“Me?”
“Yes. I worry that you might feel hurt, knowing those children approached you with ulterior motives.”
Riersha felt a strange warmth settle over her.
Even Riscal, who was usually prickly and kept his distance, had been stuck right at her side all day.
Twitch, twitch.
The corners of Riersha’s lips threatened to curl upward in a distinctly sly smile — and the moment Riscal, who had been scanning their surroundings with watchful eyes, caught the expression, he flinched and took a step back.
Riersha sidled up to him and began poking her elbow into his ribs.
“Riscal oppa, you actually wike me a wot, don’t you?”
“…Get away from me. And stop smiling like that — it’s unsettling.”
“Hmph.”
Riersha flipped her head away with the smug air of someone who already knew the truth, and Riscal made a strangled noise, unable to deny it or confirm it.
The two of them were bickering back and forth when it happened.
A cool, penetrating gaze fell over her.
Riersha turned her head — and met the eyes of a man she had never seen before. He had a commanding, dignified presence that struck her immediately.
At a glance, he appeared to be around the same age as Arcmund.
Beside her, Duke Marcella clicked his tongue.
“Duke Kineart.”
Kineart.
It was a name she had heard before — studied in class, even — and Riersha’s eyes went wide.
The moment Duke Kineart felt her staring, his cool gaze lowered in her direction.
She flinched.
His eyes were razor-sharp, the kind that felt as though they could cut straight through a person, and Riersha’s entire body went rigid.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
With every step he took toward them, his cane struck the floor in a clear, deliberate rhythm.
Even at a glance, the cane was unmistakably fine — polished hardwood, exquisitely made.
Pernoa noticed that Riersha was frightened by Duke Kineart. Without drawing attention to it, he gently nudged the child behind him and stepped forward himself.
“It has been a while, Pernoa.”
“Indeed it has, Duke Kineart.”
As Duke Kineart approached with a nod of recognition, Pernoa replied with an easy smile.
“A lovely sight, seeing the family together like this. Now that the young lord has returned, you must have one less thing weighing on your mind — and the children must be overjoyed.”
“We mean to make up for every moment we missed.”
“Is that so?”
Duke Kineart glanced briefly toward Riersha, and the corner of his mouth lifted.
“I do hope you will.”
“Even so — I confess I hadn’t expected Duke Kineart to attend my daughter’s birthday celebration.”
“When you reach my age, you find yourself wanting to hear the laughter of children. Occasions like this are the only chance for it, these days.”
A chill ran down Riersha’s spine.
The voice in which Duke Kineart spoke of his fondness for children carried no warmth whatsoever — not a trace of feeling in it.
And the way those eyes rested on her was, however generously one chose to interpret it, nothing close to affectionate.
If anything, what she glimpsed beneath his gaze was something cold — something calculating. The look of a man assessing whether something held value or did not.
“Are you aware, Pernoa?”
Duke Kineart’s eyes sharpened with a sudden gleam.
“Rats have been running rampant of late.”
“Oh? Have they?”
“You ought to be careful as well. One never knows where or when a rat might appear.”
The gazes of Pernoa and Duke Kineart met in the space between them and held.
It required no interpretation to know exactly whose name the word rat was meant to call to mind.
“Rats, is it…”
Pernoa appeared to turn the thought over for a moment, then smiled — a smile so perfectly composed it might have been painted on.
“It seems I must take care, then.”
The tension coiling between them was so taut that cold sweat gathered in Riersha’s palms.
She had realized it now — the true reason Duke Kineart had come to this party. It was because of Isierd.
“I hear you’ve disbanded all of House Arachrene’s forces — every unit deployed along the borders and the sea?”
At those words, Riersha looked up sharply at Pernoa.
She hadn’t known they had withdrawn from the sea routes as well.
The negotiations with the elders had apparently already gone that far.
Which meant that House Arachrene had already finished planning whatever enterprise would replace the military supply business they had long been running.
And yet — hadn’t the nobility already locked down nearly every domain within the Empire’s reach?
“You’ve already heard about that?”
“You’re moving rather quickly toward establishing a foothold in the capital.”
“We should have moved far sooner. We’ve already fallen quite behind.”
Pernoa clicked his tongue with an air of mild exasperation and continued.
“I have my own rats to catch, Duke Kineart — much like yourself. I believe I’ll have one in hand before long.”
At those words, Duke Kineart’s expression hardened into something dangerous.
⁂
The birthday celebration for Riersha was well into its warmest hours when it happened.
A strikingly handsome man stepped up onto the stage and bowed with theatrical flair.
“Now then — I ask that all our young noble guests turn their attention this way.”
“…?”
“What’s going on?”
Children who had begun to show signs of restlessness perked up, their curiosity piqued all at once.
“Today is a truly joyous occasion. To celebrate the young lady’s birthday, our troupe — Kadimo — has prepared a special performance.”
“Ohhhh!”
“We hope every one of you enjoys it!”
At the mention of Kadimo, a wave of delight swept through the children.
It was the most celebrated theater troupe in all of the Declair Empire.
Riersha’s eyes lit up like stars.
The stage was assembled in moments, and the lights converged upon it.
“The children aren’t bored at all — isn’t that wonderful.”
“Truly. House Arachrene must have put their whole heart into this.”
The murmuring of noblewomen drifted past her ears.
“But Kadimo is famously impossible to book, no matter what price you offer…”
“Didn’t they even turn down an invitation to His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince’s banquet?”
Kadimo was no ordinary troupe.
It was a formidable institution — one that counted among its ranks mages of considerable skill. Its name had traveled far beyond the borders of the Declair Empire; royalty from foreign kingdoms had made the journey in person simply to witness one of their performances.
A single staging was said to command a value exceeding several hundred billion gold, and as such, it was one of the most coveted things in the world — among nobles and kings alike.
And yet no one had ever successfully negotiated an engagement with them.
“Surely they didn’t go and acquire the troupe outright?”
“Oh, come now. Even for a child’s birthday — who would pour that kind of astronomical sum into something like this?”
The nobles shook their heads, laughing off the very idea.
And yet—
“This performance was created solely for Miss Riersha. We hope you will enjoy it to the fullest.”
The man on the stage finished speaking, and every noble in the room fell silent.
It turned out there was, in fact, someone who would pour an astronomical sum into a child’s birthday.
“Wow!”
Sweeping music surged through the hall, and the lights went dark.
Riersha clasped both hands together, breathless with wonder, and Pernoa let out a quiet, fond smile.
“I’m glad it pleases you.”
“Is this my pwesent?”
“It is.”
Riersha could not tear her eyes from the stage.
Even adults mid-conversation trailed off and found themselves watching, drawn in against their will.
Each time the scene changed, a burst of extraordinary magic filled the air, leaving not a single moment for boredom to creep in.
“Riersha.”
“Yes?”
“Happy birthday.”
Pernoa whispered it, soft and low.
Riersha stilled for just a moment — then broke into a radiant smile.
A breath later, Risideon, Ricador, and Riscal followed, each whispering in turn.
“Happy birthday, Riersha.”
“This is my gift. It’s nothing too grand, but…”
“Wait — you two were thinking of the same thing?”
As each of the three reached to present their gifts, they caught sight of one another’s offerings, and all three hands hesitated at once.
Every one of them had brought a gemstone imbued with their own magical ability.
Riersha blinked at the unfamiliar stones, tilting her head.
“…What are these?”
“Artifacts that hold our power.”
Risideon offered the simple explanation lightly — though the gifts were anything but simple.
These gems were coveted by kingdoms across the world. The Imperial household itself had long set its eye upon them.
The purer the stone, the more it was worth — a price determined only by whoever dared to name one. They were the final lot presented at the most prestigious auctions, the piece that every bidder had saved their fortune for.
Serinel.
They were known for appearing only in mines formed under rare and specific conditions — gemstones that shimmered in a spectrum of shifting colors.
The source material from which artifacts capable of holding extraordinary power were crafted.
The regions where Serinel could be found were scarce to begin with, and the art of sealing power within the stones — that, above all else, remained the unrivaled domain of House Arachrene.
“So your abilities are sealed inside these little stones?”
“…You’ll have received plenty of expensive gifts already.”
“But I never imagined you’d all land on the same idea.”
Riscal cleared his throat with a grumble, and Risideon burst out laughing.
Each of them had spent so long searching for something truly special — and somehow, all three roads had led them to Serinel. There was something deeply amusing about that.
