- (Anna’s POV) –

It has been 2 days since I sneaked in the royal palace. Today is Eleonora’s birthday, and the party will be tonight!

About the church, the archpriest Oscar got arrested along with many of his followers under the king’s orders. Good job king! They will apparently be executed publicly after the festival is over. However, many nobles that supported the Holy faction didn’t get arrested, most of them didn’t do anything illegal after all; some of them are even regretting to support such a shitty faction!

The Pope is finally starting to regain his influence, but his condition is still bad since he lost most of his priests. I’m still keeping Lylith with me because he is too busy, and she is happy with us; I still bring her to her father sometimes though.

The prince? I don’t really know what he is doing, and I don’t really care to be honest. But it doesn’t look like he changed his opinion.

During those 2 days, I mainly focused on opening another shop selling potions and soap! I went to the merchant guild and I found out that 2 houses facing each other were in sales, so I decided to buy both of them! I’m planning to use one of them for the potions and the soap, and the second one will be kept for later. I don’t know yet what I will sell there, maybe make a restaurant? Maybe sell magic items? I will see…

It costs 310 gold coins, but I still have quite a lot of money so it’s fine! Besides, it will probably take 1 or 2 weeks to get it back… my shops are so freaking profitable!~ Furthermore, each of them is a 3-story house with a shop at the bottom, and more than 15 rooms upstairs!

Before that, I went back to Marina and I made sure that the orphanage is able to create enough soap and find enough herbs for the shop here. They told me that they are producing too much for only the shop in Marina, so it’s totally fine if I use them for my shop in the capital. I of course increased their salary! This orphanage might become richer than a lower noble if they continue to work that hard~!

About the new shops, it’s nearly ready. I’m still trying to recruit some employees, I already got 3 of them but I would like twice this amount. The pay is like always 1 gold coins per person per month with a right to live freely in a room upstairs. I also give them the rights to get payed even if they are sick and give the right for the pregnant women to stay at home a few months. Well, the conditions and the pay are very good for a simple shop employee, probably the best that you can find, so I’m not worried to not find more employees.

My goal is to open the shop in 1 or 2 days, I will use the party tonight to advertise the soap if I have an occasion. Eleonora, Alice, Lylith and I will have soap with them. By the way, we didn’t plan to let Lylith come 3 days ago because it could have been dangerous if someone recognize her, but now we invited her because most of the Holy faction got arrested.

Right now, I’m currently sitting in front of a mirror while the maids are putting make up on my face. Eleonora also gave me a beautiful dress! I wanted to pay for it, but she refused my money… I’m not that poor you know! Even if the dress costs about 15 gold coins, I can still easily afford it!

The guests should arrive in about an hour, I would like to jump on this occasion to get closer to several nobles. I have read a book describing the nobles, well I only remember a few names that I found interesting…

I’m a commoner so no noble will invite me to their party except if I get some attention, that’s why I prepared several things to get some attentions, hehe~.

Suddenly, the maid talks:

“I’m done, lady Anna!” (maid)

“It’s a very well-done job!” (Anna)

I’m not lying, it’s the first time I seriously put make-up on myself, I’m shameless to say it myself but I’m extremely beautiful! Well, I’m the one that took hours to create this character, so it’s as expected!

I put the dress on with the help of a maid, then I look again in the mirror. Wow! The color of the dress complements my hairs very well, it’s a mix of white and red!

I leave the room and go back in the hall. Oh, Eleonora is already here, let’s greet her!

“Hey, happy birthday Eleonora-san! You are very beautiful with your dress! I mean you are always beautiful, but you are even more beautiful tonight!” (Anna)

“Oh my, thank you Anna-chan! A-And you, you are so cute!” (Eleonora)

Cute?! Well, it might be true actually…

Suddenly Alice and Lylith enter the hall together. WOW! It looks like 2 princesses! They are so KAWAIII! I just want to hug them! Mph, let’s calm down… I don’t want to destroy my make-up.

In the hall, there are a lot of tables with food, the servants are running around trying to get everything ready.

Suddenly, Roland enters the hall along with Alice’s brother, I think his name was Charles. He still looks at me weirdly… Roland walks toward Eleonora, kneels, and kiss her hand.

“Happy birthday, Eleonora!” (Roland)

“Fufu~, thank you dear!” (Eleonora)

Hey! Stop flirting in front of everyone!

Well, I guess it’s time to wait for the guests to arrive!

**********

About half an hour later, the guests are starting to come. There are some snacks and drinks available on the table while the musicians are playing a music. I’m staying with Alice and Lylith while Eleonora and Roland are busy talking with other nobles, they are the organizer after all.

Suddenly, I can feel a girl coming toward us, she has green hair and is around Alice’s age. When she arrives to us, she suddenly hugs Alice.

“Alice! It has been so long!” (??)

“Clara! I missed you as well! But we saw each other a month ago!” (Alice)

The green haired girl turns toward me and looks at me. Is she Alice’s friend?

“Is she the one you talked about in your letter?” (Clara)

“Yup! She is Anna-oneesama!” (Alice)

“I’m happy to meet you! I heard that you met Alice on the way back from my birthday party!” (Clara)

Ohh! When I met Alice, I saved her carriage from an orc’s attack, and she was there because she was going back from her friend’s birthday party, so that’s her!

“I’m happy to meet you aswell! I’m Anna, you can say that I’m also Alice’s friend.” (Anna)

Then she asks while tilting her head, so cute!~

“Do you want to be friend with me aswell?” (Clara)

“It would be my pleasure! Oh, by the way, the one hiding behind me is Lylith. Please excuse her, she is not used to meet people, so she is a bit shy.” (Anna)

Then Clara walks toward Lylith and takes her hand.

“Pleased to meet you! I already know you from Alice’s letter, I hope we can get along well!” (Clara)

“Um!” (Lylith)

After that, we eat some snacks and drinks, there is also apple juice for the children. Then suddenly, Eleonora is calling for everyone’s attention.

“Your attention please!” (Eleonora)

Once the hall is silent, she continues:

“Thank you very much for attending my birthday party, I hope that you will enjoy yourselves. Please have fun!” (Eleonora)

After Eleonora’s speech, the music is starting again. It’s common sense to give a speech once all the guests are here when you are the organizer of the party. If I remember the common sense of this country correctly, we have to dance after the speech. What can I do…? I don’t really know how to dance, or at least not at the same level than a noble lady… I only danced a few times on Earth.

Then suddenly, Alice’s brother comes to me and bow his head while presenting his hand.

“May I have the honor to dance with you?” (Charles)

Wow, he is actually more of a gentleman than I thought. I take his hand and say:

“It would be my pleasure! However, I’m not a really good dancer.” (Anna)

“It’s fine, I can take the lead.” (Charles)

Then we start to dance slowly with Charles guiding me. He suddenly talks again:

“Oh, by the way, don’t get the wrong idea, I only dance with you because my mother asked me to do it.” (Charles)

And here I thought that you were a gentleman!! Why are you even telling me that?

“Oh, don’t worry! I’m not interested in a siscon.” (Anna)

I tried to embarrass him for my vengeance, but he is smiling instead. Hey! You are supposed to deny it! Well, let’s focus on the dance for now…

I think I’m doing pretty well for a beginner with Charles’s guidance. My body easily learn the movement and I feel like I could easily reproduce them. As expected of an OP body!

Taking a look at the girls, it looks like Alice and Clara found a partner to dance with. They are noble lady after all, not children that I need to babysit, they probably are doing better than me in a party. However, Lylith has no one right now, she is staying in a corner of the hall. No one know who she is after all, she is still disguised. I’m not even sure if we can say that she is a noble even if she is as important as a noble. Her father was the second son of a noble family and he became Pope because he couldn’t inherit his father’s title, so I guess she is a noble, right?

Well, whatever. I still want to help her, though… I’m not really familiar with noble boys, but maybe I can ask Charles to dance with her?

“Thank you for dancing with me, Charles. If you don’t mind, can you also dance with Lylith? She is alone right now…” (Anna)

“Mhh, ok. My mother told me to take care of her aswell anyway.” (Charles)

Good boy, Charles! I didn’t have a good first impression of him, but he is not a bad guy. I heard that he is quite talented and is one of the best students in the Royal Academy. He is also a classmate of the second prince, I heard that they are even friend. I wonder if the second prince is also an extremist like the first prince though.

Charles leaves me and invites Lylith to dance. It’s a bit strange to see them dance together due to the height difference but they are doing well. It seems like Lylith knows how to dance, so she is doing probably better than me…

Then suddenly, a group of 3 lady are coming towards me. Is it the cliché moment when I will get bullied for being a commoner in a noble party? One of them speaks:

“Hey! We are sorry for bothering you, but we were curious about your hairs. How are they shiny like this? Even lady Eleonora’s hairs are similar…” (lady 1)

Ohh! Apparently, they are not here to bully me. As expected, I don’t think that Eleonora would invite someone who bully others. And they are even asking about the soap, it’s one of the reasons why I came here: to advertise!

“Hello, pleased to meet you, my hairs are shining thanks to a product called ‘soap’. I will open a shop in a few days in the capital that will sell them.” (Anna)

I put my hand on a bag hooked on a chair that I brought as an excuse for my inventory, then I take out 3 soap bottles and give it to them.

“I can give it to you for free, don’t hesitate to come to my shop if you like it! It would be nice if you could show it to your friends aswell!” (Anna)

“Ohh, thank you very much!” (lady 1)

“I will brag to my friends!” (lady 2)

They leave me happily while chatting. Well, what can I do now? Suddenly, the music stops, and everyone went silent. If I remember correctly, for a birthday party, after the dance is the gift part. Once the presents are all given, everyone is free to do whatever they want: leaving, dancing, eating, chatting…

Some people are starting to get in line to give their presents. The hall is quite silent, and everyone is looking at Eleonora, curious about what kind of present she will get. Apparently, it’s rude to attend a birthday party without offering something, so she gets at least one present from each family. I listen to the first people:

“Here is a handkerchief that I made for you!” (lady A)

“Fufu, thank you!” (Eleonora)

“I bought a make-up kit for you!” (gentleman A)

“Thank you!” (Eleonora)

“I offer you this dress, I hope that you will like it!” (lady B)

“Thank you! It’s very well made!” (Eleonora)

Then, there are a few more present, it’s basically handkerchiefs, make-up, dress, jewelry, etc… She received a dozen of presents in total, there are about 30 guests, but most of them come with their family so they give a single present for the whole family.

It’s finally my turn. I’m the last because I reacted too slowly, I didn’t know that we had to make a line.

I came with my bag because there is no pocket in a dress. I put my hand in the bag and take my present out of my inventory. It’s a small box about the size of my hand. I open it while making sure that everyone can see what’s inside.

“I prepared a necklace for you!” (Anna)

I can see everyone’s mouths falling to the ground, some of them fall from their chairs, some others spit out their tea. Wow, what a nice reaction! I know that my present is above average, but I didn’t expect such a reaction!~

“”””“……………………….””””” (everyone)

My present is a necklace with a big diamond. Its size is about 4 centimeters in diameters and its shape is similar to a tear or a water drop.

((A/N : For information, the biggest diamond discovered on Earth is called ‘Cullinan’ and is 10 centimeters long and 6 centimeters wide. I’m not sure about the price but I found 19 million of dollars (but it wasn’t on a necklace). So, the one Anna’s gave is a big deal in this world because they don’t have the same resources to mine than on Earth, but of course Anna doesn’t know that.))

There is a long silence in the hall, even Eleonora is bewildered. Is a diamond worth that much? I thought most noble could afford them… My goal is to attract attention, but I didn’t know that the diamond itself would do the job. What is really interesting is the EFFECT of this necklace, not the diamond itself! At least, that’s what I think…

Well, I think I should explain the details…

“As you can see, this is a diamond. However, there is a compressed monster core inside, so this necklace is a magic item. The effect of this magic item is to create a barrier around your skin when you are about to get hurt. I’m pretty confident that nothing weaker than a B-rank monster attack can even hurt you if you wear this necklace. It’s also impossible to assassinate you except if the attack come from someone truly strong.” (Anna)

Well, it’s not as simple as that because it resists a certain kinetic energy, if the energy from the attack is over this limit then the barrier can’t block it entirely. From what I saw, someone at the level of the guild master in Marina Adventurer Guild or the knight commander Gabriel shouldn’t reach this limit with their strongest attack, but they are not far. However, the behemoth could easily break the barrier so I think an A-rank adventurer can do it aswell. Of course, I could easily break it aswell.

To explain how it works, it emits some mana in a radius of a few meters. If there is something coming toward the holder of the necklace that have the potential to hurt, it will automatically activate the barrier around the skin; it’s not a huge barrier with a radius of several meters like you can see in some anime.

“”””“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHH””””” (everyone)

Well, I never saw a magic item even close to this quality since I came in this world so I can understand their reaction. Eleonora seems even more shocked; she is even sweating. After a long breath, she finally manages to say something.

“W-Where did y-you even get s-something like this?!” (Eleonora)

The hall is silent so everyone can hear us. In reality, this item is an expensive item from the game but it’s not extremely rare, I bought it from someone’s shop in the game. It’s not really useful for a high ranked player like me because my magic can have a similar or even better effect. It’s mostly used by ‘smurfs’, that’s how we call a rich and high ranked player that decided to create another account; so he can transfer his money and equipment to his second account. It’s a bit of a cheat item for low ranked player because no small monster can hurt them…

But of course, I can’t tell them that, so I have to lie.

“I found it in an old ruin that I explored in the past.” (Anna)

“”””…….”””” (everyone)

“I-I see… B-But why would you even offer it to me if you have s-such an item?!” (Eleonora)

“There are 3 reasons.” (Anna)

I look around, then I continue:

“First reason, I don’t need it for myself because I can use a spell with similar effect without using any item.” (Anna)

“”””…………..”””” (everyone)

Looking around, I can see that everyone is bewildered but no one is talking, so let’s continue~!

“Second reason, I don’t want to sell it to a stranger. I prefer if it’s used to protect someone I consider a friend. Furthermore, I consider my relationship with you more important than money. What can I even buy with this much money? It’s not like I’m poor or need anything right now.” (Anna)

“”””………………..”””” (everyone)

Eleonora is nearly crying. Well, I can understand, I just said that she is more important for me than a legendary item. With this, I probably made a good impression for the spectators. No one is talking so let’s continue:

“And third reason, it’s not like I have only one item of this quality. (Anna)

I take out the necklace that I was hiding under my dress. Yes, I was wearing a necklace since the beginning of the party, but the gem was hidden. This one is a ruby slightly smaller than the diamond but it’s glowing with a red aura. Let’s explain to them what the effects are:

“This one is a ruby and it’s also a magic item. However, this one doesn’t create a barrier, but it’s a catalyst.” (Anna)

“”””“EEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH”””””” (everyone)

Of course, it’s useless for me since I don’t need a catalyst to use magic, but it gives me an excuse. I don’t really know much about what kind of catalyst a strong mage use, but it looks like mine is quite a big deal seeing their reaction.

Those that didn’t fall yet are now about to fall. Hey, don’t faint because of me!

It takes about a minute for everyone to recover, and now they are whispering to each other’s. I can hear them with my enhanced hearing, but I can’t really understand what they are saying because there are too many whispers here and there.

I focus on 2 nobles whispering not too far from me:

“H-Hey, w-who the hell is this girl?!” (noble 1)

“I-I don’t know! It’s the first time I meet her!” (noble 2)

Well, let’s ignore them for now. Eleonora finally takes the necklace from my hand, but she is holding it with both hand like if it were about to break. Hey! It’s nearly unbreakable you know?!

Well, whatever. She looks at the diamond with shining eyes, then she finally put it on her.

I wonder if I succeeded to make a good impression on the nobles. I hope I can get closer to some of them to increase my influence!~