The next day, after having a wonderful dream that Rina, unfortunately, couldn't remember, she had woken up at the usual time and had started her day in the usual way. However, this was no ordinary day for her or the Dragonherz family. It was the day of Clara Dragonherz's Social Debut, so all the staff had been running around like chickens since long before sunrise, including Rina.

But now, as the sun was at its peak in the sky, Rina was currently standing behind the blonde girl at the main entrance of the Dragonherz mansion, greeting the guests, who came to celebrate Clara's twelfth birthday and coming of age, aka Social Debut. This was Rina's first official job as her mistress's permanent assistant.

Well, 'first official job' sounded more pretentious than it actually was, since all Rina had to do was to stand behind Clara and bow with her, whenever a new guest arrived. If the blonde didn't know the name of a newcomer, it was Rina's task to remind Clara of their name, when they approached.

Although that sounded difficult as more than a hundred guests had announced their attendance, it wasn't actually that bad. The reason for that was two facts. First, Rina's memory capabilities of her second life were kind of overpowered. She had no problems at all, as she could easily associate thousands of names with their respective faces. Second, her mistress was also quite high-spec. Not once had Rina had to remind Clara of a name.

So, as already mentioned, all Rina had done the whole morning was literally just stand there and occasionally bow to the guests. And since she had remembered the guest list, she knew that one was still missing. It was Duke Thalas Lumiére, the Prime Minister of the Valkyria Kingdom.

In a country where social status played a major role, it was the norm for the less important people to arrive first at these gatherings, and for those of higher status to come last.

Therefore, the first to arrive was Rina's and Clara's magic instructor Fran, who was a commoner. At first, Rina found it odd that Fran had left the mansion early in the morning only to enter the party venue through the main entrance later. But it made sense to her after Clara explained the reason. Fran didn't officially live at the Dragonherz manor. Keeping up airs was important, after all.

What stood out to Rina, was that Fran hadn't arrived alone. Fran was accompanied by a woman who appeared to be a Dark Elf. Rina recognised it because the former High Priestess's companion had a pale skin tone, silver hair, and long ears. Even though the Dark Elf was not on the guest list, the fact that she came together with Fran could only mean that the newcomer was the former Vice-Knight Commander Milia, Fran's friend. And since invitees were allowed to bring a certain number of companions with them, neither Clara nor Rina particularly minded Milia's participation.

But apart from the two commoners, nothing that had happened so far, had been out of place. The only thing that bothered Rina, was that the guests all had been staring at her for a while, before entering. Was it because of her unusual hair and eye colour? Or because she was particularly ugly?

Back to the topic at hand. Because guests of lower social standing had to come early and guests of higher standing tended to arrive late, both Clara and Rina had still to wait for the arrival of Duke Lumiére. Since he had the highest ranking among the guests, he would naturally be the last to arrive. Luckily, they didn't have to wait too long.

A large carriage, which could easily hold ten people, pulled by four full-grown horses, appeared at the gate. The image of a woman, with angel-like wings and a holy halo over her head, painted on the door at the side of the carriage, clearly showed that it belonged to the Ducal Lumiére family.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

When it stopped in front of the gate, the driver at the front hopped out of his seat and opened the door of the carriage. Out of it stepped a dandy, old man with neatly combed, white hair and a white moustache. He wore black, gaudy clothes adorned with decorations that made Rina want to puke inwardly when she thought of their value.

'So this is Duke Thalas Lumiére, the Prime Minister of this country.'

Rina had heard, that he was supposed to be over seventy years old. And indeed, he certainly looked the part, judging by the wrinkles on his face and the colourlessness of his hair. But it was only when compared to the values of her previous life. In a world full of dangers like Yggildos, where even travelling from one city to another was risky, it was uncommon, if not even outrageous, for people to reach his age. Even royals who had even better healthcare and guards often died before turning sixty.

And now, a few metres in front of Rina was an over seventy-year-old man, who looked healthy even by the standards of first-world nations on Earth. The Duke stood tall, with a straight back and an expression on his face, radiating the confidence that he still had many decades to live.

That, however, was a different story for the man who stepped out of the carriage after the Duke. He was a round, bald man, not even 160 centimetres tall, who had difficulties even walking down the five steps of the stair leading out of the vehicle. He was the Lumiére's firstborn son.

Seeing the state he was in, Rina couldn't help but sympathise with the man a little bit. After all, his figure very much resembled her own in her previous life. From her experience, she knew how uncomfortable it was to have to live with a body like that. Especially when Rina got the taste of what it felt like to have a high-spec and healthy one.

But it wasn't that she had only felt physically uncomfortable in her skin in her past life. It had been also mentally draining back then. The reactions, the hatred, and the contempt she had received, had been much worse in her opinion. That was why, Rina unconsciously glanced at her mistress from behind.

'How would the kind Clara react, if she found out that I once looked like that? Would she still want me to serve her? Or...'

But when Rina saw, that Clara didn't even flinch upon seeing the second man step out, Rina felt somewhat relieved. Still, it didn't automatically mean that Clara would accept Rina's old self, to begin with. After all, Rina didn't know about her mistress's sexuality yet, so she still assumed that Clara liked men. And one usually tended to be more lenient in judging the appearance of people of the sex one was attracted to. So, just because Clara didn't look at the fat man in disdain, it didn't mean that Clara would react the same way to Rina. Still, it was better than nothing.

Unbeknownst to Rina's inner thoughts, the two Lumiéres approached with two guards in tow. When they stood in front of the girls, Rina and Clara bowed in unison. While Rina, a maid and servant, remained silent, Clara spoke up to greet them.

“Greetings, Duke Thalas Lumiére and Young Master Thoma Lumiére. My name is Clara Dragonherz. I am very grateful for your attendance at my twelfth birthday and Social Debut. Please enjoy your time here.”

Usually, this would have been the end of the conversation. The Lumiéres and their guards would have entered the mansion and Clara would have followed after ordering the gates to be closed so that the celebration could be started.

However, both father and son were still standing in front of Clara, staring at her. No, this was not it. The over forty-year-old 'young' master was the only one staring at the blonde. One could clearly see, what was going through his head as he leered at the blonde girl. For Thoma Lumiére, Clara Dragonherz, who was much more mature than her peers with her well-endowed chest, was right in the middle of his strike zone.

On the other hand, the Duke, Thalas Lumiére was not interested in Clara. It was the red-haired girl standing behind the blonde who caught his eye.

Even though Rina wasn't looking at him, she could feel his intense gaze on her. With the conversation between Clara, Fran, and herself a week ago in her mind, she couldn't help but be afraid of what the Duke might be thinking, staring at her like this. She could only hope that it was her unusual hair colour or her ugly face that drew his gaze.

However, the world was a cruel place.

Normally, it was unheard of for guests to show their interest in specific servants of another noble family. Especially when those servants were personal ones, as in Rina's case. That was why both mistress and servant knew that it was going to be a long, busy, and headache-inducing day when they heard Duke Thalas's next words when he turned to Clara.

“Who is the girl standing behind you?”