Shock and Jubilation
The charity party at the Arle Barony. True to his reputation as a man obsessed with parties, the events he hosted were always in high demand throughout the southern region. A well-prepared banquet inevitably attracted nobles thirsty for entertainment, and where nobles gathered, those hungry for social climbing were sure to follow. The southern nobles had spent the last few days focused on tailoring new party dresses and selecting accessories. They were already restless, eager for a rare bit of amusement.
“You couldn’t get an invitation? How?”
“…I offered the usual price, but… they said there were no invitations left….”
It was impossible for invitations to be in short supply. If there weren’t enough seats, they could just call it a standing party, and there weren’t enough nobles in the south to actually run out of space. If they were “lacking,” it didn’t mean seats—it meant money.
“The price of the invitation went up that much…? Who is scheduled to attend?”
In the central Imperial Capital or the East, where nobles were a dime a dozen, invitation prices often skyrocketed due to petty ego battles. But in the south, the attendees were always the same crowd. Since they only ever saw the same faces, the market price was implicitly fixed.
“…Rumor has it that a guest of significant stature is appearing.”
“Considering the Baron’s girth, isn’t it just that the food is getting better? The meal price must have gone up.”
Who could possibly be a special guest here in the south? Every noble worth knowing had already arrived; the only things left to come were monsters. But surely the others knew that, too…?
“…Is the information really reliable?”
“I have served you for decades, sir….”
“Damn it. I’ll trust you.”
The price of an invitation to this party was three times the usual amount. The world had gone mad.
The nobles who heard the price raved within their own mansions to save face. But the more they chewed on it, the more curious they became.
‘Just who came that made the price go like this…?’
‘Just how amazing a party is he preparing…?’
‘I’m going. I’m definitely going…!’ The south was in turmoil.
* * *
The party would start in ten minutes. The doors to the banquet hall would open, and the nobles would enter one by one. Starting with the host Baron’s opening remarks, the party was scheduled to last for three days.
“Some water here….”
“Yes, yes! I shall pour it for you.”
My only job now was to deliver a short thank-you greeting to the distinguished guests after the Baron’s opening speech. After that, I planned to lock myself in my room until the party ended.
‘My throat is parched… so parched.’
I had visited this banquet hall several times, but today it felt even larger and taller. Greeting the nobles here was burdensome, but… I felt at ease knowing they wouldn’t be listening to a word I said anyway.
“…That’s a bit burdensome.”
What was actually bothering me was the gentleman right in front of me.
“…You can go attend to your business, you know.”
“No, no! The party is about to start; where would the host go if not the banquet hall?”
“…Right.”
“Do you need more water? I’ll pour some.”
Baron Arle poured water for me with ‘both hands.’ The corners of his mouth, which usually couldn’t even lift properly because they were buried in his cheek fat, were now stretched up to his cheekbones. Seeing that he looked full without even eating, it was clear that I had finally unleashed Wegovy into this other world.
‘Power is terrifying….’
Immediately after meeting Anastasia Rostira, I had explained the situation to Baron Arle. It wasn’t much—just that Rostira needed an invitation…. It wasn’t my responsibility, but it would be troublesome if the host didn’t know what was going on, so it was only natural.
— “The Grand Duke? No, you met a child of the Rostira family…?”
— “We were talking, and I asked them to send an invitation….”
— “They’re attending…?”
The Baron’s expression changed in real-time. At first, it was, ‘I didn’t even know who visited my territory?’ and then it shifted to, ‘My party is now a gathering of celebrities where even the Grand Ducal family participates…?’ His vassals standing nearby turned pale, then sallow, then bright red with excitement.
‘Are they traffic lights…?’
— “It’s not that the Grand Duke herself is attending, but she’s sending an acquaintance.”
— “That’s even better. Brother, brother…! I will truly reward you handsomely.”
Unintentionally, I had become sworn brothers with the Baron. At this point, he might even agree to be my loan guarantor.
The Baron hovered around me for a long time, and finally, I had a moment to catch my breath.
“Isn’t it better if Rostira participates?”
[It’s good if the Grand Ducal family participates, but… the difference in status is too great. And there’s no reason for a Northern Grand Duke to exert influence all the way down in the south.]
“It’s complicated.”
[In any case, there’s actually no chance Rostira will really participate.]
Chiara is technically a Rostira, though…. Maybe later, the Baron would be able to brag that Rostira had attended his party. Separately, Chiara had finished the party preparations perfectly. At first, the maids had complained, wondering if they should follow the words of a sixteen-year-old when they weren’t even sure about following the orphanage director, but as the banquet hall was completed piece by piece, they had no choice but to follow Chiara’s lead. Because they were experts. They could see that the result was, by all accounts, excellent.
“Luagwen-nim! Please get ready. The distinguished guests are starting to arrive.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Everyone here exchanged glances once. No words were spoken, but their resolve was clear. Come. And see the result we have prepared.
The servant in charge of the banquet hall doors looked at the Baron with a solemn expression.
“Begin.”
The Baron nodded.
“Antoine, the third son of the Jire Barony! Entering!”
“Marcel, the head of the Black Dog Merchant Guild! Entering!”
* * *
‘I must do well….’
Some lucky people had come to enjoy today’s party. But for every relaxed person, there were those who visited with a solemn heart.
“Lady Diana of the Orca Barony confirmed. Please wait a moment.”
The order of entry at a party was the easiest indicator of power ranking. The higher the status, the later they entered; the lesser the noble, the earlier they filled the seats. Diana, who was entering third, was already feeling tense due to the immense sense of duty.
‘It would have been nice if Father had come with me….’
Originally, her father had planned to escort her for her debut, but with the price of the invitation rising so suddenly, she had to perform her debut alone.
‘Networking! I must network!’
What her father had ordered her was simple. To make faces and converse with as many people as possible. For small and medium-sized lords to survive, they had to actively utilize these opportunities for solidarity.
“Hello. I am Diana of the Orca Barony.”
She instinctively knew that the moment this banquet hall was full, no one would pay her any attention. So, she set aside her timid personality and talked to anyone she saw for the sake of survival.
“Ah… yes.”
Of course, many people didn’t seem particularly pleased to be talking to her.
“Nice to meet you. I am Tisha Luagwen of the Poreun Orphanage….”
Perhaps the effort wasn’t in vain, as she succeeded in exchanging greetings! ‘Tisha Luagwen!’ Even if she looked a bit scary, …even if she looked very scary… the fact that she was greeting her back meant she was clearly a good person.
“…Is there something wrong with me?”
“Ah. No. A bit of dust got in.”
Was that not it? Did I do something wrong? It was fine up until the point of greeting her boldly, but… I didn’t know how to continue the conversation. She had never really interacted with anyone other than her family.
‘Is her eyesight bad…?’
Surely I wasn’t making her uncomfortable? Fortunately, every time the banquet hall filled up, Luagwen would frown at the entrance before returning to her usual expressionless face. It probably wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t an unusual behavior, as quite a few people gave up glasses for the sake of appearance at such banquets.
‘I shouldn’t bring this up for no reason.’
Diana was quietly organizing her thoughts and racking her brain to think of the next line! She wanted to continue talking to Luagwen somehow, but unfortunately, Luagwen’s interest seemed to be shifting elsewhere.
And Luagwen—Seoha. Every time a guest entered the party, Seoha focused and examined their energy. Contrary to Seoha’s expectation that there would be some evil cultists mixed in, most of their energy was ordinary.
“I guess it’s because they’re people who eat well and live well.”
Even if she were to meet an evil cultist, she didn’t want to meet them in a place where she couldn’t destroy evidence, so it was a good thing. One less thing to worry about.
“…This is a peculiar case.”
Contrary to Diana’s worries, Seoha was also continuously observing Diana. Seoha knew exactly who Diana was. From the very first moment she greeted her. She was the maid and friend that Chiara would first meet after entering the Grand Ducal family.
‘I think I heard she was from the south in the original story….’
Judging by the fact that she entered the party, was it still a time when her family was intact? She was a character I hadn’t thought about at all, so meeting her by chance like this made me even more glad.
‘I don’t really know what to say to her, though.’
Diana had turned her head, perhaps because she wasn’t interested in a commoner like me, even though I wanted to talk more. There was no point in being clingy, so I kept a reasonable distance. However, I couldn’t help but glance in that direction every now and then.
‘I think I know why the Orca family went bankrupt.’
It was a case where the family went bankrupt and she had to go to the north to find a job. Since fallen nobles were common, it wasn’t particularly surprising.
“What do you think, Shasha?”
[For now, it doesn’t seem like she herself has been baptized or anything?]
Diana felt a thick energy of an evil cultist. But it didn’t seem like her own energy, as her original, ordinary energy was still visible as well. It looked like the thick energy of an evil cultist was clinging to Diana’s clean energy, trying to devour it.
‘Did she say her parents died young?’
I could guess the reason for that early death.
‘I’ll have to resolve this after the party.’
Before long, Chiara approached Diana. Leaving them alone for a moment so they could have a moving meeting (or reunion), I observed the other nobles quietly waiting for their entry. The empty seats in the banquet hall were disappearing, and now only the final order remained. I could feel that even the nobles who were laughing and chatting were focusing all their attention this way. It was a strange situation. Everyone was quiet and rigid, even though they were having conversations. Everyone lowered their voices as much as possible, as if talking at a banquet was bad manners.
I was lucky, as I didn’t have a fixed seat. There was no one to scold me for peeking from outside the door without any etiquette. I quietly observed the outside from next to the servant calling out the entrants.
“I will verify the invitation.”
“It’s a transferred invitation, is that okay?”
“Yes… the person who transferred it… hic!”
I couldn’t help but admire the perseverance of the servant who didn’t drop the invitation. ‘Anastasia Rostira.’ To me, it was a name on an invitation that was easy to guess, but to anyone other than the Baron who already knew, it was a name that wasn’t easily guessed. From the servant’s perspective, it was only natural to be surprised that the name on the invitation they received without a second thought was ‘Rostira.’
“Sorry, I’m sorry. How should I introduce you?”
They were going to cry. They were really going to cry. As the entry of the last guest was delayed, the murmurs in the surroundings began to increase.
“Just who is it?”
“The last person to enter was Sir Theo… so maybe a noble from the central region came.”
“You bought an invitation at this price just to see a mere central noble?”
“I suspect it might be a figure from the Church.”
“Sir, you haven’t been inside for long, so you wouldn’t know? Who is it? Who is today’s guest?”
“I don’t know. There were too many attendants, so I couldn’t see.”
“Are they a child, bringing attendants in a row to a party?”
The longer the entry was delayed, the more people talked. Since they were nobles who had paid a high price, they couldn’t help but be more sensitive about whether today’s choice was the right one or not.
“The last guest is entering.”
The servant paused for a breath. They spat out the letters carefully, lest they make even a single mistake.
“The honorable shield of the Empire, the guardian of the North, and the lord of the snowy plains and mountain ranges.”
Shock.
“The youngest son of the Rostira Grand Ducal family, Lord Linel! Entering!”
And jubilation. The first Rostira had entered the south. Bringing with them the snowy plains that symbolized them. The people who had been chatting froze in place, and among them, some spilled the drinks they were sipping like waterfalls.
“Haha….”
Baron Arle’s eyes had succeeded in breaking through the control of the local fat and pioneering the 4th and 6th garrisons, and his trembling body was in a state where he didn’t know if it was joy or some other emotion. As the young boy, barely in his early teens, led several attendants into the party hall, a straight path opened up in the crowded banquet hall as if the sea were parting.
“Ahem.”
The Baron straightened his clothes, expecting the boy to head straight toward him, but. Linel Rostira stopped without going very far. And that, too, in front of the unremarkable orphanage director.
“I’ve heard a lot from my sister. Thank you for inviting me.”
“…Yes.”
That Rostira had offered a handshake first. I was so flustered that I couldn’t speak properly. I had intended to quietly say a word of greeting and run away… but hadn’t all the eyes in the banquet hall gathered here?
That wasn’t the only reason Seoha had to be flustered.
‘Why is he bringing so many evil cultists around?’
All the attendants the youngest Rostira had brought. They were all reeking of the energy of an evil god.