Li Mei grinned behind the semi-transparent veil of her folding fan, flicker of cyan briefly coloring her mauve eyes as she Scanned the entire crowd in one sweeping glance, tossing their information into the Archive for later perusal. Just in case, she made sure to Scan the servants and minstrels as well. Even the animals frolicking nearby weren't excluded!

She'd attended enough fancy parties on Earth to know better than to overlook anyone. She just counted herself lucky she was allowed to have a helpful attendant at her side.

Bao had to wait outside, as Fera were not allowed in crowded fancy parties. Their instincts wouldn't permit them to forgive the sort of behaviors necessary in courtly society. A simple handshake could result in serious injury, or even death. Otto was petrified at the thought of mingling with high nobility, so he waited with Bao and Lucas by the carriage. That left Hana, since only official adjutants would be allowed in with the guests.

After spending several weeks at her side, Lucas and Vera learned most of Li Mei's behavior was different from what they expected for a young noble. They attributed the difference to her being a foreign dignitary, and gave useful pointers about Brittalund etiquette to both Li Mei and Hana in the days leading up to the party.

For example, waiting to be announced before entering a party. Never thank servants, or even acknowledge their existence and helpfulness. Adjutants were different, as they were considered just two steps lower in importance than the master they served, and should be treated as such. Never apologize for mistakes or accidents to peers or lessers, even as a joke or sarcasm, because it indicated one thought themselves beneath the other person.

A slip of the tongue, a passing courtesy, could ruin future negotiations for life.

Hana took a step forward to take her place at Li Mei's side, wearing a plain black dress with the Yueluo Clan emblem stitched into the collar, and silver lace netting decorating the tiny wings on her back. The girl hid so many knives under the skirt, but her careful and quiet movements made them undetectable.

Li Mei made a note to praise Lucas, since the man modified Hana's skirt himself to accommodate the weapons. Considering how easily and naturally Lucas took up the task, it could be expected that many other adjutants - and perhaps a few nobles - had hidden weaponry on their person.

Storage artifacts, like what Li Mei (supposedly) had, were incredibly rare and expensive even for the most elite of nobility. They kept such treasures for themselves, and only rarely bestowed it on their most favored of adjutants. It made sense that servants had to carry their own equipment, but the artifacts meant that at least they didn't also have to carry their master's.

Unless their master was poor, or lacking connections.

'Oriole distributed storage artifacts to servants and farmers on Faust's old estate,' Li Mei thought as she stepped leisurely toward the largest, most ornate pavilion, where the party host waited to be greeted by attending guests. 'Yet here they're only for the most elite. I wonder how Oriole got hold of so many, if they're so rare? Being able to mass-produce storage artifacts could bring in a lot of money... I'll have to get a hold of one and try taking it apart. Maybe the Interface can copy its enchantment pattern!'

Shoulders broad, not curled or hunched. Maintain a raised ribcage without arching the back or pulling the belly. Chin up, eyes forward, with carefully measured identical steps that flowed without trotting or otherwise jostling the body.

Li Mei was slightly bothered by how easy it was to slip back into old habits.

There were steps leading up to the pavilion, flanked by adjutants wearing the Rosethorne emblem on their coats. Li Mei paused at the bottom step, lifting her head to make eye contact with the imposing woman waiting at the top.

Tall, elegant, refined. A beauty, were it not for the cold, flat look in her hazel eyes. The gaze of a woman used to power, and doing whatever it took to maintain it. Such a woman rose from her hostess seat to greet Li Mei, a fact which made the girl's lips curl in satisfaction behind the folding fan.

The hostess of a party in Brittalund should only rise to greet guests of similar or greater status. Marilyn Rosethorne affirmed to the whole party Li Mei's status by standing to greet her.

The first to speak also showed who was more important. Even if the Yueluo Clan itself was equal to the Rosethornes, Li Mei was only a potential heir. She was also young and inexperienced. By all rights, etiquette demanded she greet the Rosethorne woman first.

Out of the corner of her eye, Li Mei saw the cute noble kid from her first Brittalund outing. The spoiled arrogant girl from the lapidary, now demure and shivering behind her mother. Li Mei didn't dare look away from the noble woman's stare, but she thought she caught sight of dark circles under the girl's sunken eyes.

Li Mei's smile froze on her face. Her insides squirmed, old memories threatening to rise from the locked mental boxes she buried them in. Without her realizing it, mana began circulating rapidly through her body, chilling the air until her exhalations became visible white vapors.

Silence.

One beat.

Two.

Murmurs buzzed in the crowd as people whispered among themselves.

Still Li Mei refused to speak, or even lower her fan. Frost gathered on her eyelashes, cheeks, and lips.

After a long moment, Marilyn seemed to shiver, her eyes widening as though she felt a chill through the many layers of her frilled dress.

Marilyn Rosethorne was in the middle of Rank 2, yet against Li Mei she only held a Threat level of 27%. Perhaps she sensed danger from the fluctuating pressure of mana? The thought made Li Mei's cold smile widen just a bit further.

After the silence continued for another few seconds, Li Mei figured she'd driven the point home long enough - that she didn't respect Marilyn's authority, and instead considered her a peer rather than someone superior. Not adhering to the courtesy codes of the culture in which you found yourself reflected poorly on your own manners as well as those of your countrymen, so once she made her point Li Mei deigned to speak as etiquette demanded.

Clack!

Li Mei snapped the fan shut, tapping it gently against her chin before opening her mouth. "The Yueluo Clan extends its greetings to the Rosethorne family."

She spoke first to prevent more animosity flowering between them. On the surface it was saving Marilyn some face, but Marilyn herself would understand the implications. By mentioning the Yueluo Clan in general without stating her own name or appreciation for the invitation, Li Mei both reminded those present of her backing, and made it clear she did not consider the invitation an honor.

Though she technically followed proper etiquette, Li Mei was giving ground on her own terms after showing displeasure.

Marilyn inclined her head, in a way that didn't dislodge her large and slightly ridiculous-looking flowered hat. When she spoke, her greeting was not in the Patois Li Mei was so used to hearing, but in what sounded a lot closer to an amateur foreigner's grasp of Mandarin! Li Mei tightened her grip on the fan in surprise. "Lady Li Mei of the Yueluo Clan, welcome to the Spring Gala. I am Duchess Marilyn Rosethorne, Matriarch of House Rosethorne."

"How delightful," Li Mei drawled, matching the Duchess with Mandarin. She gave a brief nod of her own, which Hana took as the signal to dip a slight curtsy. "To hear my mother tongue spoken on foreign soil! And your pronunciation is pleasant to the ears. Your teacher must have been very skilled!"

Attributing the compliment to a teacher rather than Marilyn's own skill and effort made the Duchess press her lips together in a thin smile. "Many thanks for your kind praise," she said in Patois. "I believe you previously met my youngest daughter?"

Marilyn shifted her body aside, twitching her skirts away to fully reveal the smaller girl standing behind her. Li Mei finally had an excuse to look, and her insides squirmed once again.

They only met once, briefly, several weeks past. Yet in that time, Teresa Rosethorne had lost quite a bit of weight. Li Mei's sharp eyes detected thicker cosmetics under her eyes and around her bare neck, and the girl's hands trembled as she grasped the skirts of her relatively plain dress. No pretty bright flowers, a limited amount of ribbons, and barely any flounce. It was obvious Teresa had fallen from grace just from the dress design, but...

Li Mei's eyes lingered on the girl's neck, then lifted upward to meet a terrified green gaze.

Not resentful, or arrogant.

Terrified.

Marilyn glanced down at Teresa from the corner of her eyes. The girl shivered visibly, then quickly bowed to Li Mei. "Lady Li Mei! I am... Teresa Rosethorne, Ninth Daughter of Duchess Marilyn Rosethorne, of House Rosethorne. I... We... Do you... R-remember me?"

The other girl's awkward stammer drew a frown from her mother, but Li Mei nodded with a slight smile as though she didn't notice. "Yes, I believe we've had the pleasure." She made sure no malice could be detected from her tone, and a flicker of relief briefly chased the fear in Teresa's eyes away.

"She has been reprimanded for her behavior the other day," Marilyn said slowly while Teresa visibly flinched, the woman searching Li Mei's face for any hint of emotion, but Li Mei kept her best poker face on even as anger churned within her blackened belly.

"I'm very sorry, I-!" Teresa blurted out, only to shrink back under her mother's frigid glare before she could finish her sentence. Still, she managed to maintain eye contact with an earnest stare that made Li Mei wonder what else there was to the story.

Especially as the Duchess tossed her daughter a glare, but didn't actually move to stop or silence her. Normally, even with Li Mei's status, Teresa Rosethorne shouldn't have been expected to apologize at all. Her interjection was very rude! Yet Marilyn said not a word, seeming to wait for some sort of outburst instead.

Scan confirmed Marilyn felt calm, curious, and somehow anticipatory. Teresa was anxious and afraid.

'I'm almost certain the Duchess wants to make a spectacle of this,' Li Mei thought. 'Perhaps to play the generous mediator? Humiliating her socially disgraced daughter and allowing me to take out some supposed fury on her, thus earning my favor for her sacrifice? Then I wonder what she'll do if I steal the rug underfoot...'

Her lips curled into a mischievous smile, and she pointed at the girl with her closed folding fan. "I'm not so callous as to hold a child's tantrum against her whole family. But forgiveness must be earned from those who were slighted, not from receiving punishment according to someone else's standards. You nearly had a wonderful shop run out of business because you couldn't take no for an answer, and ruined my very first outing in Brittalund. Such selfishness is a terrible trait to foster, wouldn't you agree, Duchess Rosethorne?" Li Mei opened her folding fan and smiled behind its semi-transparent cloth covering, flicking her eyes to meet Marilyn's gaze once more.

Anger.

She didn't even need Scan to reveal the woman's emotions, it just confirmed what she could already observe in those cold hazel eyes. Li Mei grinned wider. Of course a noblewoman such as the Duchess wouldn't miss the cutting slight in her choice of words, so she couldn't resist adding salt to the fresh wounds. "As recompense for her offense, calling me a thief in public, and generally making an ill-mannered nuisance of herself for the crowd, your daughter will accompany me to observe proper etiquette."

By pointing out the grievous errors Teresa had made in front of a crowd watching the show with bated breath, Li Mei cut off any avenue of retreat for the Duchess. Marilyn could no longer afford to ask for leniency, or make any demands, since her daughter offended someone above her own station.

If Li Mei demanded the girl be lashed at that moment, Duchess Marilyn would have to hand a servant the whip. And she couldn't even take offense at the insinuation regarding Teresa's lack of etiquette teachings, since the girl's manners were indeed in question! Marilyn could only take the shot to Rosethorne's honor with a faint smile on her beautiful face, and cold anger flickering in her hazel eyes.

The Duchess couldn't afford to lose her temper. A gracious hostess couldn't insult an honored guest, a delegate of similar standing to herself, in front of the other guests. To her credit the woman controlled her facial reactions very well. But the eyes would always give someone's emotions away, and Li Mei maintained eye contact whenever possible.

She had no doubt the result was exactly what Duchess Rosethorne wanted, depositing Teresa at the side of the Yueluo Clan delegate, but the method was far from desirable. Instead of Marilyn being gracious, it was Li Mei being righteous yet arrogant. She had no opportunity to show her well-prepared graciousness and matronly wisdom.

Li Mei wasn't actually angry at Teresa, and already made sure the lapidary was still conducting business as usual. The child didn't do anything worthy of a grand punishment, much less one that apparently caused her to lose a significant amount of weight in such a short time. If anything, it was the Duchess who earned her ire.

'Who asked you to mete out punishments on my behalf! How dare you assume your judgment matches my will! If I want someone punished, I'll handle things myself!'

Li Mei gave a gentle wave of her fan, causing the silver chains and charms dangling from her hair pins to chime melodically from the soft breeze. Her gaze turned to Teresa, and she forced a bit of impatience to show on her face to give the Duchess incentive for moving their conversation along. "Well?"

Teresa glanced at her mother, who only gave a terse nod in response. The girl dipped a curtsy to the Duchess, then sped down the pavilion stairs with light hurried steps, like a small bird taking wing from between the outstretched claws of a stalking predator.

"I do so hope you enjoy the Gala, Lady Li Mei," Duchess Marilyn said quietly before returning to her seat, reaching immediately for the filled wine goblet held by a silent servant.

Once the woman's back was turned, Li Mei winked at Teresa before turning away. "Yes, Duchess Rosethorne. I plan to."