[3rd Person POV]

Last year was an especially busy year in the noble society.

With the celebration of the Crown Prince, the first son of Duke Lorya, first son of Duke Varion, and the Royal Guard Commander's first son's special 15th birthday, all nobles have been spending most of their time preparing for their birthday parties.

None would dare come into a celebration banquet that all the influential high ranking nobles and the royal family attend without adequate preparations, and thus, all nobles who sought to establish themselves, expand their networks, and introduce themselves to those of higher rankings had to put in extra efforts into their appearance and preparations. Perhaps, if they were lucky, they could also establish a relationship with the future leaders of the kingdom, the children who will turn into adults themselves.

And this year was not that different.

Many flowers of high society also celebrated their 15th birthday this year, including the beautiful first daughter of Duke Silium, the first daughter of grand magus, first daughter of the royal guard commander, and the rising star of the noble society and first daughter of Marquis Luminum. However, there was one in particular that everyone paid attention to and focused their preparations for.

The birthday of the famous Lady Alterisa von Lorya, first daughter of Duke Lorya, fiancee of the crown princess, owner of the extremely popular company in all of Arcadia "Eden", and the most beautiful young lady of the kingdom.

Her appearance alone would have attracted many to come for the chance of catching a glimpse of her otherworldly beauty, or perhaps even a smile if they were lucky.

However, her position as the first daughter of the duke and the crown princess and her achievements in the business world that have made many acknowledge her business and company as not just a result of a rich nobles daughter's hobby, but a result of ingenuity, hard work, and genius, and her well-known kindness, magnanimity, and compassion had made her fifteenth birthday into a kingdom-wide event that is celebrated by nobles and commoners alike.

It was a truly grand event, and an extremely important one for the noble's society.

Core family members of famous ducal and marquis households, such as Duke Varion, Duke Silium, Marquis Luminum, as well as members of similarly prominent families such as Lord Raeven and Lady Magus were set to come.

After all, it is well-known that it wasn't only the relationship between their households that were close, but the relationship between Lady Alterisa herself and the children of those families were also extremely close.

And needless to say, members of the royal family will also attend the 15th birthday of the future crown princess.

With all of their sweat, tears, and blood poured into their preparations of this grand event, all the nobles who had received invitation from the ducal household Lorya made their way to the grand estate where the celebration of the fifteenth birthday of their first daughter will be held.

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[Alterisa's POV]

Aaahhh... It's happening again... Now that we're getting close to the main event, I'm getting nervous again...

I knew it was going to be like this... I am the daughter of the prime minister who is also a great duke and the owner of Eden, so it makes sense that many would come considering it is my 15th birthday.

But I seriously didn't expect every single person mom and dad invited to come!!!! Like, what?!

Some even came from their fiefs outside of the royal capital, just to attend my birthday party?! I'm really thankful, but seriously, you don't need to bother yourself with this!!! I'm happy to celebrate it with my friends and families alone!!!

Hah... Well, I guess I can't very much do that for this special birthday, right? If I don't invite them, they'll think I hate them or something and there'll be even more drama I'd need to deal with. Gossips like this spread terrifyingly quickly as I've learned before...

Once, some guy I don't even know invited me to his birthday. And because I was busy with work, I wrote him a letter saying I couldn't attend but still gave him a lapel pin for a birthday present. And the next day, rumors about my family hating that guy's family spread throughout the royal capital...

Fortunately, it quickly died down the day after and that guy's lies were exposed. His family was also shamed by the rest of the noble society, saying they're trying to shamelessly gain dad and my attention. And apparently, their business lost a lot of supporters and went in the red for quite a while.

I guess that was karma in the work. I didn't even do anything, and he got quite a heavy retribution.

But yeah, this is why I hate these kinds of things... But unfortunately, they're really unavoidable in the noble society. I could only deal with it when the time inevitably comes...

Fortunately, my birthday will be a ballroom dance.

It might sound weird to celebrate a birthday by ballroom dancing, but it's actually quite common in the noble society.

While dancing, they can use the chance to socialize and deepen their relationship with their dance partners. And it is also frequently used by the birthday boy/girl to search for possible suitors and partners or even try to make an impression on your target and make them fall in love.

And, if you're tired, you can just step away from the circle and talk with others outside of it as well or rest and enjoy the beverages served.

But the reason why I like this is because I won't necessarily have to socialize with every single person that's coming to my birthday party!

I can just greet them until it is time for the ballroom dance, dance with my friends and family, and then gather with my friends to relax~!

I actually learned the male part of the dance so I could dance with my little sister, Lily, and all of my female friends~ I've promised them that we'll dance together after they told me how much they wanted to dance with me!

And since my friends are high profiled people, no one would dare disturb us, unless they're shameless, stupid, rude, or all of the above.

Well, I'd probably still need to dance with my friends' parents...

Apparently, Roland-sama and my friends' dad wanted to have the privilege of dancing with me and thank me for taking care of their sons and daughters. And of course, I couldn't reject them...

But, probably because someone (Valerie-chan) slipped up, Lawliela-sama and all of the friends' mothers also wanted to dance with me after they found out I'm also learning to do the male part of the dance.

So yes... I'll be dancing quite a lot tonight... And yes, this includes Seara-sama and his majesty...

Hah... You know, looking back, this actually started because his majesty lured me into agreeing to dance with him...

It was when I was visiting the castle a few months ago to play with Lily and was caught by his majesty while I was on my way to Lily's room.

He asked me how the preparation for my birthday party is going and then proceeded to say how excited he is to see his son dance with me. He said his son is quite skilled in dancing, perhaps even more so than him since he's starting to get older now.

And of course, as a good daughter in law, I told him he's still not old at all and that he could still dance very well! After all, it's true! He's only in his late 30s, so he's not old by any means, and I've seen him dance with Seara-sama before, and he's super good.

The moment I said that, his face bloomed into a smile and "suggested" to me if I could compare his dancing skill with his son's during my birthday party...

And of course... As it is from his majesty himself and my future father-in-law... that "suggestion" ceased being just a suggestion...

Then, the news that I'll be dancing with his majesty during my birthday spread, most likely because he's been super looking forward to it and bragging about it to his friends, who are my friends' parents.

And I'm in this situation right now...

Ugh... There are already too many people coming for my birthday, and now, I have to dance with all those super powerful nobles, the king, and the queen who are also my friends' parents and future in-laws... There's no way I'm not nervous!

"Nee-chan? What's wrong~?"

Kiara looked up to me from my left. She was hugging my arm as we sat on the couch in the waiting room, waiting for the party to begin. While to my right was Fubuki in her small form, balling up right beside me.

Hah... Fortunately they're here to calm me down. Else, I might've already been pacing back and forth or practicing my dance since I don't want to f*ck up while dancing with the rulers of this kingdom.

"Fufu~ It's nothing~ I'm just excited~ We're going to have so much fun, right Kiara~?"

"Uhn! U-Uhm, nee-chan, we're going to dance together later on, right?"

"Of course~ I learned the male part just so I can dance with you, you know~? Let's dance together, okay~?"

"Yes~!!! Ehehehe~ I've been practicing real hard and my teacher told me I'm very good! Please look forward to it, nee-chan!"

"Uhn~ I can't wait to dance with my little angel~"

"Ehehehe~ I love you, nee-chan~ *Chu*!"

Ah~! She kissed me on the cheek~! So cute~!!!"

"Kiara~ I love you too~! *Chuuuuuuu*!"

"Kyaaa~ It tickles~ Hehehehe~"

Ah~ As expected of a kiss from an angel~ My nervousness immediately melts away~ I feel so blissful right now~

"Ah, speaking of which, who will you be dancing with first, nee-chan? Will it be dad again? If not, can I be the first?"

Ah, Kiara's looking at me with sparkling eyes filled with excitement and anticipation! Does she want to be the first that much?

Wait... Oooh, that's right. The first dance is special and is usually reserved for their partner. And if they're not engaged or married, then it would usually be the father if they're female, or the mother if they're male.

Well, from my experience, it has been kinda loosey-goosey. After all, I've been engaged with Alexus for almost ten years now, but my first dance would always be with dad.

He had always been headstrong about being my partner for the first dance, enough to tire out mom whenever he argues for it. But well, I don't really mind. Alexus was a bit unhappy for some reason, but after I told him I'll dance with him for two songs right after dad, he happily agreed.

But this year... He was insisting even more than previous years for some reason, so...

"I'm sorry, Kiara. I've already promised Alex that I'd dance with him first..."

"Eh...?"

"B-But I'll definitely dance with you right after dad, okay? Don't worry!"

Aaahhh! I hope she won't be too upset! I want to dance with Kiara too and show her off to the world that she's the world's greatest little sister and how much we get along!

But I've already promised Alexus... And judging by his smile when he's "convincing" me, I don't think I'll get away if I broke that promise...

"Tch... That stupid prince... Nee-chan is mine... When will you understand that..."

Eh? What was that? Did Kiara say something?

"Hm? I'm sorry, Kiara. Did you say something?"

"Uuuuhh... I-I'm just sad that I couldn't be your first dance partner..."

Kiara said as tears began to well up in the corner of her eyes.

"Ah! K-Kiara, please don't cry! H-How about your next birthday?! If you're fine with it, I can ask dad to exchange with me so I can be your first dance!"

"Eh?! Really~?!"

"Yes, really! I'll be your first dance!"

"Yaaaay~!!!! Thank you, nee-chan~!!! I'm so happy~!!!"

Phew~ Thank goodness~ She returned to her usual bubbly angelic cutie that she is~ Ah, she's burying her face into my chest and hugging me again. What a spoiled little girl~

Well~! At this point, I'm used to girls burying their faces into my chest. For some reason, they really love it.

Evelyn, Illya, Noir, and Valerie-chan would always do it whenever they got a chance. Even Stella and Mellissa.

Although, I wonder why they'd only do it to me. I mean, Evelyn is only a tad bit smaller than me, but they never do it to her.

Hm... Now that I think about it, it's quite strange...

Well~ As long as they're happy~ Hehe~ I'm just glad they don't have to rub their faces against a washboard anymore~

As I was pampering my little angel, who was busy enjoying my chest, a knock came from the door and the familiar figure of Maria-chan appeared.

"Alterisa-sama~ Kiara-sama~ It's time~"

"Ah, yes. Thank you, Maria-chan. Come on, Kiara. Let's go."

"Muuuh... I wanted to enjoy it a bit longer..."

"Hehe~ You can enjoy it more later on, okay?"

"Eh? Then, will you sleep with me tonight, nee-chan?"

"Sure~"

"Yaay~!!! Nee-chan, I love you~!!!!"

"Fufufu~ I love you too. Come on, let's go now."

"Uhn~!"









AN: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter~! Please vote and comment your thoughts~!