Chapter 29 Shall we go and have a toast?
Chapter 29 Shall we go and have a toast?
“… ….”
I want you to be my support…….
That’s a role I could never play.
“Daughter of the Marquis Simonion. Even if I’m your direct secretary…….”
I expressed her embarrassment to her.
“What are you two talking about?”
Mulia, who was sitting on a stool and taking a break, also intervened. Oh, this is a bit difficult…….
“Just. I was going to ask Mr. Luke just one simple favor.”
“Is it really that simple… ….”
When I protested in an ant crawling voice, Flora laughed lightly.
“It depends on how you think about it.”
“I don’t think it’s that simple for me. The marquise’s daughter.”
“Then shall we do this?”
Flora raised her index finger.
At this point, Mullia must have been interested as well. She got up from the stool and came next to us.
“I’ll ask His Majesty. If you say yes, Luke will escort you, otherwise you will do something that never happened.”
“Does it really have to be like that, Marquis Lady… ….”
Instead of answering my question, Flora just laughed. It was like a sinister smile, as if expecting something.
Mullia turned her head towards her, as if she finally grasped her context. Her purple eyes shone with a sharp light, as if trying to grasp my thoughts.
I shook her head to convey my disapproval of this.
At any rate, it doesn’t make sense for me, as a direct secretary, to escort Cecilia.
If she is going to be an escort, she must be at least a match for Cecilia. What, like a fiancé?
But at present, she has no such opponent.
In that state, I’ll be her escort partner?
This is a disadvantage for either side. It’s obvious that the attendees will think badly of me.
Flora’s wind is, to say the least, too pure.
‘Well, Cecilia would refuse without hesitation.’
I decided to trust her political sense.
Of course, she would know all the dangers I thought of.
* * *
Cecilia entered her waiting room 10 minutes before the banquet started. I raised her greetings to her with her attendants.
Today too, Cecilia wore a red dress symbolizing the imperial family. However, it was a dress with more decorations than I usually wear, so it gave off a glamorous feeling.
A number of golden dragons symbolizing the empire were embroidered on the skirt hem.
His blonde hair, which hung down to her waist, became even more shiny today, to the point where it gave the illusion of looking at a field of ripe, golden wheat.
Indeed, she possesses the elegance and beauty of a host and protagonist of this banquet.
Cecilia accepted our greeting with a nod of her head. Then, for a while, he took turns looking at the three of us.
“Everybody did their best to decorate it.”
“It’s a banquet. But Your Majesty is much more beautiful than us.”
“Yes. They can’t even compare to us.”
Flora and Mulia each praised the empress. Of course, I cannot fall into this rank.
“I don’t think even the most beautiful rose in the Empire can beat you.”
“Thank you, everyone.”
Continued, Cecilia lightly praised Flora and Mulia for their dresses. Then she fixed her gaze on me for one last moment.
“You look taller than usual, Luke.”
“This is too much praise, Your Majesty.”
“The person looks brighter than the one I saw in the office. What do you guys think?”
Flora and Mulia, who received Cecilia’s question,
“Yes. It looks that way.”
“Right! It was to the point where I thought it was someone else.”
I immediately agreed with Cecilia’s idea. The shame of that wind became my share.
To the point where I wonder if this is a high-level twist.
After a while, Flora spoke cheerfully.
“By the way, there is one thing I want to ask Your Majesty.”
“What is it?”
Cecilia turned her head towards Flora.
Ah, that’s what you’re asking now.
I believe in you, Cecilia!
“You’re going to enter the banquet hall in a while. But I thought it would be better to have someone escort His Majesty than to go alone.”
“Escotra…… Is there a suitable person?”
“Your Majesty. Of all the people here, I think Mr. Luke is the most worthy.”
Flora openly recommended me, thinking that I might not be a stone fastball player. Then, Cecilia’s red eyes stared at me.
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It was as if he was discerning the value of a jewel.
Fortunately, Cecilia’s troubles did not last long.
“Flora. Thanks for the advice, but that doesn’t sound like a very good suggestion.”
As expected, Cecilia did not disappoint me!
I let out a sigh of relief.
“However, you should also listen to my secretary’s opinion. Luke. What do you think?”
“A lowly person like me is Your Majesty’s escort. It doesn’t even matter. Rather, it is clear that it will only lead to lowering Your Majesty’s dignity.”
“You thought so.”
There was a strange disappointment in Cecilia’s voice.
Why? I was just telling the truth.
Fortunately, she seemed to agree with me and didn’t say anything more.
“Soon it’s 7 o’clock. You guys go to the banquet hall first. I’ll show up a little later.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Cecilia gave us a congratulatory order with a gesture. We bowed to her and moved on to her banquet hall.
There was a door to the banquet hall just across the passage, so we arrived at our destination in no time.
“Wow, there are so many people.”
As soon as I saw the inside of the banquet hall, I exclaimed.
Just an hour ago, there was no one here except the butler, the maids, and the band.
“Most of the aristocrats living in Delesson must have attended.”
Flora answered my questions right away.
“I see. Somehow, I wanted to see quite a few familiar faces.”
The disgusting things you face at every noble meeting.
But fortunately, besides them, there were young ladies my age, young siks, and people I had never seen before.
“We mix in there too. The neck also doubles as a holiday.”
Flora reached out to me. I hesitated to hold her hand without thinking. Then she
“Eight.”
He grabbed my hand. Her pink hair fluttered lightly at the movement.
“Hoo, the Marquis’s daughter?”
“Whoops. You can take it as if I am guiding you.”
Flora winked in one of her eyes and led me through the crowd. She turned around just in case, and Mullia was following us at a slight distance.
The place Flora led me to was the table with desserts on display.
“As expected. I knew it would.”
After saying that, Mulia smiled.
“I feel sad when delicious desserts are missing from a banquet. Does Luke think so too?”
“Yes. I think they come to the banquet to taste something like this.”
“You know exactly!”
She answered appropriately and said that it was the correct answer.
It’s just the answer Flora wanted, so it seems she said it was the correct answer…….
“I’m thirsty, so I’ll go see something to drink.”
Just in time, there was a table full of drinks lined up on the table next to it.
“Okay then, Mr. Luke. We let you pick the tastiest desserts here!”
Flora’s emerald eyes sparkled with her will.
I also browsed around her desserts to pick out after her. But what she didn’t know was her placenta, and it looked appetizing like one, so she had a choice disorder.
Wouldn’t it be better to just leave it to Flora?
She is less likely to fail if someone she knows well picks her up.
“I’ll have to make canapés. What about Mr. Luke?”
“I will do the same.”
“Are there many others?”
“I don’t know if I look at it… ….”
“Aha. It could be.”
So said Flora, and she picked up the same canapé she had chosen and handed it to me.
Just in time, Mulia came back to us with her drinking glass in her hand. Judging by the color, it was orangeade.
“Why did you two choose the same thing?”
“Ah. Mr. Luke said he wasn’t sure, so he picked the same one.”
“I see.”
Mulia nodded her head a few times. Then she walked over to the dessert table.
What she chose was a small macaron.
After getting together and eating dessert, I headed to the drinks table to quench my thirst. When I just had lemonade in my hand,
“Her Majesty Empress Cecilia is entering!”
The butlers announced the Empress’s position in a loud voice. I licked my lips in regret and put the drink back down.
“Mr. Luke. Come here.”
I approached Flora, who beckoned me to come. Then we stood looking at the podium where Cecilia would make her appearance soon.
Not just us, but everyone in attendance.
After a while, the door opened wide and Cecilia entered the podium alone.
Even though alone, she moved her steps with great dignity. Thanks to this, she could clearly feel her emperor’s grace and her majesty in her.
“Meet Her Majesty, Empress Cecilia, Mother of the Empire.”
Immediately after Cecilia sat down on her throne, the attendees all bowed in unison.
“Everyone raise their heads.”
At her direction, people straightened their backs at the same time.
Cecilia briefly explained that the reason for holding this banquet was to celebrate the successful subjugation of the monsters that appeared in the north.
“Then let’s all have a good time.”
I made a closing remark.
Only then, people could freely move around the banquet hall again.
Cecilia was sitting on her throne and resting her chin on her chin. She then gestured to the butler who was nearby and she placed a glass of drink in her hand.
“Her Majesty must be drinking alone.”
“I guess so.”
While listening to the conversation between Flora and Mulia from the side, I looked at Cecilia.
She was really drinking or drinking wine by herself.
“Shall we go and have a toast?”
“Good idea.”
Definitely. It is better to drink with a group than to drink alone.
Mulia also voted in favor of Flora’s proposal.
We each took a bottle of wine to drink at the beverage table and moved towards the podium.
* * *
‘It looks like he’s going to Cecilia.’
The Marquis of Marlborough took her eyes off Luke and her maids. Then she poured the wine in her hand into her mouth.
He was watching their every move even before he greeted the empress. No, to be precise, monitoring Luke’s movements was a more accurate expression.
It’s been days since Luke didn’t respond to his meeting offer.
The Marquis of Marlborough has not made any contact attempts so far. It was simply a poke and see what the reaction would be.
However, Luke’s blatant disregard was enough to make him feel uncomfortable.
‘Then I guess I have no choice but to poke it more directly.’
A butler who happened to be wandering nearby caught the attention of the Marquis. He summoned the butler and handed out 1 silver along with an empty glass.
“Hey. I’ll give you this, tell the guy with the black hair over there, Luke. The Marquis of Marlborough is looking for it.”
-Continued