“Do others know about this too?”

Heris tilted her head at my words.

“Probably… not? I was the only one around those kids at that time… And I’m telling you about this for the first time now, Lady Rowenloa…”

“The children you’re referring to are Lady Pelena and those two others, correct?”

Heris nodded.

“Yes, when bad rumors about you started circulating, they suddenly began acting very friendly with Lady Leila. And then…”

I listened to Heris and thought hard.

If I held Pelena and the other two ladies responsible here, this incident would simply be dismissed as the fault of those three.

But considering the reactions of Leila and Bershua when I mentioned the Posilia ducal family earlier, this incident must clearly be related to those two as well.

Resolving it this way might actually disadvantage me.

I opened my mouth toward Heris.

“I’m sorry, Lady Heris. Could you please keep this a secret until I ask you otherwise?”

Heris nodded with a bewildered expression.

Her face showed that she didn’t quite understand what I meant.

“Don’t worry. I’m not asking you to keep it a secret forever.”

So I didn’t say anything about this incident to Grace and Delian either.

Delian was fuming, saying that Bershua and Leila must be up to something and that it must be the doing of the trio who were close to Bershua, but I calmed him down, saying that pushing without concrete evidence would ultimately disadvantage us.

“Please wait a little longer.”

Hearing my words, Delian and Grace reluctantly shook their heads but respected my opinion.

Afterward, I quietly attended the academy while waiting for my upcoming debutante ball.

I didn’t say anything even when people whispered about me.

Grace and other friends beside me felt like they were about to explode with frustration, but I endured and endured.

Because these criticisms would ultimately make me like the tragic female protagonist in a novel.

So about a week before the debutante ball, I took a carriage not to the mansion but to my small general store.

Just like before, it grew darker as I went deeper into the alley, but this time I could open the door without encountering any strange monsters.

“What? What’s going on?”

And Mafi, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time… was still as unpleasant as ever.

Anyway, a fairy in puberty….

“You lied to me?”

Mafi pouted as if not knowing what I meant and shrugged.

“What’s this about not being able to talk to water spirits while sober… Do you know what I did because of that?”

Hearing that, Mafi seemed to think deeply for a while, then clapped once and started laughing at me.

“You actually believed that? Humans are so stupid, I tell you.”

I barely restrained my rising fist and pulled out a nearby chair to sit down.

“Ah, I haven’t laughed this much in a while. So? Why are you here this time?”

“The communication stone I gave you last time. You must have made something with it?”

Hearing that, Mafi shrugged again as if his knew nothing.

“Ah, you couldn’t make anything?”

But do I not know you?

You, who made something within a week after Leila gave you a communication stone in my previous life, couldn’t have just left the communication stone untouched for over 6 months.

“If you couldn’t make anything, give it back.”

“…Wh-what?”

“I said give it back. I’ll find a more capable fairy or person.”

Mafi looked at me with wavering eyes.

“Y-you… you have so much money! How can you take back what you’ve given?”

“Ah, I’m a performance-oriented person.”

“Ha, do you think I would return the communication stone so easily? And it’s also funny that you think there’s a fairy or person more skilled than me. No matter who you give it to, they couldn’t utilize that communication stone better than I… Hup.”

I made a mischievous expression listening to his words.

Seeing my expression, Mafi frowned.

“You… you…!”

“No, did you think I’d ask for it for free? If it seems valuable after seeing it… I’ll buy it.”

Mafi snorted.

“Ha. How many more years do you think I’ve lived than you? I’m not interested in money anymore.”

“Even if you’re not interested in money, you want to make your products known to people, right? I’ll help you with that.”

In my previous life, Mafi secretly sold his items due to his fairy characteristics.

Mafi’s items quietly became famous among nobles, and Mafi felt proud that many people were using his items.

“I’m planning a big show. If your invention is used there… orders will probably flood in?”

Mafi looked at me with a mix of interest and suspicion.

Ugh, what a paranoid creature!

“A show?”

“Yes. Three days left. So decide quickly. Will you show it to me or will you quietly return the communication stone?”

Mafi sighed and then told me to wait a moment before entering a small room, making clattering noises as he started searching for something.

What Mafi handed me was a very plain-looking small iron box.

…Surely, in his previous life, Mafi had made an invention with the communication stone that could transmit voices between people.

Faced with this unexpected development, I felt like my throat was burning up, but I pretended to be nonchalant and received the iron box from Mafi with a relaxed hand.

“Hmm…”

I stared intently at the iron box he gave me and even shook it, but I couldn’t figure out what this object was used for.

Mafi looked at me with a contemptuous expression.

“Hmph, there’s no way a human could recognize the function of my invention at a glance.”

Mafi took the iron box from my hand and, with a triumphant expression, opened it with a click.

Inside, a very small piece of communication stone was shining.

“Umm…”

When I made an expression of not knowing how to react, Mafi urged me to say something.

“No, if you suddenly tell me to say something, what am I supposed to say?”

After hearing my answer, Mafi closed the lid with a satisfied look and opened the lid on the opposite side this time.

—Umm…

—No, if you suddenly tell me to say something, what am I supposed to say?

My voice flowed from inside the iron box.

I jumped up from the chair I was sitting on in surprise.

“…What?”

This is a much more amazing invention than I expected!

Oh my goodness!

“It’s just a prototype, so the shape is messy and it can only store one sound, but I’ve figured out how to store various sounds, so I can develop it further.”

Mafi placed his hands on his waist and looked at me as I stared with round eyes.

I found him so adorable that I hugged him tightly.

“Aack! You crazy human!”

Mafi was shocked in my embrace, but what could I do?

The Mafi in front of me right now was so pretty I could die!

This invention was enough to crown my show.

I released Mafi, who was making a fuss in my arms, and asked if he could refine the shape and expand the storage capacity when I returned in two days. He nodded as if it were obvious.

It’s so good to have a genius around.

So I made an appointment with him and returned home.

When I returned to the residence, another humble dinner greeted me as usual.

“Ugh… so much grass.”

“Please endure just a little longer, Miss.”

When I made a whiny voice, Mylene comforted me from the side.

That’s right.

In three days, I will have my debutante ball.

And there, I plan to use Leila and people related to her to make my name known throughout the empire.

So that people will trust me even after I become independent from the Masipacius name.

I chewed the salad in front of me soullessly, thinking about the ball that would be held in three days.

* * *

The invention I encountered at Mafi’s workshop two days later was incredible.

With a sophisticated design that couldn’t be called the same item as the iron box from two days ago, and the added function of storing up to 4 sounds at once, it seemed ready to be sold right away.

“Wow… you really are a genius.”

“Of course. If you use this genius’s invention in a strange place… you’ll have to take responsibility somehow.”

“I’ll definitely use it in a good place. The related amount will be paid when you send a letter to the house in my name. I’ll use it well.”

I had many things to prepare for the next day, so I couldn’t stay long at Mafi’s workshop and returned to the residence again.

I hid the iron box I received from Mafi under my pillow.

Another day passed, and it was the day of the debutante ball.

So I hid the iron box that was under my pillow inside my glamorous dress and boarded the carriage.

Normally, my father wouldn’t say anything to us in the carriage, but today he was busy telling us various things.

“So when you arrive and get ready, they’ll call out the list of people debuting in society from inside the hall. You enter when your name is called. And from today, men can ask you to dance. But dancing with someone makes it that much easier to be the subject of gossip, so you’ll need to develop the ability to judge people.”

Since I already knew all this, I let my father’s words go in one ear and out the other.

The carriage that reached the ballroom gradually slowed down and then stopped.

As we were getting out of the carriage, someone shouted

“Oh my goodness, His Majesty the Emperor, Her Majesty the Empress, and His Highness the Crown Prince are attending the ball today!”

…What?