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maboroshi-no · 25 days

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Hamefura LN14 Chapter 2 Part 2 Summary

I am currently reading Hamefura LN14 and will post summaries after each chapter.

Previous Chapters: Chapter 1: The Encounter at the Party: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Chapter 2: What Dark Magic Is: Part 1

Chapter 2: What Dark Magic Is (Part 2)

Katarina Talks With Nathan

After her dark magic training, Katarina parts with Raphael and heads to the dining hall. She runs into Nathan in a corner.

Katarina asks Nathan if he is going to have lunch.

Nathan timidly replies that he is actually on his way to deliver some documents to the Magic Research department.

Katarina is surprised because Nathan is never sent to deliver documents since he will get lost. But it seems Nathan felt like he could do it this time.

Katarina tells Nathan the Magic Research department is in the opposite direction.

Nathan looks dejected.

Katarina offers to take him to the Magic Research Department.

Nathan refuses because he doesn't want to trouble his junior. He will return to their department room and ask Laura instead.

Nathan starts going in the wrong direction. Katarina catches his arms and tells him he is going in the wrong direction again. Nathan looks surprised for a moment, then his face turns back to his usual expression.

Nathan changes his mind and asks Katarina to take him to the Magic Research department.

Katarina walks with Nathan while holding his arms.

Katarina remembers that Nathan was the one who introduced to her the possibility that dark magic might have been created for a good purpose. She would like to report Raphael's findings to him without mentioning that they come from forbidden literature.

Katarina asks Nathan if he remembers their discussion about dark magic being possibly created to protect people.

Nathan replies with a smile that he remembers. They discussed it because she didn't seem enthusiastic about her dark magic training. He was surprised then that she took his words so seriously.

Katarina tells Nathan that it is thanks to his words that she could broaden her views. She cheerfully thanks him.

Nathan has frozen. Katarina wonders why. He doesn't say anything, so she continues.

Katarina tells Nathan that after some investigation, dark magic seems to have been created for people's sake.

Nathan quickly turns his face to her and sharply asks her if she was able to learn something about it. Katarina is so surprised by his unusual reaction that she steps back.

Looking at Katarina's shocked expression, Nathan apologizes. He was just curious about it.

Katarina asks him if he is interested in dark magic.

Nathan replies he is because he easily gets interested in things. Once he learns something he can't help wanting to know more. Dark magic is his current interest. He apologizes again.

Katarina replies she was just surprised. It is fine since he didn't give a Larna-level reaction.

Nathan awkwardly agrees that Larna's reactions are problematic. Then he asks her to elaborate about how dark magic was created for people's sake.

Katarina replies it was mentioned in a certain tale that dark magic was created to heal the hearts of people. Though, it isn't something definite.

Nathan ponders Katarina's words a little then thanks Katarina for telling him. It appears dark magic wasn't completely bad after all. Katarina happily agrees.

Nathan and Katarina arrive at the Magic Research department. Nathan thanks her. Katarina ensures Nathan has gone inside before leaving.

Katarina Meets Haru in the Ministry

Katarina is about to head to the dining hall when she feels someone staring at her from close by. When she looks back at the person, it appears to be Haru. They are both surprised.

Katarina asks Haru what she is doing here.

Haru first apologizes to Katarina for the scene she caused at the party. She was so happy to meet Cyrus again that she confessed to him on the spot. She has come today to apologize to Cyrus and to confess to him again. She is currently waiting for Cyrus to go on break to catch him.

Haru appears to be a bold and assertive woman despite her "Yamato Nadeshiko" appearance. Though, Katarina remembers Haru mentioning she ran around in pants in her domain. She wonders if Cyrus will be able to oppose the beautiful and assertive Haru.

Haru Invites Cyrus to Lunch

The door opens and Cyrus comes out. Haru quickly runs to Cyrus. Katarina reflexively goes after her.

Haru calls out to Cyrus and asks him if he is going on a break. Cyrus is bewildered and reflexively says yes. Haru asks him if they can eat together. She has brought a boxed lunch. Overwhelmed by her energy, Cyrus says yes. Haru is happy.

This looks like a scene from a shoujo manga but Katarina has mixed feelings about it since she knows Cyrus's feelings for Maria.

Cyrus notices Katarina and comes to his senses. He apologizes to Haru: he has reflexively said yes but he already has plans to eat with his subordinate.

The door opens again and Maria comes out. She proposes to Cyrus they eat in the dining hall. Then she notices Haru and recognizes her.

Haru introduces herself to Maria and asks if she is the subordinate Cyrus will have lunch with. Maria introduces herself and confirms that Cyrus invited her to have lunch together. Maria looks like she would have refused if she knew Haru would come.

Haru proposes to Maria to join her and Cyrus for lunch since she made too much food.

Maria is hesitant and looks at Cyrus with a "What should we do?" look. But Cyrus has a "What's happening?!" look.

Since Cyrus loves Maria and Haru loves Cyrus, Katarina feels like there will be an awkward mood if the three of them eat together.

As if sensing the awkward mood, Haru also invites Katarina to join them for lunch. She adds that she has made lots of Sharma traditional dishes, like rice balls. Hearing "rice balls", Katarina reflexively accepts.

Katarina, Maria, Cyrus, and Haru will have lunch together.

The Lunch

Following Maria's suggestion, the 4 of them go to a terrace facing the garden. People who bring boxed lunches often use this place since it is nice and not crowded.

Haru's attendants unstack the multi-layered lunch box and place each box on the largest table. They are all packed with food.

Katarina can't help drooling: it would have been a deluxe boxed lunch in her past life. There is plenty of food like rice balls, tsukemono (Japanese pickled vegetables), rolled eggs, stewed vegetables, chopped fish, grilled fish fillets, and many others. On top of this, there are also wagashis (Japanese confectionaries) for desserts. She is so excited by the food that the complicated relationship between Cyrus, Maria, and Haru completely flies out of her head.

Katarina points to a dish and asks if it is some kind of stew. Haru replies it is chikuzenni (simmered chicken and vegetables), a dish they eat a lot in her domain. Katarina recognizes the dish since she has eaten some in her past life. She is happy to see familiar food.

Katarina points to another dish and asks what it is. Haru replies it is grilled salmon with miso. Katarina recognizes the food again. Hearing about miso, she asks Haru if she has miso soup. Haru is glad Katarina knows about miso and tells her she brought miso soup. She asks Katarina if she wants some. Katarina gladly accepts.

Katarina can't believe she will finally have miso soup. She never found some in Sorcier.

Haru serves miso soup in a bowl and gives it to Katarina. The miso soup is warm. Katarina drinks it. The miso soup tastes so nostalgic. Katarina feels so moved that she trembles. She says from the heart that it is delicious.

Haru is glad that Katarina enjoys Sharma food. She wasn't sure she would since it is so different from Sorcier food. Katarina confirms she loves it.

Katarina has 2 refills of miso soups, eats 4 rice balls, and has sweets filled with red bean paste for dessert.

They have finished lunch.

Haru tells Katarina that seeing her enjoy her food so much makes it worth cooking and coming here. Katarina asks if she really made the boxed lunch herself. Haru admits she only helped and most of the food was made by her cooks. Katarina still finds it amazing compared to her who can't cook at all. She made the pot explose once and she has been banned from the kitchen of her house ever since. Haru is amazed.

Cyrus says the lunch break is over.

Katarina remembers that this lunch was originally meant for Haru to talk with Cyrus. But she ended up monopolizing Haru by asking her questions and sharing her impressions about the food.

Katarina apologizes to Haru for preventing her from talking with Cyrus. Haru says it is fine since she was able to see him again. Besides she will have many other opportunities. She is happy that Katarina enjoyed Sharma's food so much.

Katarina thinks Haru is such a nice girl. She would have cheered her on if Cyrus wasn't already in love with Maria.

Katarina and Maria Talk About Cyrus and Haru

Since the lunch break is over, they all part with Haru. Cyrus returns to his department and Katarina and Maria head to the covenant deciphering room.

Once in the room, Katarina asks Maria what she thought of Haru. Maria has a blank face. She may have been too direct.

Katarina is curious about what Maria thinks of the situation since Cyrus loves her (even if Maria hasn't realized it) and Haru loves Cyrus, making her Maria's love rival (maybe).

Katarina flusteredly explains that she has been curious about it since Maria didn't say anything at lunch. She has tried to come up with a follow-up not to reveal Cyrus's feelings.

Maria gives it a little thought and replies she finds Haru similar to Katarina.

Katarina is surprised. She thinks she doesn't look anything like a Yamato Nadeshiko with her villainess's face.

Maria chuckles. She wasn't talking about her looks but the cheerful and delightful air she gives off.

Katarina remembers she thought during the party that Haru and she were similar. They have similar thinking and both have siblings who scold them. The big difference between them is that Haru loves Cyrus and is assertively approaching him while Katarina doesn't understand romantic love.

Come to think of it, Cyrus may have the level of a grade-schooler when it comes to love but he still is in love with Maria. She can't say she is better than him on that front. Cyrus even said during the party that she was a child ignorant of love. It annoyed her at the moment, but she must recognize that Cyrus is her senpai when it comes to love. But it is vexing. Anyhow, she'll leave her case aside. She needs to ponder how to ask Maria what she thought of Haru's confession.

Katarina tells Maria she was surprised by Haru's confession at the party. And considering what she did today, she also seems to be a courageous and proactive woman.

Maria replies she was also surprised by Haru's confession at the party. She also finds it amazing how she approached Cyrus today.

Katarina can't see any jealousy or complicated feelings on Maria's face. It appears Cyrus currently has no hope with Maria.

Katarina wonders if Cyrus will lose to Haru's pressure and end up engaged to her. Katarina can imagine Cyrus yielding to Haru based on what she saw yesterday and today.

Maria gives it a little thought. She doesn't think it will be so simple given Cyrus's apprehension of young women.

Katarina ponders Maria's words. She agrees that things won't be so simple for Haru given Cyrus's apprehension of young women. Cyrus can somewhat talk with Maria in private but he can't talk to other young women unless he puts himself in work mode. He could talk to Haru before because he thought she was a boy but now that he knows she is a woman, it is uncertain whether he will be able to properly talk to her. Even if Haru approaches Cyrus assertively, she probably won't be able to push him into getting engaged to her.

Ever since she appeared, Katarina has thought Haru might be the rival character in Cyrus's route. Normally it would be "Katarina Claes" who serves as an obstacle to Cyrus's love, but she might not be enough given Cyru's condition. Cyrus can't possibly conquer Maria as he is (even if it is Maria who does the conquering in the game) and that's why Haru - Cyrus's beautiful childhood friend who is in love with him - appeared. There is no doubt she is the rival character that will intensify the relationship between Cyrus and Maria. Though, if it is true, it could mean that the events of Cyrus's route will start. She will need to watch how things unfold to avoid her doom flags.

Katarina Starts Deciphering the Dark Covenant

Katarina and Maria start working on the deciphering of their respective covenant.

The Dark Covenant is a dangerous book that no one can read except the contractor. Maria has already learned new spells while deciphering her covenant but Katarina has been stuck deciphering never-ending warnings about dark magic. She is tired of reading warnings and wants to learn new spells already. But at the same time, she understands why the writer put so many warnings since her magic went out of control. The magic itself is dangerous and even the caster can be in danger. Dark magic is not a magic that should be used lightly. The writer seems to have been cautious.

Katarina has been able to go beyond the long warnings recently and started reading about dark magic spells. But so far, it only covers how to summon darkness, like what she has practiced with Raphael. She hasn't learned anything new. If she reads further, she might be able to learn a new spell, but she wonders if it will be a good one or a bad one. If the book's writer is the creator of dark magic, it will probably be a good one. But since the dark orb told her to cover the world in darkness when it gave her the Dark Covenant, she fears the writer might be a bad person who secretly researched taboo subjects. The Dark Covenant feels ominous to her.

Emergency Mission

Someone knocks on the door. Thinking it might be Larna, Katarina invites the person to come in. It is Cyrus.

Cyrus apologizes for interrupting their deciphering session but he has something important to talk about with them. He explains he has received a report mentioning that near his family domain, many animals are coming down to human habitation and damaging the fields.

Hearing this, Katarina remembers the incident that occurred during the examination she took with Maria and the others just after they had entered the Ministry.

Cyrus agrees. Normally this kind of case would be entrusted to whoever was free and not reach the Magic Research department, but the issue has been escalated since it looks very similar to that case.

Katarina remembers the examination. Her mission was to settle a problem about animals suddenly coming down to human habitation and damaging fields. Normally, this mission would be simple enough for newcomers but they ended up fighting a dragon-like dark familiar in a cave.

Cyrus explains the higher-ups issued a request for them to go to the scene immediately since the situation is extremely dangerous and they have already faced a situation like this before. It pains him to send them to danger right after they went through a dangerous incident but if there really is a dark familiar there, they won't be able to handle the situation without them.

Cyrus bows his head.

Given that it was Giant Pochi who defeated the dragon and that only light magic can oppose dark magic, Katarina understands that Cyrus has no choice but to ask her and Maria for help.

Katarina asks Cyrus to raise his head: she and Maria understand the situation. Maria confirms.

Cyrus slowly raises his head. He tells them he will also accompany them. He will do all he can to protect them so they won't get hurt even if they make a mistake.

Katarina is surprised to hear Cyrus say something cool like a capture target. If Katarina were the heroine, she might have felt heart flutters. She glances at Maria. Maria has a serious face and doesn't seem affected at all. It seems like Cyrus still has a long way until he can woo Maria.

Since they will depart for Cyrus's domain tomorrow morning, Katarina and Maria will stop work for today and go home to prepare for the trip.

Katarina Talk With Maria While Waiting for the Carriage

Maria offers to stay with Katarina while she is waiting for her carriage. Katarina refuses at first, thinking Maria needs to prepare for the trip, but Maria replies she doesn't have much preparation to make, so Katarina accepts. They sit on the bench near the gate.

Katarina asks Maria if she isn't scared to face danger again after the incident from a few days ago.

Maria tells her it would be a lie if she said she wasn't scared but she is fine since Katarina will be here.

Katarina is happy that Maria relies on her but she doesn't feel so strong herself. She wonders if she will be able to protect Maria. Maybe she should bring a weapon just in case.

Maria waves her hands "no" and tells Katarina she wasn't thinking of having her protect her. It is the opposite actually: she wants to protect her this time since Katarina has always protected her. She can muster lots of courage and become strong just by having Katarina by her side. She asks Katarina to let her protect her this time.

Katarina thinks any man would feel dizzy if such a beautiful girl said these words to him with sparkling eyes. Katarina feels completely dizzy after what Maria has said.

Katarina thanks Maria, but she will also protect her.

Maria is moved. The two of them are holding hands while gazing at each other. If it were a shoujo manga, there would be twinkles around them.

Sora Tells Katarina and Maria About the Other Guards

Sora suddenly appears and apologizes for pouring water on their enthusiasm, but Cyrus has asked him, Laura, and Raphael to accompany them as guards. They won't need to face danger.

Katarina is surprised. Cyrus didn't mention any people so she expected only Cyrus, Maria, and her to be part of the trip.

Sora explains the higher-ups will obviously not send out ladies who just survived a dangerous incident without guards. That's why they selected Laura, the most powerful fighter in the Ministry who also was at the scene last time, Sora who has a little dark magic, and Raphael who knows about dark magic and has powerful magic.

Katarina guesses they selected in the team all the people who already knew about dark magic and had powerful magic. But in that case, one person is missing.

Katarina asks if Larna wasn't selected for the team.

Katarina thinks Larna should have been selected since she fulfills all the conditions. Besides, she made a scene last time because she wished she had seen the dragon. Larna should have normally volunteered to be part of the team.

Sora explains that Larna was the first to volunteer, but since she tends to lose herself whenever she finds interesting magic, they judged she wasn't fit to be a guard. So Raphael was selected in her place.

Katarina can indeed imagine Larna being all sparkly-eyed because of dark magic and not doing her guard job properly. The higher-ups seem to know this side of Larna.

Sora tells Katarina and Maria that he will closely guard them, so there won't be any need for them to act rashly. He looks like an older brother giving them warnings. Katarina and Maria obediently replies they won't. Sora insists they must NEVER act independently. Raphael seems to have asked him to give them a list of things to be mindful about.

Katarina thinks Sora is like an older brother (but it might be because he is older than her). It is like her real older brother has come back. She also realizes again that Raphael really understands people.

Katarina's carriage arrives and she goes back home.

Katarina Notifies Her Family of her Incoming Trip

When Katarina arrives home, she notifies people she will go on a work trip starting tomorrow. She doesn't mention that it is connected to dark magic so people won't worry.

Anne helps her prepare for the trip. She seems used to it since it is the third time Katarina has gone on a work trip. Anne is worried about Katarina being sent somewhere right after that dangerous incident. Katarina tries to reassure her by saying Maria will be with her this time too.

When Keith returns from work, Katarina also notifies him that she will go on a work trip. Like Anne, Keith is very worried about her going on a trip right after being involved in an incident. Katarina tries to reassure him by explaining that she will be closely protected by guards. Keith feels a little reassured after hearing the lineup of the guards. He asks her not to act independently, just like Sora did. It seems like everyone has the same impression of her.

Katarina informs her mother of her work trip. Milliadiana tells her not to do anything strange during it.

Finally, Katarina informs her father of her work trip. But the Ministry has already informed him directly, so he knows everything.

Luigi: They said they can't settle it without you. That there is danger but they will definitely return you safe and sound. The Ministry of Magic even went so far as to hand me the recommendation they received from the royals.

Luigi has said this in his usual tone but looking at his eyes, Katarina can tell he is furious.

Katarina: U-Umm… Father?

Luigi: …They involved the royals, won't accept any objection, and will readily take a duke's daughter (my adorable daughter) to a dangerous place. What has become of the Ministry of Magic? What a bunch of incompetents.

Katarina can't hear what her father is muttering. She wonders if he is talking to himself.

Katarina: Father.

Luigi: Ah, Katarina. I am sorry. I have a lot piled up, so it came out.

Katarina: Oh, you are always so busy, Father. Of course, you would accumulate fatigue.

Luigi: That's right. You are so honest and adorable, Katarina. ……….Yes, I will also assign her our guards for her mission.

Luigi is doting on his daughter as always. But again, Katarina can't hear what he is muttering. Luigi must have piled up lots of fatigue.

Katarina: You seem tired Father and I still have preparations to make, so I will take my leave.

Katarina has said this not to keep up Luigi, who must be busy.

Luigi (serious face): Katarina, be very careful.

Katarina: Yes.

Katarina makes preparations for her trip and goes to bed early.

Haru's POV

Ryou is scolding Haru for running to Cyrus without thinking.

Haru sincerely apologizes.

Ryou told her time and time again to wait until he contacted Cyrus and properly prepared for their next meeting. He asks her what was Cyrus's answer.

Haru is silent.

Haru was born and raised in Sharma, next to Sorcier. She is the 4th child of her family and has 3 older brothers. Ever since she was a child, she has been running around behind her older brothers. Her mother wanted to dress her up in female clothes since she finally had a daughter. But she couldn't follow her brothers when she wore female clothes, so she always wore boys' clothes to play. She was especially following Ryou around, her brother closest in age. They even took sword classes together, so people took her for a boy.

One day, her father brought Ryou and her along to the neighboring domain in Sorcier. She and Ryou were into swordsmanship and martial arts at that time, so their father took them to this domain where it was popular so they could watch and learn.

Then she met Cyrus.

Cyrus was about the same age as Ryou and was into swordsmanship and martial arts just like them. They got along right away. They would run on the plain together and study swordsmanship and martial arts at the training place. Since the three of them got along so well, their father would take them along whenever he went there for work. They came to play at Cyrus's home a lot.

Cyrus steadily became stronger. He had become so strong he could defeat an adult several times bigger than him. After seeing Cyrus's strength, Haru felt he was so cool from the bottom of her heart. Her heart raced for the first time. But since she only played with her older brothers and similar boys, time passed without her knowing what this feeling was.

Then Cyrus turned 15 and, as a magic wielder, he had to enroll at the Academy of Magic. He would study there for 2 years and stay in a dorm. Haru saw him off when he departed for the royal capital.

After seeing Cyrus off, Haru decided to shift her focus to something other than swordsmanship and martial arts. She decided to engage in ladies' socializing, which her mother had always told her to do. But she had mostly no etiquette training (since she kept running from it), so she had to start over. After about a year, her mother and teacher gave her a passing grade.

When she finally attended a ladies' social party, she finally realized that the feeling she felt for Cyrus was "love". Upon realizing it, she couldn't calm down but she also enjoyed thinking about how she would approach him the next time he would come back. She had become somewhat feminine after seriously following her ladies' training. While it was possible Cyrus wouldn't recognize her as a woman, there could be hope for her if she showed him the lady she had become.

Haru had been waiting for Cyrus to return but things didn't go as planned. After graduating from the Academy of Magic, Cyrus didn't return to his domain and started working at the Ministry of Magic. She was incredibly shocked. She didn't want to wait anymore and just wanted to enter that place called the Ministry of Magic. But it was possible Cyrus wouldn't recognize her as a woman. Besides they hadn't seen each other since he went to the Academy of Magic, so it would be unreasonable to go see him right away.

Even so, when she asked her brother, it seemed Cyrus wouldn't stay in the royal capital forever. She clung to the hope he would come back here and waited… but even after several years, Cyrus didn't seem to come back at all.

Tired of waiting, Haru decided to attend major parties in Sorcier. If she did, she might be able to meet Cyrus there. Then she would ask him "Do you remember me?" and show him her new ladylike appearance! She attended parties here and there but she couldn't meet him at all. No matter how much she searched for him, she couldn't catch sight of him. Even though she was so fed up with men approaching her, she couldn't find him.

She attended parties for several years and finally, she was able to meet Cyrus again at yesterday's party. Upon meeting him, because of all the feelings she had accumulated over the years, her joy exploded and she suddenly confessed to him, and even asked him to take her as his wife. Then her brother Ryou forcibly took her back to their inn.

When they arrived at the inn, she had calmed down a little and recognized she had gone too far. Her brother Ryou told her not to do anything until he had contacted Cyrus and prepared for their next meeting. She obediently accepted. But when she woke up the next morning, she felt so happy to have met Cyrus again that before she knew it, she had prepared a boxed lunch and gone to Cyrus's workplace. Her brother's words from yesterday had completely flown out of her head.

She went and did something unthinkable but thanks to Katarina, she was able to enjoy herself. She couldn't talk to Cyrus but she greatly enjoyed talking about Sharma's food with Katarina. She was also happy that Cyrus and his coworker enjoyed Sharma's food.

When she came back to the inn in high spirits, her brother had already found out about her outing. The servants seemed to have reported it to him. He was furious and lectured her. Her brother was right so she listened to his lecture, but midway, she remembered how cool Cyrus was, which made her grin. Her brother became even more furious.

Haru feels like she should show a little more restraint but she can't help wanting to see Cyrus again.

#hamefura light novel #hamefura #my next life as a villainess: all routes leads to doom #katarina claes #nathan hart #haru kaburagi #cyrus lanchester #maria campbell #sora smith #anne shelley #keith claes #millidiana claes #luigi claes #ryou kaburagi

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sparklingmusicofstars · 2 months

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Happy birthday to the Hamefura series ! Bonus short story :

July 6th has been the day of the 10 years of the series so Satoru Yamaguchi published a new short story on her blog. Please enjoy.

"Happy 17th birthday. Here's your present."

Acchan gives Monkey girl a paper bag with a ribbon on it. She happily thanks her and asks her if she can open it, Acchan tells her to do it.

Monkey girl opens it and finds a keychain of her current favorite anime character came with an acrylic stand and other items.

She is incredibly happy because she didn't have any goods yet and was saving money little by little, so she never expected to receive this much.

Acchan tells her with a fearless smile that she actually searched and collected them in a lot of different stores.

Monkey girl jumps from joy and thanks her, and promises her she will definitely cherish them.

Acchan tells her with a smile and it was worth visiting all the stores to see her so happy. Monkey girl thanks her again and hugs the present tightly.

Acchan asks her if she is going to have a birthday party at home, Monkey girl says yes ; her mother will makes lots of her favorite foods, she asked her dad to buy her a new game and her eldest brother will buy her a cake on his way home from work. Acchan asks about the second brother and Monkey girl answers that he will probably just give her another cheap kid's toy and that'll be it.

Acchan asks her what she got from him last year and she angrily tells her that she got a menko* ( a set of japanese cards game) from a cheap store from him. She can't believe he gave his high school sister a menko as a birthday present and told him to buy flowers instead. She concludes that he will never be popular with girls like that. It makes Acchan laught.

"But didn't you say that you gave your brother something similar in return for his birthday ?"

Monkey girl answers that she gave him a dress-up doll from the same cheap store. Acchan bursts out laughing, holding her stomach.

After a while, her laughter calmed down and they say goodbye to each other before Monkey girl heads home.

When she gets home and heads through the front door to the kitchen, she smells something delicious, her favorite foods were already lined up there.

She reaches out her hand but her mother hits it and tells her to wash her hands and to get changed while waiting for her brothers and father to come back for eating.

Monkey girl thinks it would be horrible if she makes her mother angry and doesn't get to eat the delicious feast so she obediently does what she was told to.

As she finished getting changed and was on her way to the kitchen, her second older brother came home. She greets him but he just pushes something onto her, then quickly leaves and goes to his room.

When she looks at her hands to see what she had been given she sees flowers wrapped in plastic with a ribbon.

She cries out in surprise that this time he gave her flowers and not toys, and her mother pops her head out of the kitchen. She tells her it's a lovely present. Monkey girl agrees but she never expected that he would actually buy her flowers like this because his choice of gift last year was a mess. Her mother explains that he did that because last year she got mad and told him that he should rather buy flowers for a high school girl.

She agrees she did that but she didn't think he would actually buy them for her.

Her mother tells Monkey girl while smilling that she chose them carefully so it's her flower.

Monkey girl looks at the flowers in her hands.

Catarina wakes up at someone's voice and finds herself in a large room filled with fine furnitures. Due to the dream she had just had, for a moment she didn't know where she was.

But as she watches Anne, her maid, getting ready for her, her mind starts moving.

This is her room, Catarina Claes's.

She's not "that" person anymore.

Anne tells her with a smile that everyone have been in high spirits since this morning. For a moment Catarina ponders about it and Anne remembers her that today is her ninth birthday

That's right. Today is her ninth birthday.

She regained her memories of her past life at the age of eight, and that day she turns nine.

She was quite confused when she first regained her memories, but she's slowly getting used to her current world.

However, when she has dreams about her past life like the one she just had, it still makes her feel uneasy.

On her 17th birthday in her previous life, she celebrated it with her best friend and family, and received flowers for the first time.

She ended up not being able to return the favor for the flowers.

Anne looks at her worriedly and asks her if something happened, Catarina shakes her head.

She needs to change her mind, she is Catarina Claes now.

She tells Anne she is just a bit sleepy and that she will get ready for her birthday party.

With Anne's help, she gets ready, and after receiving news that the party is ready, she heads to the venue.

Her father had planned to have a grand party this time, but due to her refusal and her mother's advice, it was decided to have a small, intimate party for just family members. However, it was a duke's house, so a large room was decorated, and the party venue was much more impressive than she had imagined.

The servants, her family, and even her fiancé, Geordo, were all smiling.

"Happy birthday"

They greet her with a "Welcome !"

The vague feeling of unease that had remained in her chest due to the dream also begins to fade away.

"Happy ninth birthday, Catarina !"

Her father gives her a huge number of presents.

Anyway, she accepts them and thanks him.

"Congratulations, Catarina. Read this and do your best to become a proper lady."

Her mother hands her a huge amount of etiquette books.

She didn't want to accept them, but she forced them on her with a menacing look in her eyes.

"Congratulations, Catarina. Here's your present."

Geordo hands her an expensive looking box.

When she received it and looked inside, she saw that it was a very expensive looking necklace with jewels on it, so she tells him she couldn't accept the gift and gives it back.

However, he seemed a bit down and said he really wants to give her something as a present so she asks for watermelon seedlings.

Geordo rolls his eyes, then chuckles and agrees .

"Big sister, happy birthday, here's a present for you."

Saying that, Keith gives her a bouquet of flowers.

"This is ……"

"It's an early-flowering plant, but it blooms in the summer facing the sun, and I thought it would suit you "

"Ah, this flower was blooming in the castle garden the day I first met you, Catarina . This bright yellow certainly suits you."

"You picked these flowers carefully too. It's your flower, isn't it ?"

The words of her mother from her past life comes back to her mind.

"Big sister, what's wrong ?!"

"Catarina, are you alright ?!"

Seeing how panicked the two of them were, she suddenly comes back to her senses and notices tears streaming down her eyes.

"Does it hurt anywhere ?"

"Did something bad happen ?"

She shakes her head at the worried-looking pair and tells them, smilling, she was just very happy when they told her the bouquet suits her so they were just tears of joy.

The two of them look relieved.

She's no longer --- She is now Catarina, but she was given the same flowers again, just like back then.

And they said it suited her.

She hugs the bouquet of sunflowers she was holding tightly.

She feels like a nostalgic scent was stimulating the depths of her chest.