Book 9: Chapter 10: Year after year, he kept sending her an invitation.

Sorry for the long wait ^0^/. I got caught up in my work and had many things to get it done. So it might take a while before I could post another chapter. Anyway, here's the chapter.

Leaving Elliot and Benjamin, Monica moved to a less crowded area, and after making sure that no one was watching her, she looked up at the tree.

"Nero… are you up there?"

"Yo… I'm here."

Nero climbed down from the tree and jumped on Monica's shoulder. Unlike the small bird Lynn, the cat Nero was heavy to a certain extent when he stood on her shoulder, but it was unavoidable to have a private conversation.

"Say, Nero, can you use your magic sense to find Lord Cyril?"

Cyril Ashley has a constitution that absorbs mana in his surrounding. That's why he always carries a brooch that drains excess mana from his body. So the mana concentration around him was a little thick.

Monica had hoped that Nero, who was skilled at sensing magic, would be able to find him out, but he wagged his tail with a difficult face.

"Well, unless he's using magic, finding him would prove a bit difficult. I just can't detect weak mana. But, I can sense it if I get close enough."

"Then, can I ask you to help me find Lord Cyril?"

"Sure. Did you need something from that chilly guy?"

Smiling wryly at Nero's unwillingness to remember people's names, Monica picked him up in her arms. It was about time her shoulders started to get tired.

"Lord Howard was looking for Lord Cyril, so I wondered if I could help."

"You are one busy guy… oh, I've got a response. I felt a little chill mana in that area. It's coming from that big building."

"Dance hall…?"

The dance hall which is the pride of Serendia Academy was connected to the school building by a corridor. Coincidentally, the current position of Monica and Nero was halfway between the school building and the dance hall. That's probably why Nero was able to sense them.

The dance hall has been used for ceremonies and chess tournaments and was also the venue for tonight's ball. It was supposed to be closed now in preparation for the night's ball.

But, as a member of the student council, it wouldn't be surprising if he came in and out to help with preparation for the ball, but that job should be Neil's. Why would Cyril be in the dance hall at this time?

As Monica cocked her head to the side, Nero tapped Monica's arm.

"Hey, Monica. I see some suspicious-looking woman."

"…huh?"

"Look over there."

Like Nero had pointed with his paw, she saw a woman was walking around restlessly.

She's a woman with a slim figure and dark brown hair, wore simple clothes and a stole. Probably in her mid-thirties.

If this were a city, there would be nothing wrong with the woman's outfit, but it was too incongruous given that this was the school festival ground of Serendia Academy, where the children of noble families attend.

Most of the people who come to this invitation-only school festival were either upper-class people or their servants. The woman's outfit did look like neither of them.

"She's been acting so suspiciously… Oh! That reminds me, you also act nervously when walking through a crowd!"

"…yeah, sure, I do act suspiciously when walking through a crowd."

But, what Nero said was a fact.

After all, she always keep her head down to avoid eye contact with people, walks along the edge of the street, and moved into a shaded area as if she was afraid of large groups of people. If there's a particularly loud crowd, she would hide reflexively, thus never reaching her destination.

And the way the woman walked was similar to what Monica always does.

"No matter how you look at it, she looks suspicious. She might be an assassin."

Even after hearing Nero's insistence, Monica still could not see that woman as an assassin. If she was some kind of assassin, she would have dressed more inconspicuously. And in this kind of place, her plain outfit would only make her presence more stand out.

And her lowered eyebrows and dark expression made her look rather at a loss. Exactly like Monica in the crowd.

Maybe that woman was in some kind of trouble.

"I-I will try to call her out…"

It takes a lot of courage for the timid Monica to talk to someone she has never met before. But she felt she just couldn't leave that woman alone.

Nero looked up at Monica and smiled happily.

"I guess you've grown up, haven't you? Alright, go on. go on."

With that, Nero hopped out of Monica's arms and jumped onto a nearby tree. Nero probably wanted her to go alone without asking his help. So Monica clenched her fists and stepped forth.

Monica was not very fond of places with many people. She was afraid of crowds. She was afraid of strangers, even until now.

Still, Monica wanted to become someone like Lana, who could help someone in a crowded place, even if only a little bit.

I can do it. I've got Lord Cyril's ‘charm' with me.

She believed that if it was Cyril, he would lend his hands if he saw the guest in a trouble.

After all, I'm also a member of the student council.

Monica summoned all her courage to approach the woman and called her out.

"E-Excuse me… can I help you with somehhii—?"

She bit her tongue.

As Monica was depressed by the reality that she was far from Cyril Ashley's imposing presence, the woman looked at Monica in a perplexed manner.

She was a plain, simple-looking woman who looked like she could have been anywhere. To put it another way, she was very similar to Monica.

The only feature she has was a dot mark near her lips.

The woman lowered her eyelashes once hesitantly and asked Monica in a whisper.

"C-Cyril Ashley… D-Do you know where Cyril Ashley is?"

Monica widened her eyes at the unexpected name she uttered. Could it be that she was an acquaintance of Cyril's?

"U-Um, Lord Cyril is at the main hall…"

"Main hall…?"

"A-Allow me to show you the weeeh—"

She bit her tongue again.

＊ ＊ ＊

The woman was walking with her head down next to Monica, glancing around occasionally and then dropping her gaze awkwardly to her feet again.

Monica hesitated, wondering if she should say something to her, but when she opened her mouth, she closed it, opened it again, then closed it.

T-This is so awkward…

Not quite sure what kind of topic she should talk about in these situations.

What would Lana talk about if she was in this kind of situation? Would it be like, ‘that stole looks so lovely, where did you buy it?' then continued with a topic about her outfits.

If it were Felix, he would be, ‘did you enjoy our school festival?' or ‘did you watch the stage-play?' while breaching another general topic as he listened for her response.

If it were Glenn… well he would ‘please try meats in our store!' or something like that.

She tried to imagine what kind of conversation her acquaintances would make in such a situation, but she didn't feel like she could copy any of them.

In the end, she couldn't find any topic to talk about as she fumbled her fingers, and the woman who's been glancing at spoke in a whisper.

"…A-Are you a student of this school?"

"Y-Yes, I am a student here."

Her uniform had told her that Monica was a student from this school. But, looking at her skinny petite figure might have given her a different impression or so Monica thought.

Hearing Monica's answer, the woman apologized with her downcast eyes.

"S-Sorry for asking a rude question… I know your uniform has told me everything, but… well, it just… you feel different from the other students here."

Sure enough, from the bystanders' point of view, the commoner Monica attending at Serendia Academy felt so unusual. Even if she's wearing the same uniform, they will naturally recognize something unusual after watching how she conducts herself.

Incidentally, Monica has the title of "Count of Magic," which is equivalent to the rank of Count, but she often forgets this fact.

"…Are you acquaintance with Cyril?"

"Y-Yes. He's always been taking care of me."

Monica nodded vigorously, and the woman's gaze wandered somewhat perplexedly. Before turning her light brown eyes down and looking at her feet.

"…Have Cyril's… been acting so overbearing toward… a timid girl like you?"

"N-No…"

Leaving Felix aside, not only toward a docile Monica, he acted overbearing mostly toward everyone else.

Monica pondered for a while.

Indeed, Cyril is a prideful, high-handed man, she even had a thought that what had stood there was the pride itself wearing clothes.

The first time she met him, she was suddenly shackled, treated like a rare animal, and got yelled at most times, so it's normal if she felt scared of him.

Even so, Monica knew that all these things were not everything about him.

"I think Lord Cyril is a kind person. He had taught me how to do my works very, very patiently. When I collapsed, he took over all the work for me… Oh, and he also secretly gave me some delicious chocolate."

The woman opened her eyes in surprise, looking at Monica.

Monica puffed out her chest a bit and touched the white rose ornament on her chest with her fingertips.

"This flower was also given to me by Lord Cyril. He gave me this flower as a charm so that I wouldn't be faced with embarrassment today.today."

"…Cyril gave you that… I see…"

The woman's face contorted for a moment as if she were about to cry. Then she shook her head gently and stopped in her tracks.

The main hall where Cyril at was just ahead of them. But the woman stopped and didn't try to go any further.

"Um, Lord Cyril is in the main hall ahead…"

"No, I think… I still can't face him yet."

Said the woman as she shook her head slowly, but the face she gave was somewhat calm and relieved.

"I'm sorry for stopping halfway even after you did show me the way."

"I-It's okay…"

The woman turned her back to the main hall and started walking away. She stopped midway and looked at Monica.

"Thank you for calling out to me, a very kind girl."

"No, um, I'm sorry I can't be of much help…"

The woman smiled faintly when Monica's gaze darted around shyly.

"I'm glad I talked to you. If that child… could be so kind to a child like you…"

The last word she muttered was spoken softly to herself, then, the woman started walking again, without looking back to the main hall again.

＊ ＊ ＊

Peeking into the small gap of the door of the main hall she opened, Monica saw Cyril and Neil busily giving instructions to the servants.

After all, there are many things to be confirmed before the last minute of the ball, such as the final confirmation of food and drinks, the number of dishes, the position of the orchestra, the arrangement of chairs, and so on.

As she was wondering if she should call out to him since he seemed so busy, Neil who noticed Monica, called out to her.

"What's the matter, Miss Norton?"

"Oh, um, I, um, I have a matter to talk to Lord Cyril about…"

Neil immediately called for Cyril after hearing Monica's hesitant answer. And Cyril stopped checking his list and walked quickly towards Monica.

"Treasurer Norton. Did some trouble occur at the school building?"

"No, it's not that, it's just Lord Howard was looking for you and wanted you to confirm something before the ball, so he asked me to contact you. He said he would be on the first floor of the school building…"

"Confirmation? …oh, I think he needs me to check for any changes in the orchestra arrangement. Okay, I'll be there soon after I finish checking here."

Cyril was really busy. And Monica didn't think it was a good idea to hold him to tag along with her conversation.

But she felt she really should tell him about that woman, so while fumbling her fingers, Monica opened her mouth.

"And, um… just a while ago, I met with a woman guest… apparently, she seems to be looking for you, Lord Cyril."

"Looking for me?"

"I'm sorry. I forgot to ask her name… but she has olive-colored hair… right, she also has a mole on her mouth."

Cyril, who had been furrowing his brow quizzically, took a short breath and slowly opened his eyes.

"Where's that woman now?"

"Well, I was with her a while ago, but she said she couldn't see you yet, so she left not a long ago…"

Cyril's face contorted for a moment at Monica's words.

"…So, she's come."

That small almost inaudible murmur was not meant for Monica to hear, it was more of muttering to himself.

"Lord Cyril?"

Monica looked up at him confusedly, and Cyril bowed deeply.

"Thank you, for escorting my precious guest."