Chapter 59: Suspiciously… (4)
3uh3THOn the day of the party, after wearing the delivered suit, dress shoes, and the watch, I stood in front of the mirror.ST3
MmGU9“…This feels unbelievably comfortable.”Oj4vR
kRl2lIt’s not like I never had to wear suits in the last iteration and my previous life. Both in interviews and when I was meeting people from the royal court or high officials, I had to dress myself up.nOm
dJXBut because I was still a knight, I didn’t have enough money to spend on a suit as someone who constantly had to fight.ELk4g8B
JUbH‘I remember buying a cheap one from one of the stalls for 70 silvers.’Xrtsm
0XltAh… Was that why the 2nd Princess gave me cash? So that I didn’t have to wear clothes like a beggar?vmLc
PR27l1“It was quite expensive for me back then though.”DJQC
L7p3ARight now, the suit I was wearing was already worth one white gold coin, and the watch and shoes added up with the tie cost about one white gold coin and a half in total.5k9tK
bONeKC0The scary thing was that Marie bought me even more than this. There were so many clothes that I probably didn’t have to buy anything else in my entire life, but the problem was that I had to take them back.nB5UG
ggvYeTHow am I supposed to carry all of them back?4wht2Eu
r0O“Korin! Are you ready?”Ernrk
JShWD“Yes.”mksTZqu
6t3BgThere was a door connecting the Evergreen Room to Marie’s room. Opening the door, Marie came into the room.EYOzWx
DlVNC“Ohh…”aDoE4Vv
vzGvIt was breathtaking.E3eI
P2OUnrAlong with transparent glass shoes, she was wearing ivory-colored stockings and a dress with a hint of water-colored drops. The daring exposure of her chest and her shoulders was probably an expression of her unreserved pride.CVJ
1mu6LzMarie was even wearing some makeup unlike her usual self. Her skin that was already as white as white jade became as bright as the star of a night sky with the help of makeup.3Eu
9B8“How does this look? It just arrived today!”Gr8pd
wZoLifting the sides of her dress with her pure white opera gloves, Marie rotated on the spot.iUM
iotShe was as bright and mystifying as a dancing fairy.aYFc8wd
H1fyHonestly, seeing her made me feel worthwhile. If I hadn’t saved this girl, I wouldn’t have been able to see her in this dress today, and the people of the south would have forever lost their beloved princess.rUCT
Ayg“It was definitely worth the trouble.”hjH
GXVZV“Nn?”s6Knp
CcQsuTaMarie tilted her head but without paying attention to that, I unhesitatingly walked up to her.V9UR1r
qQYv6ta[When in front of an attractive lady, it is the courtesy of a gentleman to give her a kiss and ask for a dance, Knight Korin.]bdnR2Lo
obAcdI remembered being scolded in the last iteration by someone, so I decided to be a courteous gentleman this time around. By gently holding onto her hand through the opera glove, I gazed up at her after going down on one of my knees.6EuD
3LbEhB“Could you please give me the honor of having your first dance tonight, my lady?”Q2f47V
nE7fDk“U, uht…! Umm! Ahh?!”sw9x0cG
J3tHer cheeks were visibly flushed. Even her ears were reddened and it seemed that she wasn’t used to things like this.zL4r2
LrMM8pRHow cute.9oUE5
8MFcv“I will be asking you like that tonight, so it would be nice if you could accept my offer for me.”bwy3
xjOVu“Huh? Nn! Of course! Of course I will! Okay! I will definitely do that!”P9ESO9k
6KgwWDdFor some reason, the maids were whispering to each other behind Marie.KpHmvW
zYMvvEs“…I knew it, he’s a player.”BNiD
QsCJ“Our Lady fell for a gold digger.”LTkK
zFK“Isn’t this dangerous? It looks like she would give everything to him.”x5dNMNq
hCerEven with the incredible ears of a knight, it was hard for me to pick up all the words in their conversation. They were exceptionally skilled at practically talking in silence.SFK
8BFOoIn their conversation, there were a few words about real estate and inns… are they interested? To be fair, real estate is the best way to multiply your money. They are overpowered after all!cPH3
LRhnMaybe I should talk to them later about investment!7f7UQ
ZsPqo“Now, shall we get going?”OqqE
yB2mory“U, uhh yes! Can you be my escort?”4PubX
MWkRU2M“Of course, my Lady.”kZ6DK
JOPZeCE“P, please stop…!”D6o
zvFZY9“Then should I call you the Princess of the Potato Empire?”Dkw4zfO
91IiB91“…??”c6ST
oSOE8b4She was tempted there for a second.0FVEd8
LMkR7“Anyway, stop calling me by strange names! I am your senior so you need to listen to me!”7IH
Ofap“Of course, my princess.”QvGf
WcTEc8A“Korin. You…!”I9gqJQ
aYKGMarie punched my arm in protest… and honestly, it was quite painful. Her strength was nothing to scoff at…VlhTEdh
AqYx3lyIn any case, we got into the guest room of Senior Marie’s enormous beast, the Hresvelgr, and headed to the count’s castle located further south. It would have taken a few days by carriage, but it only took a few hours on this guy.60DSJ
x6RZPl“Ehew. I wonder when I can get myself one of these.”Dev1U1a
ZcFgi“Nn? Do you want me to give it to you?”c24Q9gd
AKGFtA“…Don’t even say that as a joke please. You are pampering me too much.”BoU
V5PDoTIt was scary because she really might give it to me if I asked her for one.VN5x0E
cSUbcmTEven if she did give it to me, there was no way for me to use it. Large beasts like wyverns let alone Hresvelgrs needed a place to dock and I didn’t have any.M4r0sbx
E5plJAMerkarva City prohibited the entry of flying animals for security purposes as well, so it was all the more useless for me.cBh
wht4v“We will get off in the middle and change into a carriage.”U1Db
lXw“Can’t we just jump off from here?”rNDFMUo
Gj9Jumping straight down from flying beasts like the secret ops was something I had often done in the last iteration.eGsxh
4Sll“No! My dress and my hair will become a mess then.”2UZmA4
IYYgs9“A mage at your level should be able to stop that without a problem though. Right?”Wy7M
sMxe“Other people will also be surprised! It’s not good etiquette.”JF9vD
NNkc“That’s true too.”Res
jR1ieunIn any case, we landed on a nearby plain and moved into a carriage of the Dunareff family that was waiting for us beforehand to head to the castle.WqNhVM3
Jl8xUHZ“Ahh. Lady Marie! Welcome!”VEt6X
WRC22ejAs if he had been waiting for her the whole time, Count Casseus hurried his way over immediately after spotting the golden potato flower emblem of the Dunareff family.9FP8UOc
4on06‘I swear this guy wasn’t like this before…’VKUP3G
BFVMWas he really the same guy as the one who stubbornly refused to open the castle gates before we killed the Sea Serpent?RctOdNp
Mkoyz“Hello, Lord Casseus!”ewITS
IqT“It is an honor to see you again. Our Vlandria family will wholeheartedly welcome you for your visit, Miss!”h6jX
GtyAfter saying that, Count Casseus led us to the side of the queue of people that was waiting for inspection in front of the castle’s entrance and simply let us through.LvWn8
FoHlD“Oh my. It really is Lady Marie.”jgtl
H9cDdhO“The news about having a guest from Dunareff was true then.”TBt
zFDT1w“Lord Vlandria must be doing very well these days.”IY9
bCrkJjyWhat I realized the past few days was that it wasn’t an overstatement to say that the influential power of the Dunareff family was at an absolute level in the south.vPWJW0A
ek8ozLet alone the ridiculous size of their farm that reached 2 million hectares in size, they were a bigshot that pretty much had full control over 25 cities and the continent’s trade market.zWSo9W
oVrThe archipelago, where the headquarter of Count Casseus was at, wasn’t a subject of the El Rath Kingdom, but they desperately needed the cooperation of the Dunareff family to open a trade with the continent.1jeH
N0FbTherefore, the fact that the oldest daughter of the Dunareff family had accepted the invitation to the count’s party was a green light signal that the Vlandria family could dream of a smooth sail.CPuEUaN
DvHFMhd‘In that sense, I guess Marie showing up to the party is a lot better for them than killing a Sea Serpent.’4DSY
PXsA Sea Serpent was something that could be dealt with by striking a deal with the Guardian Alliance with money or something, but moving the princess of the Potato Empire wasn’t something that could be done with money.Mqo
TQccHT“Ehew…”H24
4sis“What’s wrong, Korin?”YCfn424
nu22x“I was just thinking of how amazing a person you are, Senior Marie.”bT8xiT
VLk“R, really? Ehem! That’s right. Your senior is an amazing person, okay!”VRpo
hQCR4SIn response, I gently pressed her nose down.CZD1JY
IA2sUWu“W, what are you doing?”3PvL
78u1hsR“I had to because you were being a bit too snobby. Your nose was about to reach the sky at that point.”BIvELjX
Yx7X“I, isn’t it okay for me to say that much though?”z4lY0
uEuxWGy“Well, I guess. Because you are the princess of the Potato Empire after all.”IovcH
49qKP“…It is a good name, but it sounds like you’re teasing me so I don’t know if I should be happy or not.”vfIu
hxem1PAhh, seriously. Just how much did this girl love potatoes?GMpn06P
UuMVrAfter entering the castle, we were unloading the carriage when Marie tilted her head.keY
fnx“Korin. Did you take your weapon? Where is it?”3qW
Fw8“Yeah I did. Here. What about you senior?”DyCtHz
07H9HYwMy spear was wrapped with a piece of cloth but I couldn’t see any weapon on Marie.jtowa9p
0E7I“I left it in the carriage just in case.”EQAn7K
MeJZ4“But is it okay for us to carry around weapons?”49ZxEK2
s1I“People actually think it’s cool for guardians to carry around weapons all the time. Besides, you never know when you’ll have to fight against monsters so it’s okay to bring them.”oL65l2
O7haxU“I see~”NOq6
r7W2It was probably not a good idea to carry a weapon into the banquet hall though.sLYL
woy02Q“Entering now are Lady Marie of Dunareff Dukedom! And Sir Knight Korin Lork!”gNnX
3RBlmNThe door opened along with the sonorous roar of one of the servants, allowing us into the well-decorated banquet hall.DGRmi
dYAlDmThe chandeliers were made with crystals and had fluorescent stones. All the windows were made of stained glass and on the walls were tapestries of the Vlandria household and representative ornaments from the southern archipelago.5gUaZ8T
yVzk7“Uhh…”434v
JlcO“What’s wrong, Korin?”VvQ
HaL01m5“It’s nothing.”rBlsVH
Tma7jEverything looked exceptionally different from the last iteration. All the items were new and were fancier than the ones in my memories. Did they remodel the entire building because of Marie’s visit?Qx9vqu
IEYm“Oh my. Is that Lady Marie?”0pg1
Y9NgHa“She has recently been promoted to semi-Unique Grade mage, right?”5D3p
IGaGSB“Semi-Unique Grade? Isn’t that practically the same as Sword Master Lunia Arden?”6rDjTS
uDw“That’s right. The Dunareff Family must be feeling joyous then.”VIv81T1
XNDoc4“My son is entering the Merkarva Academy next year… Maybe I should try to put them together?”0TQ
PkCp1“Won’t that be difficult? I heard there’s a whole warehouse full of marriage proposals.”1AU
7se“More importantly, who is that young gentleman by her side?”D6Ux
1LpuWith just her appearance alone, Marie created a ripple in the banquet hall.FBXaD
y7xDBack in Merkarva Academy, everyone was a student so her influence was a lot smaller, but it seemed that Marie’s position in her homeground was unmatched.VJ2lHI
D90All the important guests gathered before long so the host, Count Casseus, started his speech on the stage.307pki
CPrz“I am Count Casseus Vlandria. Thank you everyone for attending our family’s party today, and especially, a warm welcome to Lady Marie Dunareff for honoring us with her presence.”xfZOF9g
uoXAs expected, Count Casseus started by mentioning Marie. He was pretty much flaunting that this was how close he was with the Dunareff family.K0S
DlmNow that she was at the center of everyone’s attention, Marie returned a wave and a faint smile until the host gathered their eyes back to the stage. Soon, the party officially began as the performance of the orchestra resonated across the hall.PWXm3rX
8HZ“Lady Marie. I am the countess of the Rotenan region—-”EJy
tOgg“Your dress looks amazing today. I run a small business in Sebastian—-”2Y4
yVfWhether it be a noble or an influential member of the region, they all looked for Marie for a conversation. Marie started a fluent conversation with all of them with a bright smile on her face and satisfied everyone that came to her.333Lh8
3xhdpLeAs expected of a human capybara, she was very friendly and great with people.HDxQQP
bor[The banquet hall is where tongues dance like swords, Knight Korin. You have to be careful with your words at all times.]srS
HliAccording to the words of the 2nd Princess in the last iteration, the banquet hall was the battlefield of tongue-swordsmen that could turn 180 degrees at any given moment, but that didn’t seem to be the case for Marie.B30Eq73
UyxTo be fair, that was natural because the royal palace had factions and political positions whereas the Dunareff family had an absolute position and wealth in the south.9yGSf
LtJJhY‘I guess Senior Marie will be untouchable in the south at least.’fDKh3J
l0KJFAfter all, there was no-one in the south unlike the capital that could fight against her on equal grounds.TDS0rGK
WAYSgXI carefully approached Marie, who was in the middle of a conversation, and whispered into her ears.5Zc2
fRsCDTb“Senior. We should go to the office in a bit.”wpUU
UEl3P“Nn…!”BX8a7BD
RH720Marie and I had already prepared our weapons. Once the party was well and truly underway, we would talk to the count and retrieve our weapons that we assigned to the servants before heading to the office.6GQZd
fFJeAround when the orchestra started changing the theme of their music, a young neat-looking man came to Marie with Count Casseus.i68iwJc
b9cC“Lady Marie.”nL1qJzB
3wpLgFiHe was a young man wearing the ornamented pure-white formal clothing of a knight. If I remember correctly, that was his son.v7yL
uYhWsL“Lord Casseus.”oQ4
Mop“I hope you are enjoying the party. This here is my son.”Ohy
Fu41“Hello. Young Lord Vlandria.”07q
c11Dgn“My name is Levent Vlandria. Nice to meet you, Miss.”4Iqzm7
xxBAfter the bow, Levent raised his head up with his back still bent and stared at Marie with sparkling eyes.b6FG8e
wf1b“Haha. I’m not saying this because he’s my son, but he has exceptional skills as a knight. He was recently promoted to semi-Grade 1.”v550u2d
LTTHoh~. Semi-Grade 1, huh… He looked like he was still in his twenties, which meant he was probably hailed as a genius by his peers.Q1I
9vX“I see…! Congratulations!”chZKYIH
bX25k“Still lacking compared to you, Lady Marie.”zgb6b
Q1vYeHLevent said in modesty. After that, Count Casseus opened his mouth with a cough.NpuMYB
V3lv“Haha. Well then, let me go greet other guests of the party. Young people should talk with young people, so an old man like me will leave you to your own devices.”T4UISUs
NZ21Following Count Casseus’s suggestive invitation, Marie started having a conversation with Young Lord Levent.KdtF9EH
qZAM“You are a student in Merkarva Academy, right? I am also from Merkarva Academy. Is Instructor Haman still doing well?”6o9ge
lxen“You were a senior huh! Yes, he still goes, ‘You guys!’ and is very strict with his lessons.”zwMhKB
2e6“Haha. He’s the same as always it seems. If I may, can I talk to you more casually, Junior?”bEm
1J1“Of course you may. Senior.”5BH
pauk5jv“Then I will be more casual from now on.”8HVXk
rGftgLevent naturally closed the distance. He then shifted the topic to make faint moves at her.oG0oj
VLAw“The holiday just started right? If you’re okay, how about you come to the salt mine that we have? The scenery inside the mine with all the rock salt is as beautiful and pretty as you, Junior Marie.”I3L0v5w
IlDuKk“Ah, we have some salt mines too. Around 20 of them.”HljrHL4
S5Tf“Hnn? Ahh… I, I see. Then how about you come over to the beach that we bought recently? It’s famous for having an emerald color…”zVb
Tlm4k“Wow~! My mom said she sold a small corner of our land. So your family was the one that bought it. I see!”VHLLI
urn“R, right… You mean the one with a resort in construction…?”mCn3iE
5817“That’s the one! She mentioned giving me some things to do because there wasn’t much construction work these days. I am the director of the construction company, you see!”I3p
3fnjt48“…I see. Ah, do you like seeing taxidermied bodies of demonic beasts? In our house, we have some that I killed—-”2NshM
EcAaL“I love it! My father even made museums for me. Do you know the Dunareff Taxidermy Museums in all the cities? All the demonic beasts there are the ones that I defeated! Ah, sorry Senior. I missed your last words.”0Pho
CuPd8“N, no. It’s nothing…”2vkD
ztfStop, Marie! Levent’s HP is already at 0!!hQkq
ybweLWhat was this? Was she trying to embarrass him on purpose? But there was not a sliver of bad intention on Marie’s face for that to be the case.ZHIP
pFQ9FzAt this rate, it was like he was trying to teach a fish how to swim. He couldn’t boast about money in front of Marie because of the overwhelming difference in finance, and she was a semi-Unique Grade mage for him to boast about his strength.UeOry
e9eUnfortunately, there might be no-one in this continent that could brag about anything in front of Marie.YIBZ
ERm1But Levent didn’t give up and continued striking a conversation with her.7Rk
UgySThere were a lot of hyenas nearby that were aiming for Marie. They were openly facing her with greedy eyes but couldn’t dare approach her, and Levent knew that he was in an overwhelmingly advantageous situation compared to the rest of them.QsODgl
rVYhFe——JQ49E
saYSlowly, the pace of the music changed. The ones who attended the party started looking for their partners as we neared the dancing time.x6ZZ
xi9g“Lady Marie. Although I might not be perfect…”VJDEwq
JBmnhVLevent said while slowly reaching his hand out. The point he was trying to get across was very straight-forward. Even Marie who was tactlessly shaming him knew what this meant and turned her gaze towards me.m6GLNXQ
cv7SnnRight when we looked at each other, a young man stood in the middle to block my sight.TEY
ibbYuLU“Lady Marie! I am Garlie of Rondenium! I am one of your devoted admirers! Could you please grace me with your first dance!”buA
yhM1O“Hoh~.”HqX
pT3yHe was sipping on his drink while throwing glances at her so I wasn’t expecting him to have the guts to speak up like that. Looking at his face… he probably just hit 20 or something.5yO
oPsVq8“Lady Marie! Me too!”w0CTI
6l4kz“Please grace me with your first dance!”vuuQ7
jE0Au0V“No! Lady Marie…!”oqF
sYhn2As soon as the guy called Garlie spoke to her, the guys immediately pounced forward like hyenas. Marie didn’t know how to deal with the sudden flood of guys and was flustered for a second.Vwk
kr9Ri“Ah, umm… So…”LJuIlCN
p8QBIt was great that they had guts, but they didn’t have enough manners it seemed.DN6r
LAFHrThe slightly better choice for Marie would be to have the first dance with Levent, who was the son of the host of the party but… the basic etiquette of a banquet was to have the first dance with the partner.jVAcB
LmfzYmi– Clomp clomp.GYp6
LmOJa2g“Marie.”eBf6bIe
QorTH“Korin?”2iu9l
dtSi2Her face turned visibly bright after seeing me walk to her. She then sent fierce gazes at me, asking me to save her from this trouble.mIP75
aWDVWt“You are…”R9Dc8Q
fziI“I am Korin Lork.”VdV5HsA
cNofD“Young Lord Lork, is it? You are Lady Marie’s partner…”oPYSI
sGTAfter noticing that I was her partner, the guys including Levent immediately showed their vigilance.JIr4M
GiKAhFc“You can call me Sir or Knight Lork. I’m not a noble, you see.”OHLFPF
H77Jbz“…You’re not a noble?”An6s5
6jn0YRmAgain, peerages in this world were close to honorary titles.s3KJDB3
cnn2This world already had a centralized state and centralized military rules in place, and the noble peerage of this world was but a name. They didn’t have the right to collect taxes or run private militaries.eHvOdM
5EWWithout power to support it, titles weren’t as powerful as before.34ozBe
w2bcBut even so, they still had value in that they were proof of someone’s social position. For instance in Marie’s case, she wasn’t even interested in the peerages she will be inheriting, but there were still a lot of them under the name of their family to prove their position.zhkoO
axxIn other words, having a peerage meant that you either had a relatively high social status or were rich.AAWuy
5xhcs7“Hah…”3iLn
mHPQThe guys immediately started looking down on me. Everyone here were from noble families so they probably didn’t care much about a single knight.ohKg4y
mvfaia“I am Levent Vlandria, a semi-Grade 1 Knight. Sir Lork. You seem to be one of the peers of Lady Marie, am I correct?”WpxpV
ARa3ScuLook at him put emphasis on the ‘semi-Grade 1’ part. How cute.67eQXFR
bihX“I am her junior.”lDP
Yov“Hah~ I see. Lady Marie must have brought you here to guide you to places and show you around I believe.”IBZOCZ
bTtPK“That is somewhat true.”mrQ
KY6After all, the pretext was that I was here to have a look at Castle Duke.qcWxDN
YGiK“If you’re Lady Marie’s junior, that means you’re my junior as well. Junior Korin. If you are okay with it, I would like to dance first with Lady Marie. Can you please concede for me?”ub46
5jTiIf I were to translate his words, I would get this – ‘I am a semi-Grade 1 Knight and I’m your senior as well. Fuck off if you understand your position.’iaaGAHz
phwtqIbTranslating the words of the high-class people was daunting as always. It was surprising how princesses had to deal with these every time.vfYe8iz
xB0z1But of course, there was only one thing for me to say in return.9QMshR
xnA1l“No. I don’t want to.”ZRp
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