* * *

“He’s not here?”

“Yes. Recently, with the dealings at – um, no, being busy, he hasn’t been coming to the guild for a while.”

The guild memners, who knew who Luna was, responded quite curtly. The rest of the staff also maintained their demeanor, behaving impeccably.

“Do you not know when he will be back? It’s his birthday today.”

Despite having worked together for several years, Luna was the only one who celebrated Antes’s birthday.

One of the employees nodded as they responded:

“I’ll pass the message that Lady Peils came by when he returns.”

“Please do. Also tell him I’ll be waiting. Ah, and this is nothing special but I brought something as I didn’t want to come empty-handed.”

As Luna finished speaking, Royer handed over the snacks and cake he had been holding. These were purchased along with Antes’s cake.

It was questionable whether the unrefined men would appreciate it, but seemingly the guild staff were quite pleased, dispelling the needless worry.

“There’s no need for you to treat us…! Thank you very much!”

“We will treasure this for life!”

“We will cherish this!”

“No, please eat it. If you keep it as a treasure, it will rot and smell.”

Luna, seeing Antes’s employees overreacting, left a reminder to finish it all within the day and returned to Rose Mansion.

* * *

Upon arriving at the mansion, Rosemary, who had visited for the year-end, greeted Luna with a broad smile.

“Lady Luna! I was surprised when you weren’t here. Did you go to the guild to see my brother? Why?”

“It’s the young lord’s birthday today, but I couldn’t reach him so I visited the guild.”

“Ah…! Come to think of it, today is my brother’s birthday.”

Rosemary just remembered Antes’s birthday.

It had been too long since he left home, and since Antes ruined all human relationships before Rosemary matured, his birthday felt extremely unfamiliar.

“But why are you alone? Where is brother?”

Rosemary was puzzled as to why Antes didn’t accompanyLuna, to which Luna shrugged and replied.

“He’s busy. He’s not there.”

“Really? What could he be doing on his birthday? Well, it’s unfortunate but let’s have an end-of-year party among ourselves. If he knows you visited, he might come late, right?”

Although she said that, Rosemary, who was happier with Antes not around, urged for a party while folding her arms.

Not only her, but also the mansion’s servants, Emma, Laura, and Royer seemed to look forward to the party.

“Let’s do that. He’ll come when the time is right.”

And so preparations for a sudden party began. A long table was set up quickly, and various dishes were prepared.

Once the preparations were roughly completed, everyone took their seats without exception.

“Shall we start with a toast?”

Before Luna could finish, everyone filled their glasses. They stared at Luna, signaling her to give a toast.

Luna, who hesitated for a moment, thought of her mine and the servants she had just started getting friendly with, and lifted her glass. A perfect toast idea came to mind.

“Although the mansion is still unfamiliar, I hope we all get along well without any embarrassing moments. I also hope that gems come out from my mine soon. You’ve worked hard this short year, and I look forward to working with you next year as well. Now, follow the initials of my toast! To success and happiness!”

“Succ! Happ! …!?”

With a gentle smile, the attentive servants tried to follow the acronym of the toast but were stuck midway. They probably weren’t really supposed to follow along.

“Lady Luna… is indeed a daring person…”

At the shocking toast, Royer softly exclaimed.

Only then did Luna realize what she had said and hurriedly made excuses.

“I’ll do it again! I’m not like that!”

* * *

“I have sent a proof of content. I will cancel the contract.”

At the cold words of the middle-aged noble, Antes’s brows slightly furrowed. It was the seventh time he heard this.

“Have you forgotten that the penalty is high?”

“I will pay the penalty.”

“I don’t understand what offer came from which guild that the Baron would break ties with us.”

“That’s not something I can talk about.”

He had only sent a representative to deal with it, and even visited personally to induce a good conversation, but the answer he got was firm. It was hopeless to hold onto it when rejected like this.

Antes stood up as if he understood.

“I understand. If you’re willing to pay the penalty and cancel the contract, there’s nothing more to say.”

Although they had never met face to face, he was one of the few business partners who knew that he was the owner of Antares, and he could not have imagined that it would end in vain like this.

“Then take care. I hope we never meet again.”

The Baron didn’t even stand up from his seat, but bid farewell to Antes. In response, Antes also left him with a short word and disappeared.

“Don’t regret saying that.”

Despite being dismissed from the contract, he kept his pride till the end. When the Baron laughed at Antes, the Baron’s wife with a worried face cautiously said something.

“Is it really okay? The conditions were good, and the treatment was good, so is it okay to cancel the contract so easily?”

“It’s fine. Young lord Rodrian paid the penalty. Besides, how could I refuse when he promised to contract under better conditions? If you don’t understand, just stay put.”

“I just mentioned it because I feel a bit uneasy. The conditions are too good, right? From young lord Vincent’s position, it’s sudden contract cancellation, so retaliation in any form wouldn’t be strange.”

“What retaliation? I already have the market tightly held, how could there be retaliation? If there were alternatives, it would have been resolved immediately. Even the Marquis of Granada is not enough, a connection with the Duke of Rodrian has been established, so it’s just a matter of being happy!”

The Baron left the reception room as if he didn’t want to talk any more.

Following him, the Baroness still followed with anxiety.

* * *

As midnight approached, Antes who finished dealing with clients, stared out the carriage window.

Seeing a considerable number of clients suddenly turn their backs with the same story, it must mean that someone had influenced them.

‘Is it Fersen?’

Looking at him paying the penalty and taking away the clients, it was clear it was him.

He must have started a bleeding competition to take away clients because Antes took Luna away from him.

‘But it won’t be profitable… No, maybe they tampered with the contract.’

Duke Rodrian was a man who didn’t tolerate losses. That’s why there were quite a few people who were wary of dealing with his household.

So, tampering with the contract with a penalty and plausible conditions, it was clear that a contract favorable to the ducal house was made. The ducal house had always done so until now.

“Foolish… Hisan. Contact the companies listed here. I want to make a contract, so let’s meet. Don’t forget to respond politely.”

“Yes, sir.”

The employee sitting opposite Antes took the document he handed over and skimmed it. Seeing no titles, they were all commoners.

Considering that most of Antes’s clients had been nobles so far, it was unexpected.

The list was strangely absurd, so the expressions of the employee turned mysterious. Antes briefly added an explanation as it seemed understandable.

“It’s a replacement product from the companies that requested the termination of the deal. The quality is better, but it seems they didn’t have the guts to do business with nobles, so they kept it quiet.”

But now it was different. He didn’t contact due to loyalty, but there was nothing to shy away from since he was betrayed.

Foolishly, it seemed necessary to let them realize that there was a better companies than theirs.

Mocking, Antes turned his gaze back out the window. Due to the late hour, the outside was locked in darkness. After a while, they were able to reach the midpoint, the top.

Considering the time, he was about to return to the residence with only the documents, but for some reason, a staff member, who was still not off work and was dozing off on the first floor, greeted Antes.

“Captain!”

“What are you doing here? At this late hour.”

Especially on the last day of the year. It was an unsuitable day to spend dozing off at the guild.

The employee then opened his mouth nervously.

“Lady Peils came and left a message waiting for you!”

“Lady Luna? Today? Why?”

At the news that Luna, whom he had tried hard to forget while immersing himself in work, had come looking for him, Antes furrowed his brows.

Worried that something might have happened. Unless it was something like that, there was no reason for Luna to look for him.

Then, the staff member replied with frustration.

“Today is the captain’s birthday! She came to congratulate you and left sadly. She said she would be waiting at the residence.”

“What…?”

Birthday? Was he talking about the day of his birth? Except for when he was very young, he never celebrated it since his human relationships were messed up.

No, rather, he never found the meaning in celebrating his birthday since he wasn’t thankful for his berth.

Antes was momentarily stiffened at the thought that someone tried to remember the birthday he himself forgot.

“…I see.”

But soon he realized the reality. Luna was originally good at taking care of the people around her, so he realized there might not be a special meaning.

No, what if there is a special meaning? And what’s that special meaning?

As he didn’t show any reaction, lost in strange thoughts, the employee urged Antes.

“Captain! It’ll be tomorrow in a while! Shouldn’t you go see? Your birthday will end like this! Surely Lady Peils is anxiously waiting!”

“…!”

As if he had never seriously considered ‘special meaning’, Antes unknowingly stepped forward. Then he suddenly thought that it would be late if he went by carriage.

“Let me borrow a horse.”

“Do so.”

Before the answer was finished, Antes disappeared from the guild, and soon a loud horse hoof sound followed.

‘It seems good to wait just in case. Seeing the captain like that.’

The always cold and somewhat distant Antes, today seemed quite humane, so the employee chuckled as he prepared to go home, but then stopped.

“But, what should I ride…? The captain’s carriage…?”