to the high ceiling, and showed off a new trick of plunging back down in a steep dive.

“When did our Draco learn a trick like that? My precious little one.”

“Sh, shouldn’t we stop it?”

Violet pressed close to Adelaide’s side in the sudden chaos. Adelaide’s mood had lifted, and she wrapped her arms around the trembling Violet, who was afraid of being hit by a stray flame, and said cheerfully:

“Draco must have been so cramped in that narrow cage. And it was Violet who gave me Draco as a gift, wasn’t it? When you think about it, we’re practically Draco’s parents, so we might as well sit back and enjoy watching our child show off.”

“Parents! That’s right! Adel, we’re Draco’s parents! Draco, well done!”

The thrill of becoming something closer than a friend to Adelaide made Violet abandon all common sense. Draco, hearing Violet’s enthusiastic cheering, spun its tail around and charged straight at the chandelier.

“It’s going to fall!”

“Get out of the way!”

“Aaah!”

The enormous chandelier crashed to the floor. It had been barely twenty minutes since Adelaide arrived at the Rissatino estate.

Vivian, who had been outside greeting guests still arriving one after another, came running in alarm.

“What on earth…”

Draco, satisfied after playing to its heart’s content, came fluttering over and settled into Adelaide’s arms.

“Adel, aide?”

Vivian looked over in turn: the poet dunking his half-burned head into the basin set out for hand-washing, the poet who had barely dodged the chandelier and collapsed on the spot with his legs giving out beneath him, and the poets huddled together in a cluster, eyeing Adelaide with fear.

After taking all that in, she found she simply could not bring herself to use the familiar name “Adel.”

“Our Draco had a little play. That’s all right, isn’t it, Vivi?”

Adelaide smiled the smile of a victor. She was confident this would be enough to put Vivian off for good.

“How magnificent…”

“Pardon?”

“Adelaide, I’m in awe! You’re the first person who has ever managed to derail my party in such a short time! How foolish of me to have thought of calling you Adel. Adelaide is Adelaide. You are someone whose name deserves to be spoken in full, not a single letter left out!”

Vivian clapped her hands elegantly to summon the servants. The servants who came rushing in cleared away the wreckage of the broken chandelier and attended to the poet whose head was half-singed. They pressed glasses of champagne into the hands of the poets huddled together trembling like prey animals, then vanished without a sound.

“That’s right! Adel is magnificent! Lady Vivian, you recognize it too!”

“Please call me Vivi, Lady Violet. If you are Adelaide’s friend, then there must surely be something hidden in you as well, Lady Violet.”

“Then plain Violet is more than enough for me.”

It was clearly a friendship formed with Adelaide at the center, yet Adelaide felt a sharp pang of exclusion.

‘What is this? Why are the two of them becoming allies because of some magnificence in me that I don’t even know about.’

“Violet, will you forgive me for having thought of you until now as a slightly foolish but kind person? I was trapped in narrow-minded prejudice, not realizing you were a precious gem that Adelaide had recognized.”

“Of course! I am Adel’s precious gem!”

Violet had not registered the “slightly foolish but kind” part at all. The only phrase that mattered to her was “Adelaide’s precious gem.”

“So, what is Violet like? How did the two of you become close?”

“The slightly foolish but kind Violet is someone who throws herself headlong into love, Vivian.”

“Oh my, you’re not calling me Vivi?”

“That’s done with.”

“Throws herself headlong into love…”

Violet decided that Vivian, who had recognized Adelaide’s true worth, was someone to be trusted. So she lowered her voice and confided her secret.

“Actually, I’m planning a romantic elopement right now.”

“What kind of elopement?”

“A romantic elopement, Vivi.”

Adelaide was certain that any person in their right mind would abandon all expectations of Violet after hearing those words.

“How exciting!”

Vivian was not in her right mind.

“How exciting! You’ve resolved to elope. That takes a kind of courage I could never imagine. So, what is he like? If Violet is willing to throw her life away for him, he must be quite remarkable, a man with a promising future.”

“Romer is a postman.”

“A postman?”

“We had planned to elope once before, but my father got in the way and we couldn’t go through with it. That was why I ended up in the convent.

But not long ago, I met Romer again, like fate! Isn’t that beautiful? Romer swore he would never lose me again, and I believe in his feelings, but Adel said she couldn’t bear to have me go so far away, so I’m carefully working out a different plan.”

Vivian had not heard a single word after the shocking first sentence.

“A postman, Violet?”

“Yes. He works on Sagria Street.”

“You are planning to elope with a postman who delivers letters on Sagria Street, Lady Violet?”

“Adel, I think there might be something wrong with Vivi’s ears.”

“The way I see it, something is wrong with both of you.”

Adelaide stretched out comfortably across the long sofa. Draco burrowed into the crook of Adelaide’s elbow. Having played itself out, it let out a small yawn, apparently ready for a nap. Adelaide tickled it under the chin.

“I need to sit down for a moment.”

Vivian pressed a hand to her forehead and sat down beside Adelaide. She downed her champagne in one go, then cut off Violet, who was defending Romer with an innocent expression on her face.

“Violet. You cannot elope with a postman.”

“Why not?”

“Think about it. He works a job that requires no particular skill, just delivering letters. When did Violet go to the convent? Two years ago. A man who was still a postman two years ago and remains a postman two years later has no prospect of advancement.”

It was a logical enough argument that Adelaide found herself nodding along without thinking.

“What do you mean? Romer wasn’t steadily working as a postman for those two years. He only started working again shortly before I came back from the convent.”

Vivian sent Adelaide a look asking for help.

“I already told her that if you turned that man upside down and shook him, a coin purse from Count Armetia would fall out.”

“What colorful word choices you have.”

“Back to the point, Vivian.”

“Right. Now, Violet, listen. If your mind is made up, I won’t try to stop you as a friend. But let’s just check one thing.”

“Check what?”

“Tell him that Count Armetia has caught wind of the elopement and confiscated all of Violet’s jewelry.”

Adelaide was quietly impressed. Violet, on the other hand, still looked like she didn’t understand.

“My jewelry?”

“Your gems, the ones that can be converted to cash. Tell him you can still elope, but you’ll be leaving with nothing, not a single coin to your name.”

“Romer will say it doesn’t matter, of course.”

“I’m sure he will. But since the answer is already decided either way, there’s no harm in just asking, is there?”

Adelaide decided to braid Vivian’s hair in a different style from last time. Vivian deserved a reward.

“And when you say that to him, take me along.”

“You, Adel? All right! Romer will be glad to meet you too!”

“No, don’t tell him I’ll be there. I just want to watch and see how he reacts.”

Vivian surrendered her hair into Adelaide’s hands and smiled to herself. It was clear Adelaide was worried about Violet, and yet she deliberately kept her words rough. Somehow, it was endearing.

‘Magnificent and endearing on top of it. Adelaide is the finest piece in my collection.’

Vivian the collector of people upgraded the “slightly foolish but kind” Violet, who had brought Adelaide into her life, to “guileless, with her head in the clouds.”