Rose came outside again today, using the excuse of getting some fresh air.

But her true purpose was to have dinner with Party Barefoot.

A few days ago, a dinner with just her and Starchis to match their stories had turned out to be more fun than she had imagined.

After getting their stories straight, they shared concerns and feelings they hadn’t been able to discuss easily before.

Starchis’ stories about his adventures were especially entertaining.

Rose was beginning to think that they were already friends.

“Hehe...”

Since he was her first male friend, she kept thinking about him at home.

What should they talk about next time to keep it fun?

Or maybe she should ask him that next time.

She was constantly looking forward to spending time with him.

Most of all, she was happy that they would have many more occasions to spend time together.

The dinner she had requested in return for lending him vampire blood was accepted.

Stion had replied.

They planned to have dinner in five days.

It wouldn’t stop at just this.

Starchis had said she only needed to act a few times, but he said that to avoid being a burden.

Rose actually enjoyed this kind of acting.

So if Starchis was okay with it, she wanted to do it more.

It felt like a situation out of a novel, and it was a chance to get closer to Starchis.

Who knows?

He might become a lifelong friend.

Or maybe...

Rose gulped.

She shook her head.

She couldn’t entertain personal delusions outside.

“...Miss?”

One of the two bulky bodyguards following her looked at her.

It was the senior bodyguard, ‘Brook’.

“..Yes?”

“Do you have something on your mind?”

Brook looked quite cautious.

It was understandable.

They were not inside the mansion but in the bustling city.

There were lots of people and noise.

If they took their eyes off Rose for even a moment in a place like this, she would be gone.

As a bodyguard, it was fortunate that Rose’s father, Hian Nisti, hadn’t found out about her escapades.

Of course, from Rose’s perspective, it wasn’t good for her father to find out about her outings.

If it were known, she wouldn’t be able to use the excuse of getting some fresh air to go out.

So even though there was little risk of Hian finding out, Brook was on edge.

If Rose ran off somewhere they couldn’t find and got hurt, that would be a nightmare.

Getting scolded was one thing, but they didn’t want to see Rose, whom they had guarded their whole lives, get hurt.

“...You won’t run away today. I won’t make the same mistake again.”

The other bodyguard, ‘Pippin,’ said.

But Rose smiled leisurely.

She had already made plans for today.

Seeing that smile, Brook and Pippin felt their hearts sink.

Rose had always escaped using some strange scheme.

They wondered what she would come up with today.

And if she did, could they really catch her... they weren’t sure.

That relaxed smile seemed to say she was already confident of escaping.

In the end, Brook couldn’t hold back and spoke.

“Even if you run away... please come back quickly today.”

“No. Don’t run away. If we get caught, we’ll really be dead...!”

Pippin pleaded.

Rose chuckled at their worried faces and reassured them.

“I won’t run away today.”

Brook and Pippin’s faces brightened,

“Of course... that’s on the condition that you both do as I say.”

And then darkened again.

“What do you want us to do?”

“You’re planning to run away again, aren’t you...!”

“Pippin, you stay close to her.”

“Oh! If you do this, she will run away?”

Brook and Pippin groaned in resignation.

“Don’t worry. It’s not a big request. Just…”

Rose looked around and pointed to a nearby ordinary clothing store.

“Over there. Let’s all change clothes.”

“Change clothes?”

The bodyguards’ outfits were coordinated.

They wore light, matching black clothes.

Not quite suits, but neat and tidy.

Their attire gave the impression that they were anything but ordinary people.

With their large builds, they also looked intimidating.

“Dress like the people around us. Blend in.”

“Why… do we need to...”

“I have a dinner date with friends outside today. But these friends don’t know I’m a noble.”

“You’re saying you’ve made commoner friends?”

“Exactly.”

“Are these friends you made during your previous escapes?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Good grief... You do have a knack for socializing, don’t you?”

“Thank you for the compliment. Anyway, since I don’t want them to know I’m a noble, if you want to keep an eye on me, Brook and Pippin, wear ordinary clothes and sit at another table watching me. Do this, and I promise not to run away today.”

Brook and Pippin looked at each other and then back at Rose.

“So… you want us to watch from a distance and pretend we don’t know you?”

“Exactly. There’s no way a commoner would have bodyguards, right?”

Rose was proposing a deal.

Don’t interfere, and I won’t run away.

Brook made his decision quickly.

“Let’s go! Miss!”

Anyway, there was no choice of not listening to her.

If they didn’t, she’d escape using some extraordinary method again.

Lily checked her outfit one more time.

Today was the day to meet Elza.

She had been subtly judged about her clothes before, but today she chose a bold outfit.

She didn’t want to be outdone if Elza dressed up.

A dress that showed off her chest, like before.

She wouldn’t want anything more if it made Starchis’s heart race even a little.

-Knock knock knock. Caw!

Something tapped on the window.

Lily was startled by the sound.

It was the sound she had been waiting for a long time.

Ever since Starchis got a girlfriend, she had been writing letters to her mentor.

To learn a particular magic.

But despite sending several letters, there had been no response from her mentor.

And after he had fallen, she sent another letter with a different content.

The topic was ‘How a non-mage can better sense mana.’

Lily was doing her best to heal Starchis’s arm but was worried she might be doing something wrong.

Lily quickly opened the window.

A crow with a small box tied around its neck sat there.

It was a familiar bird.

It was her mentor’s crow.

“Hello… Errol?”

“Caw!”

The bird responded.

Lily untied the box from Errol’s neck.

With the box removed, Errol flapped its wings and flew off again.

Lily closed the window and, with a pounding heart, infused the box with mana.

With a click, the box responded to Lily’s mana.

Inside was a small, rolled-up piece of paper about a handspan long.

She wondered what her mentor had written. She unrolled the paper.

------------------------------------

----------------------------------

“...Thank you, Master.”

Lily expressed her gratitude.

Even though her mentor couldn’t hear her.

Looking back, she often felt guilty.

She had left her mentor, who had embraced her like a mother, to see the outside world.

Her mentor was deeply saddened but eventually accepted it and sent her off with a smile.

Everyone around her mentor was kind, so there wouldn’t be any hardship or difficulty in living,

but perhaps, they might feel a bit lonely.

Soon.

Lily thought she should visit her mentor again.

The party was in a temporary hiatus,

and she wasn’t spending as much time with Starchis as before.

“Hmm…”

Does this look okay?

Starchis checked himself in the mirror.

Today, he finally wore the clothes Lily Noona had given him.

She had bought them for him to wear when meeting his girlfriend, so now was the perfect moment.

Objectively, he looked good.

Everything was tailored to fit perfectly.

The fitted clothes weren’t the most comfortable to wear.

Especially since his left hand was still stiff.

He couldn’t button a few buttons properly.

No matter how hard he tried, it was difficult to do with one hand.

Still, it wasn’t bad.

He was grateful to Lily Noona once again.

What would she say?

Luss had also said she wanted to see him.

It was a chance to show everyone all at once.

He had neatly combed and styled his hair for the first time in a while.

That wasn’t easy to do with one hand either, but

it was easier than putting on the clothes.

Overall, he looked clean and sharp after a long time.

“... Shall I go?”

Putting on a black glove on his left hand as the final touch, Starchis left the room.

Starchis stood in front of a fountain surrounded by intricately carved sculptures.

He had arrived a bit early.

It was part of the plan.

He would meet Rose first to review everything once more,

then greet the party members as they arrived at the meeting place.

The weather was chilly.

The evening was already deepening and growing dark.

Magic lights began to illuminate the path one by one.

The moon was rising, and stars were beginning to appear in the sky.

It felt like preparing for a noble’s party.

“... Is everything alright?”

Starchis looked down at his clothes again.

He also checked his reflection in the fountain.

It had been so long since he dressed up like this that he wasn’t sure if he looked right.

He thought he looked fine, but it also had to look good to others.

“You look handsome.”

A voice came from behind.

Starchis turned around.

A woman with pink hair and pink eyes was walking towards him, accompanied by two large men.

The two men were flustered by Rose speaking to Starchis.

Hurriedly, they tried to act like they weren’t with her, fumbling around, which made Rose speak up.

“No, it’s okay. He knows I’m a noble. You don’t need to act.”

At that, the two bodyguards sighed in relief and approached Starchis.

Rose was dressed simply.

Like a commoner would, blending in perfectly.

Starchis suddenly felt like he might have overdressed.

“Wow... you look even more impressive up close.”

As Starchis faced Rose, she continued to compliment him.

She wasn’t just saying it.

Seeing him dressed up, Rose felt a new attraction to him.

She hadn’t met him many times, but she was discovering many of his charms.

“You look pretty too, my lady.”

Starchis returned the compliment.

Despite the simple attire, she looked adorable.

She had the aura of an innocent country girl.

No one would guess she was a noble.

Rose felt her heart skip a beat at his praise.

“It’s been a while, sir. Do you remember me?”

Brook greeted Starchis from behind.

“It’s amazing. You’re the friend our lady mentioned?”

Pippin added.

“Do you remember me?”

Starchis was quite surprised.

He had met these bodyguards before.

It was the day he first saw Rose.

They had politely asked him to move a bit since there was a noble lady who wanted to experience commoner food at the restaurant.

It was a memorable encounter for him because meeting in a first-floor restaurant was unusual, but he was surprised that the bodyguards also remembered him.

“Of course, I remember. You’re not ordinary people; you can handle yourselves.”

“At that time, I was a bit nervous. Just in case a fight broke out.”

“Ah... so that’s why.”

Starchis nodded at their words.

He had thought it was a unique experience for him, but apparently, it was the same for the bodyguards when they saw him.

“Are you here to keep an eye on things today?”

Starchis asked, looking at their clothes.

The clothes seemed a bit small but didn’t stand out as much as their previous black outfits.

They, too, were dressed simply like Rose.

“Yes... we need to watch closely to see if she tries to run.”

“I’m not running away. I’ve already met the person I promised to meet. How could I run away now?”

Rose countered Pippin’s remark.

“Well... we’ll see about that.”

Pippin, having been tricked many times before, still had his doubts.

“Hello.”

In that moment, a greeting was heard.

Everyone turned in surprise toward the voice.

It was a woman with red hair and red eyes, exuding an air of decadent beauty.

She was wearing a seductive dress that showed off her chest.

It was Lily.

“...Noona?”

“Nice to see you again, Starchis, Miss Elza. But...”

Lily gestured politely towards the bodyguards and asked.

“Who are these gentlemen?”