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As a reminder, my mother repeated these words to me once more at the entrance of the dazzling birthday party venue. Normally, a child such as myself wouldn’t attend any big parties like this. However, the First Prince’s birthday party was an exception, and many other children like me were in attendance as well.

But it was essential for a child of a Viscount, such as myself, to behave prudently, precisely for that reason. This was because a Viscount was considered a low-ranked noble. How big the gap between a high-ranked noble and low-ranked noble was could be explained by pointing out that many of the servants that accompanied high-ranked nobles were from low-ranked noble families. 

In other words, they couldn’t oppose the others, no matter the reason. If I were to get in an argument or something of the sort, it would cause my father and mother a great deal of trouble. Since I had already been warned of this many times, I understood it well at this point.

“I will quietly wait in a corner somewhere, it will be alright.”

“That’s not ideal either but… in your current situation, that might be a good solution.”

From what my mother told me, it was very important to acquire a high-ranked noble’s patronage. She said that, if this patronage were attained, your world would change all at once, because other nobles wouldn’t be able to just lay their hands on you anymore. However, my etiquette skills were still poor and I was more likely to anger a high-ranked noble instead, so it seemed like the safer choice was for me to stay quiet. Since my private tutor had told me the same thing over and over as well, there really was no room for me to object.

Given that, I went to stand in a corner of the venue quietly so that I wouldn’t make any careless mistakes. When I looked around me, I saw that there were a few children who seemed to feel as out of place as I was. Likely, they were all children of low-ranked nobles like myself. When I made eye contact with them, they gave me awkward smiles.

I introduced myself and started talking to them. There was a daughter of a baron among the children as well, but I didn’t mind it. When I said that we should become friends since we’re all low-ranked nobles, she stared at me in wonder.

It seemed that, for a while, I was successful at creating an amicable atmosphere among the fellow low-ranked nobles.

But-

“Oh ho, I thought that this was some kind of a low-ranked noble assembly, but there’s a pretty good-looking maiden here, isn’t there?”

This tactless voice suddenly reached us. When I lifted my head, startled, a very egoistic-looking boy was looking down at me as if he was confirming his prey. That alone made me realize that this boy was one of those people that we couldn’t oppose.

“You, girl. I, the son of Count Reed, am talking to you! Are you not going to introduce yourself to me?”

“I-I apologize. My name is Alicia, of the Lindberg Viscount family.”

“Hah, you’re from a viscount family? I was just starting to feel terribly bored. Keep me company for a while.” 

“Huh? Um… that is…”

At that moment, my mind was dominated by fear. Under no conditions was I to go against someone of a higher rank. Despite being aware of this, I couldn’t help but feel scared of going with him. I looked around myself, terrified, but I was only faced with looks of pity. As if to say that they didn’t want to get involved, the other children left.

“What are you doing? Come here, quickly.”

He reached out with his rough hand. I shut my eyes in fear, but, but, no matter how many seconds passed, his hand didn’t touch me.

“She clearly doesn’t like it. So how about you stop?”

When I opened my eyes in surprise at the dignified voice, a broad back stretched before me. I knew that this back was shielding me, and I felt my heart thundering in my chest.

“Hah? What are you spouting? Are you saying this despite knowing I’m the son of Count Reed?”

“Oh, so you are the son of Count Reed? Then, would it be better for me to extend my complaints to Count Reed afterwards?”

“Wh- tha-that’s. Ugh! That won’t be necessary!”

After just a short exchange, he managed to chase the noble away by using the one thing the other was afraid of. I didn’t know how to express what feelings enveloped me in regards to this person.

And then-

“Are you alright, young lady?”

As I glanced at the boy, who was looking at me with worry, I became aware of my own pulse, pounding my chest like the constant ringing of an alarm bell. W-what is wrong with me? Why, why is my heart pounding like this?

“Young lady? Er, are you alright?”

“…Huh? Ah. I-I’m alright.”

“Are you sure? I’m glad that you were unharmed.”

“…eh?! A…u-u-u-um, about that… th-thank you very much!”

I- I don’t know why, but my heart is pounding. Calm down, I have to calm down! This boy has easily brushed aside the son of a Count. If I don’t pull myself together, I will end up doing something rude!

“Well then, I shall take my leave here.”

The boy who saved me turned on his heel. I will quietly watch him leave now, like the low-ranked noble that I… huh? But, I haven’t expressed my gratitude to him yet. I mean, I didn’t even ask for his name. If I were to just watch him leave now, it all would end-

“U-um, I am Alicia. The daughter of Viscount Lindberg. May I ask your name?”

Before I knew it, I had taken hold of the boy’s clothing. My heart beat anxiously wondering if he would say that I was being rude, and if he would get mad at me. But he didn’t look offended in the slightest and told me that his name was Cyril. Moreover, he wasn’t a noble, but a butler.

“I apologize if I made you feel uncomfortable.”

“Ah, no, I am a mere low-ranked noble myself, so I don’t mind!”

I might become a maid in the future as well. So when it came to social status, a butler was of a higher rank than a low-ranked… noticing what I was thinking, I hurriedly tried to shake these thoughts off. But the thundering in my chest had yet to settle down.

“Um… If you don’t mind it, may I have this dance with you?”

When I came to my senses, I realized I had just pleaded for a dance with him. A plea for a dance coming from a girl was considered a highly unusual act. It wasn’t like I had forgotten that, but… uh… my emotions were running wild, and I wasn’t able to stop myself.

When I remembered this later on, I would feel so embarrassed that it felt like my face would burst into flames, but… but, even if I had the chance to do it over again, I am certain that I would make the same choice.

That was how wonderful the memory of dancing with Cyril was.1

“Lady Alicia, did something happen at the party?”

“Huh, wh-why would you think so?”

Melissa, the maid who had come to pick me up, asked me that while we were sitting inside a carriage on our way home. I realized that my voice had cracked.

“Why would I think so… well, there’s a huge smile on your face.”

“T-there’s not. …There’s not, right?”

“Here you go, please take a look.”

When Melissa thrusted a hand mirror at me, I was speechless. No matter how I looked, reflected in the mirror was a happy-go-lucky looking young girl with a besotted expression on her face2. 

“I-I am not… making… such a face…”

“Mirrors don’t lie.”

“Ah, uh…”

How should I put it…? It was extremely embarrassing. Or rather, on second thought, since I went as far as to beg for a dance, wouldn’t the boy think of me as a shameful girl? Ah, but Cyril had been so cool, leading my unskilled self so smoothly during the dance…

“You are grinning again. Truly, what happened? If you tell me, depending on the situation, I might be able to help you.”

“…Ah, you really would?”

Unconsciously, I stared at Melissa’s face without blinking. 

“Yes. I am your maid, young Lady. Your happiness is my happiness.”

“In-in that case, I want to ask you something…

With little to no preamble, I told her about Cyril saving me.

“A young man who looked like a noble but that claimed to be a butler, you say? So what did you want to ask me about, young lady?”

“Well… after I got saved by Cyril, for some reason my heart kept pounding and I couldn’t calm down. Have I fallen ill with some kind of sickness?”

“…After he saved you, you say? The young lady being this innocent is so cute… but I am in a pickle whether to tell you or not.”

“Didn’t you say that you would help me?”

When I looked up at her sulkingly, Melissa let out a small sigh.

“Alright. I did say that I would help you. Therefore, I will tell you about the feeling that took hold of you. It’s… love.”

“…Glove? Where is it?”3

“Love, romantic feelings. It means to like someone.”

“Huh, I- I like… Cyril…?”

The moment I said this, my chest began to pound again. But now, I understood what the emotions swelling up inside my chest were, and my face went bright red.

“Please calm down, young lady. Getting flustered like this won\'t do you any good.”

I gasped at this strict sentence. I suddenly felt an awful sense of foreboding.

“Melissa, what do you mean by saying that… it won’t do me any good?”

“The most desirable future for you, Lady Alicia, is to marry a prominent noble. In case that it won’t come to fruition, there is still the option for you to get employed by a high-ranked noble as a maid or something of the sort, but…”

“If she were to find out that I like Cyril, would my mother be against it?”

“It also depends on which noble he’s working for, but she definitely won’t be pleased.”

“No way…”

Suddenly it felt as if everything around me lost its color. I had been raised in a rather free-spirited way, and this was precisely the reason why I felt that I should live for the sake of the Lindberg Viscount household so strongly. My feelings of affection towards Cyril and the fact that I wouldn’t be useful to my family fought each other inside of me.

“Please stop making that face. I said that I would help you out, didn’t I?”

I quickly lifted my head and asked her, “What do you mean?” and waited for the rest of Melissa’s words.

“The master and madam wishing for you to marry a prominent noble is just because they have the interests of the family, as well as your happiness in mind, my lady. With that being the case, if you were able to fulfill these two criteria…”

“They wouldn’t mind even if my partner was Cyril?”

Melissa answered my question with a nod. However, I wasn’t sure if marriage with Cyril, who was a butler, would be of any benefit to our family.

“Tell me, Melissa. How do I get my father to be on my side?”

“I don’t know.“

“You don’t know…”

At this point, her saying was just too harsh.

“We don’t know who Cyril works for, and we don’t know why he was dressed like a noble, either. It’s impossible to make any plans without knowing that much.”

“In other words… you’re telling me to gather information?”

“Yes. If we have information, I might figure out a way to persuade the master and madam. However, even if you had the information, it would be meaningless if you couldn’t make use of it.”

“…You mean to say that I’m inexperienced.”

“You’re working very hard, young lady. I know that well. However, I think that, to make your wish come true, doing things the way you have so far won’t be enough.”

“I guess… you’re right….”

I thought of Cyril. Given his height, we must have been roughly of the same age. And yet, he was so mature that I couldn’t even compare to him. As I was now, there was no way for me to stand by his side.

“Melissa, please, teach me more and more from now on.”

“May I be stricter than before?”

“Yes, of course. Please, be so strict that my parents will agree to me joining the Academy starting middle school.”

Taking our age into consideration, it was very likely that we would be able to meet again at the Academy. In order to meet him again, and to get to know him better, I was certain that it was essential for me to attend the Academy from middle school level.

Therefore, I changed my attitude from that day onwards, and, starting with etiquette, I began to concentrate on my studies. Melissa and my tutors were very strict, but thanks to my efforts I was successful in gaining my father’s permission to start at the Academy.

Although I felt as if I had simply worn him out with my persistence in the end.

At any rate, having snatched permission to attend the Academy, I continued to search for Cyril at school, and at last, I was able to meet him again at the New Students Welcome Party. 

……I was able to meet Cyril, and an unbelievably beautiful young Lady who he stood next to, so close as if they were huddling together.

Thank you for reading! Sorry for the reupload, something went wrong with the footnotes when I first posted.

Next up is a very very short chapter, however, I won\'t be posting a second chapter along with it this time. Since the prologue for the third volume is coming up and prologues in this book seem always quite long, I want to use the extra time to make sure I can post it in one go. Thank you for understanding!

1. Alicia always uses ‘san’ when talking about Cyril in this chapter (as well as the novel if I remember correctly), but since ‘Mister Cyril’ might sound too formal and there really aren’t many better alternatives, I will keep it as ‘Cyril’.
2. 頭の中がお花畑になった – ‘atama no naka ga ohanabatake ni natta’ – as if the inside of her head became a field of flowers. Used to describe someone overly optimistic, happy-go-lucky. Basically she is supposed to be looking a little dazed and but very happy, her expression is literally expressed as being ‘sloppy, slovenly’. I thought ‘besotted’ might be a good equivalent.
3. There is a pun here that my editor and I replicated, I changed the meaning accordingly in English, the original is this: in Japanese, the term for love Melissa used 恋 – ‘koi’ sounds the same as the imperative of ‘kuru’ – 来い ‘koi’ – ‘come (here)’, which is what Alicia thinks she’s saying., so she asks “Come? Where are you telling me to go?”