Banquet (3)
Banquet (3)
The clothing itself wasn't hard to put on.
Though the fabric was wide and flowed loosely, it was just a matter of roughly putting it on and tying a sash at the waist.
The fit was so comfortable I could've worn it as everyday clothes.
The comparatively ornate outer garment just needed to be draped over the shoulders and secured. Done.
A simple process. By skimming it with the Observation Authority, I could grasp the proper way to wear it right away.
Dressing with only one arm might have been cumbersome, but the Sky Wing Feather made it manageable.
"I will assist with your makeup."
[Yes.]
[Thank y— ...Makeup?]
The real trouble was everything that came before.
The moment I moved to put on the clothing, I was suddenly shooed into the bath chamber.
For a while after that, I had to soak my body deep in steaming water until I felt practically boiled.
When I barely managed to drag my thoroughly warmed body out, this time they applied some sort of cosmetics and scented oils all over—not just my skin, but my hair too.
And then.
A swarm of attendants rushed in, sat me down at the vanity, and began fussing over my hair—trimming it, drying it, doing this and that...
Only after finishing that tremendously tedious routine was I finally allowed to put on the clothing.
By that point, my energy was already completely drained.
The preparations were far too extensive.
I was exhausted before I even set foot in the banquet hall.
But with all the preparations made, I couldn't very well run away.
Most importantly, Choi Ji-yeon planned to bring up the matter of my family register transfer toward the end of the gathering.
We'd arranged that once that was concluded, I would demonstrate the Calamity Flame once before the assembled guests.
It'd be absurd for the person in question to be absent.
I followed Eriel's guidance and made my way to the Regular Gathering venue.
I trudged along, and the large doors opened.
'Um...'
And I was met with an exceedingly strange reaction.
The responses coming through my observation were far from normal.
I had expected attention to turn my way.
As I would later learn, the Calamity Flame Family's Regular Gathering rarely involved guests... outsiders.
So I'd figured there'd be a fair amount of interest when I entered.
"......."
"......."
"......."
It was far beyond what I anticipated.
People who'd been chatting among themselves moments ago had gone utterly stiff.
Every one of them was staring blankly this way... at me, as if they'd encountered something utterly unimaginable.
It was so quiet you could hear an ant crawl. Even the instruments had fallen silent before I'd realized it.
No matter how I thought about it, this wasn't a normal reaction.
Had I entered at the wrong time?
I turned my head toward Eriel, who was right behind me, and asked.
[Did I come in at the wrong moment?]
"Not at all, young master. Now is the correct time to enter."
Then why was everyone reacting like that? It was as if they were all staring at something astonishing.
My confusion must have shown on my face, because Eriel spoke in that characteristically expressionless way.
"Everyone has simply frozen in surprise at your beauty, young master."
"?"
The answer delivered from that expressionless face was utterly baffling. Without meaning to, I made a dumbfounded expression.
Because she was so stone-faced, I couldn't tell if she was joking or being sincere.
Probably joking.
[Beaut...]
[Am I supposed to thank you...?]
I nodded, still wearing a perplexed expression.
"Ahem, ahem."
That instant.
A cough rang out through the silence-filled banquet hall.
It came from Choi Ji-yeon, who'd been staring at me with eyes as round as everyone else's.
As if that sound were a signal, the stiffened crowd began to stir.
The movements were somewhat awkward and creaky, but the gathering seemed to resume.
- ♪~
The performers, who'd been unnaturally frozen mid-note, jolted awake and hurriedly set their hands to work, playing their instruments once more.
The music swept away the silence.
Staying mindful of the sounds reaching my ears, I took stock of my surroundings.
Countless gazes were still fixed on me, but the gathering appeared to be moving forward again.
Only after confirming people were in motion did I head toward where Choi Ji-yeon and Hong Yeon-hwa stood.
Tanhwaju (Birth Fire Master) Hwa Byeok-un and Jeonghwaju (Stop Fire Master) Hong Jin-hyeok were not beside them.
They were within my observation range.
Hwa Byeok-un had settled at a table tucked in the corner of the banquet hall, steadily drinking what appeared to be makgeolli.
Hong Jin-hyeok wasn't in the banquet hall at all. He was standing by at the main family residence, fully armed.
I didn't question it.
Hong Jin-hyeok had stayed behind at the main house to respond to any potential attack, which was why he hadn't been included in the Demon Realm exploration personnel.
I knew because he'd grumbled to me about it endlessly during every training session, clearly frustrated to have missed out.
I strode across and arrived before Choi Ji-yeon and Hong Yeon-hwa.
"It really, truly suits you perfectly."
Choi Ji-yeon covered her mouth with a hand, sounding amazed.
"Beyond what I imagined. How can it suit you so well?"
[Thank you.]
That was a proper compliment.
Unlike Eriel's remark, this was the kind of normal, give-and-take compliment I could accept. I bowed my head.
Then I raised my head and turned toward Hong Yeon-hwa.
Hong Yeon-hwa was dressed similarly to me.
Clothing that radiated an elegant charm, a black sash at the waist, an ornate outer garment draped over the shoulders.
Aside from the impression that my outfit had a slightly more flowing quality, our attire was almost identical.
"......"
But Hong Yeon-hwa hadn't said a word for some time now.
She'd just stared blankly with her mouth open, then shut it, swallowed, then startled and shook her head side to side...
Her face went red and pale by turns, and the focus in her eyes wavered. She was reacting oddly, as if bewitched.
I turned my observation on Hong Yeon-hwa to check if she was unwell, but nothing unusual appeared.
No injuries either.
The Calamity Flame inside her was churning in a sticky sort of way, but it often did that, so I let it pass.
[How is it? Do I look okay?]
Watching Hong Yeon-hwa's demeanor, I casually asked.
When I raised my hand to show the outfit, the wide, flowing sleeve slid down like a curtain—probably because the fabric was so loose.
The clothing was elegant and flowing, cinched with a black sash.
Over my shoulders, an ornate outer garment was fastened, worn almost like a cloak.
Thanks to the outer garment, my empty left side wasn't exposed. As usual, my right arm was concealed by an arm sleeve covering the burn scars.
The outfit was predominantly red, but with my black hair, the combination felt somewhat off.
By contrast, it suited Hong Yeon-hwa perfectly—her clothes, her hair, even her eyes were all a lovely red.
I'd asked cautiously, but personally, I didn't think it suited me at all.
And yet I'd asked for her opinion anyway.
The shameless thought beneath it was that, even if I found it strange myself, I still wanted to hear a compliment.
"Uh, uhh..."
To my question, carrying both unease and a quiet hope, Hong Yeon-hwa turned her head away as if avoiding eyes I didn't even have, and spoke haltingly.
"You're too pretty..."
"......"
A compliment came back.
Pretty.
Pleasing to the eye, lovely or cute, heartwarming...
It was a compliment that lifted my mood.
But even so, I felt a strange sort of way.
Shameless as it was, I'd hoped for a compliment, and I'd gotten one—but still.
The truth was, even more shamelessly, I'd wanted a different kind of compliment.
The outfit I wore had the overall air of a martial garment.
Not the shamanic robes of a mudang or fortune-teller, but the sort of martial attire one might wear for training or combat.
[Thank you.]
[Perhaps... any other thoughts?]
"O-Other?"
In other words, elegant though it might be, there was a certain fundamental coolness to it.
Since I was wearing it, I'd wanted to hear, just a little, that I looked cool. Or cool. Or cool.
Hiding my faint—faint?—hope, I asked again, and...
Hong Yeon-hwa, who'd been thinking hard as if trying to wring out a compliment, hesitated and then spoke.
"Cute..."
An even stranger compliment came back.
[...You're very pretty too, Miss Hong Yeon-hwa.]
[It really suits you beautifully.]
Well, a compliment was a compliment.
When I hid my puzzled expression and replied, Hong Yeon-hwa's reddened face brightened in an instant.
"......"
Beside us, Choi Ji-yeon was watching with a thoroughly incredulous expression.
.
.
.
In truth, though I'd been invited to the gathering as a guest, there wasn't much for me to do.
The Regular Gathering wasn't a particularly special event in the first place.
Those who'd been apart gathered to share how they'd been faring and to exchange views on future plans and the state of the world.
During this, the main family would meet face-to-face with members of the branch lines and subordinate forces, one or two at a time, conducting something akin to a simple ideological screening.
It was nothing more than taking turns conversing with people one by one, briefly checking whether anyone might be a subversive element, and indirectly leaving the warning that anyone who stepped out of line would be killed.
Because of that, Choi Ji-yeon and Hong Yeon-hwa were busy receiving the stream of people coming to pay their respects.
The attendees visiting the Regular Gathering numbered in the hundreds at minimum. Assuming they came forward a few at a time, that meant hundreds of separate conversations.
Effectively, the entire Regular Gathering was spent receiving visitors.
"We last met at last year's Regular Gathering, Chief of the Yeolpung Clan. I've heard you successfully conquered the satellite dungeon as well—congratulations."
"Thanks to the support sent from the main house by the Chief Administrator's consideration, we were able to finish it admirably."
"Have you made good use of the gift from that occasion?"
"That gift allowed us to avert casualties that might well have occurred near the end. I offer my thanks here and now."
Leading the conversation was mostly the Chief Administrator's role.
Chief Administrator Choi Ji-yeon guided the dialogue with a flawless smile.
That was nothing strange. The whole purpose of the Chief Administrator's position was to handle such affairs.
Even if the Clan Head had been present in person, it would have been the Chief Administrator leading the conversation.
As a result, Hong Yeon-hwa didn't speak much.
Only occasionally did she answer questions directed at her, or rarely spoke up to ask something herself.
And I was listening to all these conversations from right beside them.
This, too, was nothing strange.
The plan was to make a public announcement about my (not-so-)secret origin during the Regular Gathering.
So I stayed by Choi Ji-yeon and Hong Yeon-hwa's side, letting my face be seen in advance.
"......."
I listened blankly to the conversations.
Apart from the occasional moment when a question came my way and I had to answer, I stayed still.
I just had to wait a little longer and the Regular Gathering would be over.
I'd entered midway through, and the Regular Gathering wasn't a long affair to begin with.
Soon Hong Yeon-hwa would draw the Beacon Fire Sword, perform the ceremony, and reveal my family register transfer—and with that, the schedule would conclude.
'Hoo...'
From that moment on, using the Calamity Flame under the identity of Lee Ha-yul would become considerably freer.
Encouraging as that was, unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to use it easily at the place I was headed this break.
Because I wasn't going to be using the identity of Lee Ha-yul there in the first place.
'Hope I don't come back empty-handed this time.'
That was the sort of concern I was mulling over.
- Slip...
"......!"
A sensation suddenly curled around my shoulder, making my body flinch.
My wariness and rejection instincts didn't activate. The touch was familiar, so I didn't counter it either.
Besides, I already knew whose touch it was from my observation.
The touch belonged to Hong Yeon-hwa.
She'd been joining the conversations only occasionally, and then she abruptly reached out and draped an arm over my shoulder.
[?]
It was almost like she was throwing an arm around me in a friendly gesture.
When I tilted my head, wondering what this was about, the hand on my shoulder carefully drew my body closer.
- Softly
The slight distance between us narrowed.
In my flustered state, a soft sensation caught my body.
A particularly plush softness cradled my head.
This wasn't a place where we were alone—it happened in a crowded hall—and the sudden contact made heat rush to my face in an instant.
* * *
[Player Correction System: Affection]
Lee Ha-yul→Hong Yeon-hwa
●●●●●●●●○○(86▷87/100)
「?」 「Guilt」 「Gratitude」 「Warmth」 「Sense of Stability」
...
[Conditions for lifting the「Curse of Silence」have not been met.]
[Conditions for lifting the「Curse of Solitude」have not been met.]