Sylvester Perdia’s office. 

Moonlight streamed in through the open window. As the duke’s aide came in, brightening the study, then left, Sylvester stared at the documents, but not a single page seemed to progress.

“This is Lili’s first banquet, so as a father, how about you ask her to be your partner? I don’t think she’s decided yet.”

Hours had passed since Themis left. Sylvester frowned at her voice that kept replaying in his mind.

’A partner. She must have decided by now.’

He had no intention of coveting the position of his daughter’s partner in such a childish way. It was obvious………. 

Tap, tap.

His fingertips tapped somewhat nervously on his desk, his patience finally running out, Sylvester rose from his seat and headed off somewhere. 

The butler, who was checking the mansion before bedtime, noticed his master walking past and cautiously asked.

 “Your Grace, where are you going?”

“I don’t know.”

Passing the butler indifferently, Sylvester soon reached his destination.

Of course, it was Elodie’s bedroom.

 Moving to the main mansion’s bedroom instead of staying in the annex had increased the frequency of their encounters, which pleased him.

 ‘Come to think of it, she hasn’t mentioned going back to the annex lately.’

Could he assume she had become somewhat attached? He hoped it wasn’t just exhaustion that led her to give up. If not, it would be nice.

Turning the corner of the hallway, he saw a faint light seeping through the gap between Elodie’s bedroom door.

‘Still awake?’

What was she doing up so late? He disregarded the fact that he had also come at this hour and lightly knocked.

Knock, knock.

“…….”

There was no response. Just in case, he knocked again, but still, there was silence.

Opening the door and stepping inside, Sylvester was greeted with an unexpected sight.

Elodie was dozing off in front of her desk.

It seemed she had fallen asleep while writing invitations, pen still clutched in her hand.

Worried she might accidentally hurt herself with the pen, Sylvester gently removed it from Elodie’s hand.

Her limp hand slipped out, releasing the pen with a soft sound.

But with just the pen leaving her hand, Elodie’s posture collapsed instantly.

Thunk.

Reactively, Sylvester caught Elodie’s cheek as she was about to hit her face on the ink bottle.

 ‘You almost got your pretty face covered in ink. ‘

A pretty face. Sylvester silently gazed down at Elodie, who slept soundly without knowing whose hand she had hit.

Someone’s face overlapped with her sleeping face.

 Arcelia, the name of his first love. 

As Elodie grew older, she increasingly resembled Arcelia. And for some reason, seeing her like that sent a chill down his spine.

 Sylvester’s gaze drifted to the invitation Elodie was writing.

 He’d heard from Themis that she was in charge of the guest list and sending out the invitations, but he hadn’t expected her to be working so late at night.

 But then again, Elodie has always been an eager child, even if she doesn’t need to be so eager when her last name is Perdia.

After her childhood, where she tried hard to catch his attention, she immersed herself in something even when she gave up on that.

Even now, she knew she was constantly working hard to awaken her biological father.

But he had no excuse or pretext to stop her actions. He was just protecting her under the family name, to ensure she didn’t get hurt.

Anyway, he couldn’t stay in such an awkward position forever.

Sylvester lifted the sleeping Elodie and carried her to bed. As he did, Elodie, who had been tossing and turning in his embrace, woke up with a mumble.

 “……Mmh?”

Blinking through sleepy eyes, Elodie looked up into his face. For a moment, Sylvester stiffened uncharacteristically. 

 ’Is she awake?’

He thought he’d moved as gently as possible to avoid waking her, but what she did next was something he’d never imagined. Elodie smiled sheepishly and threw her arms around Sylvester’s neck.

“Dad……? I’m dreaming…….”

With that muttering, Elodie closed her eyes again.

Thunk.

As if his heart had plummeted, Sylvester felt a shock coursing through him, his chest tightening.

After being stunned by the impact, he couldn’t bear the sight of his sleeping daughter, so vulnerable.

 ‘She’s such a dangerous creature.’

Nevertheless, he carefully laid Elodie down on the bed and pulled the blanket over her.

Still reeling from the shock Elodie had just given him, Sylvester locked eyes with the fox lying at the foot of the bed.

He had heard through the butler that Elodie took care of a fox she had found. But the gaze of this companion fox made him uneasy.

It wasn’t easy to feel this way about a small animal. He stared at the fox intently, and it flicked its ears before letting out a soft whimper.

 “Kyu.”

“…That Kyu sounds odd.”

Perhaps it was just his imagination that made him feel like the fox was glaring at him. Sylvester, disinterested in the fox, turned his attention back to the sleeping Elodie.

“Dad……? I’m dreaming…….”

Was it solely because it was a dream that she hugged him? In reality, he had never been approached so affectionately by her.

Moreover, the ‘dad’ Elodie mistook him for, in her dream, was not him.

For the second time since her birth, he envied that damned Richard Severes.

  “I should have given birth to her.”

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Sylvester, who had muttered unintentionally, quickly clamped his mouth shut and turned away.

 Unaware that Elodie’s pet black fox was staring at him, Sylvester slipped quietly out of the bedroom. 

 [Keep it under wraps.]

Greed shook his head. 

For the sake of the man’s dignity, it would be best to keep what it had just heard a secret. 

***

When I opened my eyes, it was still dawn.

 I stared out the dimly lit window and suddenly felt strange. 

 “……Huh?”

Why am I in bed? I distinctly remember sitting at my desk writing invitations. And to top it off, the blanket was pulled up to my neck.

“Did I just fall asleep and end up here…?”

Rubbing my cheek, I blinked groggily and locked eyes with Greed, who was staring at me.

“What’s wrong?”

[Nothing.]

“You sure you don’t have something to say?”

[No. Nothing.]

Why was he giving me that strange look if he had nothing to say?

“Did someone come and go yesterday?”

I asked, thinking maybe Greed saw something while outside the seal stone. But Greed just avoided my gaze.

‘What’s up with him?’

It was unsettling, but I had to let it slide. This peculiar black fox had been acting strange for a day or two now.

“I should get back to writing those invitations.”

There was still a mountain of work to be done today.

***

The Duchy of Perdia is hosting a banquet! The impact of that sentence was enormous. 

With just one rumor circulating, the newspapers in Wallentian began pouring out speculative articles. The rumor that Elodie Perdia was hosting the banquet had taken the social circles by storm. However, despite the buzz about the Perdia banquet, no one had actually received an invitation. Perhaps it was just idle gossip.

“A banquet at Perdia? It’s an absurd rumor, to be honest.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t make sense. It’s not even the duchess, it’s Lady Elodie hosting the banquet.”

And just when they were beginning to doubt the veracity of the story, a few people began to say they had received an invitation from Elodie Perdia.

The Perdia mansion had not been officially opened to the public since the wedding banquet of the current Duke and Duchess of Perdia.

 This banquet was the only opportunity to gain access to the mansion, which was only open to a select few guests.

Being able to attend with a partner even without an invitation was a bonus, making it a coveted event to attend.

 Everyone was eager to attend the banquet, eager to see the rumored Perdia mansion for themselves.

However, since Elodie Perdia’s invitations were limited, there was a scarcity of invitations, adding to the rarity of the event.

Meanwhile, the Euter family organized a tea party for the younger family members.

Hyacinth Euter smiled leisurely as she looked at the participants who frequently gathered together.

 Recently, a topic that always comes up when people get together has emerged. 

 “I didn’t know they would have a banquet in Perdia. How grand will it be?”

“My father once went to Perdia to discuss business with the Duke. He said the interior decoration was magnificent.”

“But isn’t it surprising that the hostess is Lady Elodie? I heard recently that the Duke of Perdia has a fondness for her. Is that true?”

“Not just the Duke. I heard that not long ago, the Duchess also invited merchants to the mansion and showered Elodie with all sorts of dresses and jewelry.”

The Perdia banquet, Elodie… People couldn’t stop talking about it whenever they met. The young nobles, who usually showed interest in different topics, were no exception.

“I heard she even manifested powers.”

“Wasn’t that just a baseless rumor?”

 “No. Didn’t she use her powers to save the Crown Prince during the demonic beast subjugation?”

 “That’s true!”

 “Indeed, Perdia is Perdia.”

Some nobles regretted needlessly.

They thought they should have spoken to Elodie again if they had known it would turn out like this. They might have received an invitation. At that moment, a lady asked Hyacinth.

“By the way, are you attending the banquet, Lady Hyacinth?”

Hyacinth was finally asked the question she had been waiting for. She covered her mouth with her hand and shyly smiled.

“What do you think?”

“Did Lord Jansi request you as his partner?!”

For a moment, a flicker of annoyance crossed Hyacinth’s expression, but no one noticed. She looked around at the group gathered for the meeting and said.

“Lord Jansi doesn’t like having a partner, but he still remembered to invite me.”

It wasn’t Lord Jansi who invited her but Elodie, but that wasn’t important.

Everyone knew she was a strong candidate for Lord Jansi’s engagement.

“Congratulations, Lady Hyacinth.”

“I envy you! Going to Perdia, I wish I could go too.”

“I’m so jealous. My fiancé didn’t receive an invitation, so I can’t go.”

“Will you please tell us all about it when you get back?”

Amidst the encouraging words from her friends, Hyacinth simply smiled awkwardly.

 This reaction only made the young ladies more envious, until they suddenly realized that only one person was saying nothing.

 A lady called out to the silent one at the head of the table. 

“Lady Gretel, don’t you have anything to say to Lady Hyacinth?”

The recipient of the question was the timid Gretel Sangpan.

Although she was part of their group, nobody considered her a close friend.

“It’s okay. You can say you’re jealous. Hyacinth received an invitation because she’s Hyacinth.”

“That’s right. Lady Hyacinth will become Lord Jansi’s fiancée.”

Just as the conversation was about to turn back to praising Hyacinth, Gretel, who had been quiet, stuttered and finally spoke up.

“W-Well, um, the thing is, I-I also received an invitation…”

Gretel’s timid confession uttered in a hesitant whisper, startled everyone in the gathering.

Hyacinth was no exception.

“To you, Lady Gretel? Why?”

It was a dismissive question, but Gretel herself was also curious about the reason.

‘Did she get it by mistake?’

Otherwise, there was no reason for her to receive an invitation.