Chapter 85
The new year was slowly approaching.
After my birthday, I moved to Devon, then traveled to the capital to get the title approved — before I knew it, time had flown by.
I didn’t even do anything, and it’s already the new year.
People of the Empire valued the new year greatly; from December 31st, they enjoyed a long week-long holiday with their families.
It was a period when the entire Empire fell into a peaceful slumber.
In contrast, December 30th — the day before the New Year holidays began — was a loud and festive day.
While the Founding Festival centered around the capital, New Year’s Eve was a regional celebration.
Lords opened their storehouses to distribute meat and alcohol to their people, and the villages were filled with song all day long.
The day ended with a New Year’s Eve feast shared with family.
Until last year, I had been one of the villagers.
But this year, for the first time, I was the lord — someone who gave to the people.
Before coming to the mansion, I used to love New Year’s Eve.
It was the only day I could eat plentiful, luxurious food.
Now that my role had changed, welcoming the new year felt completely different.
“I prefer New Year’s Eve to the Founding Festival,” Marina said — an unusual display of excitement from her.
“Doesn’t your heart race just from the feeling that something new is beginning?”
“It would be better if we could enjoy the holiday after that, too.”
“A holiday? Oh, please. As if I could leave you alone and go anywhere.”
Servants of nobles and royalty received rotating days off during the New Year holiday.
But attendants who stayed closest to their masters couldn’t do that.
Their break depended entirely on the master’s generosity.
“If you want rest, just tell me anytime. I can give you a vacation. There’s Jenny and Betty at Coral Mansion too…”
They weren’t as skilled as Marina, but they could attend to me if needed.
“Are you saying you’ll be fine without me?” Marina’s face drooped at my attempt to show consideration.
“Of course not!”
I waved my hands in panic.
“I just don’t want you to overwork yourself. You work every single day without resting.”
“That’s the same for you too, my lady. You work hard every day.”
“Well… that’s…”
Because I’m trying to ruin the territory as quickly as possible.
I swallowed the words I couldn’t say aloud. Marina puffed out her chest proudly, as if saying, “See? I knew it.”
“My lady, you must rest during the New Year holidays! Even His Grace is taking time off.”
“Grandfather is?”
That workaholic?
I blinked in disbelief. Marina shrank back a little and lifted a finger.
“Well… it’s only for January 1st…”
“Even so, coming from him, that’s amazing.”
“Exactly! So you should rest too! If Young Master Lucas brings documents, lock the door!”
“Oh come on, Lucas wouldn’t work during the holidays…”
As I chuckled and waved it off, an image flashed in my mind:
Lucas buried in paperwork, a calendar behind him clearly showing the New Year holiday period.
Yes… Lucas…
He absolutely wouldn’t rest!
“He definitely won’t.”
Marina and I exchanged looks and nodded vigorously.
Everyone knew Lucas — the perfect model student who would absolutely work straight through the holidays.
“Oh, right. Usually we celebrated the young masters’ birthdays on New Year’s Eve as well. What should we do this year?”
“Huh? Why celebrate their birthdays on New Year’s Eve?”
“They first came to the mansion on that day. Since their actual birthdays are uncertain, New Year’s Eve became their second birthday.”
Uncertain birthdays were common among orphans.
Even I, in my past life, didn’t know my birthday — my master celebrated the day he picked me up instead.
“So, how did you celebrate before?”
“We prepared a cake and gifts for the New Year’s Eve dinner. His Grace and the three young masters aren’t the type to enjoy grand celebrations.”
“…They’re not the type to enjoy grand celebrations?”
I made a baffled face as I remembered the chaos of my birthday. Marina coughed and avoided my gaze.
“Of course, your birthday is an exception.”
“Why am I the exception?”
“Because you’re you, my lady!”
That explains absolutely nothing…
I stared at her with half-lidded eyes while quickly turning over ideas in my head.
Birthdays…
This was the perfect chance for legal, guilt-free spending.
If I prepared something even more extravagant than my own birthday, the cost would be enormous.
Celebrating three people means spending triple what my birthday cost!
Beautiful, glorious overspending!
It was my idea — yet it was brilliant.
Besides…
I recalled something Baratheon told me not long ago.
“My parents abandoned me and Sister Shea. They weren’t good people. And if I ever marry and have kids, I’d probably end up just like them. Better to stay single. Shea thinks the same. Lucas… who knows, but probably the same.”
Not marrying wasn’t the issue — it was the reason that felt sad.
Maybe it wouldn’t be bad to show these prematurely mature boys what a warm family feels like.
They had done a lot for me, after all.
My mind was made up.
“Marina, let’s throw a proper birthday party for the three of them.”
“You’re going to celebrate their birthdays yourself, my lady?”
“Yep. I should repay them for my birthday. I want to celebrate them properly.”
And spend money like water!
Marina, who had no idea I was plotting to burn cash, reacted with emotional enthusiasm.
“Oh my goodness. A party personally prepared by you? They’ll love it! Those boys would be happy with just a slice of cake…”
“No way, just a slice won’t do. We’ll prepare something properly! A real celebration!”
How could I plan the party so the money would practically evaporate into thin air?
I grinned and happily sank into the sweetest dilemma.
* * *
Shishe sat down and frowned irritably.
Something’s off.
The mansion’s atmosphere had been undeniably strange lately.
At first, he’d thought it was simply chaos from preparations for the New Year feast.
But after noticing how the servants awkwardly avoided him, he realized that wasn’t the case.
They were usually nervous around him — but this was different. They would freeze the moment they saw him, then flee.
What the hell?
The real issue was that Shishe wasn’t the only one feeling this way.
Baratheon sat beside him and whispered cautiously.
“Hey, why’s the mansion like this lately? Is it just me?”
“I thought the same.”
“Right? So it’s not just me? Something’s really weird, I swear.”
If even slow-witted Baratheon could notice, something was definitely off.
And then—
“Shishe, Teon.”
Lucas, whose smile rarely left his face even in the worst situations, sat across from them wearing an unusually serious expression.
“Is something wrong with the mansion? The atmosphere feels odd.”
“If you don’t know, how would we know?” Baratheon grumbled, shrugging.
Lucas scratched his cheek awkwardly.
“I’ve been busy with the Salt Pollution Purification project, so I haven’t been paying attention. I wondered if something happened that I didn’t know about.”
“There’s nothing.” Shishe answered curtly.
“Nothing? Really?”
“Yeah. There’s nothing, but the atmosphere is weird and annoying. And the worst part…”
“The kid! She’s the weirdest!” Baratheon burst in before Shishe could finish.
“When she runs into me, her face stiffens, she babbles nonsense, then runs away!”
“She does that to you too?”
“What, she does it to you too?”
Shishe and Baratheon exchanged serious looks, then simultaneously turned to Lucas.
Under their sudden stares, Lucas raised both hands in surrender.
“Well… I haven’t seen Danae lately— wait.”
Mid-sentence, Lucas paused, frowning as realization dawned.
“Come to think of it… the one who pushed me outside to work on the Salt Purification project was Danae.”
Silence fell heavily over the three brothers.
