Translator: Riven

Editor: Lord Immortal

August"s proposal to celebrate Cecily"s, Maria"s and my birthdays together at my house was accepted.

To tell my servants to prepare for the upcoming party, we went to my house through the "Gate".

"You came back very early today, s.h.i.+n." (Merlin)

"You"ve also brought your friends home today." (Melinda)

"I"m back, grandpa and grandma." (s.h.i.+n)

Grandpa and grandma welcomed us as we arrived.

"Welcome back, Your Highness. Would you mind not standing at the door? You"ve blocked my servants" way out."

I hastened to look out of the window. 

There was a huge crowd in front of my house and were unable to go in and out of the house as we pleased.

Servants mainly used the back door, however, it seemed that a crowd was gathered there too.

"I got it! I"ll take emergency measures as soon as possible." (s.h.i.+n)

"Come in first. Why have these people gathered here?" (Melinda)

August explained the reason to grandma. After hearing about such a strange scene, grandma who knew nothing about the situation was now wondering why we came to my house together.

"Isn"t my birthday in December?" (s.h.i.+n)

"Yes, it is." (Melinda)

"Cecily"s birthday is also on the same day and Maria"s birthday is close to mine too, so we decided to celebrate our birthdays together." (s.h.i.+n)

"Well, I see." (Melinda)

Grandma was surprised to learn that Cecily"s birthday was on the same day as mine.

"Uncle Dis, Michel-san, Uncle Tom and others may come to our birthday party, so we thought it is better to hold it in grandma"s house. As it will take us some time to prepare for the upcoming party, we decided to talk to you about it first." 

"It"s not a problem but is it really alright to celebrate your birthday in someone else"s home?" (Melinda)

Grandma didn"t mind us holding the party in her home, instead, she was more worried about the views of Cecily and Maria"s families.

As n.o.bles, wouldn"t they be disdained and looked down upon by others if they didn"t even celebrate their children"s birthdays at their own homes?

"It"s not really a problem. Rather, I"ll be regarded as an odd girl if I don"t celebrate my birthday together with s.h.i.+n"s and refuse Wolford"s wishes." (Cecily)

"Yes. I think others will envy you." (August)

"Also, His Majesty will come to s.h.i.+n"s birthday party, and my servants will find it a little difficult and overwhelming to welcome him." (Cecily)

"My servants will face similar problems too. They"ll be under intolerable pressure." (Maria)

Servants in Cecily and Maria"s home would be under huge pressure if Uncle Dis went to their houses.

However, Uncle Dis usually stayed at my house. Therefore, my servants had gotten used to his presence in the house. Sometimes, they even treated him rather casually, but Uncle Dis didn"t mind at all.

He seemed to be quite relaxed here. I often saw him drinking a coldlight beer, getting drunk and sleeping on the sofa in the living room.

To me, he was just my uncle, but it wasn"t like that for others.

In Earls.h.i.+de, he was a famous monarch who loved his people, made the country richer and more developed and refused to sacrifice the country"s interests for his individual desires.

I only learned that after arriving at the capital.

"So will it be okay if Uncle Dis comes to my house?" (s.h.i.+n)

"Well, does that boy think anyone can come here?" (Melinda)

"I"m really sorry. I"ll discuss with my father about it in detail after I return  home." (August)

Grandma treated the king of a large country in such a way. Even Mr. Olgrand, the chief magician, paid obeisance to her, so did August. Perhaps there was no one in this country who dared to disobey grandma.

"However, will Uncle Dis feel at home here?" (s.h.i.+n)

"We"ve been friends for more than 20 years now; he will feel alright here." (Melinda)

"Grandma, you have no inhibitions about expressing your opinions. You have even travelled with Uncle Dis before. Shouldn"t people treat royalty with great caution and respect in normal circ.u.mstances?" (s.h.i.+n) 

Hearing my words, everyone stared at me in great surprise.

What?

"s.h.i.+n? Are you dumb?" (August)

"s.h.i.+n"s terribly ill. Claude, take s.h.i.+n to his room for a rest."  (August)

"OK. Got it!" (Claude)

"s.h.i.+n, tell us if you are ill. Don"t push yourself too hard." (Cecily)

"What? Cecily, you also think I am sick?" (s.h.i.+n)

Why did they think I was ill?

"But s.h.i.+n always says we should treat royalty cautiously." (Maria)

"Right. I"ve almost forgotten I am a member of the royal family too."  (August)

"August, please don"t think that way." (Cecily)

Well, I see.

Normally, I didn"t care about royalty and their formalities, so everyone thought I was ill when I said we should treat royalty with caution.

They have gone too far.

I had a particular reason for treating Uncle Dis and other royalty that way.

"We have different considerations and reasons for such behaviour, that"s why I said that." (s.h.i.+n)

"Different considerations?" (Cecily)

"Yes. I didn"t know Uncle Dis was the king until my last birthday. I had always treated him as my uncle coming to see us once in a while and he"d also treated me as his nephew." (s.h.i.+n)

It was because of this that I"ve always regarded August and May as my cousins.

"But you"re different. He was already the prince when you first saw him." (s.h.i.+n)

"Really? Don"t scare me." (Cecily)

"Wasn"t it you who were surprised at first?" (s.h.i.+n)

"I"m worrying about you. s.h.i.+n, are you ill?" (Cecily)

Although it"s good to have someone worried about me, I don"t know why you think I am crazy.

It was also my fault.

While I was reflecting on my mistakes, grandma talked about Uncle Dis.

"He was the prince of our country at that time and I did treat him with caution at first, but he then started to call me "s.h.i.+fu" during the tour. We became close friends soon after." (Melinda)

"Well, I see. So that"s why Uncle Dis calls grandma "Melinda s.h.i.+fu". (s.h.i.+n)
"Yes." (Melinda)