Chapter 14: Salon (2)

All eyes were on me.

Jessica stared at me with a dumbfounded expression, and Victor was glaring at me with a look of resentment.

Even the maids, who had been bowing deeply behind Jessica like a screen, raised their heads to look at me with disbelief.

Well, it was natural for them to react this way since I had suddenly asked such a question, but honestly, wasn’t anyone else curious?

That couldn’t possibly be her natural hair, not even curly hair could look like that without help. The maids must have assisted in setting it up from the morning.

There was no way one person could do such an elaborate hairstyle in a short time, so several of them must have worked on it together.

Imagine, Jessica half-asleep with maids desperately setting her hair on either side, meticulously adjusting the angle and curl of the rolls.

Just thinking about the maids sighing every time Jessica moved too much or when the set hair got ruined in the shower, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“…What’s so funny?”

So, she couldn’t tolerate being laughed at even though she enjoyed mocking others.

Seeing her slightly frown with just the corners of her mouth turned up, I made an excuse.

“…I laughed unconsciously because I was nervous.”

“Haha! My friend here has a habit of laughing when he’s nervous! He definitely wasn’t mocking you, Lady Jessica, please forgive him!”

“…Hmph.”

Jessica turned her head, speaking as if my rudeness was now at an acceptable level thanks to Victor’s addition.

“I’m saying this for your sake, but it’s best to avoid actions that could cause misunderstandings.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Since Lady Jessica has said so, my friend here will surely remember it. By the way, Lady Jessica, which department are you in…?”

Victor changed the subject to ease the tense atmosphere.

“…The Knight Department.”

“I’m in the Magic Department! It would have been an honor to be in the same department as you, but it’s truly unfortunate!”

“…I see. By the way, you…?”

Ignoring Victor’s obvious flattery, Jessica directed her question to me.

I stroked the katana that always accompanied me and answered.

“The same Knight Department.”

“…Your weapon is a katana. Do you know what kind of weapon I use?”

What nonsense was she talking about?

She wasn’t carrying anything that could give me a hint, unlike me with my katana, so what was I supposed to guess?

Victor, seemingly knowing the answer, opened his mouth as if to help, but I decided to take a close look at Jessica myself.

After a moment of observation, I spoke.

“Is it… a drill[1]?”

“…Are you trying to pick a fight?”

Oh, was it not?

Drills are quite powerful weapons, though not as much as katanas….

Jessica’s grip on her fan tightened, and I heard it creak under the pressure. Victor quickly intervened again.

“He, he was just trying to lighten the mood with a joke and made a mistake! No matter how nervous he is, he shouldn’t have said that! Apologize quickly!”

“I’m sorry.”

Jessica sighed deeply, perhaps accepting my sincere apology, and spoke to us.

“…Haah, even if we’re in different classes, we’ll meet during duels or other Knight Department activities. You both can leave now.”

Under Jessica’s cold gaze, Victor kept nodding fervently.

“Yes! Yes! We’ll be taking our leave now!”

With that, Victor grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room.

Despite being in the Magic Department, he was surprisingly strong.

Even after we left the room and descended to the first floor, Victor didn’t stop and dragged me to a secluded part of the villa where there were fewer people.

Once he confirmed we were alone, he raised his voice at me.

“You, you… why did you do that?! Why did you pull that kind of stunt?!”

“I just asked because I was curious…. And honestly, weren’t you a bit curious about her double buns hairstyle too?”

“Buns? What are you talking about…?”

Even though I was serious, Victor didn’t understand and looked at me with a displeased expression.

“Lady Jessica’s hairstyle might be a bit vintage, but it’s not that strange….”

“Vintage?”

I had lived as Ian Barthow in this world for 20 years, but it was the first time I truly realized this place wasn’t Earth.

If that’s a vintage hairstyle, then soft serve ice cream must be a traditional royal court dish.

“Anyway!! Never do something like that again! Think of Lady Barthow back home and never do it again!! Understand?!”

“I got it, but what did that woman mean when she asked me to guess her weapon?”

“That woman? The von Grund family has a long history of producing skilled warriors.”

The founder of the von Grund family was a mercenary who made a name for himself by defeating countless enemies with a hammer.

Like all families that make a living from swordsmanship, the von Grund family also passed down their martial arts… or in this case, it should be called blunt weaponry from their ancestor.

They’ve been training in blunt weaponry, and to this day, every member of the von Grund family or anyone trained under them uses hammers, continuing this tradition.

“…I see. So Jessica looks like someone who would use a rapier, but instead, she goes around bashing people with a hammer?”

“Don’t talk like she’s a murderer! I mean she was born into such a family!”

So, when she said I might see her in a duel, did she mean she would bash my head with a hammer?

“By the way, is the current head of the von Grund family strong?”

“Of course, they’re said to be unmatched in their region.”

“Hmm….”

“Why are you asking? Wouldn’t it be more normal to ask if Lady Jessica is strong?”

“Oh, that’s because she’s weak.”

Would it take about a minute if we fought?

She’s not weak enough to call a pushover, but she didn’t feel particularly strong either.

She could probably take down a bandit like that Brad I defeated recently, but nothing about her stood out.

While I had no interest in Jessica, I was somewhat curious about the head of the von Grund family, rumored to be the strongest in the area.

“Well, you never know until you fight, but she probably isn’t that strong.”

“What are you talking about….”

Just as Victor was about to start questioning me, we heard commotion coming from the hall where everyone was gathered, and we both looked toward it.

“What’s going on?”

“It seems it’s time to present the gifts to the lady. Let’s go.”

A time to present gifts together, like a birthday party for elementary school kids….

If I’d known, I would have brought some gift cards instead of desserts.

When we arrived at the hall, the guy who was bragging about his necklace earlier was kneeling and presenting it to Jessica.

Jessica looked delighted as she received the necklace, and the surrounding crowd erupted in admiration.

As with the greetings, the nobles of higher rank went first, so our turn was still a long way off.

“Ian, I’ll go outside and wait for the ordered desserts.”

“Okay, but once we give the gift, we can go back to the dorms, right?”

I hoped Victor would just nod, but he shook his head instead.

“After this… there’s a small party around six o’clock. The desserts we brought will be served then.”

“…I see.”

It was disappointing not to leave immediately, but I was a bit excited to taste the desserts worth ten katanas.

Victor went outside to wait for the ordered desserts while I leaned against the wall and watched the gift-giving process.

At first, there were frequent exclamations of admiration, but as the ranks lowered, Jessica’s reactions became more perfunctory.

Naturally, the number of exclamations from the hall decreased, and eventually, no one made a sound.

‘It’s almost our turn. Could it be that they haven’t arrived yet?’

Wondering if something had happened, I followed Victor outside and found him leaning against the wall with a frustrated expression.

“What’s wrong? They haven’t arrived yet?”

“No, they arrived, but…”

Victor pointed to a white box on a cart, standing at least a meter tall.

“I’ll ask, but is that…?”

“That’s the dessert we ordered… to be exact, it’s a cake.”

“A cake?”

More curious than anxious, I opened the cake box without hesitation.

Inside was a luxurious six-tier cake decorated with golden cream and orange-colored fruits, looking sweet and extravagant.

No matter how I looked at it, it wasn’t a gift suitable for such an occasion or for presenting to an individual.

“This is like a wedding cake… what exactly did you order from that shop?”

“I told them to spare no expense and make the best dessert they could… I never expected this…!!”

Those bastards, if they took so much money, they should’ve skimmed off a bit. Their professionalism is insane.

As lower-ranking nobles, we needed to avoid standing out compared to higher-ranking nobles.

“Is it okay to give this?”

“Of course not!! They’ll mock us for not knowing our place and bringing something so extravagant! And the lady will surely be angry for ruining the mood of the gathering….”

“Then it doesn’t really matter.”

Victor, who was almost in tears, looked up at me as if I was talking nonsense.

“Ian, what are you saying….”

“If things go wrong, I’ll take responsibility. Let’s just take it in. Besides, heh… as if she’ll complain to her father just because the mood of the gathering is ruined――.”

Would she really tattle to her dad?

[1. raei: this might be a reference to maplestory, can’t see how a ‘drill’ would be a weapon in this type of setting if this isn’t a joke. Don’t see other possible translations for ‘드릴’.]