“Uh, please don’t cry!”

The boy who had been swinging the wooden sword spoke, flustered, and the other children also comforted Sarah.

“Stay here!”

“Yes!”

“Yes, yes. You must be really upset!”

As the boys hurriedly tried to console her, Sarah wiped the tears streaming down her face with the back of her hand.

“You’re really kind... I’m glad.”

“Is, is that so...?”

“Of course! I’ve never seen such kind gentlemen before... Since coming to Hwangdo, it’s been a bit hard...”

“Oh? Why?”

“The people of Hwangdo are, how should I say, a little... well, hard to get along with, but these gentlemen are so kind it’s touching.”

“Is, is that so?”

“Yes! You’re so handsome and kind... I suppose it’s because you’re the distinguished heirs of a great family?”

Seeing Sarah giggle like that, the boys’ eyes went wide.

‘Is that so?’

‘Am I handsome?’

The boys laughed, “Ha ha!”

“Rest here. Ah, we should bring some chairs.”

“Yes, yes. You there, bring some chairs.”

As the servant hurried to fetch chairs, Sarah shyly spoke.

“Then, excuse me...”

“Please relax! The chairs are this way—”

“No, um... The shade under the tree is nicer...”

Balzac, who had been sitting under the tree with a bored expression, furrowed his brow.

The shade was separated from the group of boys.

The only people there were himself, Joshua, and Rishimund.

“What a bother.”

Balzac frowned.

Then tears welled up in Sarah’s eyes again.

“Oh, do you perhaps not like it...?”

Tears looked as if they might fall from her large eyes at any moment.

The boys hastily said,

“No, no! Please sit!”

“Yes!”

“You didn’t write your name in the shade or anything!”

Then they quickly moved the chairs to the shade.

Sarah sat in the chair, beaming brightly.

“Hello.”

The child who greeted the three brothers of the Astra Second Marquis House smiled with a gentle eye-smile.

“I thought you looked so cool even from afar, but seeing you close up, you’re truly dazzling... beautiful.”

Balzac glanced at Joshua.

“Shall we go?”

“We’ve been out less than 20 minutes.”

“How long do we have to stay? I should ask how many hours we have to be with Eril now.”

“Go ahead.”

“Should I go ask now?”

“They’re with the young ladies; it’d just be a bother.”

“Ugh...”

They ignored the person speaking.

Tears welled up in Sarah’s eyes again. The boys watching her were flustered.

“People of the Astra family are known for their striking looks!”

“Yes!”

Sarah wiped her tears with her palm and smiled.

“Is that so, Rishimund?”

Leaning against the tree, Rishimund sighed softly.

“There are those who think so.”

“Oh...!”

Sarah’s face brightened immediately.

“So it’s not just me thinking it. You’re actually very beautiful. Isn’t that right?”

Sarah looked around at the other boys.

“Oh, yes...”

“Erilot is also so beautiful.”

Hearing “Erilot,” Balzac looked at Sarah.

“Does she call you by name? Are you close?”

“Balzac.”

Joshua furrowed his brow and spoke, and Balzac changed his tone with an “Ah.”

“Are you close?”

“She said she hopes to build a good relationship from now on!”

“Erilot?”

“Yes. Actually, I made a mistake with Erilot. So she told me I was rude... But—”

The boys asked, “Oh?”

Among the boys was the heir of the Oshron Marquis House.

“I heard from my younger sister that the Astra Marquis’s young lady is considerate. You must have made a big mistake?”

“Ah... well...”

Sarah brushed the top of her head with a troubled look.

“I heard a lot of rumors about Erilot. Some... not so good...”

“Really?”

“She isn’t said to be well-liked among the young ladies...”

“Rumors aren’t good?”

“Yes. But seeing her in person, she’s actually very kind. I think because she’s so beautiful, the young ladies, well, kind of...”

“Jealous?”

“It’s a bit hard to say it’s just jealousy...”

“Well, it is jealousy.”

The boys clicked their tongues.

“It’s rude to say things without knowing.”

Joshua chuckled silently.

They seemed to have forgotten all the countless rumors spread about the three brothers of the Astra Marquis House.

One boy frowned.

He was a prince famous for having a bad relationship with his younger sister.

“They’re really jealous. My sister’s like that too. If mother buys me a sword, she has to get one too. So what?”

“Oh! I also believed rumors and was rude to Erilot.”

“What kind of rudeness?”

“Maybe my expression when looking at Erilot wasn’t very good...”

“Really?”

The boys looked at each other.

‘Is having a bad expression considered rude?’

‘Maybe that’s just how they are.’

‘Maybe there was another reason for the bad expression.’

She didn’t seem as considerate as people said.

“So I apologized, and now she said she wants to build a good relationship from now on!”

“Ah...”

Erilot Astra apparently managed to get an apology.

‘Maybe there’s some inferiority complex.’

Balzac said to Sarah with an indifferent expression.

“It’s rude to have a sour expression just because of rumors. It’s generous of Eril to accept the apology.”

Sarah clapped her hands and said,

“Isn’t that right? Erilot is so generous. Beautiful and thoughtful... really amazing.”

Balzac looked smug.

“That’s right!”

Sarah smiled brightly.

“I’ve felt there are many good people in Hwangdo since coming to Eclipto Territory. Like Erilot and the gentlemen too.”

Saying that, the boys laughed.

“I’m glad you think so.”

“Yes!”

Sarah was at the center of attention.

While Sarah chatted with the boys, Rishimund and Joshua exchanged subtle looks.

The next day.

I was going up the stairs with the young ladies to return to my room.

But the upper floor was noisy.

“Why are you being so selfish? You’re the younger sister, so give way a little!”

“I was looking forward to the swordsmanship tournament too! Big brother should give way to little sister!”

“Seriously... You’re so selfish that people avoid you.”

“What nonsense! I never exclude people! That was what big brother did at the academy!”

They were yelling and fighting.

Then loud footsteps followed, pounding down the stairs.

The siblings seemed to have finished fighting and were turning away from each other.

The person who came down puffing was the young lady of Oshron.

“Ah...”

She looked embarrassed when she saw us.

“Sorry for the noise.”

Rumelisa, who was with me, said,

“Are you okay?”

“No. Next life, I want to be born as that brat’s... no, big brother’s older brother and beat him to death.”

The young ladies burst out laughing.

Rumelisa chuckled softly and said,

“Why don’t you go cool off in the greenhouse together?”

“That sounds good. Oh, have you found Miss Fog?”

“No. Where on earth is she?”

Sarah Fog has been missing since yesterday.

Since everyone else was gathered, her absence was noticeable.

Catherine frowned.

“She’s shy with strangers, maybe we should have taken better care of her. Maybe she hid because she was upset?”

“Just find her and take care of her now.”

The young lady in the pink dress said cheerfully,

“She’s upstairs. I’ll go find her!”

She was from Catherine’s group and said she looked after shy Sarah like an older sister.

Catherine nodded.

“We can’t make only the young ladies suffer. Let’s all—”

At that moment,

“Really? Wow, that’s so cool. I also like watching sword fights.”

Sarah was coming into the central courtyard with the heirs.

The young lady in the pink dress said,

“Star Flower Castle!”

When she said Sarah’s nickname, {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} Sarah flinched.

The heirs’ expressions twisted.

‘Why do they look like that?’

The pink-dressed young lady quickly approached Sarah.

“Where have you been? We’ve been looking everywhere—”

“If there’s something to do, have a servant handle it, right?”

The heir who was shielding Sarah with one arm spoke coldly.

The pink-dressed young lady was flustered.

“W-what are you saying...”

“That nickname Star Flower Castle is really embarrassing to hear.”

It’s a bit cheesy as a nickname, but no need to say it openly.

The expressions of the young ladies from Catherine’s group hardened.

The most aggressive young lady of Oshron stepped forward.

“Whatever we call each other isn’t something the prince should worry about.”

“I already said it’s embarrassing to hear. If you’re going to call her that, give her a better name.”

“What did you say?”

“That’s the most common star in the edge constellation. Are you so stupid you don’t even know what it means?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

“Hey? Did you just talk down to me?”

“You should only talk nonsense when you’re asleep.”

“Oshron young lady!”

Their conversation became hostile.

Sarah quickly stopped the heir.

“Prince... it’s scary...”

The prince sighed and glared at the Oshron young lady.

“Calm down. Show some dignity befitting a great noble.”

The young ladies were all stunned.

Sarah stepped forward with a flustered expression.

“This atmosphere is too tense. Why don’t we all have some tea?”

“......”

“......”

The Oshron young lady and the prince’s expressions were not good.

Sarah gently grabbed the prince’s sleeve and looked up at him.

“We’ll be seeing each other often in Hwangdo. If emotions get heated like this, it’ll be difficult every time we meet, right...?”

“Hmm...”

“Oshron young lady too. Right?”

“......Alright then.”

Because of that, the young ladies and heirs gathered and drank tea together.

Sarah clapped her hands happily.

Then she said to the servants,

“I want to have a tea party together. Could you prepare a room for us?”

“I’ll tell the Marquis.”

“Okay.”

After that, Sarah looked around at the heirs.

“How about we wait in the greenhouse until the tea is ready?”

“Yes.”

“Yes!”

Sarah was completely at the center of the group.

She went upstairs to the greenhouse with the heirs.

“Erilot, shall we wait for you?”

—she said to me.

The young ladies were all stunned.

“What is this?”

“My younger brother was talking nonsense too.”

“What does it matter what we call each other!”

“Sarah was the one who liked the nickname Star Flower Castle the most. She got teary-eyed and happy when they said her eyes were like star flowers!”

They were giggling, when the young lady of Mishar, who had been looking for Sarah since morning, ran up.

“Was something wrong?”

“The princes are talking nonsense!”

The Oshron young lady burst out.

Then the Mishar young lady narrowed her eyes.

“Are we treating Sarah like a servant and excluding her?”

“Yes.”

“Unbelievable...”

The Mishar young lady snickered, crossing her arms.

“My younger brother said the same. He said we were excluding Sarah and treating her like a servant.”

“What?!”

“Sarah herself said that. She said she was Catherine’s group’s servant and cried!”

The young ladies’ mouths dropped open.

Rumelisa and I looked at Catherine.

She was the leader of that group.

In social circles, if there’s a problem, the leader usually takes the blow.

“Sarah seems to be different from what I thought.”

The young ladies in Catherine’s group looked pale.

Catherine said,

“Let’s end tea time for today. I’m tired.”

“Me too.”

“Same here.”

“Me as well.”

Catherine’s group gathered and went upstairs.

What remained were Rumelisa’s group and me.

The other young ladies looked at Rumelisa, the leader of the remaining group.

“What will you do, Rumelisa?”

“I don’t particularly like Trang, but...”

Rumelisa’s expression grew cold.

“I can’t stand seeing someone wrongly insulted.”

“I think so too.”

“How much did Catherine and the others really take care of Miss Fog? It’s really awful.”

“And the heirs who blindly follow rumors aren’t any better.”

“That’s right.”

“I won’t go to tea time either.”

The other young ladies dispersed.

I sighed.

‘Amazing, Sarah Fog.’

She seemed to want to act like a leader from the start...

I shrugged, not wanting to get involved.

‘I’ll focus on what I have to do.’

Finding Dahlia was more important than the juvenile social battles.

Eclipto Banquet Hall.

The Marquis had provided a huge banquet hall for the boys’ and girls’ tea party.

Sarah’s expression, seated at the place of honor, darkened more and more.

Thirty minutes into the tea party.

Not a single young lady had appeared.

“Sniff...”

Tears fell drop by drop onto the table from Sarah’s eyes.

“This is really unfair...”

“D-don’t say that, let’s enjoy ourselves, at least us...!”

“Does Lady Erilot dislike me?”

Suddenly “Erilot?”

The heirs looked at Sarah with confused expressions.

“Why Erilot?”

“As we went to the greenhouse, I asked Lady Erilot to bring the young ladies...”

“Yes?”

“If this distance keeps growing, everyone will be in trouble. I hoped the atmosphere could become friendly again by asking Lady Erilot, who gets along better with the young ladies than I do. But...”

“Ah...”

“Even the three brothers of the Astra Marquis House haven’t come... And those three don’t seem to like me very much either, right?”

Sarah buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

“Is it because Lady Erilot said bad things about me?”