Al smiled as he led me to where the tea party was hosted. I stared at the stairway made out of ice and followed him.

"I'm happy that you agreed to come. I had thought only spiteful nobles would appear but I guess I was lucky." I awkwardly chuckled at his remark. Wasn't this whole situation his fault? Whatever it was, I was bored enough to come, so I hope it'll be worth it. 

Al opened a door and stepped inside. I peeked in and saw a lot of young aristocrats mingling around a wide table. The table was set with treats, tea, and silverware. I saw a boy sip his tea, look up at me, and promptly choke on his tea. 

The loud coughing made the rest stare at the door and look at me. I let out a shaky breath before stepping inside with a smile, greeting anyone I recognized. I didn't remember their names so I kept the greeting short. I looked for somewhere to sit and saw Al wave at me. He patted a seat right by him and I walked there, sitting down. I began pouring a cup of tea while he spoke.

"Great! Now that everyone is here, I want to give everyone my apology." The room grew tense as Al stood up. He cleared his throat.

"First of all, I want to apologize to Leonard Viltach for saying that your mother has slept with every married man in the nation. I might've exaggerated and should've said that she's slept with fifteen married men instead. Please accept my apology." Al gestured with his hand and an attendant walked up to the pale-faced aristocrat and handed him a small gift. 

"And Erina, I shouldn't have revealed that your two cousins had not only had intercourse but also gotten the other pregnant. I hope for a lovely child without any health issues." He gave the red-faced girl a bright smile.

"... Jainette... Houen..." He kept going with the names, making sure to give them all gifts and leaving them shame-faced. I had to hide my face so as not to laugh out loud. He was obviously doing this on purpose. The other guests were probably expecting an apology and maybe even getting a few insults in. But he had different plans.

"And lastly but most importantly... Marie." The girl who wore a bright yellow hat narrowed her eyes at Al. "Don't. You. Dare. If you repeat everything, I will make you regret it." Al blinked repeatedly. And then he cupped his cheek in befuddlement. "What? I merely wanted to apologize for saying that your actual father is your grandfather. Are you perhaps... embarrassed?" Al finally revealed the sly smile that had been threatening to appear. He burst into laughter as Mary's face steamed. 

She gritted her teeth. And then she stood up. Half of the nobles followed her lead.

"You dug so much dirt on us, did you not think to hide your tracks?" Al stopped laughing.

"I don't have much to hide—" A girl cut him off.

"Al confessed to me by giving me a three-hundred-year-old fruit. The fruit got too moldy and ruined my house." Al's face colored. He opened and closed his mouth, stammering.

"T-that was supposed to be secret." The girl glared at him. "You should've thought of that before you gave me an expired fruit. I can still smell it to this day." Al stared at the ground. "I didn't know that..."

A girl with dark skin crossed her arms. "He confessed to me too."

"Yeah, me as well." A short girl with crumbs and whip cream on her cheek raised her hand.

"I remember getting a creepy letter about how much he loved me." A girl who flaunted her expensive earrings flipped her hair back.

"He gave me flowers when he confessed and I had an allergic reaction..." A timid girl mumbled as she looked at the floor.

Many girls bravely stood up and revealed Al's attempt to confess to them. Al's face grew impossible red at the end of it, but there was still one girl left. Marie walked up to Al, her hat swaying as her heels clicked, she pointed a finger at his chest and narrowed her eyes. 

"And you confessed to me too." Al averted his gaze. "It was a long time ago." Marie smiled. "But it was sincere. I still remember how nervous and embarrassed you were. It almost made me feel guilty saying no. But now, I couldn't care less." She had thoroughly humiliated the boy, just as he did her. He had gotten a taste of his own medicine, and seeing his bitter expression, it was bad. 

I couldn't help it. I doubled over and a loud laugh escaped me. I could feel gazes but I ignored them as I continued to laugh. It had been impossible to keep it in after all that. Al digging up dirt on others was funny, but being exposed for confessing to every girl in the room? It was too much.

My stomach started hurting and I felt a tear roll down my face. I audibly said 'ow, ow' before chuckling. That was good. I thought I'd be bored but this was almost too much fun. I saw all the guests stare at me with raised eyebrows. Al looked befuddled too. But his expression changed to amusement and he chuckled too. The other guest let out snorts and wheezes as they began laughing at the ridiculous situation. 

Once they stopped, the mood wasn't as hostile anymore. Al shook his head. "I'm sorry." His apology seemed genuine and the aristocrats forgave him after giving him a light hit. I saw one of the shorter boys give him a hard jab which Al winced at. But all was forgiven. 

I enjoyed another cup of tea as I talked to the girl next to me. She suggested that I try one of the local sweets, and I took one and bit into it. I felt my mouth explode with sweetness and shivered with delight. I gobbled as many of them as I could get my hands on before I felt nausea hit me. I put a hand over my mouth. Oh no. 

I excused myself and ran out of the room, looking for a bathroom. I tried opening every door I could see, but they were either locked or not a bathroom. I found the staircase leading to the first floor and nearly fell all the steps but caught myself and kept running. 

Where the hell is the bathroom?!

I turned and ran into a hallway and by the third door, I had found it. I quickly closed the door, removed my hand from my mouth, and collapsed on the toilet, spewing everything out of my stomach. Ugh, all those delicious treats for nothing. I groaned as I stood up. I still felt nauseous even after and my head was throbbing. I washed my face as I tried to fix my appearance. I left the bathroom shortly, feeling horrible. I'll take it easy with stuffing my face next time...

I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking and nearly bumped into someone. "Ah, sorry—" I began but stopped. My wide eyes met with a pair of green eyes. Ru, preparing to side-step me, froze as well. He seemed surprised by my appearance. 

"Rael..." 

"Um, Ru, how have you been?" I asked but I was looking away, planning on how to escape this situation. I shouldn't have encountered Ru again, not until I began school. So why was he here?! This was bad. 

Ru shifted his feet as he spoke. "I've been surprisingly well after your debut." Ugh. He knew. I glanced at one of the walls as I forced a smile. "Oh really? What a coincidence."

"It is. It's even more of a coincidence that it happens only when I wear the ring that you gave me. Almost as if it was made to be worn by me." I finally looked at Ru and saw the suspicion on his face.

"Why? Why make up an excuse to dance so you could cure my malady? Was it so that I owed you a favor? Or perhaps..." His eyes narrowed, brows furrowed and lips turned down. "Was it because you pity me?" I furiously shook my head. I mean, he was right about the favor, but I couldn't admit that!

"I had came upon it in an old book. It mentioned how to cure mein and so I decided to give it to you." He seemed confused.

"Why would you just give it to me? Without a price? There's a catch, isn't there? There's always a catch." I furiously shook my head.

"There isn't. I merely wanted to help you and perhaps get to know you." So that I can manipulate you into not killing me. "And seeing as you've already gotten better, my 'catch' is done." I playfully winked. 

Ru pursued his lip. And then he put a hand on his face as he deeply sighed. "You are foolish."

What? 

"Foolishly kind. I don't think I can ever repay you." I felt my cheeks grow warm. I hadn't even been the one to discover this, it was the heroine. It felt wrong to be (sort of) complimented by Ru when the actual inventor was Ophelia. 

I shook my head. "You don't have to. I don't think I could bear it if anyone owed me their life." Especially since your life is about to be ruined in a few years...

Ru hesitated. And then he walked up to me. He grabbed my hands and muttered something.

"What?"

"I will help you too then." Help me? With what? Ru looked determined as he nodded. "If you can find a cure to mein, I can do the same." Something about his words made me grow worried. What did he mean by that? Had I forgotten something? 

"Ru! Where did you go?" A voice called for Ru and he let go of his grip. He sighed. "I have to go back now. But..." He flashed me a grin as he waved me goodbye. "Thank you, again." And then I watched him run to Kain who'd been standing by the entrance of the hallway. Kain glanced at me before he started scolding Ru, who laughed in return. 

I was still stuck in place. The words that Ru had just said made a bad feeling emerge. Had I forgotten something? Why were his words so ominous? I had to think of this from a third perspective.

What was the difference between me and other nobles and royals? I'm an illegitimate child, born of a commoner mother. And yet that small difference made others treat me, or Rael in this case, vastly different. The bullying, the cold shoulder, and lastly, the distance between me, Heath, and Wei. There had to be something more to Rael than just being an illegitimate child. Why else would he be suffering this much?

All of a sudden, the memories rushed back to me. Like it was waiting to be unraveled. And I thought of something I'd read previously. The reason why illegitimate children were universally hated were because they were seen as a curse. For on their 14th birthday, they all pass away on their awakening day.

I drew in a cold breath. I was doomed to die on my fourteenth birthday. I felt my headache grow worse as I clutched it. I stared at the ground wide-eyed. How did I manage to raise death flags by just existing?! 

Soon, I left the tea party and headed back to my country. I stared out of the carriage window, pondering on a solution. But nothing. I closed my eyes and sighed. There were only 11 months left until my awakening. If I couldn't find a solution, I was going to die.