The Banquet
Three months had passed since then.
A month ago, my parents had caught me ditching etiquette lessons and subjected me to intensive crash-course tutoring — quite the ordeal — but somehow I'd managed to memorize everything I needed to.
Now all I had to do was avoid people at the banquet as much as possible.
Memorizing a few manners doesn't make me a real noble on the inside, after all.
Clatter— Clatter—
"Hmm…. Looks like we've arrived."
At my father's words, I turned my head to look ahead.
Whoa…. The capital really was the capital. I'd thought the count's territory was fairly large, but those walls — easily thirty meters high — made it clear this place was on a completely different scale.
The gatekeepers took one look at the crest on our carriage and saluted as they waved us through. Being a count's family does have its perks — I could almost get drunk on the power.
I glanced behind us.
The guards were saluting and letting through every lavishly decorated merchant caravan that rolled past.
So they hadn't recognized the Aither crest at all. They'd just waved us through because we looked important.
Well, it made sense. Expecting gate guards to know every single family crest was unrealistic anyway.
I turned back forward, trying to reclaim a humble mindset — and then.
Huh?
Through the carriage window, I spotted two figures who looked exactly like Isabel and Viola.
…Must be seeing things.
How would a ten-year-old young lady and her personal maid even get to the capital in the first place? Faster than a carriage, no less.
Am I already missing them that much…?
If I was mistaking random passersby for those two, I must have grown more attached than I'd realized.
"…I feel like our eyes just met……."
"Young Lady, did you perhaps forget the Recognition Impairment Magic?"
"Recognition Impairment? Weren't you the one who cast that with me?"
"Magic aside, if you keep staring at Master with that much passion, of course he's going to notice."
"Hey. Then you should've cast a better spell. We came here to peep on— I mean, to, uh… observe! Observe Oppa! So the magic needs to be strong enough that he doesn't even notice our gazes. Is your tier just for show?"
"Haaa…. 'Observe' doesn't exactly sound great either…."
Snap—!
Violet sighed and snapped her fingers.
Isabel felt the magic thicken several times over and smiled in satisfaction.
"See, you could do this all along. Why didn't you?"
Isabel started to head toward the imperial palace where Ren had gone.
"Alright, let's go che— ugh!"
Isabel's forehead smacked into empty air.
"Ow…. Hey. You did this, didn't you."
"Hehe…. You asked me to, so I simply obliged~?"
Violet made a lifting gesture with her palm toward the empty air.
Isabel floated up into the air.
"Aaaah! Hey! You fanatic! Let me down!"
"Hmm…. Where's that mosquito buzzing from…."
"Hey!!"
Violet ignored Isabel and walked toward the imperial palace.
"Hey! Let me down! Ow!"
Thud—! Thump—!
Sounds of Isabel repeatedly colliding with something came from behind, but Violet kept walking without a care.
"Huu…. This is exhausting…."
I leaned my arms on the banquet hall terrace railing and let out a sigh.
Just thinking about the moment we'd first entered — the doorman bellowing "The House of Count Aither enters!" while everyone turned to stare — still made cold sweat run down my back.
For an introvert like me, that kind of attention was pure torture.
And then there were the young lords and ladies who approached me openly trying to shore up their political standing.
Sure, more people had just come over out of curiosity, but it was still exhausting either way.
Which was why I was finally catching my breath out here on the terrace, where a cold wind was blowing. Wonder when this banquet will end….
Ahh…. I just want to go home and squish Isabel's cheeks….
""Haaa….""
Huh?
I turned my head toward the person who'd sighed at the exact same time as me.
A silver-haired girl with blue eyes had her chin resting on the terrace railing, looking down below with a weary expression.
Silver hair aside, those blue eyes meant…….
I must have been staring too openly, because she turned her head and looked back at me.
"?!!"
Her eyes went wide with surprise. Apparently she hadn't expected anyone else to be on this secluded terrace.
I started to bow my head slightly in greeting. I was tired, but once our eyes had met, manners demanded a greeting.
But she shook her head and put a finger to her lips in a gesture for silence.
…So you ran away too.
I felt a sense of kinship with her and quietly nodded.
She smiled with satisfaction and went back to looking down from the terrace.
Hmm…. The view really is nice.
It couldn't compare to a modern city, but with the Founding Festival going on, lights were lit all over even in the middle of the night.
We spent a long while on the terrace without a single thought.
Ding~ Ding~
The bell signaling the end of the banquet rang out.
Finally, I can go rest…. Ah, but there's another banquet tomorrow….
I was about to move, grumbling inwardly, when—
"Um…. Thank you for today."
The girl from earlier spoke to me.
More accurately, the Imperial Princess, I should say. I'd figured it out while looking at the scenery earlier.
"Not at all. I'm the one who should be thanking you. Thanks to you, Young Lady, I was able to relax."
Better to play dumb.
I planned to escape here again tomorrow, and if I acknowledged who she was, I'd have to observe formalities.
My answer seemed to please her — the princess smiled.
"Hmm…. Will you be coming here again tomorrow?"
"If possible, I'd like to. I'm not really cut out for banquet halls, you see."
"Then…. See you tomorrow."
Thank goodness. I'd been wondering if I'd need to find another hiding spot, but apparently not.
I bowed my head slightly in farewell and went back into the banquet hall.
Now I can finally get some rest.
The Imperial Princess, Aria Mary Rebatein, watched the young man leave the terrace.
She had met every kind of noble since childhood, but this was a type she'd never seen before.
Nobles who brought rare gifts trying to curry favor with her. Nobles who subtly treated her as an enemy.
She'd even survived several assassination attempts. By now, the idea that all nobles were exhausting and tiresome was firmly fixed in her mind.
So every Founding Festival, she spent her time on this secluded terrace.
She hadn't made her formal debut yet — that would come after she came of age — so it didn't matter if she didn't appear in the banquet hall.
But this Founding Festival, a noble had wandered onto her terrace.
Not some middling house, either — the Aither Count family, who frequently visited the imperial palace.
She'd assumed he'd try to talk to her and become a nuisance, so she'd made the most pleading face she could manage and asked him to be quiet. She hadn't expected much.
Any other noble would have found a way to strike up a conversation with a princess left alone. Trying to get in good with the imperial line, or dig for information.
But that young lord had simply nodded quietly, then spent a long time leaning on the terrace railing, staring blankly out at the city.
It was a first. Being able to simply exist comfortably in someone else's company.
Her father the Emperor saw her as a political tool. Her older brother the Crown Prince had started looking at her strangely of late. Her mother had died of illness long ago.
"…When I see him tomorrow… maybe I should ask him to have tea sometime…?"
Rather than suffer through headache-inducing political talk with other nobles, spending time with that young man from earlier would be far better.
And being from the Aither Count family gave her a convenient pretext for meeting.
Of course, there was a chance he'd come on strong like every other noble when they met again…. If that happened, she could just cut him off then.
There's no way he'd refuse a tea invitation from the Imperial Princess, right?
Even setting politics aside — when a beauty like the Imperial Princess (age 13) invites you to tea, of course you'd come.
With those thoughts, Aria headed back toward the banquet hall.
Though the weather felt a bit chilly today…. Just my imagination?
Grab—
"Kyaaaak!!"
Thud—!
Something yanked her ankle and Aria toppled over.
Her guard knight, who had been discreetly watching the surroundings, rushed to help her up.
"Your Highness! Are you all right?!"
"Ugh…. Something pulled my leg…. Did you see anything, Miss Leila…?"
"Hmm…. I didn't see a thing……."
But as a 7th-tier knight, Leila's eyes had caught nothing — she looked a little embarrassed.
"Augh…. There was definitely something……."
Aria rubbed her burning face and walked on with Leila's support.
.
.
.
And so, on the empty terrace.
A form dropped from midair onto the floor.
Thud—
"Guek!"
"Young Lady Isabel. You must maintain your dignity. As a noble of the same standing as Master, perhaps you should refrain from shrieking like some lowly witch?"
"You're the one who dropped me!"
Violet ignored Isabel and looked toward Aria walking off in the distance.
"…Looks like another dangerous bitch is about to latch on……."
Isabel thought to herself.
There's no one more dangerous here than you….