The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

The banquet hall was indeed small.

That said, the absolute size wasn’t what made it feel cramped. Compared to other lord’s estates, it was simply smaller. After all, it wasn’t a castle, but a mansion.

Unlike typical lord’s estates with a separate banquet hall, here they were using the mansion itself for the event. As long as guests stayed out of the rooms they weren’t meant to enter, they were free to roam the two-story mansion.

There weren’t many guests, though. There weren’t many other noble domains nearby, so the invited guests were mostly the vassals of the duke who governed the territory, along with a few of the highest-ranking officials from the colonial governor’s office. The rest were all academy students.

Aside from the fact that the students were all dressed in their uniforms, no one seemed out of place. The children of barons and knights weren’t invited, after all. Those from count families were likely familiar with such gatherings, though.

In that sense, our group stood out in many ways.

There were only three people who were truly familiar with high society.

Charlotte, being a princess, was quite famous in her country’s social circles. Jake, as a duke’s son, was well-known in many of these circles too. Though he was seen as lighthearted among his friends, he was known to be reserved and taciturn in the territory... or so I heard. At least, that’s how he was portrayed in the game.

The last of the three, Roti, was familiar with high society in a slightly different sense. She was always by Jake’s side.

And the rest of us—

“Hey, can we drink something like alcohol here?”

Claire asked cautiously as she approached me.

Her gaze was fixed on some students from the B-class nobility, who were chatting while holding glasses of champagne. Judging by their slightly flushed faces, they had probably already had at least one drink. They didn’t appear to be drunk, though.

“Just thirty years ago, at our age, we would have been treated as adults. As far as banquets go, a small amount of drinking isn’t seen as a big issue.”

“Really...?” Claire’s eyes widened in surprise.

It wasn’t like she had never attended a banquet before. But usually, she would have accompanied her parents, the Grays, when she was younger. Back then, alcohol probably wasn’t even something she could dream of.

“Claire.”

I stopped Claire from reaching for the row of champagne glasses on the table with a curious expression.

“If you wish to drink, please do so in moderation.”

I said seriously.

“Ah... uh... right...”

She answered somewhat absentmindedly when I gave her a serious look.

In the original story, Claire was a heavy drinker.

However, just because she could drink a lot didn’t mean she wasn’t affected by alcohol. Claire’s character was one who drank heavily but didn’t collapse, instead becoming obnoxious when intoxicated.

While I couldn’t imagine her like that now, in the original story... she was a character who had experienced things she shouldn’t have at a very young age.

“Leo.”

Just to be safe, I called Leo over.

“If Claire tries to drink more than one glass, please stop her.”

“I got it.”

Leo, a model of proper behavior, would never drink even if it were allowed, so I was relieved. He nodded seriously at my request and followed Claire.

“Don’t you plan on drinking?”

Alice asked with a smile on her face as she looked at me.

“Alice, aren’t you drinking?”

“Well... not yet.”

That was true. Even though Alice was a princess, she wasn’t particularly used to these kinds of places. She probably thought she had to study more to defeat me, and attending events like this wasn’t as important.

She probably didn’t drink because she didn’t know how much she could handle. Knowing Alice’s personality, she’d likely get some alcohol later, test her tolerance in her room, and then only drink that amount in front of others.

“Good thinking.”

Charlotte said after hearing Alice.

“Honestly, even if you do drink, it’s not exactly an enjoyable drink.”

“That’s unexpected,” Alice retorted provocatively to Charlotte’s words.

“Isn’t Belvoir one of the regions where wine is famous? This champagne is even named after a place in Belvoir. So, do you mean someone from Belvoir can’t drink?”

“...Then can you eat eel jelly?”

“Eel... what?”

Alice asked, taken aback by Charlotte’s rather random rebuttal.

“There’s a jelly made from eel fat and meat, solidified together.”

“Why would anyone eat that?”

Alice responded, looking incredulously at me. Well, if you have eel, you’d think about grilling it, not turning it into jelly.

“It’s a proud traditional dish from the Azerna Empire.”

Well, it wasn’t exactly a traditional dish, but it was true that it was from the Empire.

“....”

Alice didn’t have a rebuttal to Charlotte’s words.

---

The banquet continued, and the situation didn’t change much. However, not all of the Empire’s food was unpalatable.

Even things like eel jelly or bread toast were designed for human consumption. The problem was they didn’t taste good.

Such food was typically made from odd ingredients by the lower class, desperate to make something edible from what they had. You couldn’t really say they were inedible—though they might not be the most pleasant. The noble guests at this banquet were eating foods entirely different from that.

“Mia Crowfield.”

Though she hadn’t come in because of Jake’s connections, Mia Crowfield, the Count’s daughter, wasn’t mingling with the others. In fact, she didn’t have many friends at the academy either. She wasn’t the type to approach others unless they spoke to her first.

Though she had the title of a Count’s daughter, not many people approached her after her father’s murder.

If she had been someone with a duke title, they might have approached her without hesitation, but people who had a title like hers were usually treated the same way as other young noblewomen.

“The banquet—”

I was about to ask if she was enjoying the event when I noticed the biscuits in Mia Crowfield’s hands. I closed my mouth.

It seemed that Mia was enjoying the banquet in her own way.

Noticing my gaze, Mia looked a little restless, still unable to put the biscuit down or stuff it all into her mouth at once.

I silently walked over and took one of the biscuits from her plate, popping it into my mouth.

“It’s soft and delicious.”

I commented honestly. It really was delicious.

“That, uh, yes... it is,” Mia Crowfield managed to say, finally swallowing the biscuit she had been chewing. Unfortunately, she still had one in each hand.

“You’re not used to coming to places like this, are you?”

“No, that’s right?”

Why was her answer in the form of a question?

Did I still intimidate her?

Hmm... considering things from her perspective, it wasn’t easy to just brush away the emotions. No matter what bad things her father had done behind the scenes, he had been a good father to her. He must have been kind to her in front of others.

So, if the man who had killed her father was standing right in front of her...

Mia Crowfield was fifteen years old now.

I didn’t want to push the conversation further, fearing it would only make her more wary, so I shrugged my shoulders and started to step back. I knew from personal experience that people who are naturally introverted don’t like it when others try too hard to make them feel comfortable. It’s better to let them be and allow them to spend time at their own pace.

“Uh, excuse me...”

Just as I was about to pull away, Mia Crowfield stopped me.

She was still holding the biscuits, though.

When I turned back, Mia was wearing a surprised expression. It seemed she was just as surprised as I was that she had stopped me.

“Um...”

Mia Crowfield hesitated, her eyes darting around, then asked,

“Are you enjoying the party, Your Highness?”

“...”

I turned my gaze. Claire and Leo were arguing a little distance away. Charlotte and Alice were bickering with each other, while Sophia had somehow inserted herself between them. As always, Jake was chatting with Roti.

Though we were all wearing the same uniform, the students stood out to me like they were in color while everything else was in black and white.

“Yes, I’m enjoying it.”

“Is that so?”

And then the conversation stopped.

Mia Crowfield seemed like she wanted to say something, but didn’t know how to continue. She opened and closed her mouth several times, looking confused.

“I’m just glad you two are enjoying yourselves.”

Just then, someone cut into our conversation.

He was tall, with sun-kissed skin and a gold mustache that curled up at the ends like a painting. The atmosphere around him was similar to Jake’s, but his maturity gave him a more dignified presence.

“Princess Fangryphon.”

He bowed deeply in front of me.

“And Count Crowfield’s daughter.”

Then he turned and bowed to Mia Crowfield.

“Duke Lindberrow.”