Ch.4545. An Uncomfortable Dinner

As I stepped out of the library after our conversation ended, Celia’s expression appeared slightly flushed.

I thought she might be tired from struggling while floating in the air… but hearing her soft words, that didn’t seem to be the case.

“…thank you.”

“For what?”

“For my story. For making it sound good.”

She seemed grateful that I had embellished her story when telling it.

But honestly, that was just the natural thing to do. How could I possibly tell her parents only the bare facts?

If I had mentioned that she only hung out with me all the time, they would certainly have been alarmed. No, being alarmed would be the best-case scenario.

If they misunderstood the situation, I might have been the one floating in the air instead of Celia.

So I simply told a white lie that she often went out with her female friend Lilith, and that she was also building a relationship with Alkine, the student council president, to prepare for student council activities.

As for academics, since Celia always did her best, I told them exactly what I had seen.

Regarding her magical abilities, since they were undeniably extraordinary at this point, I properly praised her and suggested they see for themselves.

Of course, after getting to know Celia, I realized she had some rather eccentric sides… there would be plenty to say about that too, but…

“You’re supposed to help friends save face in front of their parents.”

Even if a friend does embarrassing things, those are memories between us.

Spreading such things to parents would be breaking a taboo, something that should never be done.

With that mindset, I had casually made up those stories, but her gratitude made me feel awkward, so I tried to change the subject.

“Is there anything else we need to do?”

“No. If there is, someone will come find us and let us know.”

So, let’s go for a walk together.

Saying that, Celia pulled me outside.

The place she headed was the central garden we had passed on our way to the library earlier. As soon as we arrived, a strong floral scent pierced my nose.

Looking at the flowers planted there, I could see they were all varieties that Celia liked.

These were all flowers that wouldn’t normally bloom at this time of year. They were simply maintained year-round by magic because Celia liked them.

Considering the size of the imperial garden, the maintenance costs must be enormous. I wonder if it’s just pocket change by imperial standards.

“Ludion. Here, sit down.”

While admiring the scenery where money was visibly flowing away, I found myself at a table placed somewhere in the garden.

Celia hopped into one of the chairs and pointed to the opposite chair, calling me over.

This is exactly like killing time at the academy. Not that I expected it to be any different.

Following her instruction, I sat down and briefly enjoyed the flower-scented breeze before casually asking:

“Shouldn’t I be heading back now?”

“Of course not. What are you talking about? Really.”

Honestly, there was nothing left for me to do.

I had somehow avoided the Emperor’s scheme(?) that had sentenced me to death, and I had made a fairly good impression on the Empress who had called me to see my face.

The Emperor’s three sons remained, but they would surely be more interested in Celia being home than in me.

So I wanted to return alone if possible, but…

“I’ve already arranged for you to stay in the guest room.”

From Celia’s words, it seemed that wouldn’t be possible.

It looked like I would have to stay here for a few days.

The imperial guest room… I knew it was rarely opened since the imperial family didn’t often have overnight guests, so I never expected I would be using it.

Thinking about guest rooms reminded me of various hidden mechanisms in the imperial palace, but my thoughts were scattered by Celia’s voice.

“And… while I’m at the palace, I’ll need to spend time with my family, so I won’t be able to be with you much. I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for? That’s why we came here in the first place.”

If she were seen sticking only with me even at the palace, who knows what would happen. Better to be ignored.

Besides, did you just say you have to “spend time” with your family? So you’re subconsciously aware of your position?

“Will you be okay without me? You won’t have anything to do.”

When you put it that way, it makes me sound like I have no friends.

But it would be strange for me, who came along in an awkward position as a guest, to wander around the palace without her, so what she said wasn’t entirely wrong.

“I’ll be fine.”

This wasn’t just empty words; I really didn’t mind.

Contrary to her concerns, there had been an abundance of content since the moment I entered the palace.

If there’s nothing to do, I can always find something, right?

“Well, knowing lazy Ludion, you’d probably be fine even if told to stay cooped up in your room. If you get bored, you can borrow some books from the library to read.”

Not knowing my true thoughts, Celia seemed to feel guilty about leaving me alone.

I had no choice but to accept her suggestion to ease her burden.

“Reading books does sound nice. Maybe I’ll read that Journey of the Stars series you like?”

“Oh? You know about that? Have you read it?”

“No, I haven’t read it, I just know the title.”

Her tone rose slightly, perhaps excited that I mentioned a book she liked.

“In the Journey of the Stars series, understanding stars is really important. In this book, stars are both an important foundation of society and the source of magic. The principles of star-related magic…”

She started explaining the background knowledge of the book… but honestly, I understood less than half of it, probably because I hadn’t read it.

Still, I couldn’t interrupt her enthusiastic explanation, so I kept listening until she suddenly tilted her head in realization.

“Wait, how did you know I like that series? I don’t think I ever told you.”

Well, that’s because it was in the character profile.

According to the profile, she had read the Journey of the Stars series dozens of times.

It was written that she loved it so much she carried it in her bag throughout her academy life.

“You always carry that book in your bag.”

So I could confidently answer her question.

I had actually seen it in her bag when she was organizing it, so I had no worry about being wrong.

“When did you see that? Really, you always have a sharp eye for the strangest things.”

Even though the character profile had become somewhat twisted and half-meaningless, I could feel it was still valid in aspects like this.

“But are you really going to read it?”

“I might. I’m getting a bit curious.”

At first, I just mentioned it on a whim, but as we talked, I genuinely became interested.

The actual content of the book wasn’t implemented in the game, but here I could actually read it.

What could be so amazing about it that she read it dozens of times? I thought I should take the time to read it.

“Is it in the library?”

“Oh, you don’t need to go there. I have it in my room, so I’ll bring it to you later.”

“That would be great.”

So she keeps it in her room. Thanks to that, I won’t have to go to the library to find it.

“Ugh, I want to tell you what it’s about, but I shouldn’t. Read it quickly and tell me what you think. I’ve always dreamed of discussing this book with a friend.”

“Then you should have asked me to read it earlier.”

“I thought Ludion wouldn’t read things like books. I didn’t think you’d even know the Journey of the Stars series existed.”

Hey, I’m still a model student with perfect theory scores, that’s too harsh.

Hmm… I guess since I always doze off during lectures, it’s understandable she’d think that way.

As we chatted, evening was approaching.

And then…

“Oh my, Ludion came too? I didn’t expect that, how surprising.”

“I wasn’t planning to come. But His Imperial Majesty summoned me personally…”

I ended up being forcibly dragged to dinner.

When Celia first asked me to join, I had made excuses about not wanting to intrude on a family meal.

But since the Emperor personally summoned me, I couldn’t refuse.

In the end, I found myself in an extremely uncomfortable situation, inserted into a gathering of Celia’s entire family… and they even seated me between Celia’s three older brothers.

Judging by their gazes, they looked like they might stab me with the knives meant for cutting meat.

If I tried to eat in this atmosphere, wouldn’t I choke?

Unaware of my concerns, dishes began to fill the table one by one.

As the meal preparation finished, the natural sound of clinking tableware began to echo.

Even after the meal started, the gazes directed at me remained, but I couldn’t just sit blankly with food in front of me, so I cautiously picked up some food and put it in my mouth.

‘…This is delicious.’

Taking the first bite was difficult, but once the tasty food entered my mouth, my hand wouldn’t stop.

At some point, I became so focused on eating that I hardly noticed the stares anymore.

The Emperor and his sons seemed to have a lot they wanted to say to me… but they appeared taken aback by how well I was eating and couldn’t say much.

Right, even dogs shouldn’t be disturbed while eating. If I employ this mukbang strategy, even the Emperor can’t do anything about it.

In the end, the quiet atmosphere continued until the end of the meal.

Normally, they would probably exchange a few words with family members during meals, but today they seemed to have been planning to say something to me, and since their plans were disrupted, they maintained silence throughout.

“I thought that child wouldn’t mind much… but I didn’t expect it to be to this extent.”

“Honestly, I feel the same. How does food even go down in that situation?”

Celia and her mother quietly exchanged some words watching this scene, but that was all.

Whew, how about that? This is my dining martial art.

Any Korean would understand this, right?

Of course, this is a game world… but since the game itself had strong Korean influences, it’s not completely wrong.

Just as I thought I had managed to overcome the uncomfortable situation…

“Here, Ludion. Eat this too.”

Out of nowhere, Celia passed the meat from her plate to me.

Since she couldn’t reach me, she used magic to float the entire plate in front of me.

“…Celia? What are you…?”

“What? I always do this.”

No, Celia. I know you do this in the student cafeteria all the time, but if you do it here…

“Always…? You two eat together all the time?”

“As an older brother, I can’t let this slide. You, come with me right now.”

“What are you saying, brother? Let’s just kill him right here.”

“Brothers, please calm down. Simply killing him would be too merciful. We should torture him as painfully as possible…”

Of course, this was the reaction.

Celia was smiling as if she knew exactly what would happen. She seems to have developed a taste for this, like when she stole my drinks at the cafe.

But back then it was just in front of security guards; now it’s in front of her family. Did you really have to do this?

The only fortunate thing was that the Empress seemed to understand Celia’s intention and was just smiling without much reaction.

Even so, it didn’t make things any better. The three loudest members were causing a commotion.

“Give me meat too, Celia!”

“Brother, that’s not the important issue right now!”

“But I can’t resist meat from Celia.”

“Brother, not you too!”

Haha, what a mess. I decided to just empty the plate Celia had passed to me.

It had cooled a bit but was still delicious.