Episode 266 Banquet with the Princess (2)
As the day passed, many nobles gathered at Viscount Gade’s mansion.
Starting with the lords of the nearby manor, even the counts and marquesses gathered one by one, so the mansion was literally crowded with nobles.
At this point, Viscount Gade always had a smile on his lips.
It was a territory that did not normally attract the attention of nobles.
He was reluctant when asked to trade, and often refused even when asked to trade, so there was no way for the territory to develop.
However, things are different now.
The fact that so many aristocrats took steps alone made the name of the territory high enough.
When the name rises, the nobles take care of themselves and come back with a bari-bari.
You just have to enjoy it.
When that happened, my thoughts changed little by little.
‘The flowers at this banquet are, of course, the saint and the princess. It’s like the princess, but only the saint needs to change her outfit.’
You can’t enjoy a banquet in shabby clothes.
If the saint came to the banquet dressed cleanly, the name of Viscount Gade would rise even higher.
The point is that as he becomes more splendid, the viscount also grows.
A smile formed on Viscount Gade’s lips as he thought of a prosperous future.
* * *
Ray spent the night in an old building.
This is a place where only coachmen and attendants stay, so there is no lady-in-waiting to take care of the work.
So, I had to take care of everything on my own.
But that doesn’t mean there’s anything inconvenient about it.
You can sleep and wash yourself.
Even that much was enough for Ray to live.
“It’s stuffy after wearing only a robe all day.”
The lobes are thick.
To put it bluntly, for magicians, it’s like armor to protect themselves, so it has no choice but to be thick.
Besides, the material itself was quite rough.
If you don’t wear cotton and leather clothes, your skin will be chafed and scarred.
I’ve been wearing it for the past few weeks.
Feeling cramped, Ray took off his robe and folded it to one side.
I took off the mask anyway.
The viscount here knows himself.
Then there was no need to hide the face by putting on a mask.
As my body becomes lighter, my mind feels more at ease.
Ray murmured as he looked out the window at the small garden.
“Now is the time to leave.”
I have no intention of continuing to enjoy a good meal here.
In the first place, the reason why he took a step as a viscount Gade was to prevent troublesome things in advance.
Therefore, I intend to return immediately after the conversation with the Viscount is over.
If it’s long, it will last until morning, and if it’s early, you can leave today’s banquet for the last time.
There is still some time left before the banquet opens.
The lady-in-waiting will inform you when the time is right, so it would be okay to sleep a little longer in the meantime.
While organizing his thoughts, he laid down on the bed.
* * *
Viscount Gade greeted the nobles in the middle of the banquet hall.
“Nice to meet you, Baron.”
“It is an honor to invite you to this prestigious event, Viscount.”
“ha ha ha. I’m more than grateful to you for saying that. Please do not hesitate and enjoy the banquet.”
“yes. But the saint…?”
The baron looked around and asked cautiously.
Viscount Gade’s expression turned bitter.
From a while ago, the eyes of the nobles were directed to the surroundings.
It is to check where the saint is.
However, since the important saint is nowhere to be seen, everyone seems concerned.
‘Where did you go…’
I’ve been looking for the troubles, but I’m worried that he may have left the mansion, judging from the lack of news so far.
While the viscount’s shitline was burning to black, the lobby informed them of the princess’ position.
“Princess Celestia Celestia is entering!”
At that, all the eyes of the audience were focused on the princess.
The dress that reveals the neckline in the upturned hair and the beauty that arouses admiration from the viewer shines.
An atmosphere wet with melancholy flowed from his slightly lowered eyes.
Known as the most beautiful woman in the kingdom, she even dressed up beautifully, and it was comparable to an elf.
All the nobles let out their exclamations.
“You seem to be getting more beautiful every day.”
“It feels like looking at a single flower. Heh heh heh.”
However, such compliments did not lift Celestia’s heart.
She glanced around.
I can’t see the figure of the saint who should be.
Could it be that you haven’t come to the banquet hall yet?
I thought there was no manners, but I didn’t know it would be this far.
Celestia sighed in an unexpected situation.
Then it is.
Disappointed, she brushed the last remaining expectations out of her head.
* * *
I slept half a day.
Now, even if I try to sleep more, I am not sleepy.
“It is strange. What happened?”
Even after waking up from a sound sleep, there is no sign that the lady-in-waiting will come to wake her up.
Are you saying the banquet preparations aren’t over yet?
It can’t be.
If the nobility gathered like this, the banquet should have already started.
I went out to the garden with a curious mind.
The beautiful garden was empty, with no maids wandering around.
Looking at this empty garden, the banquet must have already begun.
At that point, something was roughly expected in my head.
That he was assigned to an old annex.
And that the lady-in-waiting did not come to announce the start of the banquet.
Rey, who understood the situation by connecting the two, shook her head.
It was only natural that the lady-in-waiting did not come.
Who will announce the start of the banquet to the old annex?
Besides, who else would have known that there would be a saint in such a place?
Ray let out a sigh.
I had no idea that things would turn out this way.
Now that I know it, I can’t go back now.
“I’m going crazy.”
I came to talk with the viscount, and things became more troublesome.
Time has passed, and now the banquet is almost over.
If the Viscount goes back to his bed, he will have to wait another day.
He crossed the garden and turned the corner of the mansion.
Then, there were quite a few maids who were invisible in the garden.
In my haste, I passed them all the way to the banquet hall, and the maids standing in front of me stiffened like stones.
As if they had seen a ghost, they stopped in place and looked at each other.
“Did you just see the bar?”
“Look. Were you an elf?”
“I didn’t look closely, but… an elf is probably right.”
As if possessed by something, the maids’ expressions changed moment by moment.
* * *
Celestia received the words of the nobles around her.
There was a smile on his lips, but in reality he was bored.
‘If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have come to the banquet.’
For her, reading books in the library is ten times more useful.
In addition, the meeting with the saint that I was looking forward to was ruined from the beginning, and I didn’t attend the banquet at all on the second day, so I feel very bad.
Perhaps noticing this, some of the nobles’ children started talking.
“Your complexion is not very good. If there is anything wrong, please tell me.”
“That’s right. I can do anything for the Eight Princess. I don’t know what to say with my mouth, but the power I have is not small, so please discuss it.”
Falling in love with Celestia’s pale color, he said while pounding his chest.
She smiled awkwardly and waved her hand.
“it’s okay. It’s not a big deal for you to worry about. I was just worried that the saint would not come to the banquet hall…”
As they slurred their words while sipping wine, a fire was kindled in the hearts of the children.
Some of them clenched their fists and even hated the saint they didn’t even know.
There are rumors that Princess Celestia personally walked to the remote territory for the reason of getting married.
When the saint was involved in it, they slandered him as if they had found a public enemy.
“You are a person without manners to not come to the banquet that was held for you.”
“You must have completely forgotten about the banquet.”
“Come on, forget about that person and get another drink.”
Forget the banquet.
Does it really mean that banquets and meetings with oneself are not so important?
When I thought of that, I felt sad as well as resentful.
No matter how much I don’t like it, it’s someone I’ve been looking for for years.
I tried so hard to find it, but the other person didn’t even seem to be very happy, so it’s even more sad.
‘What am I going to do with this thought?’
As Celestia raised her glass and was about to drink, a soft voice came from the side.
“Even Nara-nim curses at me when I’m not there, but I have to restrain myself when I’m there.”
She hadn’t heard it a few times, but Celestia’s head jerked in reflex at the familiar tone and voice.
Then her mouth opened slightly.
Contrary to the messy appearance of wearing a mask and robe, the saint in front of him was neatly dressed.
Unique blue eyes with fair skin enough to feel a sense of heterogeneity.
There was something strangely pulling people’s attention in the protruding jawline.
The white cotton suit and leather pants may look light at first glance, but they fit perfectly as if they were made for him.
Celestia was taken aback by the completely different appearance from their first meeting.
“Seongseong-nim……?”
“I was a little late because I was in trouble. By the way, your complexion looks better today than last time?”
The reason why his complexion looks good is because his impression has changed a lot from the first time.
Celestia’s face turned red with embarrassment.
“Yes yes…”
As soon as a blush bloomed on her face, the disciples around her were enraged.
No matter what he said, the princess had never responded like that.
Eight, quenching his boiling anger, pretended to be nothing.
“nice to see you. It is said to be Eytra of Count Beriel. You are very late today. It’s not a big deal because the protagonist is always late. ha ha ha.”
It sounds like he was joking, but there was a thorn in it.
“It’s because there was trouble.”
“Unfortunately, something happened. Even though something happened to the main character of the banquet, he didn’t take care of it. No matter how big the banquet is, it must have been lacking because it was the banquet of a viscount from the periphery. Please come to our estate next time. I will treat you in return for today’s banquet.”
At Eight’s words, Ray smiled.
“This is a funny guy. Why are you repaying the viscount’s mistakes?”
