Urtervia put his other hand on top of Kierul's hand and lowered his head deeply toward her just as one would do to the new head of the family.

"Big brother Urtervia, you are too kind~ Thank you for the kind words. Your feelings are worth more to me than any present ever could."

Kierul put her free hand to her chest, acing deeply touched, and smiled brightly at her older brother.

While all the guests from outside the family were busy marveling at the heartwarming relationship of two siblings, the members of the Helterose house were looking at each other in consternation.

Urtervia was Kierul's eldest brother, that was a fact, but forget about the friendly or heartwarming relationship – the two actively hated each other, which involved bullying to the point of actual physical violence.

Kierul would literally sneak out of the mansion at every opportunity when Urtervia was back from the Academy just to stay away from him if she didn't have some revenge plan in mind.

Actually, the reason she snuck out of the mansion and found Aku was that she overheard Utrervia was looking for her.

They went through all that and now that happened...? Unthinkable!

Something must have been going on, and none of the young generations of the Helterose family liked it.historical

"I will stop holding back the line. Once again, happy birthday, little sister."

"Thank you, big brother. Be careful with the wine from now on, you might be an adult, but you need to be aware of your limits."

Not minding the reaction of their family, the pair of siblings exchanged a few more words and the red-haired boy stood up and stumbled towards the snack table where he was immediately approached by his very confused father.

"That was so sappy... I love it~!"

"Glad to hear it, my lady."

Kierul followed her brother's back with her eyes for a moment before nodding with satisfaction and leaning back just a little bit to whisper towards her masked attendant who stepped forward, breathing out after releasing the star powers he was using to control the mana-depleted red-haired boy.

With the chain of people coming to greet and wish Kierul happy birthday started, the masked attendant didn't have much to do. He would merely hang out behind his master and put his hand to his heart whenever someone important walked over.

He did not engage in any conversation nor did he want to – for all intense and purposes, his role at the party has ended, unless the security would turn out to be completely useless and let something dangerous on the Helterose's estate's perimeter.

Watching the quests approaching Kierul was quite fun, truth be told.

The most amusing ones were the ones who clearly haven't prepared any presents but were scrambling to come up with something.

Long story short, many ladies would all of a sudden opt for more frugal looks, losing earrings and necklaces.

Seeing the nobles struggle to think of a reason why said jewelry they were regifting wasn't in a proper package made Aku treble once or twice while he held back the burst of laughter.

Nonetheless, Kierul would always accept the gift, smile, thank the person, and then pass the gift to Aku for safekeeping.

One of the few who actually came with a proper present was the mother and daughter pair from the Espine family.

Really, really important people.

The Espine family held so much power at the moment, that when the first prince canceled his engagement with their heir, it was the royal family who lost quite a bit of respect and was now struggling to make up for it.

"For a studious noble lady."

"Th-thank you, my lady...!"

Duchess Misena handed Kierul a small slim package, she was calm and her voice was gentle but she had such a strong aura surrounding her that the red-haired girl started stuttering while dodging eye contact.

Nonetheless, Kierul ended up unwrapping the package on the spot and found out it was a beautifully crafted golden fountain pen.

"My lady, I promise you will not regret giving me this...!"

The birthday girl grasped the pen and declared, clenching it to her chest.

"Now, now. You don't have to be so serious about it. Happy birthday."

Lady Espine smiled benevolently and assured the girl.

"Happy birthday, young lady Kierul."

"Thank you very much, young lady Espine!"

Miriette also had her turn, but since her mother was the one hand the present, she only had to say a few words...

*thump*

But she went a bit further and actually grabbed Kierul's hands as if they were friends, surprising everyone, including Kierul who didn't manage to pass the fountain pen to Aku and ended up dropping it.

"AH...!"

"My lady, allow me."

The red-haired girl panicked and was about to throw herself on the floor after the presentation, but she was stopped in a timely manner by her masked attendant coming in from behind.

"I beg your pardon, my lady. Young lady."

The black-haired boy then bowed towards the mother and daughter from the Epsine family and crouched, reaching for the dropped pen.

That was it. Nothing much, nothing special.

Servant lowering his back in front of the nobility.

That was all there was to it, Aku thought, but then, as he was standing up...

*rustle* *sniff* *sniff*

The young lady's spine took a discreet step forward, having her dress rub against Aku's tuxedo – which would be quite odd in and of itself, but then it was followed by two long whiffs that were perfectly audible for Aku with his incredible hearing.

"...?"

The masked attendant stood up and bounced off to his spot a little bit disturbed.

|...did... did young lady Espine just sniff me...? Why....?|

Aku thought unable to wrap his head around the peculiar situation.

It definitely wasn't coincidental. The dark-haired girl definitely stepped forward to position herself in such a way she could smell his scent. There was no doubt about it...

|BUT WHY?!|

The concerned boy tilted his head, feeling his face getting hot under the porcelain mask.

Somehow, despite being unable to see a thing, Aku could feel that the young lady Espine was looking at him.

For whatever reason, he could tell that it was her gaze.

Which was a rather strange thing to know for sure.