The day on which I was expected to attend the party held for the princess’s fifteenth birthday finally came. The first part of the party is dedicated to nobles who, at the same age, come to the princess to bid her happy birthday and in the hope of being remembered the moment they would be at the Academia. I, under Uncle’s advice, chose to come to the party only at the beginning of the afternoon, where all the parts he deemed would be boring for my taste.

So here I am, though slightly late by half a day to the party, walked escorted by a maid to the room where the party, to properly say, took place.

The door was already closed but was opened for me, granting me, amidst the room’s chatter inside the opulent room's sky-high ceiling, a catchier entrance than I could’ve ever wished for.

Worse than the one we got at the king's audience, the crowd was of all ages; young, middle-aged, and old. It was my first time seeing so many nobles gathered in one place like this.

Seeing ahead the king and the holy paladin Altair, between whom the princess was seated, I strode through the crowd, which, to my great embarrassment, moved aside to let me pass, even though the room was so long and so large that there was no need to do so.

Reaching the royal table, I presented my greeting. "Your highness, your grace, Holy Paladin, Princess, good evening."

To my greeting, the emperor nodded, while the holy Paladin, on the other hand, pretended to hear none of it. Only the princess took care to return my greeting, "Sir Ronandt, good evening."

"I hope the princess will forgive my very late entrance. I have no excuse, but I hope this humble present will make up for my lateness. "

With these words, I retrieved the gift in question, which was kept inside a lovely box with the Douglas family hound-sigil diamond-ornamented on it, and handed it to a maid, who took it to the princess to see up close.

Seeing the Holy Paladin and the King’s change of expression at the sight of the decadent exhibit of the Douglas' sigil, I let out, along with a fake cough, a chuckle that I was unable to restrain any longer.

Obviously, the princess gift had not been chosen, much less purchased, by me; it was, as the sigil suggested, Uncle's handiwork. But, because neither he nor anyone else from the Douglas family had been invited to the party, he had the clear intention of making his presence felt despite his absence, which he accomplished when, the moment the princess opened the box to retrieve the box, the Douglas family sigil was displayed bare toward the already intrigued public, causing chatter among them.

Retrieving from within the already catchy box, the princess retrieved an entirely black necklace, prompting me to intercede, "I do not know much about necklaces, nor do I know much about the princess's taste. But I do hope it is to the princess's liking. "

I had no idea what the aforementioned necklace was made of. I just knew from the moment I was tasked with giving this as a present to the princess that it was no cheap gift.

"This... is entirely carved out of taupe pharidolite. I have been told it has been centuries since the last samples were unearthed from Felicity's bedrock, the only place they could be found across the continent. Is it really okay to give such an extravagant present?"

"I am no crystal connaissor princess," nor did I spend a single penny on the purchase of this thing. "All I can hope for is that the princess likes my gift."

"I do. I like it very much. You have my gratitude, Sir Ronandt. It is a very lovely and generous gift."

"Such kind and undeserving words, Princess."

With these flattering words, I had planned to withdraw to a calmer place, but the words of someone at the table of honor stopped me before I could do so.

"Ronandt, why would you not join us—at our table?" The king proposed, glancing at an empty place beside him, where a chair was immediately brought over.

Though I knew his question was not even one and that I was really expected to take that seat, I still pretended, "Your Highness, is it really appropriate for me to sit there?"

"The shame would be upon us if we, after that generous gift of yours, were to not even offer a seat at our table."

"Understood, your highness, then I hope you won’t mind if I do."

I went, as invited, to take the seat that was suggested, only to see that at the very moment I sat down, the man, whose presence was to me most undesirable, stood up and left, giving no excuse whatsoever for his sudden departure. Instead, it was the Princess who, after he was gone, came up with the obvious lie, "Grandfather noticed someone he’s acquainted with and will be back shortly." I simply nodded in response. In fact, I had to thank the holy Paladin for leaving, as I admit that having him beside me was ruining the pompous experience of dining at the table of honor, beside a king.

It was at that moment, among the sitting, drinking, walking, and chatting crowd, that I noticed Lord Marcel, he looked my way and slightly raised his glass at me before simply returning to his occupation.

"So what do you think of Bellevue, Ronandt?" The King asked, not in a kingly tone, but in a tone that suggested he wanted to start a conversation rather than just a polite and tense exchange.

As of now, I was not allowed to use enforcement, which was my forte; instead, what was now expected of me from Uncle Paul was to maintain a good relationship with the king and his close entourage, something that my ducal blood facilitates quite efficiently. So, if the king wanted an actual discussion, I suppose I was down to become the entertainment he was looking for.

***

Doing my best to keep the warmest and friendliest talk with the king and, by extension, the princess sitting at his side, a few minutes passed, and soon it became abundantly clear to me how unbuilt I was for this.

I was not built to entertain anyone, let alone a king and a princess, in such a tense environment, and it was all due to my lack of factual knowledge on topics to discuss or linger on. Most of my knowledge of what seemed basic to the king and the prince was on a mere superficial level, resulting in the three of us ending up in a situation where I was given a topic to discuss only to have the princess or the king alone elaborate on it, while all I could do was to answer with a dumb, impressed, or deeply invested smile.

Trying to bring up a topic I was familiar with, I asked, "Do you like reading, Princess?"

"I do. I am, in fact, an avid reader."

"That I can confirm," the king intervened. As a child, she would spend a major part of her time holed up in the royal library. Most of us were afraid she would grow up into some sort of asocial recluse and bookworm.It is with relief that we were wrong in our assessment."

"Grandfather…"

It was short, but it was the first genuine, actual grandfather-granddaughter interaction I had seen these two having today.

"And you, Sir Ronandt?"

"Me?"

"Do you like reading?" the princess ventured back, once again saving our table from an awkward silence.

"Yes, Princess. Should I say that I did? As a child, I enjoyed reading. "The Encyclopedia" was my favorite series of books, but I read pretty much anything that piqued my interest. I must say that, in contrast to what I am now, I was a very scholarly child."

"You do not read anymore, Sir Ronandt?"

"It has been three months since my return to the continent. I did read some pieces of work here and there, but I have yet to completely read a single book. It could be that, over the years, I have lost that fire I had as a child."

"I see... but I doubt it; I'm sure it's still dormant somewhere, within you. I'm sure all Sir Ronandt needs is the book that would rekindle his old bookworm flammes."

"I suppose the princess is right. I just hope that I find that book as soon as possible."

"Our royal libraries are host to many books, texts, and scrolls, from the most recent ones to the oldest and most archaic ones, if you are interested, its door is always open for you," the king proposed.

"Thanks for the invitation, your highness. I’ll consider visiting one of these days."

With these words, our tables sank into silence, up until the king proposed, "Sweet Child, this party might be the perfect opportunity for it. Why wouldn’t you introduce Sir Ronandt to this party's most prominent guests? This would also be the perfect opportunity for Ronandt to get to know his fellow noblemen."

For a moment, I wasn’t sure where that suddenly came from, but a glance at the holy paladin was all it took to make me understand why the king made that proposition.

"Lord Ronandt?"

"With pleasure."

As proposed by the king, we went to the guests for the princess to properly introduce me to not only the prominent guests but also the members of the royal family. Through the principal introduction, I got to know more of the men and women that make up the famous royal family, who, with the exception of the younger ones, felt apprehensive about my presence despite their attempts to hide it. There is no doubt that they knew what I was up to in the past few months, yet they had to pretend that I was the most virtuous of men.

Making the whole thing tedious if not straight up boring, at that moment, while the princess was talking with an aunt of hers, a commotion caught my attention, so to the princess, I announced, "I think I have sighted an acquaintance of mine, if you’ll excuse me princess, ladies," before withdrawing without even giving them the opportunity to voice an opinion on it.

Though the main objective of this little maneuver was to free myself from the princess, I was immediately drawn to the gathering. I noticed nobles, especially men, attending in a corner of the room.

I grabbed a plate and collected fruits on it while coming closer and closer to the gathering to ultimately reach a nearby pillar, close enough to see the object of the small gathering, next to which I stood to observe.

At the center of the crowd stood a man, whose face I recognized as one of the Grandministers. Amberham, if I didn’t somehow butchered his name, was at the center of the commotion, speaking to the crowd.

"—We are, today, more than ever in our entire history, standing between the dawn and the dusk of very turbulent times. In the painful event of two years ago, some of us lost cattle, crops, lands, fortunes, and even people. We've all lost something, big or small; some of us even lost everything. Gentlemen, we've all suffered, but if you are still here to hear these words today, it can only mean one thing... that we have prevailed."

Amberham's words were welcomed with applause. Then, allowing it to quiet down, he also allowed a silence to take place, The man’s eyes swept across the room.

"Thanks to the crown, our host today, our beloved King, Charle Altair, we true and proud Altairans have stood strong together and successfully made it past the storm."

My fellow grandministers and I. The grandministries and the duchies. The Kingdom and the Church. It has been side by side that we have achieved that, which allows us to stand together today. We came out of these tragic times stronger and closer than we ever were since our kingdom's very early years."

"Gentlemen, I want you to know that I am proud of what we've accomplished together; more than any of you can possibly imagine. Which is why it is with regret and pain in my heart that I’ve come to understand that we have among us someone that threatens that unity that has been shielding us from the storm. I believe it is needless for me to name those to whom and to what I refer," the man said, eyes once again sweeping across the room.

As clueless as I was about most things, I understood to whom he was making reference.

"In his grandiose generosity, the king, the crown, and the grandministries offered them amnesty, believing that the crime they were accused of was a regrettable misunderstanding, but we were wrong, and the crown's generosity was abused."

"They were allowed to be part of the matrix. They became an important part of it, only to later seep through the cracks in our unity, rotten and ungrateful as they have revealed themselves to be. Spread rots that rob you, my fellow Altairans, of your individualities that together make us the strong nation that we are."

"As of now, their roots are deeply embedded in our Altairian' agriculture, mining, and aina-wielding workforce. They have an army of aina-wielding hounds under their control that they refuse to relinquish control of. Sure, it is merely an army of commoners, but they sure can threaten to disturb the peace of our beloved kingdom.

"Under these circumstances, I must ask, while I still can, is there still a place for true Altairians like you? If you do think there still is, to what extreme will you have to be pushed to finally open your eyes?"

"They already have control over your money, your land: Altarian's money, Altairan's land. Soon, what will it be? Your choices? Your voices? Or is it already the case for both? What do you think you might be left with when stripped of it all? Past that point, would you even dare call yourself a noble? "

"Basta, I say. Enough already. Before it is too late, the time has come to implement policies to prevent the spread of the plague that does nothing but rot us away. It is a duty that imcombs us. We, who carry in our veins the true and noble Altairian blood, must ensure the sovereignty of our beloved kingdom."

With the ovation the man's speech received from the audience, I couldn't help but relate to and understand the concerns that prompted Uncle to entrust his family to my care during his month-long absence.

"Frightening, isn’t it?"

As my attention was still caught on these people, whom the man called "true and noble Altairians," I was approached by a familiar face.

"Grandminister Summerhall."

"Such a standing ovation for such slanderous accusations leveled against a man and a family who aren't even present to defend themselves, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, it's truly regrettable where this world is going."

"Yet, as regrettable as it may be, this is the reality," he said behind my back as he approached me, holding his glass toward these men. These people are what he’s standing and going against. Look at them all; look at them well."

While looking at the men, I made eye contact with the grand orator, the grandMinister Amberham, as he seemed to have finally taken notice of me. I did my best to muster up a smile, but apparently from the weird expression he took it wasn't all that warm.

"What’s with this Amberham guy?" I asked.

"A nobody a few decades ago. But it seemed, the sly dog had his fair share of lofty ambitions. Consider him a pretender to the church's dog's position. Look at him, all that is missing on him now is a cute little leash. I doubt he would have dared to say anything at a party like this a couple of years ago, but with his recent association with the church, only his words reach the king, while mine don't even make it past his half-brother." As the man spoke these words, he gulped down his drink, not even making an effort to hide his dissatisfaction with the situation.

"I don’t know what Paul has in mind or in reserve to convince the king to agree upon his ridiculous request, but it’d better be something unstoppably effective."

Noticing the few steps I made toward the audience, Amberham reached for my shoulder. He didn’t say a word, but from the gaze he looked at me with, I could tell he was asking what I was planning to do, so I reassured him.

"I’m joining the mood, nothing more."

"Joining the mood, huh? I see." He let go of my shoulder and sent me a glance that requested that I not go overboard, or at least that's what it seemed to me.

Freed, I made my way toward the gathering, but just as I was about to reach the crowd, a tall silhouette wedged between it and me. With how tall he was, I had to meet the man’s red eyes.

"Holy Paladin Altair..."

"Where do you think you’re going like this?"

"I am joining this little gathering of nobles. Just that." Seeing that the man was nowhere near planning to move aside, I decided to slightly raise my voice, just enough to attract the attention of the nearest people: "My prince, is there a problem with that?"

The mere mention of Prince drew the attention of many onlookers, who shifted their attention from Grandminister Amberham to us.

"Not at all."

Despite the fact that I had "inadvertently" ruined the earlier rallying mood with this little exchange with the Holy Paladin, I still intended to have a brief conversation with the Grand Orator, Grandminister Amberham.

"I see, so you’ll excu–"

"Sir Ronandt, here you were," a voice interjected.

I was joined by the princess, who arrived with several young girls from who knows where. "Grandfather, you two."

I was stupid enough to believe that she didn’t know where I was, as I was fairly certain that from the moment I left her side, she kept a close eye on me, yet taking part in the charade, I answered, "Yes, Princess, here we were."

"I hope I haven’t interrupted anything."

"No, I don’t think you’ve interrupted anything, did she?" I asked, with a glance thrown at the Holy Paladin.

"No, you didn’t." He confirmed, before casting a glance at the crowding behind him. The crowd soon dispersed.

Rubbing me away from my opportunity to intervene, opportunity that, with the princess around, I had already given up.

"It's a good thing you're here, Sir Ronand, Grandfather. You two are my birthday’s greatest guests; can I take a bit of your time to introduce you to some of my friends? They come from across the kingdom and will be honored to exchange even just a few words with you."

The Holy Paladin merely let out something that seemed to be a positive grunt.

"Sir Ronandt?"

"Presented like this, what else can I say but yes, princess?"