房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

"Enjoying bullying others, young lady Helterose?"

...just to meet face to face with the dark-haired heir of the Espine family, Miriette – who was definitely not there for a peaceful conversation.

"Hello, young lady Espine. The opposite actually."

"..."

Kierul curtsied and responded to her without missing a beat and it certainly wasn\'t to Miriette\'s liking.

"Listen, I\'ll have you know that...."

The dark-haired girl furrowed her brows and pointed her index finger into Kierul\'s face, but as she did that the masked attendant stepped in front of his master and grabbed her finger with one hand without a word.

"..."

At first, Miriette became speechless, then her face became slightly pink...

"..."

With Aku doing nothing more besides holding her index finger, Miriette\'s face slowly turned bright red as she gazed upon the porcelain mask of the silent attendant.

"Aku, I\'m feeling peckish. Let\'s grab a bite."

Satisfied with the outcome, Kierul moved past the masked boy, tapping his shoulder.

"As you wish, my lady."

Aku nodded letting go of Miriette and following his master leaving the crimson-faced girl still holding her hand up behind.

"So you are the type that teases the girl you like?"

As they moved away and reached the table with snacks, Kierul snickered at her attendance.

"...I don\'t know what you are talking about, I merely picked the most efficient way to not let the situation accelerate in the wrong direction..."

Aku mumbled defensively facing the other way.

"Mhmm, yes, of course~!"

The red-haired girl giggled while reaching her hand for a treat.

"...no, I\'m serious. Right now they are talking about me being that whole Zoemi again."

Aku shook his head and complained grumpily.

"And you don\'t like it because you want her to pay attention to you and not compare you to some other guy."

"...shut up..."

Kierul pointed out what made the masked boy grumble.

"Pffft...! Ahahaha~! I\'m on point again~!"

The red-haired girl laughed triumphantly, nudging her attendant\'s side.

"The greeting and gift-giving are almost over. Time for the real show."

As it turned out, she wasn\'t merely teasing him as the nudge was followed by the observation that made the masked boy straighten his back.

Just as Kierul pointed out, the last person handed the birthday girl their present, and the party could move on to the next part.

The adult girl\'s first dance.

It was traditionally reserved for either the father of the girl or her fiance – with young lady Victureo, it was her father, the General of the Bellcephora kingdom\'s army.

The variant lightning attribute magician wearing an official military uniform could not look prouder about his daughter.

Their dance was well choreographed and received appropriate applause for its gracefulness.

Still, no matter how good it was, it was its end that everyone was looking forward to – because with it done, the birthday girl could finally dance with whomever she wanted.

The moment that lord Victureo let go of his daughter\'s hand a bunch of male aristocrats approached her asking for a dance – Kierul\'s uncle, the current head of the Helterose family was – of course – amongst them too.

They all might have asked, but at the same tie, everyone knew who the crimson-haired girl would pick.

The gold-haired first prince Horeo of course.

Not only did young lady Victureo like him, but it was a well-known fact that the Victureo and Bellcephora families were in the middle of discussing the engagement of the two.

"She is looking this waaay~"

Kierul hummed triumphantly somehow managing to keep a straight face as the crimson-haired girl turned around glancing over all the men surrounding her, clearly in search of someone else.

"She would surely not ignore the first prince though. Forget about making a mess, that would basically turn into a scandal."

Aku shook his head lightly, reminding his master of the reality.

"Not at all, she merely needs to give everyone else a convenient excuse for her actions... and we already gave it to her on a silver platter. See? Speak of the devil~"

The red-haired girl snickered and shrugged her shoulder lightly watching as the young lady Victureo curtsies towards her suitors apologetically and moves past all of them including the gold-haired first prince.

"Your intuition is a scary thing, my lady."

"It\'s not intuition, it\'s called doing your research."

Aku breathed out slightly worried about what would happen next while Kierul corrected him in an amused voice.

"Young lady Kierul, mister Aku."

Soon after that, being the absolute center of attention, Ehmi Gamemi Victureo stopped in front of the master attendant pair and spoke up.

"Young lady Victureo."

"..."

Kierul curtsied in response and Aku put his right hand to his heart and nodded his head lightly in silence.

"Mister Aku, I believe that young lady Espine said before that you were the one to fell the fire elemental whose heart she gifted me. I did not mishear her, did I?"

Ehmi faced the masked attendant and asked loud enough for everyone interested to hear.

"You are correct, my lady."

Aku\'s answer was polite and to the point.

"I knew it~ I could not be happier about a gift like that. Young lady Kierul, I hope that you don\'t mind me rewarding your attendant for his efforts?"

The crimson-haired girl brightened up, nodding her head in satisfaction before looking towards the boy\'s master.

"It would be an honor, young lady Victureo."

"Ehmi is enough, aren\'t we friends already?"

Kierul spoke without raising her head to which young lady Victureo smiled at her and asked.

"It\'s an honor, young lady Ehmi."

The young lady of the Helterose family curtsied again with a polite smile.

As she was straightening her back she catch a glimpse of the face that her uncle hidden amongst the men who asked Ehmi for a dance was making...

"~!"

...seeing the anger mixed with disbelief was the most delightful feeling~!

"Mister Aku. Do you accept this reward?"

While Kierul was having her little moment of triumph, Ehmi offered her hand to the masked attendant and asked in a delightfully coquettish voice that came to her as naturally as she breathed.

The right thing to do for the attendant of basically a common origin would be to bow down to the noble lady\'s feet and back off, refusing the honor of the dance and giving face to all the other much more important candidates...