The dinner party was ultimately held as scheduled.
Madame Elsa deliberately made an exception, waiving all those cumbersome noble formalities and allowing everyone in the manor, including the maids and guards, to dine together.
The hall was brightly lit, with the crystal chandelier casting a warm, yellow glow.
The long table was laden with Chef Carter’s signature dishes; the aroma of roasted meat mingled with the rich scent of wine.
“Teacher Ian, thank you for your patient guidance of Leo during this time,” Madame Elsa said, raising her wine glass with a sincere smile on her face.
“You are too kind, Madame. It was simply my duty,” Ian quickly stood up, raising his glass in return, his words impeccably proper and modest.
On the other side, Garick, still bandaged, was holding a large glass of juice and boasting to the guards beside him.
The entire hall was filled with laughter and cheerful chatter, the atmosphere lively and warm.
Yet, at the heart of this clamor, Ailiya, seated at the far end of the long table, seemed separated from it all by an invisible pane of glass.
Her eyes calmly observed the reveling crowd before her, but her gaze lacked focus.
She sat quietly in her seat, her back straight, elegantly and mechanically cutting the steak on her plate.
She didn’t join Garick’s bragging, nor did she chime in with Leo’s boasts.
She simply watched these vivid, flesh-and-blood people before her.
So noisy. But also… warm.
In his former reality, he had been an orphan who didn’t even know what his parents looked like.
From childhood, his longest companions had been virtual game data, one of his few sources of spiritual solace and sense of accomplishment.
Therefore, before coming here, to him, these beings were nothing but strings of data.
A shift in mindset and habits couldn’t be completed in an instant.
Ever since transmigrating into this body, Ailiya had been operating with a player’s mentality.
Accustomed to acting alone, accustomed to measuring everything in the game with cold data, efficiency, and profit.
Grinding experience, learning skills, avoiding risks.
She had thought she had fully accepted the identity of ‘Ailiya.’
Yet, in tonight’s atmosphere filled with bonds and warmth, she suddenly felt a sharp sense of dissonance.
They have families, companions, roots in this world.
They laugh, they play, they bleed, they fear.
And Ailiya… is just an outsider who forced her way into this world, relying on a system panel and a head full of game experience.
Unable to blend in, unable to resonate.
A subtle sense of loss, so faint she couldn’t even put it into words, spread through her heart.
It wasn’t exactly sorrow, just a feeling of boredom and emptiness.
No matter how I pretend, in the end, I’m still an outsider…
Ailiya silently recited in her heart.
But her face remained expressionless, that perpetually cold demeanor perfectly masking all emotion.
For a moment, even the food in her mouth seemed to lose its flavor.
“Why are you sitting here alone, lost in thought?”
Suddenly, a gentle voice interrupted her reverie.
Ailiya looked up to find Madame Elsa standing beside her with a wine glass, having approached unnoticed.
She didn’t put on airs as the mistress; instead, she naturally reached out and gently took hold of Ailiya’s wrist.
“Today is a day of celebration. How can our great contributor hide in a corner?”
Before Ailiya could even open her mouth to refuse, Madame Elsa half-forced her to the center of the table and pressed her into an empty seat.
“Come, Ailiya. This boy Leo managed to graduate thanks to your constant supervision. You must have a drink too.” Madame Elsa smiled, pouring some fruit wine into the cup before Ailiya.
The others at the table also turned their gazes toward her, cheering her on with good intentions.
Under the collective stare, Ailiya’s body stiffened slightly.
She picked up the cup, looked at the expectant faces, and her mind raced to handle this social situation.
Finally, she lowered her head slightly and took a deep breath.
When she looked up again, her usually icy face had been pulled upward into a standard, textbook-perfect smile.
“Congratulations… Young Master, on your academic success. And best wishes… for a smooth journey, Mister Ian.”
Her tone was still that flat, monotonous delivery.
But paired with that stiff, seemingly forced smile, it created a strangely discordant effect.
“Uh… th-thank you, Miss Ailiya,” Ian said, pushing up his glasses and raising his glass somewhat woodenly.
Seeing this, Leo also nodded quickly in thanks.
With this little interlude, although Ailiya still didn’t speak much, she at least didn’t retreat back to that marginal corner, passively blending into the noisy dinner party.
***
The next day, a prepared carriage stood waiting outside the gates of the Kastian manor.
The street was quiet.
Everyone stood at the entrance to see him off.
Ian placed his luggage onto the carriage, then turned and gave a slight bow to Madame Elsa and the others, making his final farewells.
“Everyone, this is far enough. Thank you for your care during this time.”
“Travel safely, Teacher Ian,” Madame Elsa nodded in acknowledgment.
Ian took a deep breath, turned around, placed his hand on the carriage door, and prepared to board.
“Ian…”
Suddenly, Leo’s voice came from behind him.
Carried by the wind, the call sounded somewhat hoarse, with a barely perceptible tremor.
Ian’s motion to board halted.
He stood with his back to the crowd, his body pausing slightly, his shoulders even beginning to tremble faintly.
Several seconds passed before Ian slightly turned his head, his voice low and restrained. “You… have something to say?”
Standing on the steps, Leo’s eyes seemed slightly red. He stared fixedly at Ian’s back, his lips moving. A thousand words ultimately condensed into just two.
“…Take care.”
Ian didn’t turn around, just nodded firmly, emitting a muffled grunt.
“Mm.”
Then, as if afraid someone might see the tears on his face, he quickly ducked into the carriage compartment and closed the door.
The surrounding air seemed tinged with a layer of sad, parting sentiment.
The coachman cracked the whip, and the carriage slowly started moving into the night, its wheels grinding over the cobblestones, gradually heading toward the end of the street.
Madame Elsa patted Leo’s head comfortingly. “Leo, you’ve grown up, understanding respect for teachers. Don’t be too sad. You’ll have a chance to meet again in the future.”
Leo lowered his head and gave a soft “Mm.”
With the farewells concluded, Madame Elsa led the servants back into the manor.
***
Inside the carriage compartment.
Ian, who had just moments ago seemed forlorn with trembling shoulders, suddenly yanked off his black-framed glasses.
“Pfft… pfft… hahahahaha!”
He slumped down in his seat.
“Thank heavens, this torturous side job is finally over.”
“Arcadia, my dear Academy, I’m coming back!”
The earlier trembling hadn’t been from sadness at all, but from him nearly injuring himself holding back laughter.
At the same moment.
Leo’s still somewhat boyish face instantly broke into an exaggerated, even somewhat arrogant, huge grin.
“Hehehe… hahaha!”
Leo roared internally, so excited he nearly took off on the spot.
‘He’s finally gone. I’m free.’
‘Starting tomorrow, who in this manor besides Mother can possibly control me?!’
‘The advantage is mine!!!’
Not far away, Ailiya, who had taken in this entire scene, watched Leo’s comical, instant face-change. The corner of her eye twitched almost imperceptibly.
‘Hah. Clumsy acting.’
Ailiya let out a cold, disdainful snort and decisively turned to leave.