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"Hmm, what\'s wrong?"

The always jovial Teresa was unusually quiet today.

"Do you have some time?"

"Yes, of course," I said.

I was about to sit down in the chair there, but I was stopped by her.

"Here\'s a bit......"

In other words, it was something she didn\'t want others to hear about.

"I understand."

I took Teresa\'s hand and teleported to the cafeteria on the second floor of Sagami Co.

The cafeteria in the second floor was made through substantial remodeling of terrace that was on the rear side of the company. It\'s considerably crowded in summer, but no one in their right mind would eat there in winter. That was why the second cafeteria was closed during the winter.

"Wait a moment. I\'ll bring you your lunch."

"Uh-huh."

I walked down the stairs to the first cafeteria on the first floor.

I waited for Teresa to open her mouth as I ate my lunch. Finally, she started to talk.

"I see. So your aforementioned matchmaking date has been decided."

"Yes."

The always lively Teresa was that much depressed today. Undoubtedly, she wasn\'t enthusiastic about it.

The reason was probably the first matchmaking candidate she had mentioned before.

"Have you tried to talk with Count-dono or your mother?"

Teresa shook her head.

"Why?"

"Because… I feel like I\'m losing to that guy."

What are you doing, keeping such stubbornness that isn\'t even worth a penny? This old man really can\'t keep up with the thinking of kids.

"Then I think it should be fine to talk with them now and decline it? To be honest, your selfishness is too late to be of much concern."

"But, my mother would bring that topic to my older sister if I refuse. I don\'t want to cause any trouble for her."

"Older sister? If I\'m not wrong, weren\'t you the only daughter?"

"Oh, un. My cousin\'s sister. We used to play together often before."

"I see, so? I thought you didn\'t want to accept this marriage interview. Why are you worrying about your older sister now?"

"Well, you are right, but......"

She wasn\'t being clear at all. Her pompousness was always strong and in a sense, she was the easiest to understand among all students.

"Then, can\'t you just accept this marriage interview and reject it after that? Matchmaking isn\'t betrothal, after all. Your mother wants you to go on a matchmaking only, but she doesn\'t expect you to get engaged or to be married."

In the first place, matchmaking was a place to make that decision.

"That\'s right, but....."

She was being hopelessly indecisive.

Sure enough, it was too heavy of a package for me to give love advice to an adolescent kid.

"If the candidate is someone you hate, it\'s alright to reject. I\'ll advise Count-dono to respect your wishes as well."

"But—"

She tried to say something, but I waved my right hand.

"Don\'t worry. I won\'t be doing anything bad. You can do what you always do. Rather than that, hurry up and eat, or we will be late for afternoon class."

"Am I that much selfish?" Teresa said discontentedly, puffing out her cheeks.

"I can\'t deny that you are a rash person. Don\'t your parents usually give you the same kind of advice?"

"Boo—"

Pouting, Teresa took a deep sigh. I really hoped she would act more lady-like. She had an attractive appearance, and if only her behavior was cured, I was sure she would be very popular.

I ignored Teresa\'s glare full of criticism and gulped down the cold soup in the wintry weather.

◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆

Today I visited a mansion in the third district of the imperial capital.

Conventionally, local clans had strong influence in the third district, and the quarters of local clans, banquet hall, as well as low class official or superior and commoner\'s quarters were attached.

Here?

A four story brick mansion. This was quite a palatial residence in this district. This must be the [Shirouan], which was a communal residence owned by the Macburn frontiersmen and other powerful families. (T/N : not a direct meaning for this word, but shirouan’s meaning by individual words is Purple Hall Hermitage)

When I entered the residence, I was greeted at the entrance by Count Hartwig-dono’s subordinate, Blaye.

"I\'m sorry to expressly call you out here, Master Grey. But the Lady insisted by all means to do so."

A few days ago, I’d suddenly received a letter begging me to come to the mansion on a given day.

I was a little puzzled by the content of the letter, which was very uncharacteristic of Count Hartwig, but it was a letter from his wife.

"It\'s fine. You don\'t need to mind."

Count Hartwig had been a great help to me. Participating in aristocrat\'s customs was child\'s play.

"Let me guide you to the venue."

I followed Blaye up the stairs to the second floor. He opened the door and we entered. The room was a dome-shaped facility. And there were countless people in the room.

Count Hartwig, his wife, Teresa, a small girl in a light blue dress no taller than I was now, and probably about twenty other people. All of them were wearing glittering formal wear, so I thought I was right to think that it was a party.

Nevertheless, more than half of this lineup were ones that had been in business transactions. It looked like a good percentage of Countess Hartwig’s relatives were in attendance.

“Lord Grey, thank you for coming.”

Count Hartwig, who was in the center of the room, approached me and patted on my shoulder while whispering in my ears.

“Yes, thank you for the invitation. Anyway, what is this event about?”

“Ah, I see. You haven\'t been informed.”

A tall woman with a smile on her face was standing in front of Count Hartwig. This was the Count\'s wife.

When our gazes met, she politely bowed. She was the only person Count was unable to act on an equal basis. She was quite a person.

I only have bad premonitions about today.

[Oh boy! Even I can read the depressing turn of events ahead!]

Mura\'s voice, filled with slight dismay and intense discomfort, ruminated inside my head.

Wait, what do you mean—

"Are you Grey?"

The girl in the light blue dress squinted as she approached me and began to observe me intently.

"Well, that\'s right."

I\'d never seen this girl before, but she had a certain resemblance to Teresa in terms of the shape of her face and the atmosphere around her. Most likely she was Teresa\'s cousin or something.

"Hmm, you don\'t look very strong. Rather, you look like a girl," she said such a ride evaluation, putting both of her hands on waist.

"Thanks for that."

Such evaluation regarding my appearance was an everyday occurrence. I was thoroughly accustomed to it.

"When I heard that the uncles recommended a boy, I wondered what kind of beastly guy he would be, but you\'re quite a frank person. Well, it\'s fine. It\'s a deal for that kind girl. Besides, the person herself is quite enthusiastic about it.”

While making such ambiguous remarks, the girl in the light blue dress turned to Teresa with her eyes half closed.

Teresa was holding the hem of her dress tightly and her body was flushed bright red, just like tomato, but she kept her head down and her gaze fixated on the floor.

I\'d met Teresa once before, even in this form without the mask. It wasn\'t a relationship that she should be shy about now. Rather, I even made her cry in the end last time.

Before long, the party began. I also greeted the attendees of the Hartwig family in the end. Some of them were well-known business partners, and we just chatted.

"I will leave the rest to the young man then."

However, with the Lady’s unwelcoming favour, I was driven away to the terrace of the mansion.

If you are going to talk about young people, I think that the girl in the light blue dress fell under this category too. Well, I agree that it wouldn\'t get any more complicated than that.

"It\'s been a long time."

In fact, we just met the other day.

"Y-yeah."

Teresa just twisted her hands together and moved them around restlessly, stubbornly refusing to make eye contact with me.

She didn\'t seem to be too angry, and we seemed to be building a good relationship for the time being. Well, I couldn\'t even predict for what reason she was angry, though. I didn\'t know if I would make the same mistake again.

".........."

".........."

I\'m beat. I didn\'t have anything to talk about. Even if I were to start a small chit-chat, I couldn\'t even ask, "How\'s your school life?" etc. My acting was hardcore like a ham actor. I was sure if I tried, I would be easily found out.

"Hey."

As I was sparingly drinking the cup of coffee, Sagami Co. featured product, Teresa opened her mouth.

"Hmm?"

"I\'m sorry."

"For what?"

She was still a girl who talked out of context. I had been trying to teach her to say the subject and predicate properly.

"For slapping you."

Ah, speaking of which, something like that had happened. Since I’d been a teacher to Teresa and the other students for so long, I had already forgotten about this feud.

"It doesn\'t matter. You must have your reason, right?"

"Yes."

Teresa nodded slightly. Maybe it was because I knew about her usual wild personality, it really looked awfully out of place when she was so meek.

"Then you don\'t need to apologise. I will not apologise either."

In any case, I didn\'t even know why Teresa was angry.

"What\'s that? So weird," Teresa giggled at my remark. It seemed like she had finally become her usual self. As she began to open up to me, I shifted the topic of conversation to the trivial matters of everyday life.

I was completely absorbed in talking with her.

Most of the conversation was just nodding and listening to Teresa, but it was the first time I had ever had such a long, in-depth conversation with her.

Once Teresa stopped talking, she studied my face intently.

"Hmm? What\'s wrong?"

"You definitely don\'t understand the goal of this meeting, right?"

"Isn\'t it the party organised by Count Hartwig-dono for your relatives? But well, I\'m really honored that an outsider like me has been invited here. Yes."

Sagami Co. and Count Hartwig were important business partners. That was why, these were my honest words.

At my bland reply, Teresa, who was looking at me with half-closed eyes, closed her eyelids and let out a sigh.

"Sure enough, I expected something like that."

"Do you know that your attitude towards me, treating me like I\'m disqualified as a human being, is slightly hurtful?" I said such an absent-minded thing.

"Yes-yes, I think you are just fine as it is. I understand your aloofness, and I wouldn\'t be able to handle it if I got upset about it all the time."

"That\'s a terrible thing to say."

"Naturally."

Saying this, Teresa stood up. It should be about time for the closure. As I was about to stand up from my chair, she was looking straight at me.

"What\'s the matter?"

I couldn\'t help but ask when I saw Teresa\'s earnest, unclouded face staring at me.

"There\'s something I want to tell you, Grey, when I graduate from the Magic Knight Academy."

"I can hear it even now, though."

"That\'s not good. I know very well that my desire wouldn\'t be fulfilled as it is right now."

"I see. Then I will wait for your graduation."

I didn\'t know what her motives were, but she might have found something in graduating from the Magic Knight Academy. It was also quite possible she had found a new dream for the future or something like a goal. As a teacher, I was happy and proud of that.

"Thank you. I will do my best. I will do my best to the best of my abilities."

"Yeah, I have expectations from you."

The only thing I could do was watch over students attentively and cheer for them.

"You know, Grey, I have been taught a spell by my elder sister recently. Can I try it?"

Teresa clasped her hands behind and smiled mischievously. This was the usual Teresa at her best. I was sure she must have come up with a new prank.

"Okay."

"Then, close your eyes and don\'t open them unless I say so."

"Why?"

"Just do that."

I shrugged my shoulders and closed my eyelids, as she was more forceful than ever. Most likely it would be fortune telling or something. Girls seem to like that kind of ritual. Well, I\'d go along with that as much as I could.

"..........."

I could sense Teresa gasping for air.

She put both of her hands on my shoulders and the next moment, I felt a soft touch on my lips.

"....!?"

The unique sweetness of the touch brought my grey brain to a temporary emergency stop, unable to move a single fingertip. I just kept my eyelids closed to keep my promise to Teresa.

In my blank mind, I could feel her separating away from me.

"You can open your eyes now."

I opened my eyelids just as I was told to see Teresa, her face flushed red like a ripe apple.

"........."

I stood there, stunned, unable to comprehend the situation.

"We are even with this. Well, then, don\'t forget your promise."

Teresa rushed out of the terrace as if to escape.

[I curse the unreasonableness of this world!]

As Mura\'s sobbing voice reverberated in my head, I just watched her back in silence.