After the conspiracy with Mrs. Rizé was over, I returned to the villa.

When I came back, Hillis was gone, and Leah was playing with Aren.

I tried to find Rupert, but unexpectedly, he came to me first.

As soon as I saw his face, I became anxious about whether he would readily accept my offer.

‘No, Hillis and Aren said the advantage was on my side.’

Besides, Rupert would not be willing to continue the emotional tug of war for a long time.

I kept my arms crossed, and maintained my assertive expression as much as possible.

“There’s something I want to tell you.”

“So do I.”

I asked with some expectations for the answer.

“Are you going back?”

“No, it’s actually the opposite,” he was determined.

That means he will be stubborn until the end.

“In the past, you used to tell me to leave whenever I made eye contact. You’re suddenly acting the opposite way,” I grumbled.

Why is your attitude changing at this point?

“I am reflecting.”

“Considering your personality, that’s unbelievable....”

It is hard to believe that he is reflecting all of sudden.

“Anyway, I can’t keep up with this situation, so I thought of a way to get a result.”

He looks slightly interested.

“How?”

“Let’s play a game to decide who wins and loses. Of course, the winner chooses what he wants.”

“It’s a game.... Are you not overly disadvantaged?”

He was sure that he would definitely win before even knowing the game.

“So, I will decide which game to play.”

I was wondering how to convince him if he refuted it, but he very gladly agreed.

“Okay, let it be up to you,” he answered without hesitation.

No matter how you look at me, aren’t you underestimating me too much?

‘There are at least one or two things I am better at than you!’

“You answered so easily.... Do you know what kind of game I would suggest? As I grew up as a noblewoman, I learned all the basic skills. Embroidery, musical instruments, knitting, and so on!”

As far as I can remember, Rupert would never have done anything like this.

“If I ask you to compete with these things, will it be your loss?”

Rupert replied absurdly, “But you only know how to do it, and neither of them you are good at.”

“....”

That’s true.

Literally, it is at the level of knowing ‘how to do it’.

“Besides, I tend to learn things quickly. To be honest, I have the confidence to catch up with your skill level in an instant.”

Damn it.

“For reference, it would be better to say nonsense in a field like cooking. At least I’ll do better.”

“Oh, I can cook as well.”

I wanted to refute it by saying that I have memories of my past life.

But come to think of it, in my previous life, I was busy with work, so I always bought food, or my mother made a lot of it and gave it to me.

“You can do it?”

“....Come to think of it, I don’t think I can.”

It’s sad that I have nothing to say anymore.

‘In the past, it was a world where people could live without even being able to cook....’

But I don’t want to lose and continued, “By the way, my sewing’s skill—”

Rupert asked sarcastically, “At the best, it’s just a button. You must have never made a living by making clothes or sewing.”

“Uh, no!”

I learned sewing at the level of aristocrats.

He clicked his tongue lightly, “To tell you in advance, when I was young, I lived alone with my mother as a commoner. I can do basically everything necessary to survive.”

That makes sense. If he couldn’t sew or cook, it would be difficult for him to spend his childhood properly in the first place.

When I thought about it, I felt a strange feeling.

‘Huh, I might be a more useless person than I thought....’

Perhaps he noticed my complicated feelings, Rupert grinned.

“So, make sure you choose the game carefully. If you do it wrong, you will lose to me without even trying.”

I feel like I’ve lost even before the game starts.

The only comforting thing is that his thoughts have absolutely nothing to do with what I’m going to say.

I tried my best to bluff.

“Don’t worry, I’ve decided. It’s something you can’t easily think of.”

“Whatever the game is, I don’t think I’ll lose.”

“....”

If you look closely, Rupert knew how to scratch people’s nerves very effectively.

I looked up at him with sharp eyes. My pride did not allow me to be pushed here.

“Hm, don’t beg me to go back with you after losing.” (Noel)

“You really.... Don’t ask me to go easy on you.” (Rupert)

He laughed arrogantly.

“Unfortunately, I have never lost.” (Rupert)

Is this really the human attitude that reflects on the past?

‘No way.’

The desire to win was on fire.

I was determined to win for the sake of my daughter and myself.

***

Soon after, an invitation came from the Duke of Ernst.

I explained the game to Rupert, and he was quick to notice.

“Did you conspire with Mrs. Rizé Ernst?”

I frowned with a smile.

“I don’t know.”

He smiled the same way. However, unlike me, he looked a little scary.

“If you’ve set up a plan with Leander Ernst, you’ll have to fully prepare for the aftermath. I’m very displeased with him being involved.”

“It’s true that I have set up a ball with Mrs. Rizé’s help.”

Rupert’s hostility seemed to be sparked by something related to Leander.

He didn’t seem to have anything to do with setting up a ball with Mrs. Rizé.

“For a short time, you have been close to Mrs. Rizé Ernst. You really have worked hard, Noel.”

“I don’t think you care what Mrs. Rizé and I have planned. It might be against you.”

“Not really. It’s not going to be great anyway.”

“....”

It was clear that the word ‘bastard’ exists to describe the human being Rupert Ainel.

As she grumbled inwardly, Rupert said, “But you used your brain well. There’s no place like this that’s more advantageous to you than I am.”

“I’ve heard someone say that the only thing for a person who has an advantageous position to do is to play with the enemy.”

“Oh....”

Rupert frowned at my words as he made a face of realization.

“Damn it, I’m sure they were the ones who said that. So they’re not on my side? Looks like they’re closer to you than I thought.”

He seems to have noticed at once that the people who said that to me were Hillis and Aren.

He spoke to me with slight resentment, “You don’t even listen to me at all, but listen carefully to those guys.”

Hmm, are you jealous that you lost the attention of your subordinates to me now?

‘He has a cute side.’

I kindly advised, “If you like your subordinates that much, you have to treat them kindly”

He has an absurd expression on his face.

“Just because I treat my subordinates kindly doesn’t mean you listen to me well, do you?”

Then I realized that I had misunderstood the meaning of his words.

“....Oh, were you jealous that I only listened to Aren and Sir Hillis?”

“....Of course”.

I thought Rupert hated me for taking his subordinates, but it’s the other way around.

In other words, he doesn’t like Aren and Hillis for taking my attention....

‘What, did you eat wrong?’

Why all of a sudden?

After thinking about it, I decided to dismiss what he just said as an auditory hallucination.

Because you can’t complicate your head with useless things before the game!

“Hm, uh huh! Okay, back to the point—”

Rupert giggled lightly, “Look, you don’t even want to listen to what I’m saying.”

I desperately ignored him.

“Ugh....uh never forget it! If you don’t find me by eight o’clock, you lose.”

The masquerade ball will last until 8 o’clock, and after that, the guests can take off their masks and walk around freely.

Fortunately, Rupert didn’t get hung up on the previous conversation any longer and responded to the changed topic.

“I will remember it.”

“By the way, I’m not going to leave the Ernst mansion.”

Of course, other means will be used a lot.

The Ernst mansion is large enough to take several hours to explore. Considering that the masquerade lasts for about four hours, it’s quite a difficult task.

But he didn’t seem to be worried at all.

Rather, he has a face full of interest

“Tag game. It will be my first time, but it sounds fun.”

“I won’t make it easy just because it’s your first time, so you better be prepared.”

The reason I’m yelling like this, of course, is that I’m going to use every cowardly method available to me.

“—Tag game?”

Then, we raised our heads at the sudden voice.

Leah is sticking her head out between the opened door.

“Mom! Father! Are you going to play tag?”