“Like my father, I would also like to thank you all for attending my twelfth birthday and Social Debut. I hope that we can work together to fight back the demons in the future invasion. For today, please enjoy yourself with the entertainment, we have prepared for you.”

After her greeting, Clara bowed curtly but gracefully, which was followed by applause from the guests. With that, the celebration officially began and they returned to their respective groups and factions. They were now free to dance, eat, or socialise with each other in the party venue.

Then, Clara turned around and whispered in her maid's ear. “Thank you for now, Rina. As we've already discussed on our way here. Please leave the party venue and stay in my bedroom until the festivities are over.”

“Um, are you sure, Clara? You don't need my support anymore?” Even though they had already discussed this topic, Rina was still unsure as to why she had to be sent away. She wasn't able to understand Clara's plan and thus, couldn't help but feel abandoned.

The blonde, on the other hand, immediately saw through her maid's thoughts. So she put her hand on Rina's head to comfort her. “You don't have to look like an abandoned puppy. I've already told you, haven't I? I've already achieved my goals for today, so it's counterproductive for you to be here, drawing even more attention to yourself. So I need you to hide for the rest of the day. Okay?”

This time Rina nodded weakly and left the hall through the door she and Clara had entered earlier. After closing the door from outside, she made her way to Clara's room, as she had been instructed.

Naturally, with all the staff of the Dragonherz mansion busy entertaining the guests at the venue, the corridor, where Rina was walking through, was empty. That was exactly why Rina could feel that there was something unsettling in the air around her.

As if to prove her suspicions right, the lights in the corridor suddenly went out after a few minutes of walking. Feeling that all her senses were screaming for Rina to duck down, she followed suit and did just that, narrowly avoiding a hand holding a needle, that was about to pierce her neck from behind.

Thinking fast, and concluding that someone hostile had sneaked up on her, Rina quickly kicked back. And indeed, her hunch was correct and her feet hit something, perhaps the assailant's shin. So she used that something as a launching pad and jumped forward to gain distance from her attacker.

After landing safely and stabilising herself, Rina turned around, only to see that there was no one there. The unseen assailant must have gone into hiding in the meantime.

For Rina, not being able to see who was attacking her, was a major disadvantage. She had to immobilise them at once or her life might be in grave danger. Therefore, a split second later, Rina formed a large, black magic circle with her feet and stuck it to the floor through her shoes, effectively creating a barrier around her, that would pull anyone stepping into the area of effect to the ground.

A year ago, this feat would have been impossible for her, as it was usually unheard of to form magic seals through clothing, especially shoes. So, her training with Fran had definitely paid off.

As planned, a few seconds after Rina had cast the spell, a *thud* sound came from behind her, causing her to turn around.

What she then saw, was a black-robed figure, sprawled out on the floor. Unfortunately, because the attacker was hooded and lying face down, Rina wasn't able to recognise that person.

So she cautiously approached the lying figure while maintaining the gravity magic that held the assailant down. At that moment, all of Rina's instincts suddenly cried out to her again, telling her of the fast-approaching danger. Therefore, in a split second, Rina quickly drew her dagger from under her skirt, turned in the direction from which she felt the incoming danger, and deflected a needle that was flying at her.

But because of her sudden action, and because it happened so quickly, the red-haired maid couldn't keep up her gravity magic. As a result, the assailant, who had been pinned to the ground until now, managed to get up.

Although Rina realised this, she wasn't able to react in time. So the hooded figure, back on its feet, leaped at Rina and stabbed her in the neck with a thin needle from behind.

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At that moment, Rina felt her consciousness fading, as the needle either was coated with some sort of paralysing poison or had hit an important nerve. Either way, she knew from that moment on, that she wasn't going to get out of this situation unscathed. So, as a last attempt at retaliation, she turned the dagger in her hand around and swung her arm backwards, stabbing the figure behind her.

“AAARGH!?!? F*CK!?” Naturally, it wasn't without consequences, as the hooded figure kicked Rina in rage in the back with all his might, sending her flying several metres forward.

“Are you okay?” A second person, who had probably thrown the needle at Rina, approached the hooded figure.

“That damned brat stabbed me. Arland, you useless piece of shit! I'll tell the Duke about this... Now take that damned brat...”

This was the last Rina heard before she lost consciousness for good.

***

After sending Rina out of the party venue, Clara made her way down from the elevated stage.

For today, she had three goals to achieve, which she hadn't told anyone. Not her father, not her teacher Fran. Not even her now official personal assistant Rina.

After all, her first goal was about Rina. Clara wanted to reveal her maid's existence to the world while demonstrating that the red-haired girl was her personal assistant. Clara knew that it was impossible to hide Rina and her capabilities from the world forever. A girl with such hair, eyes, and face would attract attention at some point. So today, at her Social Debut, Clara decided to show that a certain red-haired commoner girl was bound to the Dragonherz's firstborn daughter.

In a society full of rumours, gossip, and conspiracies, this information was bound to spread throughout the entire Valkyria Kingdom and even the whole world. Clara was quite certain that there were seldom people with red hair, so when someone spoke of a red-haired girl, it would be clear to everyone, they were talking about Rina, her maid. This should make her beloved assistant a somewhat untouchable existence in noble circles. Even powerful families like the Lumiéres would find it difficult to approach Rina without facing a backlash.

Clara's second goal was to establish connections. With her Social Debut behind her, she was now legally allowed to seek out other noble families, trading companies, and other powerful individuals or organisations to officially become 'friends'.

For that, Clara had already chosen a few. Among them, were former High Priestess Fran and former Vice-Knight-Commander Milia. In the past, they would have never made it on her shortlist for it. But over the past two years, it had become clear to her that they, at least Fran, were highly intelligent people with their hearts in the right place. Not to mention, these two were still quite popular with the common people. So Clara was sure that she would have some use for them in the future. Though she was aware, that Fran had some hidden agenda with Rina, that was not a problem at the moment.

Apart from these two, Clara also wanted some connections with merchants who might sponsor or even invest in her. Unfortunately, none of the people on her shortlist were invited, as her father had compiled the guest list. So she would have to visit them at a later point.

Last but not least, Clara also needed powerful, political friends. Sadly, she didn't know which noble family to ally with yet, so she had to look for some at this party.

Her third goal for today was, of course, to keep an eye on the troublesome Ducal Lumiére father and son pair, and their two guards. Even though Clara had sent Rina away from the party venue, she couldn't be too sure that they wouldn't also leave to make a move on her maid.

So, after confirming that the Duke and his three companions were present, Clara headed over to Fran and Milia for their official first meeting. After all, it was a secret that Fran was her and Rina's magic instructor. Clara had to show to the public, that she had now had ties to the former High Priestess and the former Vice-Knight-Commander Milia.

“Greetings, Lady Fran, Greetings, Lady Milia. Once again, I'd like to thank you for attending my Debut today.”

Fran, as intelligent as she was, immediately saw through Clara's intentions. And since her student's action didn't collide with her plans, she went along with it. “Young Lady Dragonherz. Congratulations and happy birthday. I'm also grateful for the opportunity to be here today.”

“Likewise, congratulations on reaching adulthood and happy birthday, Lady Dragonherz. Your grandfather, Knight Commander Rick was very good to me in the past. He told me how proud he was of you when we worked together. Seeing how you are now, I'm sure that he would have been even prouder... I'm sorry for what happened to him.” Milia bowed deeply after her words.

“Thank you for your kind words. Lady Milia, I can't say that I've already forgotten about everything, but you don't have to worry about it that much anymore. In return, I hope to have a fruitful relationship with you in the future.”

“About that... May Milia and I visit you in the near future? We have things to discuss with you, Lady Dragonherz.” It would look bad to the other guests if a person of higher rank asked for a trade with someone of lower rank. So Fran, as the one with the lower standing, took the liberty of requesting a private meeting with Clara. As a former High Priestess, she knew that nobles loved to keep up appearances, so she did Clara this small favour.

Needless to say, the young Dragonherz agreed to it.

With that the three of them talked, chuckled, and even laughed a little to show their amicable relationship to the other guests.

Only after a few minutes, when Clara had decided that it was enough, she parted ways with the two elves. What remained today was to find allies with political power. For that, they needed to be at least a viscount. Of course, a count would be better, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

So before Clara walked around looking for potential business partners, she made sure that the Lumiéres were still present. Luckily, she didn't have to search for long before she caught sight of a plump, bald man. But when she realised that he was alone, her mind went blank.

'Where is the Duke!?'