Who Do You Like More, Mom or Dad?

She thought that the sound of pen scratching paper was always nice to listen to.
After Diana read and checked the invitations she received and was handed over by Grandmother when she had finished signing, she put it in an envelope that matches the name.
On the table, invitations were piled up like a mountain.

“Did Grandmother write all of this?”

Raising her eyebrows slightly, Grandmother moved again her hand which had stopped.

“I have to write it myself to be in accordance with the rules of etiquette, but… I used a ghostwriter.
Since I got one person with the same handwriting.”

“Is that alright?”

“There’s no thing like time to write it one by one.”

It was a firm voice.

“Although now most of the external affairs are handled by Senir, it surely can’t be helped since it’s still too early for him to even handle the family affairs.”

Although it’s not as much as Senir, Grandmother was also very busy.
It was to the extent that when she wanted to go see Grandmother, she didn’t need to ask where she was.
Since she just needs to go to her office to find her.

“It’s your birthday banquet, but it’s a shame because it’s not your actual birthday.”

“It surely can’t be helped.
Since when the Imperial ball is held, it’s tacit to not hold a banquet.”

It held the meaning of respecting the Heimbarden Imperial Family.

“Since it’s just a birthday celebration in name only.
Your debut is more important.
The date, no matter how it is, doesn’t matter.”

Debut.
Even looking at invitations like this, it hadn’t hit her yet.

“It’s not tiring, right?”

“Of course.”

Reading down the invitation, Diana put the invitation in the envelope.
What’s more, even the envelopes were in the state where they had already been arranged following Grandmother’s signing order.

It was a thing that Grandmother asked her to help, but honestly, it was ambiguous to say that she was helping.

‘Rather… it looks like she called me to tell what relationship Ohrid and the nobles are.’

Most of the things Grandmother sometimes asked Diana to do were this way.
Things to tell her something.

‘I have to work hard.’

Diana, who was checking an invitation, paused.

“Turns out you’re sending one to Marchioness Lombell?”

“Put that one separately.”

Diana put the invitation in an envelope that was written ‘To Marchioness Lombell’, and Grandmother took it back.

“Hand this invitation directly when you meet her.”

“Ah, come to think of it, this morning the Marchioness said that she would invite me to tea time after I debut.”

“Marchioness Lombell did?”

“Yes.
She said that she was going to introduce me to people my age.”

As if she was contemplating for a moment, Grandmother nodded.

“Do as you wish.”

Opening the drawer, Grandmother took out the green color propolis.
When she lit a fire to the propolis with a magic circle, it melted quickly.

“Grandmother.
Because there are a few people whom I want to send that invitation to.
Can I choose to send an invitation to those people?”

“Who are they?”

“Thessior and Hermann.”

Grandmother, who was trying to stamp the dropped propolis, paused.

Thessior Fabre.
Her friend who’s at the academy whom she kept sharing letters to.
She also talked about her recent conditions.
To the point that she said she found her grandmother and came to live together.

She couldn’t explain that her grandmother was Count Ohrid.
Since this time, she was going to have Grandmother’s birthday banquet as her debutante, she was planning to explain in advance before that.

‘Isn’t he going to seriously say something?’

She became a little scared.
It pricked at her conscience even though she just hadn’t said it properly until now.

“For the Esteemed Son Fabre, I’m okay with it, but Hermann Rietchev….”

And her guardian, Hermann Rietchev.

Hermann didn’t return.
She was worried whether some kind of problem had happened for a day, two days, a month, two months.
And like this a year had passed, she couldn’t help but to admit it.

Hermann abandoned her.

They said that it’s not that she doesn’t hear from him because he’s dead or is seriously injured.
They said that a sorcerer is strong, and if there was a problem, there was no way Grandmother who asked around wouldn’t hear the news.

In other words, it meant that Hermann just hid away.

The letter which she left in Aachen only piled up dust just like that at the same position.

‘Liar.’

And he said he’d come back.
Diana hid her bitter feelings as she said.

“…Even so, I’m just going to have it even if it’s only an invitation.”

At that time, someone knocked on the door in a hurry.
There was only one person in this mansion who made a commotion at Grandmother’s office.
Grandmother sighed.

“Come in.”

“Diana!”

“Grandfather?”

Grandfather who came running embraced Diana and went round and round.

“What’s the matter?”

After Grandmother, who couldn’t wait to open her mouth, only then did he say, “Ah right,” he released the hand which was hugging Diana.
When Grandfather approached Grandmother and whispered to her, she looked back at her.

Diana couldn’t tell at all what was going on just by the look on Grandmother’s face.
Grandmother laid down her fountain pen.

“Let’s call it a day here.”

“But there’s still a lot left?”

The answer came out from Grandfather’s side.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to go out yesterday? Let’s go now.”

“Really? We’re going out today?”

“Of course! When have I ever forgotten that we’ve decided to go out to play?”

Diana and Grandfather grabbed each other’s hands and shook them as if they liked it.
At that appearance, Grandmother shook her head.
Grandfather led Diana and went out as he waved his hand.

“Then, I’ll be back.”

“Get back safely.”

“I will be back!”

When the two who were giggling went out, the office was filled with silence.
It was silent as if it had never been noisy.
It was the original appearance.
A fixed appearance to the point that she was sick and tired of it until Diana came.

The Count arranged the remaining letters and took her cane.
Resting on the desk and getting up slowly, the Count also came out of the office.

“Count.”

The butler was waiting in front of the office.

“How’s Mother?”

“She’s awake.
Doctor Norman just finished his examination and left.”

The Count’s steps were headed toward the inside of the mansion.
When she stood in front of a large room just to the left of the stairs, the maid who was guarding in front of it greeted her politely.
She entered the inside of the door that was opened by the maid.

Inside the room, there was a strong smell of medicine.
A full ray of very dry sunlight came in through the large window, but it wasn’t enough to drive out the signs of illness.

“Is it Clement?”

“Yes.
It is me.”

“Dmitri is… cough cough.”

Coughing a few times, the Esteemed Mother said as she caught her breath.

“I guess Dmitri’s here.”

“Yes.”

Dmitri Ovalon.
He was Clement’s younger brother, who once was called Dmitri Ohrid.

“I guess the banquet talk leaked out.”

“It surely can’t be helped.”

It was a matter that required labor.
The more people one knew, the easier it was to leak out.
It wasn’t even a secret to hide well anyway.
Since the important thing wasn’t the banquet, but the purpose of the banquet.

And then Dmitri immediately came running to find out what she was up to.

“What about Diana?”

“She went out together with Spencer.”

“Yeah.
There’s surely nothing good about them running into each other.”

The Esteemed Mother caught her breath for a moment and asked.

“How about Hermann Rietchev?”

“We lost track of his traces from the East Continent.”

It was a name that came out of the blue, but the Count answered immediately.

“They said that they had lost track of every trace.”

“…Turns out there are a lot of useless talents.”

The sage name wasn’t for nothing.

“What about the Grand Duke of Nohibaden?”

“There’s no particular movement.”

“That’s strange.”

Knowing that Hermann Rietchev had gone to the East Continent to find the Grand Duke of Nohibaden, the Count cut all the routes from the East Continent.

Since even if he’s the Grand Duke who made a contract with a spirit or a sage who possessed an incredible ability, he couldn’t fly across the sea.

From winter to early spring, the wind blew the other way and blocked the returning course.
Hence, the Grand Duke returned after midsummer.
However, he even has no time to step foot at the Imperial Capital.
The Grand Duke headed to the West immediately.

It’s because the West was completely devastated by demons.

The Grand Duke Family figured out the movement of the original demon and if it was seen that the number was increasing, they’d taken action against the subjugation in advance.
Their once-reduced number of demons couldn’t cross the North and the West border.

However, the Grand Duke unintentionally emptied his territory for two years.
There was no subjugation.
The number of demons increased and they came down in a flock just like that.

The Knights of Nohibaden, who had a lot of experience with demons and were the elite among the elites, were protecting the North and blocked this well even if the Grand Duke wasn’t present.

However, it wasn’t the same with the West.

It was the West that was dealing only with the demons that had already been dealt with once at the North.
With loose discipline, and as if it was always like that, they prepared with insincerity as they were engrossed in siphoning off the military funds.
The West collapsed just like that.

Half of the Western plains burned and prices skyrocketed.
Among them, wheat prices rose without knowing how high the sky is.
The displaced people who lost their hometowns and those who could barely cope with the prices became the poor.

But all of this had nothing to do with the Imperial Capital where Ohrid is.

Knock knock—

The door opened and a maid approached while holding a tray.
There were a total of three teacups.
The Esteemed Mother’s, the Count’s, and the Baron of Ovalon’s one.
They always prepared three cups like this, but the three of them had never drank tea together.

Seeing the teacup, the Esteemed Mother had a bitter face.

“Even if you don’t like him, he’s your younger brother.
Don’t treat him too poorly.”

Ever since Clement, the eldest daughter, was born, she was raised as an heir.
With Dmitri, her younger brother, they have quite an age gap.

Was it a problem to raise him spoiled because he was a late child? Dmitri naturally thought that his older sister took away the heir position that he should have.
It was a relationship that was worse than strangers.

However to the Esteemed Mother, no matter how foolish he was, he was her child.
She couldn’t bring herself to throw him away.

To make him not dream a useless dream, she took the succession right of the Ohrid Family and sent him out of the family.
However, so that he can do what he wants to do except for that, she supported him abundantly.

However, later, through Philippa’s disappearance, the Count of Ohrid Family lost their heir.
The Esteemed Mother also took action to get Senir and Camillo engaged when Clement put Senir up as the heir.

Although it was a matter which she had done because she didn’t know of Diana’s existence at that time, because of this, it was no different from forcing the spirit of rebellion to sprout in the Count of Ohrid Family.
Now she had to pluck it out.

“I’ll have to break Camillo and Senir’s engagement.”