Praten had been acting strange lately. Anchina had been strange as well—
No, the Duke and Duchess Kreuz were strange too. The whole family was.
"Ruperi, would you like to go out with your father?"
"The head chef says he made a new dessert. Let us go to the greenhouse and eat it together."
Just as they had in the garden, Duke Kreuz or Duchess Kreuz would suddenly appear and take Ruperi away.
"Hmm, platinum really does suit Paul best. Should I add white lace, or would gold be better?"
Anchina would hold expensive fabrics and lace against my body to compare them.
"Paul says he wants to stop playing now. He has been studying a lot."
"What are you talking about, Anchina?"
"Come on, Paul. You need to say goodbye."
"Bye! I'm going to play now!"
She even ran off with me from Ruperi while he was on his way to his lessons.
I had no idea why they were acting so strangely.
But as I quietly watched them, I found an answer startling enough to surprise me.
"Have you come up with any good ideas for Ruperi's birthday?"
"Of course! I started thinking as soon as I finished my work!"
They had deliberately kept Ruperi and me apart to throw him a surprise birthday party.
'Why do they need to keep us apart?'
I understood the reason after watching a little longer.
Today too, Praten and Anchina put their heads together.
"Wouldn't decorating the hall entirely in blue be too monotonous?"
"But blue suits House Kreuz."
"It might be fine if we added purple. What do you think, Paul?"
When Praten asked me, Anchina spoke in my stead.
"I think pink would be nice!"
"Pink?"
"Sky blue and pink together would be cute!"
"That combination would work too, I suppose."
Are you actually agreeing with her?
I had been the target of Anchina's doll play for weeks now.
By this point, I had gone beyond resignation and realized one thing.
Anchina had decided on a personality for me while playing with dolls.
The reason I thought so was—
"But Paul, wouldn't pink be too dainty?"
"I like pink!"
"Even so, using pink like some young lady for Young Master's surprise birthday party would be……"
Sometimes Anchina's opinion clashed with mine.
The first time Ruperi and Praten saw this, they were both left speechless.
I was too, but Anchina shamelessly insisted on the personality she had created for the teddy bear.
As a result, I accepted it, while Ruperi and Praten occasionally—no, often—went along with Anchina's doll play.
In any case, that was why they had separated Ruperi and me: so they could ask the teddy bear Paul for his opinion too.
'Am I supposed to play two roles?'
As I watched the situation with mixed feelings, Praten, who had been deep in thought, suddenly lifted his head.
His face turned pale, and he backed away.
"Brother."
"Ah, well……"
"Why have you been secretly coming to my bedroom since last time?"
At the ominous voice from behind him, Anchina froze as well.
She seemed to have only just realized how much time had passed since she put Ruperi in the bathroom.
Praten's green eyes rolled slowly. Beneath the heavy silence, he quickly fled the bedroom.
"I'm sorry!"
When Ruperi lost his target, his gaze turned toward Anchina.
"Hic!"
***
"Paul, isn't it strange? Why do they keep taking you away?"
Ruperi asked as he tormented a small Wraith floating in the air.
Ever since he discovered that I was a Necromancer, I had occasionally summoned Wraiths at his request.
Perhaps because it was a Wraith I had subjugated at the Kreuz estate, the summoned Wraith was extremely docile.
'Was it a member of House Kreuz?'
Or maybe it was because I had grown comfortable around Ruperi.
'Comfortable, my foot! That little brat is the enemy! Get a grip, Nellis!'
When I shook my head sharply, Ruperi asked in a blunt voice, as if he disliked that answer.
"Paul, you're listening to me, right?"
[I'm listening.]
"You're listening? What could you possibly be thinking about that you're only listening?"
Well…….
"Or do you think you can ignore me now because Brother and Anchina talk to you?"
[Why would you say that? That's not it.]
"Then why are you ignoring me? Should I call Blanc after all?"
[That's really underhanded……. Fine.]
For a moment, I nearly had the Wraith smack the back of Ruperi's head in irritation. But perhaps the gentle Wraith agreed with my previous thought, because it frantically shook its head.
'So Ruperi hasn't become easy to be around after all.'
As I soothed my temper, Ruperi raised an eyebrow. Afraid he would call Blanc, I hurriedly made words appear.
[Your birthday is coming up, isn't it? I was only thinking about what kind of birthday present I should give you.]
"My birthday?"
[I heard it from Praten.]
Only then did Ruperi seem to understand. His eyes widened.
"Ah, so that's why Brother kept talking to you?"
[He wants to secretly throw you a surprise birthday party.]
"Why?"
[Because you've been cold toward them.]
To be honest, the current Ruperi was more like himself.
The Ruperi from before had deliberately suppressed his prickly personality because he wanted to spend time with his family.
"They don't need to throw a party."
[Why not?]
"They'll cancel it because they're busy again."
[I don't think they will.]
"No. Last year and the year before that, they canceled or scaled down celebrations not just for my birthday, but for Brother's, Father's, and Mother's too."
Had the Kreuz family been busy for quite a long time, rather than only recently?
"So tell them not to waste their time. No, don't cooperate with them either. As long as I have you, that's enough."
[Still, it's your birthday—]
"Paul, are you saying you'll leave me and go to Brother?"
Ruperi looked at me with his face completely hardened.
When I did not answer, his eyes slowly narrowed. It looked as though another round of Ruperi's torment was about to descend on me.
Fine. Do whatever you want.
[All right. I won't interfere.]
***
Still, it was Ruperi's birthday.
Whatever else, I knew that a person's day of birth should be celebrated grandly.
When I refused to celebrate my birthday because I hated that I had been born into House Teneris, Aplin somehow always made sure to celebrate it.
-Why do you celebrate birthdays? It's pointless.
-Because it's the day you came into this world. We met because you were born, so it should be commemorated.
Back then, I had not understood why birthdays needed to be celebrated.
But after receiving Aplin's congratulations several times, it had become second nature to me.
Now that I had formed a bond with them, I ought to congratulate him too.
And—
"Paul, choose the cake design before Ruperi comes."
"I will choose the design with Paul, so please keep watch for Young Master Ruperi."
"Leave it to me."
Praten and Anchina were trying this hard. I did not want their efforts to come to nothing.
'Aplin and Mirus must have felt the same way.'
So I decided to offer my own opinions.
"Paul likes this design. If we use this one…… Ah!"
WHOOSH—
Disguising it as a gust of wind, I used Mana to blow away the cake designs I did not like.
"Huh? Why is this fabric on the floor?"
While Anchina had turned around, I picked out the fabric I liked best from the ones she had held against my body and dropped it onto the floor.
'How sloppy. They forgot the music.'
I forced Ruperi to sleep, summoned a Wraith, and secretly went to Anchina's room to revise the party plan.
At first, I only intended to offer my opinions as a gesture of congratulations. But as more and more of my ideas were reflected in the plan, I began looking forward to seeing which of my opinions would be included the next day.
'Preparing a surprise birthday party in secret is pretty fun too.'
That night, after putting Ruperi to sleep, I sneaked out of the bedroom again.
Ruperi had warned me when I used Sleep Magic again, but I did not even pretend to listen.
'Go ahead and call Blanc. I can summon wraiths now.'
I could simply escape with a Wraith. I had no idea why I had been so afraid all this time.
Smiling brightly, I examined the dark hallway.
Today, I was planning to go to Praten's bedroom.
After I repeatedly went to Anchina's room to offer my opinions, Anchina—whose under-eyes had grown dark—had handed the party plan to Praten.
-There has to be a ghost in my bedroom! Otherwise, there is no way the plan would keep getting scribbled over!
-Calm down, Anchina. I will keep the plan with me.
Now then, where was Praten's bedroom?
I was judging the direction and wondering which way to go when—
"Are you going to Brother again?"
A dark shadow fell over my head, and an ominous voice I should not have heard drifted down.