Chapter 264

The arena was filled with a heavy silence.

Sure enough, the atmosphere was warm and friendly.

The warmth and familiarity of family gifts being passed to the eldest daughter on her birthday flowed through the air.

But that hair tie cooled everything down completely.

“Excuse me, but what exactly is going on here?”

“I don’t know. I can’t figure out what’s happening…”

“Wow. How should I even look at this…”

The nobles couldn’t help but feel confused, whispering among themselves about what was going on.

Just then.

Someone shouted loudly.

“That hair tie as a birthday present? That’s absurd!”

He was none other than the retainer of the Bargrand Duke’s House, Marquis Magnuel.

***

The situation felt a bit tricky.

It looked like Marquis Magnuel, who was a retainer of the Bargrand Duke’s House, was attacking Carsein.

Then, did the Marquis betray the Bargrand Duke’s House? No, he didn’t. As a retainer of the Bargrand Duke’s House, Marquis Magnuel was loyal to the house.

However, even within noble families, there are supporters and opponents. The Bargrand Duke’s House was no exception.

Marquis Magnuel smiled inwardly.

‘Perfect. It’s just as I expected. His recent actions were really getting on my nerves.’

At the symposium, he had struggled with his chosen territory, Shatren, but unexpectedly succeeded in restoring the territory.

He found those responsible for ruining Shatren and surpassed them enough to be assigned a new rank.

In the martial arts tournament, he was known for being one of the first to secure a spot in the competition.

Thanks to this, Arina’s position was starting to wobble.

It was becoming quite troublesome if people started believing she had the perfect qualifications to be the successor.

If rumors alone could solidify into full-fledged competition, things could get complicated.

But if a gap like this opened up, he was grateful.

He couldn’t miss this opportunity.

“This hair tie is something Princess Arina often wears. Isn’t it strange that they brought this as a birthday present?”

“Right!”

“Exactly as the Marquis said!”

Then, a few nobles began to defend him from various corners.

“Bringing an old hair tie as a birthday present doesn’t make sense. But bringing it must mean something else, right? For example…”

A sinister smile spread across his face.

“It could be because they couldn’t prepare a proper gift.”

“…”

Flora shivered at this statement.

‘So, that’s why the youngest young lady hurried away that day.’

Unless there was a reason, the other side wouldn’t react.

With a firm belief that he had asked a satisfactory question, Claire suddenly jumped up from her seat.

-Clang!

“Marquis, you’re speaking too recklessly.”

“Princess Claire, even so, this is a reasonable speculation. There are precedents, after all.”

“Even with precedents! Must we always speculate in such a way in these situations?”

Claire tried to steer the mood back by covering up his statement.

She wanted to stop the Marquis before his argument escalated further.

But they didn’t budge.

“Then, if Young Master Carsein shows us the real gift, the problem will be solved.”

“You guys…”

“And isn’t it odd? Why would Prince Carsein hold Princess Arina’s personal item?”

“If you brought the same item, it’s reasonable to suspect.”

“Perhaps he accidentally damaged the hair tie while stealing it.”

“Hey, you guys, cut it out!”

Claire’s pressure made Marquis Magnuel step forward again.

“This is Princess Arina’s birthday party in the Bargrand Duke’s House. If they couldn’t even bring a gift on such an important day, what does that mean?”

The Marquis pretended to look regretful as he continued.

“It means they can’t even hope to take a step toward becoming the successor. Such behavior wouldn’t fit in the noble society.”

As the Marquis added more fuel to the fire, other nobles who shared his thoughts chimed in with “Right, right!”

“Even I hope this speculation is wrong. Prince Carsein, please stop playing games and give us the real birthday present.”

When the Marquis finished his polite request, everyone’s eyes turned to one person.

Carsein was now in a situation where he had to respond.

‘How should I respond?’

Whether it was to grab onto the qualification as a successor or to cast doubt on him for damaging or stealing the gift.

There were many ways to shake off the current image.

The Marquis waited with a smug smile on his face for Carsein’s response.

“Well, you’re right. I have a different gift prepared.”

Carsein pulled something out of his pocket.

This must be the gift for Arina.

But it was a rather shabby gift.

The outer wrapping wasn’t even present.

A dangling hair tie, presented to the owner unwrapped, was the basic protocol.

All etiquette was thrown out the window.

Of course, he could still make excuses.

If he had put effort into decorating it himself with marks or logos.

But that wasn’t the case. The dangling hair tie clearly looked like a mass-produced item, untouched since purchase.

In short, a gift without any money or effort.

This barely qualified as a gift at all.

“Huh. Of course.”

With this, the Marquis could firmly catch Carsein’s lack of qualifications as a successor.

But something seemed odd.

“Yes, well. The successor position doesn’t suit me at all. Everything you said is absolutely correct.”

Even though his image was crumbling, Carsein remained unusually calm and composed.

In fact,

“I’m sorry for messing up the birthday party. I guess I should disappear, huh?”

He was smiling.

***

I thought maybe causing trouble at the birthday party wouldn’t matter, but…

‘That won’t happen.’

Thanks to Marquis Magnuel and the other retainers pointing out my actions, things went more smoothly.

Since they’ve done this much, there’s no reason for me to stay in the party hall anymore.

I’m no longer a guest, but an unwanted intruder.

“Wait, Carsein!”

“C, Carsein…”

Claire and Flora called out to me, but I ignored them and walked past them.

Soon, my status window popped up.

-Ding!

▶Episode III Cleared: Arina’s Birthday!◀

▶Nobles’ Attention Too High!◀

▶Due to high attention, rewards are offset, and corresponding penalties will be applied.◀

[Family members’ affinity decreases proportional to the attention level.]

[Reputation rank in the Yellow Dragon Martial Arts Tournament field drops.]

[Affinity with a few nobles decreases.]

…

…

As expected.

Even though I cleared the episode, instead of rewards, I got all sorts of penalties.

Of course, I didn’t do anything to increase affinity.

Nor did I properly clear the episode.

Rather, I ruined Arina’s birthday party and dampened the mood, making it the worst birthday ever.

For the nobles as well.

Arina was a symbol of the new generation among the nobles.

Undoubtedly, their affinities would drop as a penalty for ruining the birthday party.

But amidst all the declining numbers, one sentence didn’t appear.

“Of course.”

Dead Flag.

The biggest penalty for ruining the birthday party didn’t appear.

Even though Arina’s affinity dropped significantly, the Dead Flag didn’t appear.

This meant only one thing.

“She’s satisfied with the fact that I don’t have the qualifications to be a successor.”

Arina herself was satisfied with this situation.

No matter how much the other guests complained.

No matter how disappointed they were with the contrast from the symposium and martial arts tournament.

No matter how puzzled the family was.

Only you are satisfied.

I, who ended up at the bottom.

That’s why the Dead Flag didn’t appear.

The core of this episode was aligning with Arina’s mindset.

“Haha, really? Hahaha!”

It’s funny.

To have such feelings for someone like me.

To have everything and yet harbor such feelings towards someone with such a vast gap.

A chill ran down my spine.

Now, my mind was finally working properly.

As expected.

I need to escape this household as soon as possible.

“Young Master Carsein? Arina’s birthday party is still ongoing…”

“Let’s leave.”

“Yes, yes.”

I replied briefly to the coachman, who was tilting his head, and he grasped the reins without any questions.

The cost of ruining Arina’s birthday party will be very steep.

Noblesse points probably dropped significantly.

But I can handle that.

This might be the most ideal way to clear Chapter 3.

“I’ll sink to the bottom for you.”

***

Heron swallowed hard.

‘Young Master, what are you thinking?’

A broken hair tie? That’s not a gift.

Neither is a new hair tie brought along.

The gift was already prepared. He personally handed it over to Heron.

But acting so impulsively left Heron completely bewildered.

“What’s going on here…”

“Don’t you two hear anything?”

“…I don’t know. I really don’t understand.”

Sheiden looked at Flora with desperate eyes.

Flora shook her head.

Claire, surprised by Carsein’s sudden action.

Claire, who was startled when her own birthday story came up.

Heron and Sheiden, who followed without understanding.

Everyone was in chaos.

But amidst the chaos.

Someone rushed out.

-Tap tap!

“Miss Harnier?”

“Miss!”

They knew it was urgent.

Carsein had gone to the birthday party alone at an early hour, so anything could happen.

This happened when his other family members celebrated their birthdays too.

They deliberately avoided the scene.

They deliberately hurt themselves to leave.

So, there’s no guarantee he won’t do the same this time. He might answer with a blank expression, saying, “Why should I care about such wounds?”

Therefore, they needed to act quickly.

They should have taken control of the situation earlier to prevent any incidents.

They should have moved closer to protect him as his fiancée.

But.

It was too late.

The incident had already begun.

Carsein surely knew how important his eldest sister’s birthday was.

He was a meticulous planner.

He knew exactly what losses he would incur here.

He might try to gain an advantage by creating a scene in front of a crowd of nobles.

But his actions contradicted his thoughts.

This meant something was wrong.

Something in this birthday party.

“Of course, there’s no danger. Actually, this might be better.”

‘Does that mean…’

An unsettling certainty weighed on him.

If this was better, did it mean he had planned this?

Even though family conflicts were already deep, today felt especially uneasy.

“Please, don’t go far…”

Instinctively, Harrier realized she couldn’t let Carsein be and dashed forward.

-Hiihiih!

“Carsein!”

The carriage was already far away.

Even if she caught up by riding the carriage, they would scatter at the crossroads and she wouldn’t know where to go.

“Calling back the carriage…”

No, that would be too late.

At that moment.

A lone horse appeared in front of her.

Yes, she had to ride this horse and follow…

-Puuruku!

“Miss Harnier!”

“Sir Radiel?”

“Ride! Quickly!”

There was no time to hesitate.

She had to grab the rider’s hand and climb onto the horse.

“Do you know where he went?”

“No, he left alone…”

“We’ll have to search everywhere.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll find him, even if it takes all night.”

At this moment.

If Carsein was left alone, he would truly fall apart.

‘I hope we can find him before it’s too late…’

She didn’t want to watch the man she loved fall apart any longer.

***

Darkness fell.

The birthday party was winding down.

Meanwhile.

Carsein had made up his mind.

“I’m sorry, Willard.”

I won’t be able to keep my promise not to lose to him.

-Ding!

▶Special conditions for Episode III met.◀

[1. Decrease affinity with Arina during her birthday party.]

[2. Decrease Arina’s affinity regardless of other characters’ affinities.]

[3. Leave the birthday party and fulfill Arina’s wishes.]

▶Hidden Episode Cleared: Repeating July 1st.◀

▶Perfect Clear acknowledged.◀

▶Arina’s emotions revealed.◀

[Arina Bargrand]

[Inferiority Complex: 80%]

▶Rewards granted.◀

■Rewards

[Every time I lose the qualification as a successor, all Dead Flags received from Arina are nullified.]