"When she was young, she had an accident. That's why her mental age is about 10 years old. They say she can't leave her room, so has she come to the party?"
Alpeas looked at Erina with complicated feelings. However, he was greeting the young people with an innocent smile, not caring about the looks of others.
As is common at social events, it seemed that he was also looking for a companion. However, no one returned a friendly smile. Instead, they approached him uncomfortably to greet him once and then moved away. This was possible thanks to the power of the influential House Astard.
Alpeas briefly glanced at the host at the opposite table. As expected, he was visibly angry. Finally, he couldn't contain himself and shouted at his wife.
"Didn't I tell you not to bring Erina? Get her out of here right now!"
"Dear, please calm down. Erina likes the party, you know? It would be a shame if we took her out and caused a scandal. Leave her alone; I'll discreetly take her out without anyone noticing."
"Oh, how embarrassing! It's a disgrace to our family, a disgrace."
Alpeas pursed his lips. He understood his feelings, but still, labeling his daughter as a disgrace was too much. Of course, he was well aware of the position of the first-class nobility in society. He himself was born into a first-class family and had obtained the prestigious title of "Radiance of the Milch family."
"It's like looking at my old home. Anyway, nobles."
Alpeas didn't take his eyes off Erina until the music changed three times. He learned that she was really enjoying the party. She seemed content with just greeting people.
But who were the mages? They were people who looked down on ignorance. While they smiled in front of her, they mocked Erina behind her back.
"Klump, wait a moment. No, drink this."
Alpeas passed the glass and turned toward the dance floor. Klump hurriedly called him.
"What else are you going to do? Please don't get into trouble at an event like this."
"Those who mock the kindness of the young lady because they learned a little etiquette should be reprimanded. As the most popular of Bashka, I must elevate her status a bit."
Klump's imposing gaze made Alpeas turn around.
"Alpeas, that's wrong. Miss Erina might interpret compassion as mockery. Don't make her feel more miserable."
Klump was being sincere. His usual restless eyes had disappeared, replaced by a determined look. Alpeas smiled and patted Klump on the shoulder.
"Anyway, it's simple. You think I don't know? I've never treated any woman falsely before. All sins arise from discrimination. Haven't you heard of this? If you start to worry about her, her life will become that of a bird trapped in a cage. Let me handle everything since I have a plan."
"Are you being serious? Will you really do it? Hey, wait!"
As Alpeas crossed the ballroom, Klump looked at him in astonishment.
"Don't worry! I am the lover of the masses."
When Alpeas approached Erina, she was alone. Unwittingly, everyone had moved away from her. However, she continued to eat her apple without showing any sign or trace of sadness.
"Hello? It's a fun party."
Instead of responding while nibbling on the apple, Erina looked at Alpeas and blinked. It was clear that her intellectual capacity was limited even before starting the conversation.
But she was pure.
So much that she could feel reflected the emotions of others like a mirror. Perhaps that was the real reason people avoided her.
"Oh, hello! I'm Erina."
From a man's point of view, Erina smiled brightly as if she had understood something when she greeted. However, her response was definitely different from what Alpeas had observed from afar. He seemed to fear something without apparent reason.
'He's the first person to come to talk, after all.'
Alpeas courteously bowed and greeted.
"I am Alpeas Milch, a mage. I got lost in your beauty, and only now I realize I should greet you. If it's not a bother, would you like to be my dance partner tonight?"
Erina opened her eyes wide and dropped a piece of apple into her mouth. Anyone could see that her expression clearly said, 'What's going on here?'
Suddenly, Erina lowered her head deeply and, without saying a word, turned away, passing by Alpeas.
Alpeas was bewildered. The expression "I got played" was appropriate. Had he been too normal by human standards? Regaining his composure, he quickly moved to block Erina's path.
"Lady Erina, wait a moment. Was I too hasty? I'm sorry. I just wanted to get to know you, and I got carried away."
Erina still didn't respond. She simply looked at the ground and shuffled her feet, looking for an escape.
But this time, Alpeas wouldn't give up. He blocked her path again and again, never ceasing to talk.
"It's okay. If you don't like dancing, let's talk instead. Let's chat. I have a very interesting story to tell. Are you interested in constellations?"
"I'm leaving. I want to go to my room. Mom will punish me."
"Why would your mom punish you? No one will scold you. You're at the party, and this is just a request to be your companion."
"She said not to talk to strangers. She said if someone talks to me, they're a bad person. I want to go to my room."
Alpeas felt frustrated, even desperate. His ability to win the hearts of women seemed to have completely disappeared, and he had only one wish: he wanted Erina to look at him once more.
"I'm not a bad person at all. Look at my face. How could my face be that of a bad person?"
Alpeas grabbed Erina's shoulders with both hands. At the same time, Erina jumped and screamed.
"Kyaaaagh! I don't like it!"
All the nobles in the room turned their heads toward Erina. To anyone watching, it seemed like Alpeas was doing something wrong.
"Mom! Help me! Mom!"
"Erina, look at me. I'm not trying to hurt you."
"Mom! Mom!"
Among the invited mages was Saroph, Alpeas's rival. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He knew Alpeas was eccentric, but he had never imagined it would reach this level of madness.
"Has he managed to get all the girls from the Bashka family and now he's harassing one with intellectual disabilities? He must be desperate to climb the social ladder."
Most of the nobles shared the same thought. Even if she had a mental disability, she was still the daughter of House Astard. If they courted her, her future was secured.
The only person who truly understood Alpeas's feelings was Klump, but even he had given up when things reached this point.
"This guy is a complete lunatic. If you screwed up like this, fix it yourself."
Erina was in a state close to a panic attack, but Alpeas had her tightly in his grip. As he tried to calm her down, he spoke.
"Erina, wait a moment. Look at me. Just look at me."
"Mom! I'm scared, mom!"
"Erina."
When Alpeas shouted, Erina's movement paused for a moment. But her fear was even more evident than before.
"Please, just look at me once. I beg you."
Erina slowly turned her head with a fearful look on her face. Alpeas' fiery eyes stared at her. Heat seemed to radiate from his eyes, even warming her heart.
"Come on, what do you say? Nothing bad is going to happen. I'm not a bad person. I won't do anything you don't like. But this is a party, don't you want to dance?"
Erina's expression showed clear interest. It was as if the particles of light breaking into crystal, the music of a bard, the noise of the crowd blending; she simply wanted to smile and enjoy the party like anyone else.
"Miss Erina, I want to be with you. Would you do me the honor of being my companion tonight?"
Although there was no response, there was no rejection either. Erina had no intention of speaking. She simply approached Alpeas like a baby learning to take its first steps. And, for the first time in her life, she found comfort in the arms of someone who wasn't her family.
The musicians immediately resumed their performance and started playing again, and Alpeas, leading Erina, began to dance. The nobles were bewildered, even Erina's parents were speechless.
Alpeas didn't care about their reactions. He didn't care at all. Because Erina didn't care about them. As if they were the only two in the room, they surrendered to the music. Their dance wasn't elegant, far from sophisticated, but it was instinctive and passionate. They spun like spinning tops, colliding with other guests. And the more they did, the more Erina laughed. Ten minutes later, Erina became the star of the party, at least for that night.
***
Laughter filled with mischief echoed in the garden. Alpeas and Erina, who had been on the verge of causing a scene at the party, fled desperately and ventured into the forest.
Alpeas, panting, reached the edge of the hill. Embarrassingly, Erina didn't seem to be as tired. How weak compared to a woman! Alpeas thought about cutting down on his alcohol consumption as he gazed at the sky.
It was a night when the stars seemed to fall in abundance.
Erina had a surprisingly quiet personality. But wasn't Alpeas, known in Bashka for his eloquence, said to talk a lot? The conversation continued unabated, with no cooling of the atmosphere.
Over time, Alpeas began to feel that Erina was drawing the conversation out of him. It didn't matter what topic he talked about; she listened in silence. Sometimes, when it seemed she understood, she would smile, and Alpeas spoke even more, like a waterfall.
Finally, the conversation turned to issues related to the nature of the identity of photons that had been troubling physicists lately.
Is light a wave or a particle?
Saroph had defined it as a wave, but Alpeas was sure he was wrong. However, he wasn't advocating for the nature of a particle either.
To be honest, he didn't know. The main idea was simply to acknowledge that he didn't know what he didn't know.
"It's really strange, isn't it? Light has a truly strange nature. In interference experiments, it shows its wave nature, but at the same time..."
Alpeas realized he had delved too deeply into his own story and stopped speaking. He had been so busy talking that he hadn't even noticed Erina was listening. Erina sat on the grass, looking down the hill. However, her smile on her lips remained beautiful.
"Haha! Have I been talking too much and being noisy? It's the first time I've spoken in so long. Usually, people get tired."
"You're a good person."
It was the first time Erina spoke those words, and Alpeas blinked as if he were the first person to hear them. He couldn't understand why his heart rate suddenly accelerated.
His mind was in a confused state.
It was an unknown world, a world where the will to enter and fear coexisted, a world where nothing could be judged.
Alpeas ignored it and continued speaking as if he hadn't heard her words.
"Haha, it's a shameful story, but as a so-called magician, I'm supposed to write an article, but the truth is I know nothing. I have no idea where to start. What do you think, Erina? Is light a wave or a particle?"
Erina wasn't bothered by Alpeas' attitude. She stood up from her spot, gazing at the stars in the sky, and said:
"Alpeas, I believe the answer is that light is what we want it to be at that moment."