"It is, isn't it?" Michael asked Helen while smiling at how taken by the moment she was.
"Yeah, I haven't seen anything like this before," Helen replied while enjoying the scene before her.
"Come, take a look around. It's a big garden. You can even see plants that don't exist in Kremia," Michael said to Helen and took her hand as if to guide her.
"Why are you holding my hand?" she replied, trying to sound irritated, or so she thought.
"I've told you already. It's a big garden. What would happen if Her Highness got lost?" Michael sarcastically replied to her, still not letting go of her hand.
"Hmm, I guess you are right. You could get into trouble," Helen replied, not missing the sarcastic tone in his voice, "Aren't you the lucky one holding the hand of the princess?" she asked with the same sarcastic tone while getting a tighter grip on his hand.
"I think you are the lucky one here," Michael said with a serious tone this time.
"How so?" Helen replied.
"Aren't you lucky to be guided by me? Where else could you find someone as handsome as me doing you a private tour?" he asked with the same sarcastic tone while looking straight into her eyes.
"Just guide me," asked Helen while turning her head, trying to hide the slight blush that was spreading on her cheeks.
"Come on then," Michael said, and they started touring the garden.
'Got you now,' thought Michael.
-Two days before the party-
In what seems to be a training room, a young man can be seen sitting on the ground, exhausted. Beside him was a middle-aged man who was also sitting on the ground watching the younger one while he was training.
"I want you to know some things about the party," started talking Aragon as soon as he saw his son opening his eyes.
"What is it, father?" replied Michael.
"So, at your birthday party, the King will be there. You probably don't know this, but for the last couple of years, Duke Clithford has been supporting the second prince with the purpose of pushing him into the throne and, as a result, getting more political power, so the King will probably poach you into supporting the crown prince, and I was informed that the second princess will also attend so they may try to get to you through her. It may or may not be true, but still, I want you to be careful. There are many things that you still don't know about politics," Aragon seriously instructed his son.
"Thank you, father, but maybe if they try something from the princesses' side, I can turn the situation beneficial to us. Should I try getting closer to her and see their real motives?" asked Michael waiting for his father's advice cause even though he was reincarnated, he didn't know anything about how politics work.
"It's a risky move because we don't know how she'll respond, but I guess you can try. Just take things slow, don't push her much, and go with the flow. I think you can judge the situation by yourself when you'll be alone with her," Aragon advised his son.
"Okay, I'll try to come closer to her and see how things go from then on," replied Michael and returned to his training once again.
-Present time-
"Come on, don't you have anything else to show me around here?" the girl asked with a more pleading tone.
"I've told you already. The garden was the only thing that would pique your interest. Everything else that's in here probably is in every castle. Now come, let's head downstairs; otherwise, I'm going to miss my birthday," replied the young man.
They were Helen and Michael, who had just finished their tour in the garden. In this half-hour that they have been together, they got quite close, or so Helen thought.
'I guess it won't be that hard getting her closer to me,' thought Michael, watching how much more relaxed Helen had been around him.
"Sigh… okay, let's go," Helen reluctantly replied.
Arriving back at the ballroom, Helen split with Michael as her brother called her to greet some of the higher-ranked nobles, leaving Michael alone not for long, though, since many new faces came to congratulate him. While everyone congratulated him, Raphael called over his daughter to inquire about how things progressed.
"How did things go?" asked Raphael.
"It was good. He seems like a good person, but we didn't dive into any deep topics," answered Helen.
"Don't worry about that now. You'll have a lot of time to try and get him on our side at the academy," Raphael said while sipping his wine.
'Yeah, I guess we'll spend more time there..' Helen thought while smiling.
"Why are you smiling?" asked Raphael.
"Ahh, it's nothing. I just remembered something. Anyway, I'll go if you don't need me anymore."
"No, wait, we will be leaving shortly," said Raphael stopping Helen from leaving.
"Oh, okay then, I'll call Jonathan," Helen said and started leaving to find her brother, but soon she stopped in her tracks when she heard a loud voice.
"Michael Dacre, I challenge you into a duel," roared a young man around the age of Michael. He was the firstborn of Duke Clithford, John Clithford.
As soon as his words left his mouth, everyone was stunned. How can you challenge someone on his birthday without any apparent reason? But of course, things are not always as they seem.
-Inside the office of Duke Clithford-
"You are now at E rank, John. It's confirmed that the Dacre boy is also around E rank. When you attend the birthday, I want you to challenge him to a duel and do everything to win. Your ranks are not that far apart so you won't have much of a problem," the Duke instructed his son.
"I understand, father. Is it because you want to show the King that he shouldn't put much hope into Michael," asked John.
"Hmm, it seems you are starting to learn something. Well done," the Duke praised his son.
-Present time, party-
As soon as John challenged Michael, the latter scanned the room to find his father. When their eyes met, he just saw his father giving a slight confirming nod. And that was all he needed.
"I accept," replied Michael calmly as if he didn't mind it at all.
'Let's see what you got,' thought Michael while trying to control his laugh from escaping.