“Who is the girl standing behind you?” Thalas asked after turning his inspecting gaze from Rina to Clara.

“Forgive me for my rudeness, Duke Lumiére, but please follow the norm yourself and don't ask for information about other people's servants.”

At Clara's courageous words, the glare on Thalas's face intensified to a degree that made even Eric look like a child by comparison. “I don't like to repeat myself.”

That was why his few words were enough for Clara to clench her fists and give in. “She's my permanent personal maid.”

“Personal...? I see... what's her name?”

“Her name is Rina.”

“Rina? Hmm... what family is she from? I can't remember seeing anyone with her distinctive features among the nobles of the kingdom... ”

“I'm sorry to disappoint you, Duke Lumiére, but she has no family name.” Usually, were Clara calm, she would have never disclosed, that Rina had no family name. But under the Duke's pressure, Clara had no choice but to answer his question truthfully.

“A commoner is your permanent assistant? I see. Is she so special that you want to bind her to you like this?”

“Duke Lumiére, the guests are waiting, please go in so that the festivities can begin.”

“...Hmpf, very well. I'm looking forward to the party.” With these words, the Duke, his son, and the two guards entered the mansion.

Only when they were out of sight did Rina move from her position behind her mistress and close the gate as no more guests would come. And even if they did, they wouldn't be allowed to enter because the most important invitees were already present.

When Rina came back half a minute later, she saw that her mistress was still there, so she spoke up, “Clara? Is something wrong? Don't you have to hurry up and change into your dress?”

“Ah, yes... thank you for reminding me... I was just deep in thought... Come with me, after I have changed, you still have to accompany me to the party venue for my speech.”

“Yes!” Rina smiled happily at her mistress's words.

With that, the two girls entered the mansion, hand in hand, pulled by Clara.

Even though it might seem to an outsider that the blonde was taking advantage of the confusion (?) of the situation to grab her maid's hands, Clara's mind was currently occupied with what had happened earlier.

'No matter how I look at it. The Duke knew about Rina and was clearly interested in her. But how? Who has leaked the information? Father said that it wasn't him and I don't think it was a lie. It also certainly wasn't Fran either, because she seems to have her own agenda with Rina, my Rina... I will have to interrogate her about that one day... Well, I've shown to all guests today, that Rina is my personal maid, so even the Duke won't make a move on her, will he?...'

Clara looked back at the girl, she was pulling along, who tilted her head and smiled.

'C-cute... I have to protect her from the Prime Minister at all costs.'

While Clara was, once again, pumping herself up to protect Rina, the girl in question had the same thoughts, only the other way around.

'That man... Thoma... The way he looked at Clara was dirty... No, I absolutely can't have someone like that standing next to Clara. I'm her personal maid, it's my job to ensure that Clara marries a respectable man. Lumiére's first son is out of the question!'

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Rina stealthily glanced at her mistress, who was currently pulling at her hand. As they walked quickly to reach the dressing room, Clara's long, curly, blonde hair fluttered in the air. Once again, her mistress's appearance fascinated Rina. But at the same time, dark feelings were building up inside the red-haired girl. Dark feelings, that were buried deep inside her but still couldn't help but resurface from time to time.

'...If...'

Rina unconsciously tightened the hand that held Clara's and thought of the brooch in her pocket she had failed to give to her mistress.

'… If I only were...'

***

While Clara was changing into her ordered dress, the guests gathered in the party venue's main hall. And because the Lumiéres had just entered a few moments ago, everyone knew that the party was about to begin.

Nonetheless, in order to pass the time until the head of the Dragonherz family entered to give his speech, the people in the room talked to each other. And of course, as one might have already expected from a noble gathering, the guests divided themselves into groups of their respective political factions. Naturally, the two Lumiéres, as the family with the highest standing, had the most aristocrats gathered around them.

And yet, regardless of their faction, they all seemed to be talking about one topic.

Who was the red-haired maid standing behind the Dragonherz's daughter? Which family did she hail from? Was she a commoner?

Why would the famous Dragonherz family choose a commoner to be their eldest daughter's, and thus, their heir's personal assistant?

Did the maid have special abilities? Was that why the Ducal Lumiére family attended this party? Because they had heard about her?

Such questions were on the minds of most of the guests.

“This is bad...” Naturally, Fran, who was also waiting in the main hall, noticed the interest of all the guests present.

“What do you mean?”

Fran looked at her silver-haired, Dark Elven friend, Milia who had asked the question. “I'm talking about the mood of all the aristocrats here. They are all wondering about Rina.”

“Rina? You mean your pupil with the Dark magic affinity?”

Fran nodded. “Yes, you know... the red-haired maid who greeted us along with her mistress at the front gate.”

“Ah, her... I've been wondering about it since we've arrived... why did you even allow that girl to stand at the entrance to greet guests? Her facial features... well, I don't want to sound weird, but a cute child like her would naturally attract attention. Additionally, her red hair is not what I would call inconspicuous.”

“Of course, I would have objected to it. But if I had, it would have made me very suspicious. I can't have my cover to be blown yet... for the world.”

“...” Milia wasn't able to respond to her friend's words. She knew very well how much Fran had given and would still give for the safety of the world. So, the Dark Elf simply remained silent and waited for the former High Priestess to continue.

“Clara, the blonde girl and today's star, was hell-bent on binding Rina to her.”

“I kind of understand that, but I also can't help but think that announcing Rina's existence to the world is somewhat illogical. I mean, the attention is all the more focused on Rina now. And now forget about binding her, if someone found out about Rina's abilities and revealed them, the whole country would be after her. Fran, I think you should have stopped Clara... well, there's no crying after spilled milk now...”

“Yes, I know. Unfortunately, Clara is head over heels in love with her maid. These feelings have made her unable to think straight, so there was no way I could reason with her.”

“L-l-love, you say? Y-you mean that kind of l-love?” Milia blushed a little as she said these words.

Noticing her friend's state, Fran put her palm in front of her mouth and grinned mischievously. “Fufu, our innocent, former Vice-Knight-Commander is blushing at the thought of love?”

However, this only cooled Milia's embarrassment. “You are absolutely in no position to tease me about this. Who was it who gave up everything including, manners, healthy eating, and love for the sake of research and magic?”

Before Fran could counter her Dark Elven friend, the sound of a trumpet echoed through the entire hall. This caused everyone to turn to the elevated platform, that resembled a stage, at the end of the hall.

A few seconds later, the large double doors behind the platform opened and a tall, blond man entered the hall.

Arriving at the centre of the stage, he spoke up. “Greetings, honoured guests. I am Viscount Eric Dragonherz. I would like to thank you all for your attendance today to celebrate the twelfth birthday and Social Debut of my dear daughter."

He then stepped aside and pointed pompously to the door through which he had passed. “And there she is, my daughter, Clara Dragonherz.”

With that, the trumpet sounds came out of nowhere again. Simultaneously two figures stepped on the elevated platform through the door. The first one, obviously, was Clara. She was wearing a red, shoulder-baring dress decorated with yellow and blue clothes stripes and ornaments. Complementing this outfit was a yellow tiara with a red crystal on Clara's head.

At first, everyone in the hall wondered why the main colour of Clara's dress was red. But when they saw the red-haired maid, who had closely followed Clara into the hall, it didn't take long for everyone to understand the message behind Clara's outfit.

Throughout the morning, everyone had been speculating about who the maid they had seen at the entrance might be and whether she might be someone with special powers. Now, everybody knew, that the maid was indeed special, at least for the Dragonherz's firstborn daughter and heir. And said heir challenged all who were interested in her red-haired maid.

After all, Clara's coordinated attire literally screamed,

“Only over my dead body.”