The celebratory event at the Imperial Palace was fundamentally similar to a noble’s banquet.
Attendees enjoyed the food and drinks prepared in the hall, fostering relationships with others while harboring their own thoughts.
Introductions of those who performed well in the joint operation would follow, but solidifying existing connections took precedence.
In that sense, Frondier had no immediate difficulties.
Because he had no connections with anyone here.
He had thought that perhaps Elodie’s family, House Rishae, might be present, but upon looking around, they seemed absent.
‘Elodie has seemed busy lately.’
Since becoming a second-year student, Frondier hadn’t had much interaction with Elodie. It wasn’t that they had grown distant, but rather that Elodie had become noticeably busier.
However, as Elodie’s face was full of life, he wasn’t particularly worried. She was probably finishing up what she hadn’t managed to complete during the vacation.
Frondier stood quietly in a corner of the banquet hall.
The decision of the entire House of Roach: Frondier should keep a low profile as much as possible.
His attire today and his current position in the corner were all for this purpose.
However.
“Excuse me.”
“…….”
“Lord Frondier de Roach?”
“Ah, yes?”
Someone approached Frondier. A young lady with an air of elegance, her teardrop mole particularly noticeable.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Ameline von Ellis.”
Ameline introduced herself and offered a graceful bow.
Frondier returned the greeting with due courtesy. Honestly, he wasn’t sure if this was the right way to do it.
“I heard about your achievements in the joint operation. I’ve been wanting to meet you for a while now, and I’m so happy to finally do so.”
Ameline said with a shy smile.
‘Lies.’
Frondier inwardly smiled wryly at Ameline’s obvious lie.
He didn’t know if Ameline currently had any favorable feelings towards him, but it was a lie to say that she had wanted to meet him before the joint operation.
The name “Frondier” would be virtually unknown in the central continent, including the Imperial Palace. They had even forgotten that Enfer had a second son.
Well, it wouldn’t be entirely wrong to say that she wanted the connections of the Roach family.
‘Whatever the case, my actions remain unchanged.’
In times like these, it was better to be polite than to try to avoid them. Courtesy was originally based on formal and boring exchanges.
More importantly, since he was here not as an individual but as the son of House Roach, all of Frondier’s actions had to be calm, gentle, and befitting the name of House Roach.
In such situations, it was best to utilize the “smile” he had learned from Selena.
“─It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Miss Ameline.”
“…….”
Good, perfect. A response that didn’t cause any discomfort to the other party, didn’t particularly cut off the conversation, but didn’t leave room for further discussion either.
They had simply exchanged greetings, so it was a perfectly natural flow to part ways and go about their respective business.
As Frondier expected, Ameline, after receiving his greeting, stared at him blankly for a moment with her mouth slightly open, then bowed her head and began to leave─
“Ah, um! I may not look it, but I’m quite interested in cooking……!”
“……Ah, is that so?”
─She didn’t.
Ameline forced an unrelated topic and tried to keep the conversation going.
“I’ve been diligently learning recently. But I haven’t had a proper evaluation yet, so if you wouldn’t mind, Lord Frondier, perhaps next time we meet, you could try some……”
Next time?
That’s odd. Wasn’t the flow supposed to be just getting to know each other and parting ways?
And just as Frondier was about to reply.
“Lord Frondier, it’s a pleasure. I am Hughes von Ferry.”
“I’m Joshua. I hope to see you often from now on.”
More nobles approached Frondier and introduced themselves.
Frondier greeted them all with the same courtesy as he had shown Ameline, while breaking out in a cold sweat behind his back.
‘How did this happen?’
Before he knew it, Frondier was surrounded by a group of nobles. And although they seemed to be conversing well with each other, the center of the conversation was entirely focused on Frondier.
It was the scene of his plan to remain inconspicuous being utterly shattered.
Frondier unconsciously glanced to the side. Azier was there.
Azier, upon seeing Frondier’s situation, closed his eyes deeply, as if accepting the inevitable.
Malia, who was next to him, smiled warmly but quickly straightened her expression as if remembering herself.
In the end, while Frondier was doing his best to act like a noble,
Dong-
The lights in the hall dimmed. Naturally, the attendees stopped their conversations and turned towards a particular spot.
As the spotlight naturally brightened, illuminating a specific area, a gentleman in a neat suit stepped forward.
“Distinguished guests who have come to the Imperial Palace to celebrate the success of the joint operation, I sincerely welcome you.”
His voice, strong and dignified without a hint of age, resonated throughout the hall.
“Her Highness, Sale Terst, and Her Highness, Aten Terst, will now enter.”
At his words, everyone turned towards the door from which the gentleman had emerged. After a brief moment of commotion, a quiet silence descended.
Then, the sound of heels clicking rhythmically echoed through the hall as two figures appeared.
“Oh.”
“My, both of them.”
Those in the hall were awestruck by the sight of Aten and Sale. Especially Aten, whose pure white appearance bloomed even more beautifully and elegantly under the spotlight.
In contrast, Sale, although adorned in a luxurious blue dress, was dressed much more modestly.
Aten, who received the admiration and envious gazes of everyone, glanced at Sale with a hint of dissatisfaction.
She couldn’t say anything directly in this setting, but her eyes conveyed everything.
-Sister, you dressed like that on purpose, didn’t you?
Understanding her meaning, Sale smiled faintly.
-You look beautiful, that’s all.
Aten sighed at Sale’s reply, which wasn’t an answer at all.
Turning back to face the front, Aten slowly scanned the crowd. Her eyes naturally sought out a certain individual.
‘…Oh my.’
And Aten’s gaze remained fixed.
-Well, there’s no guarantee that the boy will wear black when he comes to the Imperial Palace.
The voice of the servant who had spoken to her came to mind.
Frondier was dressed in a completely black suit. Men’s suits were generally black, but Frondier’s was even darker. It was as if his hair and his attire had finally found perfect harmony.
White and black. The contrast of black and white stood at a slight distance, observing each other.
As Frondier looked at Aten, who shone brightly, he thought,
‘…Please don’t look for too long.’
He understood that she was happy to see her classmate, but if Aten’s gaze lingered for too long, the attention of others would naturally shift towards him.
Just as he feared, the nobles’ gazes began to follow Aten’s, but she seemed to realize and quickly averted her eyes.
Frondier let out a silent sigh of relief.
