Seeing that, Meldon remembered what he was doing. But he couldn’t tell whether he had done it or not. He doesn’t even remember.

He scratched his head awkwardly.

“About that…….”

-…… Was it that difficult to convey a word?

The boy was still smiling, but he spoke in a tone full of irritation to anyone who heard it.

– Just what the hell are you doing here?

“Ah, I’m sorry. I was sleepy for a bit.”

-…….

The boy had a contemptuous expression on his face as if he wanted to throw Meldon away at any moment, but contrary to Meldon’s expectations, he quickly controlled his emotions.

-……I was worried because there was a magical reaction here.….

“What?”

-No, there’s nothing to worry about.

‘That person’ responded calmly, as if he was annoyed.

Meldon felt more ominous because of the smile. For some reason, he seems to have offended the person.

Regardless of what Meldon did, Cedric sighed deeply.

‘I have to tell her to take care of herself.’

It would be nice if he could appear right in front of Dalia, but complex conditions were required to be able to appear from such a long distance.

A high-level magical device and both the sender and recipient need to have mana.

Thanks to that, he had to call and ask him to tell her, but it was frustrating that he couldn’t even do that one thing.

Dalia is now exposed to danger.

‘So, I’ll be going to meet you soon.’

Cedric turned off the call without saying anything to Meldon.

* * *

Fortunately, Adrisha obediently believed in Dalia’s improvised excuse. However, she added several times that she was very worried.

Now that she had solved the problem that she was worried about, it was really time to enjoy the night festival.

The festival site was already dark as the sun had set, and everyone on the street was wearing different masks.

Among them, there were really strange designs that she had never seen before, and there were people dressed almost like a costume.

It seemed like they had been preparing for this festival for a year.

Hundreds of lights that were lit using magic floated high in the sky. It was a beautiful sight, like a lantern festival.

Dalia and Adrisha looked at the sky together from the festival square.

When the parade begins, the people gather in the square to dance with people they see for the first time, regardless of gender and status.

It didn’t have a grand meaning like breaking the class system, but it was just for people to enjoy the day.

So she was able to enjoy it more comfortably.

Soon, the parade began.

A large decorative train was moving slowly across the square.

There were decorative dolls standing on the train that were twice as big as those who were waving their hands. As they passed by, they scattered wrapped chocolate or candy to the people enjoying the parade.

The children were delighted and rushed to the side of the train. Dalia was not greedy because she ate a lot with Adrisha earlier.

People held the hand of the person close to them and started dancing. Adrisha also reached out to Dalia.

“Do you remember when you couldn’t dance at the ball?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

Dalia smiled and took Adrisha’s hand.

Unfortunately, their dance was very short. The dance at the festival was a dance in which the next person became the partner in the blink of an eye.

Under the lights of the night, Dalia danced with the crowd. As she turned and held hands with the next person, the skirt flew and the music grew louder.

Then Dalia held the hand of a young boy who was as big as her.

At the end of the turn, the boy held her hand tightly and gave her a note before the partner changed. The surface was bumpy as if there were something inside.

“M, miss! Please stay healthy!”

The boy spoke hurriedly and disappeared into the crowd. That voice sounded familiar somehow.

‘Huh?’

Dalia was surprised and forgot to change her partner, stopped at her spot, and opened the note she had received.

There was a small piece of quartz in the note.

[Dear Miss Dalia,

I’m sorry for the rudeness earlier. I have a complicated relationship with Miss’s maid, but I don’t want it to go any further.

Anyway, thanks to Miss, the situation was covered and I owe it to you, so I’ll have to repay you even a little bit.

If Miss leaves Vesta, we’ll never see each other again. But if you need help at Vesta, break the enclosed.

May you always be happy.

P.S. That powder is not fake.

P.S 2. Cedric says to take care of yourself. Why didn’t I say this to Miss?]

This was another unexpected harvest.

Dalia, half flustered and half excited, kept the piece of quartz inside the necklace and hung it on her neck.

‘It looks just like Sir Cedric’s.’

Looking at the postscript, there really seemed to be some kind of relationship between Cedric and Meldon.

It was also interesting to track down these small relationships that were not revealed in the original.

Meldon said this piece as if it were a gift from him. Since he said so, it’s probably true.

‘…… It’s good, right?’

As expected, it seems like the purification worked.

Besides.

In the short letter, Dalia read the strange flow of emotions that Meldon felt when referring to Adrisha.

In the original work, Meldon hated Adrisha, who did not see him and tried to force her into his control.

But the current Meldon seemed to have more complicated and difficult feelings rather than just hating on her. Anyway, it was quite hopeful.

‘But first, Adrisha has to open her heart for everything to be solved.’

It was strange but crueler than she thought. The solution to this relationship is that Adrisha, the victim, needs to accept the past.

Is it so cruel that Adrisha never forgives Meldon in the original story? What should Dalia do to get her out of her past?

“Excuse me, aren’t you my partner?”

Someone spoke to Dalia, who was lost in thought.

She completely forgot to stop dancing. Dalia looked up in surprise.

He was quite tall, so she had to lift her head a bit.

And Dalia made eye contact with a young man wearing a mask that only covered his right face with silver hair tied together.

In an instant, an indescribable happy smile spread across her face.

“Brother!”

He said he couldn’t come because he was busy with work, so how did he get here?

“It’s an on-site investigation. I have something to check for myself.”

It was as if he had read Dalia’s mind. Dalia narrowed her eyes and looked at Hikan playfully.

“Hmm, so dancing with me is also part of the investigation?”

Perhaps it was an unexpected counterattack, Hikan hesitated and replied.

“……No.”

“Oh, then what’s the occasion?”

Hikan looked down at Dalia with a dissatisfied expression as if he had noticed her teasing.

She smiled brightly. Hikan, who was staring at that smile, blurted out.

“I just wanted to dance with my sister.”

When Dalia finally heard a satisfactory answer, her cheeks were pinched.

Why is Hikan more willing to hear the sound of her pinched cheeks than just saying it? It’s a weird thing.

“Are you done with your work now?”

“No. But the urgent work is over. I’ve set all the coordinates.….”

Hikan also told her a few more things.

Dalia missed the timing to change her partner several times while listening to the story.

Hikan didn’t even raise an eyebrow even after he saw all the people walking away from them. Dalia, noticing her brother’s intentions, quietly hung out with Hikan until the music was over.

“…… That’s what happened.”

As soon as the music ended, Hikan’s story ended there, as if it was planned. While still holding Dalia’s hand.

Only then did Hikan look at Dalia with a satisfied gaze. She stared at his gaze and thought.

‘I guess he’s sulking because I only played with Adrisha these days.’

It was a very reasonable reasoning.

The story was over, but Dalia didn’t understand all of what he was talking about.

According to the magic taught at the liberal arts level, there seemed to be a vague formula related to tracking magic.

‘I’m sure that brother uses swords, but how did he manage to even deal with magic formulas?’

In the original work, Hikan was able to use intermediate-level magic with his outstanding brain as a transcendent. However, his main job was swordsmanship.

‘Is it because of the Emperor’s orders?’

Dalia looked pitifully at Hikan, who was working hard doing all sorts of things to earn money to feed the family.

Of course, even if Hikan goes on strike from now on, and Dalia is crazy about luxury and buys one boutique a day, the Pesteros Dukedom will still be in good shape.

‘Will there be any damage if I buy two instead?’ (*t/n: she meant the luxury. Like, will there be any damage if she buys two boutiques a day instead)

A shocking remark fell in Dalia’s ears as she was thinking meaningless thoughts.

“Dalia, I’m leaving here today.”