Chapter 331- The Party’s Over

“Finally, the greetings are over.”

“I guess so.”

“Well, that was a lot of work.”

“Yes, it was.”

“What’s the flow of the party after this?”

“Who knows…”

After the greeting was over, we were given time for a break, though only for a few minutes. I tried to manage Sophie’s mood within that time, but it seemed difficult.

“I’m sorry…. I know that Zero nii-sama is not at fault in this matter. I know how unreasonable it is for me to take it out on you like this…. Please leave me alone for a moment. I will return to my normal routine during this break.”

Sophie said and walked out of the room away from me.

Putting myself in the opposite position, I could understand Sophie’s feelings a little. I would be quite annoyed if Sophie had a fiancée without my permission.

However, Shana is good friends with both me and Sophie. And Sophie has feelings for me as a man and a woman. At this point, I guess I can’t really relate to the feelings of the two of us even if we were on opposite sides of the fence.

“I think it’s about time you two…huh? Where’s Sophia?”

“Um…”

Judson nii-sama came to tell me that break time was over. I was in a hurry to think of an excuse for Sophie not being here with me when Sophie came back into the room.

“I’m sorry. I was just fixing my makeup.”

“Now that we are all here, let’s go.”

When Sophie came back to the room, she looked so normal that I was scared. No, rather, she was smiling more than usual.

“Zero nii-sama, what’s wrong? Let’s go.”

“Ah, ah…”

Although I felt eerie about Sophie, I followed them and entered the party hall again.

“Thank you for attending the party we are hosting.”

And as soon as we returned to the party venue, Father and Mother appeared on stage and began to speak.

“As you all know, the reason for holding this party this time is to replace the lordship of Adolfo with his eldest son, Andrei. There are many reasons for this, but I am confident that Andrei will be able to handle it.”

After that, Mother also spoke lightly and the two of them got off the stage. And now Brother Andrei appeared on stage.

“I’m Adolfo Andrei, the sixth lord of the Adolfo domain.”

When Brother Andrei appeared and greeted them, everyone raised their glasses.

“I would like to thank all of you for coming to this celebration of mine. Well then, cheers!”

“””Cheers!”””

I think Brother Andrei was supposed to say more, but did his nervousness cause him to lose his words? Father also seemed to be frowning.

Father and mother returned to the stage, and those who had taken a sip from their glasses went to greet Andrei one after another. It seems that there is an order for this as there was for me. By the way, since we greeted him once, shouldn’t we go to him? But that’s not the same thing.

“Zeros-sama, may I have a word with you?”

“Yes. May I help you?”

A girl of the same age, who had gone to the stage to say hello and returned, spoke to me.

The reason we went to greet them first was to tell them that Zeros and Sophia were also attending this party.

“Sophia-sama, may I have a word with you?”

“Yes.”

And Father and Mother have strictly told us that if they want to talk to us, we should go along with them without refusing. This time it was a party for Brother Andrei, and they don’t want me to bring back any discomfort where it doesn’t belong. So they asked me to be sociable, even though I felt bad for the two of them.

After that I never spoke to Sophie again and the party was over. The girls invited me to their house several times, but I didn’t agree idly. I felt that I would be on the wrong side of the situation if I refused outright, but if I accepted, it seemed as if they would decide on the day of the party on the spot. So it was difficult to find a way to lose. The only thing that helped was that there was no complicated dance.

Knock-knock…

“Sophie, are you awake?”

I knocked softly on Sophie’s door in the middle of the night. I had really wanted to spend some time with Sophie earlier, but it was after the party and it was difficult to find the time, so it was after midnight.

“I’m awake. What is it?”

“Would you like to go for a walk, just the two of us?”

“…Sure.”

Sophie and I went for a walk in the dark night.

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