Ghislaine deliberately slowed her pace, falling half a step behind Rudeus.
Her tall figure cast a long shadow in the dim candlelight of the corridor.
Her cat ears twitched slightly, as though she were trying hard to conceal some emotion.
Rudeus rested his hand on the dining room's heavy bronze door handle.
At that moment, his fingertips grew slightly warm.
Should I use Mana Detection to see what's happening inside?
The thought flashed through his mind, only for him to snuff it out.
Life always needed a little enjoyment in the unknown. Even an old hand who had lived two lives could enjoy the occasional surprise of opening a mystery box.
"Click-"
He pushed gently, opening the door that seemed to separate two worlds.
Boom!
Deafening applause and cheers rushed at him like a wave of heat!
The normally spacious but empty dining room was now lavishly decorated with flowers and gleaming gold.
The long dining table was laden with luxurious dishes he had never seen before. The rich aroma of roast meat mingled with the mellow scent of fruit wine.
What shocked Rudeus even more was that the room was full of familiar faces.
Alphonse, the unsmiling butler; old master Sauros, bellowing at the top of his lungs; and Philip, with his ever-present foxlike smile.
Even Lady Hilda, who usually treated him like air and went out of her way to avoid making eye contact, was standing among the guests in formal attire.
Rudeus took a deep breath, instantly channeling an award-winning actor as he arranged a perfect mixture of shock, bewilderment, and disbelief on his face.
"This... this is..."
"Rudeus, happy eighteenth birthday!"
The crowd parted of its own accord.
Eris wore a crimson evening gown as fiery as a blazing flame.
Holding a bouquet of bright flowers, she approached him with somewhat stiff, formal steps.
Her red hair shimmered in the light, dazzling enough that he couldn't look away.
"Oh... really? Today's... my eighteenth birthday?"
Rudeus murmured under his breath.
To bring the performance that followed to a climax, he secretly roused the mana in his body and placed a temporary curse on himself-
Weeper
The curse made a person look very sad and more likely to draw sympathy.
A faint flow of mana precisely stimulated the area around his tear glands. The next second, large tears poured from his eyes like pearls from a broken string.
Rudeus's shoulders shook violently, his voice choked and hoarse.
"I-I'm sorry... I've caused you all so much trouble these past few years."
"When I first came here... I always felt like an outsider. Every day, I felt like I was walking on thin ice, thinking I couldn't afford to fail."
"I thought... none of you liked me. If I didn't do well, I'd not only bring shame on my father, but I'd also be cast out of here..."
"But I really never imagined that everyone would do this for me..."
He took the opportunity to bury his face in his hands, letting out low, stifled sobs.
This "display of genuine emotion" hit with the force of a nuclear bomb.
Eris had clearly never seen me so vulnerable and out of control. Her normally proud expression crumpled in an instant.
She froze helplessly in place, then turned in a panic to Alphonse, the butler beside her, for help.
The applause around them cut off abruptly, and the entire dining room fell into a deathly silence filled with heartache and shock.
Good, that's enough. Time to stop.
Rudeus mentally gave himself a pat on the back.
After steadying his breathing a little, he slowly raised his tear-streaked face and looked at Eris through his tears.
In the lamplight, her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were full of undisguised concern.
Damn it, Eris is way too cute today!
Emotion took over his mind. Rudeus stepped forward and pulled her tightly into his arms.
"Eris... thank you!"
"D-Don't mention it!"
Eris's body stiffened, then relaxed.
Her cheeks were as red as ripe apples as she stammered.
"Rudeus is f-family, right?"
"And since we're family, of course we'd do something like this!"
"Right, Father? Grandfather?"
But the warm atmosphere hadn't lasted three seconds before a roar loud enough to lift the roof exploded through the room.
"War! I'm going to fucking war with House Notos!!"
Old master Sauros radiated a violent red glow, every hair in his beard standing on end with rage.
"Kill that bastard Pylemon, who can't sire a decent son!"
"Put Rudeus straight in charge of House Boreas!"
"Philip! Alphonse! Ghislaine! What are you standing around for? Come help me muster the army!!"
"Father... please calm down! It's Rudeus's birthday today. Let go already!!"
Veins bulging at his temples, Philip clung tightly to Sauros's waist and dragged him backward.
"Philip! You fucking dare defy me? Don't you think an idiot who treats pearls like dirt deserves to die? What's wrong with letting Rudeus inherit the family estate?!"
"Although I agree, please calm down! If we go to war now, House Zephyrus and House Euros will definitely intervene, and we'll become everyone's enemy!"
"Useless! I can take the whole lot of them myself! Let me go! You unfilial son, let me gooo-"
In the end, Philip forcibly dragged old master Sauros all the way out of the dining room as he roared without a trace of noble dignity.
Even after the door closed again, his thunderous shouts still echoed from the end of the corridor.
Everyone exchanged looks, and the atmosphere grew awkward for a moment.
"Ahem-"
Eris cleared her throat loudly, forcibly drawing everyone's attention back to herself.
She puffed out her still-developing, slightly immature chest, her face faintly red as she spoke with an air of mystery.
"Never mind Grandfather for now. Today, I've prepared a present that's sure to surprise you, Rudeus!"
Seeing how adorable she looked, Rudeus felt a slight stir in his heart and blurted out,
"Could it be... Father and Mother are here?!"
The moment he said it, the air froze.
The smile on Eris's lips froze instantly, and her gaze fell.
It wasn't just her. The maids, the butler, and even all the attendants who remained seemed to have been touched on a sore spot, and lowered their heads in guilt and distress.
"U-Uncle Paul wrote to say that monsters have been running wild near the Great Forest a lot lately, and as a knight stationed there, he couldn't get away at all..."
Eris clasped her hands tightly and answered haltingly, her voice growing quieter.
"Aunt Zenith couldn't come because... because little Norn suddenly came down with a high fever, so..."
"I see... Father and Mother... neither of them came..."
Because he had just been crying, the words came out with an unmistakably tearful catch and a deep sense of loneliness.
Having lived two lives, his longing for the warmth of a family finally bared its sharp fangs at that moment.
"Um... well... Rudeus, don't, don't be sad, it's just..."
Eris was completely flustered, waving her hands wildly in the air. Her eyes reddened with distress, but she didn't know how to comfort me.
The more sentimental maids around us had even begun to sob softly.
Tap, tap, tap...
The quick, crisp sound of high heels striking the floor broke the deathly silence.
Before Rudeus could react, a voluptuous figure in vivid red swept toward him, accompanied by a rich, elegant fragrance...
A warm, soft, tall body, full of mature feminine allure, pulled me firmly into a tight embrace.
It was Lady Hilda!
The countess, who usually regarded me coldly and even with a hint of hostility, was now squeezing her arms around me fiercely.
Her proud, ample breasts pressed tightly against Rudeus's face, and the immense pressure and sudden feeling of suffocation made my mind go blank.
"It's all right! Rudeus... don't cry!"
Hilda held Rudeus close, more emotional than anyone else, her voice even taking on a shrill, tearful edge.
"From today on, you're part of our family! I absolutely won't let anyone object! Marry Eris!!!"
"Huh?! M-Mother?!"
Eris looked as though she'd been struck by lightning and cried out, her face bright red.
Hilda whipped her head around, her eyes sharp as a hawk's.
"Eris! Do you have a problem with our Rudeus?!"
"I-I don't have a problem with him... b-but...!"
Eris was so embarrassed she wished she could crawl into a crack in the floor. Clutching her skirt, she desperately tried to explain herself.
"What other problem could you have!? No excuses! Starting today, you'd better work hard on becoming more charming as a woman, Eris!!"
"I... I've been trying all along..."
"All right, all right, my lady's headaches are acting up again. Let's go back to your room and rest!"
At the critical moment, Philip returned and stepped in to put out the fire. His face dark, he grabbed the nearly hysterical Hilda and hauled her outside.
"Aah-what are you doing, dear?! Let me go! I have to save Rudeus! He's my son nowww-"
As her piercing screams gradually faded into the distance, the dining room finally returned to a long-awaited calm.
But... it was a little too quiet.
The remaining servants kept their eyes lowered, each staring straight ahead, while the air was thick with awkwardness.