Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Inviting Friends to the Birthday Party
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Mayches was in a terribly foul mood.
He glanced up once at the high ceiling of the Repitelips Academy cafeteria with deeply irritated eyes.
Over the weekend, as always, Mayches had returned home without any delay.
Ever since Aiel had started building up some stamina, she no longer waited for him in her room but instead stood in front of the teleport circle, eagerly awaiting his arrival.
Lately, seeing her like that had become one of Mayches' greatest joys.
This time too, upon spotting Aiel standing in front of the circle, Mayches broke into a wide smile and scooped her up into his arms.
He slowly spun her around once, careful not to make her dizzy, then set her back down and gently pulled her into his embrace as she stepped into his arms.
Normally, if the hug lasted even a little too long, Aiel would push him away, gasping that she couldn't breathe. But that day, she stayed quietly nestled in his arms.
Mayches had a gut feeling that Aiel was about to say something utterly ridiculous, but even so, he didn't let go of her.
To be honest, he wanted to beg her to let him hold her just a bit longer, promising he'd do anything for her.
But the request Aiel made that day was one that even Mayches—who would gladly grind beans into red bean paste if she wished—found bewildering.
"Oppa, for your birthday this time, let's invite your friends and have a small party."
Mayches subtly released Aiel from his embrace and looked at his little sister with trembling eyes.
"Suddenly...?"
"It might feel sudden to you, but this is the conclusion I've reached after a lot of thought."
Mayches shot a questioning look at Grenji, who was standing behind Aiel.
Grenji just chuckled dryly, giving no signals whatsoever. In the end, Mayches called him aside.
"Grenji, come see me for a moment."
"Is this what they mean by 'when whales fight, the shrimp's back gets broken'? At my age, I can't even straighten my bones anymore."
Grumbling like that, Grenji followed Mayches into his study, where he brazenly declared,
"Since it was Lady Aiel's decision, I had no authority to stop her."
Mayches rubbed one side of his refined face and let out a sigh.
"If you don't stop her at your level, who will? How am I supposed to tell Aiel it's not possible?"
"How am I supposed to tell the young lady it's not possible? Don't push onto your butler something even the family head can't manage."
Mayches briefly wondered if he should let the butler get away with occasionally forgetting his place like this.
But the butler was just shrewdly playing the shameless, unflappable card.
The warm atmosphere in the Rudelriz household right now was perfect for Aiel to grow up innocently.
It wasn't by chance that Aiel, who had always seemed insecure and wore a dark expression, had become so bright in personality. Mayches had made her that way.
Upon closer inspection, Grenji merely turned a blind eye to Aiel's schemes but handled everything else impeccably.
In the end, Mayches dry-washed his face.
"You know what kind of guys my friends are."
"Just invite them privately and quietly."
"You think those guys even have such a thing as a purely private matter?"
"Has there ever been anything impossible for you, family head? This lowly servant was unaware."
Mayches realized Grenji was already on Aiel's side.
A year ago, during the "Lady Aiel Fasting Uproar," Grenji had subtly taken her side, saying to Mayches, "Why not just close your eyes and head to the academy? Lady Aiel seems to have her reasons..."
This old butler loved watching Aiel lead Mayches around by the nose.
With exhaustion plain on his face, Mayches waved dismissively at Grenji, as if annoyed.
"Fine. I'll handle it."
"And how exactly? You wouldn't stoop to bullying Lady Aiel into submission, would you?"
"..."
"Like... wrestling her down or something?"
Was it really okay to just let this go? Mayches stared at Grenji without blinking and spoke again.
"I'll invite them. But those guys are all busy anyway, so they'll probably turn it down even if I ask. I can just tell Aiel that."
And so, Mayches kept his promise to Aiel.
"I'll at least bring it up. But my friends all have their own schedules, so the chances of them not being able to come are high. I hate to say this to you, Aiel, but don't get your hopes up too much."
"I guess there's no helping it... Still, you have to at least try."
Aiel looked a little downcast but didn't stubbornly insist on making the impossible happen.
After that, Mayches spent joyful time with Aiel as usual, recharging his energy to last the week.
Then he returned to Repitelips and diligently went about academy life until, on a sunny afternoon, he sat at a cafeteria table surrounded by his five friends.
He tried to play it off as no big deal.
"For my birthday, I'm just gonna quietly cut a cake all by myself like a loser—who'd even wanna come?"
That was the moment. The sound of teacups shattering echoed sporadically through the cafeteria.
*Clang—crash—*
*Crash-clang—*
It was the Repitelips students, pretending not to listen while clearly eavesdropping.
"...Oh dear, my apologies. My hand slipped."
"Hehe, I suddenly got dizzy there..."
They broke the brief silence that followed and resumed their elegant smiles. They could forgive each other's rudeness.
Because they were all thinking the same thing.
*'Count Rudelriz is throwing a birthday party?'*
Mayches Rudelriz. The rising star of the continent Ilenaias.
With magic skills that brooked no rivals, he had been one of the figures called "the future of Ilenaias" since childhood.
But after the assassination of the Count and Countess Rudelriz, he was said to have gone half-mad and turned into a wastrel. That was the assessment until about four years ago.
One day, Mayches had charged in, declaring he would heal his sister—even though temples had washed their hands of her.
Everyone clicked their tongues, convinced the young mage had finally lost it. But soon after, those same people were biting their own tongues.
As expected of a genius. In the process of treating his sister's condition, Mayches achieved numerous research breakthroughs.
The crowning one was, without a doubt, developing a cure for "Magic Addiction," the chronic plague of Ilenaias folk.
Monstrous beasts had begun appearing in Ilenaias at some point, becoming a massive headache.
Their savage ferocity, sharp fangs, and claws were problems enough, but the real issue was the energy they released upon death.
It accumulated in people's bodies like a toxin, claiming countless lives as the primary killer.
The wealthy could periodically buy expensive holy water to counteract beast poisoning, but there were far more poor people in the world.
Countless commoners died. And even knowing this, the empire and kingdoms were powerless.
They could gather priests to purify heavily contaminated areas or dilute the chronically undersupplied holy water to occasionally distribute to the masses—that was the extent of it.
But then!
Mayches Rudelriz had plopped down a cure for Magic Addiction right there one day.
Panraia. One pill, and no more worries about Magic Addiction for life. Its meaning: "White Flame."
White Flame was derived from Aiel's name.
It bore the same meaning as her name, but Mayches had originally wanted to simply call it Aiel.
"This cure came about thanks to Aiel."
However, in a flash, he envisioned all of Ilenaias casually uttering her name and immediately scrapped the idea.
Thus, it was named Panraia.
The Rudelriz Family raked in a fortune from it. No one on the continent didn't need it.
And that was just the beginning. Mayches was proficient in countless other ailments. Families with the sick scrambled to somehow secure his services.
Yet when the Rudelriz Family had nearly crumbled, most people had severed ties with the young boy themselves.
Now, those who could receive his aid were exceedingly few.
Even if they managed to invite him, his fees were astronomical. So people pinned their hopes on the next generation instead of their own mistake-ridden one.
"Daughter, son—you must become Mayches Rudelriz's lover, friend... anything, no matter what."
And the children would chorus back,
"You want us to barge into the Rudelriz estate somehow?"
"..."
It was exactly that.
People rarely even had chances to meet Mayches in the first place.
It was as if the estate was coated in honey; he seldom emerged and stayed holed up.
He'd only appear at the imperial family's twice-yearly banquets, dazzling everyone with his handsome face before vanishing like a ghost.
People sighed.
"Is Count Rudelriz planning to live his whole life alone? What a waste of that face!"
Then, out of nowhere, Mayches enrolled at Repitelips Academy. The continent flipped out.
The following semester after his enrollment, Repitelips' admission rate skyrocketed through the roof.
In the unprecedented competition, even ladies and young lords from decent kingdoms couldn't get a foot in.
Half of those gunning for Mayches had entered the academy scheming to beg him—through "our mom," "our dad," "our aunt's cousin's in-law's nephew"—to take a look at their family's illness.
The other half had keenly sensed that Mayches' current fame was "a drop in the bucket" compared to the future wealth and honor he'd amass, entering with ambitious intent to build connections early.
That brief "madman" phase in the past? A genius like him was bound to have some eccentric quirks.
And now—this genius Mayches was throwing a birthday party!
Moreover, who were the ones he was inviting?
Eyes sparkling, people turned to the other five figures seated at Mayches' table.
Those each boasting their own radiant appearances.