96 – Imperial Palace Ball #2
The Emperatos Imperial Palace Ball, hosted by the imperial family, is an honorable event that any aristocrat wants to attend.
Being invited to this place itself is an important measure of one’s position and influence in aristocratic society. This is divided
So, for the imperial nobility, the Imperial Palace Ball is an important place for honor and power beyond simply attending a party, and the scale of the ball was so large and splendid that it was incomparable to any other party.
The banquet hall decorated with platinum and marble meaning the white dragon Albnisis, the symbol of the imperial family, was dazzlingly beautiful, and the chandelier decorated with sparkling jewels added splendid light to the entire space.
While the classical music of the imperial orchestra calmly spreads throughout the banquet hall, nobles dressed in luxurious clothes and expensive accessories made of the finest silk and velvet dance to the music, enjoy all kinds of delicacies, and chat with each other. There was.
The person who draws the most attention at this imperial ball is, of course, First Prince Wilhelm. She is the protagonist and organizer of this event, as well as the warrior who holds her holy sword.
However, if it is limited to women, the story is a little different. The woman who drew the most attention at this ball was neither Frieda, the Iron Blood Knight, nor Greta, the Gray Witch, who was a member of the warrior party.
It was Marian.
“A beautiful lady. Your red hair catches my eye like a burning flame. If you don’t mind, why don’t you join me in a dance?”
“Whoops, I appreciate the gentleman’s offer, but… Unfortunately, I don’t know the dance that goes well with the song that’s coming out now. I’m going to wait until more songs I like come out.”
If you ask me what my favorite song is, or if I answer that I’ll wait for a song I want to dance to, that proves stupidity.
Because it was an act that revealed that he was a gentleman who was not aware of the lady’s subtle refusal or lacked basic manners.
“Uh… okay? All right. Well, then I’m….”
As the aristocratic man in the leopard mask panicked and left, Marian let out a small sigh so her others couldn’t hear.
“Haa….”
With this, the number of noble men who refused was already sixteen.
Originally, even refusing a dance like this would be considered rude in the social world, but Marianne didn’t have to worry about that.
She had the background of being the only granddaughter of Marquis Karlstein, the 7 hero of the continent and the commander-in-chief of the imperial army. Am.
Did you turn down dance requests 16 times? Her rumors only made her look even more lofty.
However, despite her refusal to do so, the number of nobles secretly watching Marianne did not decrease at all, and rather, the heat in their gaze grew stronger.
Does the flower on the cliff look more beautiful, or does it feel like I’m different even though everyone else is rejected….
‘Anyway, nobles….’
Marian was grateful that this was a masquerade. Otherwise, she would have had to hide and manage her expression with much more care than she does now.
Of course, even if she wore her mask, her distinctive red hair couldn’t be hidden, so it seems that people around her already recognized who she was….
At that time, another man approached Marianne.
As she prepares for her rejection again with a pretentious smile on the corner of her mouth, she feels that the man wearing the deer mask looks familiar.
The man spoke to her in a more relaxed tone than the other people who asked her to dance.
“You’ve been through a lot, Marian.”
“… Schurtz?”
Only then did Marian notice Schurz’s gray hair. She wasn’t wearing her glasses as usual, so for a moment she didn’t recognize him.
Realizing where she was looking, Schurz smiled lightly and pointed at her eyes.
“Oh, this? My eyesight isn’t that bad. And isn’t it strange to wear glasses over a mask?”
“Hmm, that’s right… But you’re not trying to apply for a dance, are you?”
“Me? hahahaha, not at all Even I would like to decline becoming the 17th.”
“What. If so….”
Marian implicitly allowed Schurz to come by her side.
Schurz smiled and handed Marianne a glass of champagne. Marian, realizing that it was non-alcoholic, although seemingly decent, she took a sip of her champagne, nodding her head at his sense and consideration.
It was a really strange feeling. Marian was always alert in social circles, but she was strangely more at ease now. And that seemed to be the case for Schurz as well.
I’ve met Schurz many times in social circles, but maybe it’s because he was the chancellor’s son back then and now I consider him a classmate?
‘Why did I come to think of him as a friend….’
It is probably because they developed a sense of kinship together under the blunt instructor who rolled the students on the back mountain every day.
Marian said with her light laugh.
“Your favorite continent 7 hero is over there, can you go and talk to him?”
Schurz shook his head with a wry smile.
“Um… No, that’s okay. I will decline.”
“Why?”
“Just… It’s kind of like saying it here. You know a little about it too, don’t you?”
Schurz evaded moderately, and Marian also gave a small nod of his head.
The two of them had heard a lot of gossip related to the warrior’s party, and they already knew that most of the rumors were quite credible.
It was hard to see it as a good thing when you think about the reason why the warriors party was created, the political purposes were numerous, and the things they did to build criminal records.
In fact, there was nothing wrong with what Saladin said about the warrior’s party at the beginning of admission.
It’s just that everyone knows about it and keeps quiet because they’re paying attention to the authority of the imperial family and the next emperor.
“Isn’t that a bit strange?”
“What?”
“It’s just, all of this. There’s been a lot of fuss during the day, but these people are partying like nothing happened here. Pretending that it was resolved safely, pretending that everything is fine… There is someone else who actually solved the problem.”
Marian’s gaze moved to Prince Wilhelm, who was at the center of the ball. It was a masked ball, but no one knew he was Prince Wilhelm. There are only two men in the empire with silvery white hair and red eyes.
Even the prince seemed to have no intention of hiding his identity, and he openly wore a white dragon mask on his face. All the nobles gathered around Prince Wilhelm, pretending not to know his true identity, and cheering him up.
If it is in the nature of nobles to know and pretend not to know, Marianne thought, it was a lot like this masquerade.
Schurz quietly brought out his words.
“Marian. There are a lot of eyes here.”
“… Huh. That’s right.”
Marian raised the corners of her mouth and smiled brightly. Numerous aristocratic men who glanced at her beautiful figure, who seemed to be smiling prettily, felt their hearts tighten for an instant, but Marianne didn’t care at all.
Shurtz asked in a puzzled tone.
“I am a bit surprised. Marian, you… If I had to use common words to express it, wouldn’t it be the flower of a socialite? Rather, I thought it would be nothing.”
“Because the more you know, the deeper you look. And….”
“And?”
“… ….”
In the past, all of this was taken for granted. Instead of the Marquis of Karlstein on the battlefield, her wife, the Marquis, took charge of Marianne’s education as an adult in her family.
She has learned what plots and schemes intersect in a fancy party, what meaning is contained in the trivial glances and gestures of nobles, and how to act in order not to be ridiculed by others.
She thought that spending a lot of money on a party, buying dozens of dresses, and decorating herself with countless accessories were all things she had to do to maintain the life of an aristocrat.
Because she believed that being the envy of others and standing in the upper echelons of society was the life of an aristocrat.
However, as she met various people in the Opal Black class, Marian’s thoughts changed a little.
Marian is not as good with a sword as Gwynn, nor as skilled with magic as Oznia. She doesn’t have as good animism and bow skills as Titania, and she doesn’t have a natural body like a batar.
Marianne is also confident in her conversational skills and eye-witness when dealing with people, but that is acquired. Things anyone can learn if she learns.
Compared to the other common students of Opal Black, she may be ahead of her, but it is true that she hesitates to answer if you ask if she is overwhelmingly outstanding.
She said that if there are commoners who are superior to nobles and nobles who are inferior to commoners,
What is the basis for the claim that the nobility should rule the common people?
“I don’t know….”
From noble mtl dot com
Eventually Marian curtailed her words.
Because it was a very cautious idea to bring out the shambuli.
Marian is proud of her grandfather, commander-in-chief of the Imperial Army and hero of the continent 7. But when she brought the idea out in front of her grandfather, the answer her grandfather gave was still vivid in her mind.
‘Marian, I am no hero. The real hero is each and every soldier who risked his life under me. Without them, I really would be nothing.’
I didn’t understand what that word meant before.
But now I felt like I could understand it vaguely.
The reason he realized that is obviously a man who, as a mere soldier, fought against the crisis that almost destroyed mankind and achieved countless achievements, but refused all honor and power and was just working as an instructor at the academy. It must be because
“Ummm….”
It’s already been a month since the semester started. You might say it’s only a month, but eighteen is old enough to consider marriage or betrothal in an aristocratic society.
Especially considering the countless engagement proposals pouring into the Karlstein family, it was time for Marian to seriously look for a partner.
‘Should I be more proactive?’
If you act too leisurely and lose a good man right in front of your eyes… It’s so sad that I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep at night.
‘Shouldn’t you have suggested a partner… It’s already too late, there’s nothing you can do There will be a party in the summer at my parents’ house, so if I bring it up then-?’
That was the moment.
In the midst of the tumultuous gathering of countless people, the entrance to the ballroom instantly fell silent. And everyone’s eyes were focused on one place.
Marianne’s gaze also naturally turned toward the entrance.
A girl with silvery white hair wearing a white fox mask was walking by. Thanks to her silver hair unique to her royal family and her graceful figure, everyone gathered at her ballroom immediately recognized her as the third princess, Elisabeth.
And Marian could see a man standing next to Elizabeth.
She was wearing a black mask, but it wasn’t difficult to recognize. Her hair, the color of her eyes, her height about a head above the average male height in the Empire, and her features half revealed behind her mask were all too familiar.
“Ion… Instructor… ?”
To see the two of them walking hand in hand like lovers.
Marian doubted her eyes, and she was dazed.
Feeling betrayed,right Marian?