By Zephyria 
I put Aska down next to me and got up to approach Mahir. No, I almost went, but then I realized and turned back to offer my hand to Aska.
Together with Aska, who placed his hand on mine, I went to Mahir and greeted him with a smile.
“Brother.”
“Kyle, happy seventeenth birthday.”
“Thank you for coming despite your busy schedule.”
“I’m not so busy that I can’t celebrate my only brother’s birthday.”
Mahir smiled back and gave me a light hug. I turned my gaze to Crown Princess Nadia, who had come with him, and she nodded.
“Your Highness, it’s been a while. Congratulations on your seventeenth birthday.”
Nadia, who wore a see-through veil, seemed a little more mature than the last time I saw her. We used to run around in the garden together when we were young, but due to an unpleasant incident in the past, we had become awkward.
“Thank you for coming, Nadia.”
My true feelings were different, but I greeted her with a bright smile so that it wouldn’t show. Then Mahir turned his gaze to Aska, who was quietly next to me. In order, it was Aska’s turn to greet him.
I had told him not to open his mouth no matter what, so Aska would never speak. I looked at Mahir and said in a troubled tone, as if whispering very softly.
“He’s been very sick for the past few days, and his throat is severely damaged. So he can’t even speak.”
At my words, Mahir, as well as Nadia, who was listening to us next to him, looked surprised. Mahir looked at him with a worried expression, and Aska, who was holding my hand, trembled and bowed, as if he felt the gaze.
He said he was confident in his acting of pretending to be sick, and this was enough.
Although I didn’t mention it specifically, Mahir and Nadia knew that Aska was under Sealing Magic, so after a brief greeting, they didn’t ask for more details.
“Isn’t it hard for you to keep standing?”
Nadia looked at Aska and asked in a worried voice. I could feel Aska flinching and being slightly startled. Thinking that he was having a hard time, Nadia looked at me and opened her mouth.
“He seems to be having a hard time. Would it be okay for him to rest with me while you talk?”
I was uneasy about leaving Aska alone, but since he couldn’t speak anyway, I didn’t think there would be a problem. It’s not like he’s going far, just sitting and resting nearby…
It seemed better for Aska to be with Nadia than with Mahir, so I nodded. Then I quietly whispered in Aska’s ear.
“Come to me if you can’t stand it.”
Aska nodded slowly at my words.
“May I offer my hand?”
Nadia asked again, looking at me. When I nodded, she carefully took Aska’s hand and sat down a little away.
As I was quietly watching Aska and Nadia, I heard Mahir sigh. I turned my head and saw Mahir asking me in a small voice.
“I heard you told Amir to dance?”
“You’ve already heard about that?”
“Already? The rumors have already spread. How can you humiliate him in such a public place?”
“No, he asked me directly to give him a punishment, so what else could I do?”
When I said that as if I was wronged, Mahir sighed again and muttered.
“Well, it’s better to just brush it off like this… Good job.”
“It was a little pitiful to see the Duke turn pale. He lost his land because of his son, and he was publicly humiliated… The kid needs to grow up quickly.”
As I clicked my tongue and said that, Mahir looked at me with a strange expression. It was as if he was asking if I was the one to talk, so I slipped away from his gaze.
“I thought you were doing the banquet in a unique way, but it was because of your wife?”
“Well, yeah… It’s hard for him to sit. The second part will start soon. You’re leaving, right? You’re busy.”
At my question, Mahir turned his head and looked at Aska and Nadia, who were there, and smiled.
“I’m going to leave for now, but I’m going to come back with Nadia wearing a mask. She said it would be fun, and she made the mask herself and insisted that we had to go together.”
“Nadia? She made the mask herself?”
“Yeah. So today is a day off. Thanks to that, I haven’t been able to sleep properly for the past few days.”
“No wonder you look tired. But aren’t you going to give me a present?”
When I held out my hand, Mahir tapped my palm with his fingertips.
“I recently discovered a gold mine. Would that be enough?”
“Huh… I already have that.”
When I muttered as if I was disappointed, Mahir narrowed his eyes.
“No absolution.”
“Isn’t that too much? It’s your only brother’s birthday.”
“I had so much trouble after giving you that two years ago.”
Mahir shook his head, looking disgusted as if he remembered what happened then. On my birthday two years ago, Mahir gave me absolution as I wished. There was no such thing as actual absolution, it was just a verbal promise to forgive me once no matter what I did wrong.
I was going to save it for a big deal later, but it just so happened that I accidentally set fire to Jihad’s garden shortly after my birthday, so I wasted my absolution.
“I said it was a mistake.”
“Anyway, no.”
“Tch.”
As I grumbled, avoiding his gaze, Mahir reached out and patted my shoulder.
“Just be satisfied with this this year. Count Fawaz found it, and it seems to have a considerable amount of reserves and good profitability.”
Count Fawaz was in charge of leading the army and dealing with the seeds of strife scattered in the rocky desert. Come to think of it, I was going to go to Mahir a while ago to ask about the location of the nearest subjugation force…
I impulsively thought about it because I was in a bad mood at the time, but I had completely forgotten about it. If I had really gone on an expedition, would I have gone to the Count?
“Okay, thank you.”
I reluctantly gave up on the absolution and answered, and Mahir asked.
“Are you really thankful?”
“Of course. I’m very thankful. I’ll make a gold crown for you to wear with the first gold mined.”
“No thanks.”
“Then I’ll make a ring for you. A set with Nadia’s.”
“That’s a little tempting.”
As we were whispering, people were slowly gathering around us. While Mahir turned his head and exchanged greetings with other nobles, I looked for Aska.
I thought everything would be fine, but he had already put both hands out of his clothes and was eating something with a large plate. Watching him put his hands full of snacks into the veil, I couldn’t help but feel dumbfounded.
What kind of sickly beautiful girl in the world eats snacks like that? I wondered why he was suddenly doing that, and then I saw Nadia was constantly bringing Aska things to eat.
I quietly approached and stood next to Aska.
“Is it good?”
At my question, Aska raised his head and looked at me. He didn’t seem surprised.
“He must have been very hungry.”
Nadia said with a proud expression, like an older sister who had taken care of her younger sibling’s meal. It was true that he didn’t have time to eat anything today. No, but Aska doesn’t need to eat in the first place…
Anyway, the paused banquet resumed, and Mahir left the banquet hall with Nadia a little later. Aska kept dozing off because he had eaten something, so I ended the first part earlier than planned, and then there was a break before the second part started.
“Isn’t she a really nice person?”
“…”
Aska threw off his veil and veil and was talking about Nadia, who had given him food earlier. Seeing that, I felt complicated.
“What if someone tells you to follow them because they’ll give you food?”
“Do you think I’m Ann?”
Aska, who immediately understood the intention of the question, glared at me and showed that he was in a bad mood. So this time, I asked in a more roundabout way.
“What if Nadia bakes bread and asks you to taste it?”
“I have to go.”
“…”
What should I do with this? I looked at Aska with a serious expression and asked again.
“What did you two talk about?”
“What did we talk about? I couldn’t even talk. She just kept bringing me things to eat. Anyway, she seemed like a really nice person.”
“…Still, you can’t follow her. No matter how nice she is.”
Whether he was listening to me or not, Aska put the snacks on the table into his mouth and mumbled something else.
“Are we leaving now?”
“We can… Or should we take a walk in the back garden and then go in? No one will come that way once the banquet starts.”
“Then let’s pack a lot of food and go. I saw a lot of things that looked delicious earlier, so let’s go get some.”
Aska handed me the empty snack bowl he had eaten. Did he mean to put it in here? I was speechless.
“You’re still learning, but haven’t you read a lot of books related to etiquette?”
At my question, Aska nodded.
“I’ve read a lot.”
“Then why are you acting like this?”
“There’s no one here anyway.”
“…”
No, I’m also a prince… How much more does he have to learn to respect me? But he listened to me well today and stayed still, so I decided to let it go.