Chapter 10: The First Signs of Spring

Spring had arrived, with flowers blooming and all living things regaining their vigor.

As the warm spring came, tea parties were held here and there, and the Empire grew bustling with preparations for the spring festival and various other events.

Yet, I didn’t take a single step outside the mansion, gloomily spending my time only signing off on documents.

Perhaps concerned about me being cooped up in the mansion constantly, the butler standing nearby asked.

“Count, are you not participating in the festival?”

The spring festival.

It was one of the four major festivals of the Avelonia Empire, held once every three years, and was themed around “fate” and “connections.”

As such, on the final day of the spring festival, there was a superstition that partners who watched the fireworks together would receive the blessing of the Goddess of Spring and remain together forever, making it particularly popular among unmarried youths.

Before my regression, driven by the superstition surrounding the spring festival, I had proposed to be Mariel’s partner several times, but was rejected every single time and could only trail behind him from a distance.

The person who ended up partnering with Mariel back then was Mikeron, and even now, the image of the two of them enjoying the fireworks together lingered in my mind as if it were happening right before my eyes.

I didn’t know why such a memory remained so vivid when there were plenty of things I couldn’t recall at all or only remembered in a jumbled mess.

Recalling that scene carefully, I replied in a low, subdued voice.

“Well. I am thinking about it.”

“Is, is that really true!?”

The butler, who had asked in a calm voice, looked visibly startled upon hearing my reply.

He had probably expected an answer saying I wouldn’t go.

The butler’s expectation wasn’t wrong.

Under normal circumstances, I would never attend a festival devoid of any real meaning or emotion, but there was something I wanted to confirm.

‘If time has truly rewound, then that person too…’

Realizing that I wasn’t entirely negative toward the festival, the butler began to gently coax me into going.

“If you go, Count, perhaps you might find someone who moves your heart.”

“There’s no way.”

“Why do you say that so definitely? There are plenty of people in this world. A destined connection is something that can find you anytime, anywhere.”

Though I had already cast aside my lingering regrets, my heart still beat for Mariel.

So, with someone as angelic as him, who had descended from the heavens, there was no way any random person could catch my eye.

Besides, it wasn’t as if there would be anyone who actually wanted to be my partner anyway.

“You know it too, Philip. There are many people in the world, but not many who would accept me.”

“…”

The butler shut his mouth, seemingly at a loss for words.

Just as I thought he would finally remain quiet, after a long silence, he stubbornly continued speaking.

“Still, it’s not a festival that comes around every day. I think it would be good to go at least once.”

“Sure.”

I replied casually and stared intently at the paper in front of me.

The backs of Mariel and Mikeron kept drawing themselves repeatedly in my mind.

Applying force to the pen I held, I drew a large ‘X’ over the illusion of Mikeron flickering before my eyes.

***

Time flowed since then, and the morning of the very first day of the spring festival dawned.

From the very first day, the Count’s mansion was subtly filled with an excited atmosphere.

[What’s gotten into the Count? To even look after lowlies like us.]

[Well, they say he’s changed lately! Ah, what should I wear?]

Out of consideration for the servants to enjoy the festival, I divided the seven days of the festival into shifts and allocated slots for them to go out.

Of course, because the night of the seventh and final day was the ultimate highlight of the festival, I faced a dilemma due to the high volume of volunteers wishing to go out then, but I decided to make it fair by drawing lots.

“Count, are you only participating on the final day of the festival?”

The butler asked with a slightly regretful expression.

My reason for participating in the festival was strictly because there was something I wanted to confirm.

Among those days, choosing the final day was because there was something that could only be seen then.

I didn’t feel any necessity to attend on the other days.

“It’s enough to just head out briefly for that one day. What about you, Philip? Are you fine with just staying in the mansion continuously?”

“What would an old man like me even do out in a place like that?”

“A festival is an event for everyone to enjoy. What does it matter?”

“I feel more comfortable staying at the mansion. So do not worry about manor business, Count, and please enjoy your trip with a light heart.”

The butler smiled gently at me.

‘I’m just going to return immediately after confirming what I need…’

Anticipating that a trace of disappointment might show on that benevolent face pricked my conscience slightly, but I did my best to ignore it and turned my head away.

***

As night fell, the servants who had returned from the festival began to chat excitedly one by one.

It seemed the festival had been quite enjoyable.

The mansion’s atmosphere, which had always been tense, was now warmly buzzing with chatter.

“The mansion is quite noisy today of all days.”

“Is it grating on your ears? Shall I quiet them down?”

At my murmured remark, the butler immediately expressed his readiness to take action.

I quickly waved my hands.

“No, leave them be. There should be days like this too.”

I looked down at the laughing and chatting servants from the top of the stairs.

‘Would it have been better if things had been like this from the very start?’

The current servants had committed no sin whatsoever…

Seeing the terrifying atmosphere I had constructed for so long finally dissipating made my heart feel strangely lighter.

“Are you enjoying yourself, Count?”

“Huh?”

“You seem to be in high spirits compared to usual.”

I felt like I had behaved exactly as usual.

Wondering if the mood I was subconsciously feeling had shown on the outside, the butler had asked a rather absurd question.

I glanced briefly at the butler’s face, then lowered my gaze back down as I replied.

“Well, it’s not bad.”

“I hope that from now on, your path will only be filled with pleasant things, Count.”

His quietly spoken words struck a chord in my heart.

I gripped the handrail tightly as if to break it.

Since his youth, the butler had overseen the overall operations within the Count’s mansion, and he was the only person in this manor who knew my past.

I quietly watched the laughing servants, then spoke.

“Thank you for thinking of me like that.”

“I speak from the bottom of my heart. I hope you become happy, Count.”

I slowly turned my head toward the butler.

And there, I saw the butler smiling softly.

It was quite a warm smile.

Unsure of what to say, I merely stood with my mouth agape.

Just as a solemn mood settled, the sound of someone stepping up the stairs from the lower floor shattered the silence.

The loud footsteps gradually drew nearer before coming to a halt right in front of me.

A servant shorter than me stood before my eyes.

This kid was definitely… the servant I had taken along when I went to the city a few days ago, under the pretext of choosing Mikeron’s gift.

As I immediately furrowed my brow, wondering what was going on, the butler standing beside me asked quickly.

“What is the matter?”

“Um, well… I have a favor I’d like to boldly ask of you, Count.”

“A favor?”

Staring quietly down at him since I had no inkling of what he would have the guts to ask of me, he hesitated but began to speak.

“Th-That… I heard you are going out on the final day of the festival, Count!”

“And?”

What relation did my outing have to his favor?

Before I could even form a plausible guess, the servant bent ninety degrees at the waist as if throwing caution to the wind and pleaded desperately.

“P-Please allow me to attend to you on that day, Count! I will serve you with all my heart!”

“What?”

So that was it; he apparently wanted to go out on the final day, which was the festival’s highlight.

Despite stuttering from extreme nervousness, the request itself was incredibly bold.

“I’m sorry, but if you want to change your scheduled day off, go talk to another servant who is going out that day and swap dates.”

“It’s not that!”

The servant flustered and held up a small stick with its tip painted pink.

Wondering what that was, I looked at the butler, who explained.

“This is… the lot from the drawing you ordered, Count. Since he was already assigned to the final day of the festival, it seems his request isn’t simply because he wants to go out on that day.”

Hearing the butler’s words, I turned my gaze back to the servant.

The servant was staring at me with his bright, sparkling eyes.

Staring into his clear, clean eyes reminded me of Mariel.

Feeling a strange flutter in my chest for some reason, I scowled.

“I’m sorry, but I do not accompany myself with servants when going out. I only took you along last time because my ankle was in bad shape.”

“I-Is that so…”

The servant immediately deflated, his posture slumping upon hearing my answer.

“In the first place, why do you want to go with me? If something displeases me, I might stop enjoying the festival and take my anger out on you, you know?”

The reason I didn’t bring servants along was because it was simply more comfortable without them.

As I smiled bitterly, recalling the images of servants freezing solid and not knowing what to do around me, the servant in front of me spoke without a shred of hesitation.

“But you wouldn’t do that, would you?”

The moment trust filled the servant’s eyes, a corner of my dry, hollow heart grew strangely warm.

Though the bizarre sensation felt awkward, oddly, it didn’t feel bad.

“It won’t even be fun if you go with me.”

“That doesn’t matter! I just wanted to repay you somehow, Count…”

The servant dropped his head, his voice trailing off.

‘He isn’t crying, is he?’

Because I was terrible at soothing a crying child, I felt flustered.

It really would be boring if he went with me.

Letting out a deep sigh, I asked him.

“What is your name?”

“Noah. It’s Noah.”

Noah lifted his head again and answered seriously.

Why did he want to attend to me so desperately?

I didn’t know the reason, but since it wasn’t a difficult task, I thought I should take him along just this once.

Because if I didn’t, he would likely keep pestering me like this.

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