Chapter 55: Arrived at friend’s house Part 2

“Excuse me, I’m late with the introductions. These are my daughter’s friends from the academy.”

The Duke then proceeded to introduce each of the nobles present to Ellie one by one.

“This is Duke Rush, and to his left are Viscountess Crush and her friend, Count Plume, and…”

Given their wealthy backgrounds, there were quite a few people.

Conversely, the Duke introduced Ellie to the guests like this:

“My daughter’s friend, this year’s academy freshman, and the top academic performer for the semester. Even my own daughter ranked below her.”

“Ooh…”

“At the academy…”

Most reacted with ordinary admiration.

Some regarded Ellie with curiosity, while a few narrowed their eyes and scrutinized her.

One elderly noble spoke up with such a gaze.

“Is that truly so? This… commoner child?”

The moment those words left his mouth, Ellie’s friends held their breaths.

And they realized: outside the academy, Ellie’s ‘exploits’ hadn’t yet spread—or even if they had, only a minority took them seriously.

Of course, now that the semester had ended and students had returned home, proper rumors would soon circulate.

But not yet.

“Ahaha.”

Ellie laughed at the elderly noble who doubted her.

“It’s fine. A lot of people think that way, Prince Millian.”

“Sigh, well, it’s only natural…”

As he spoke, the aged prince suddenly realized something: the host hadn’t yet introduced him.

A murmur spread among the nobles.

“No, how did she…?”

“Hm? For nobles, isn’t it obvious to identify a family just by looking at their hair and eye color?”

The way Ellie said it made it sound as natural as flowing water.

In reality, the nobles—even more so than commoners—knew just how difficult that was.

“B-but how did you know I haven’t yet ascended to the throne?”

He was already an old man with grandchildren, after all.

“Well, you see…”

Ellie grinned.

“That’s a secret. It’d be fun for you to figure it out yourself.”

“…Hoho.”

Prince Millian burst into hearty laughter, but another noble sitting beside him glared at Ellie.

“Even so, isn’t that a bit too arrogant?”

“My, my. It seems His Highness the Prince isn’t even trying to press the matter further. Overzealousness can backfire, Your Excellency Marquis Sengby.”

Once again, she effortlessly identified the person she was addressing, and the murmurs among the nobles grew louder.

Soon, another noble asked:

“Miss Ellie, have you perhaps memorized all the high-blooded color schemes in the empire?”

“Not all. Just the ones I know.”

“Haha! My, what an audacious young lady! Won’t you come here? I’d like to chat with you.”

“That won’t do.”

Isabel’s father smiled but firmly interjected.

“Today is a dinner to welcome my daughter’s friends for the first time. As the host of this house, the duty—and privilege—of first reception belongs to me.”

Duke Sucre called Ellie and her friends.

“Now, everyone, come along. To the seats beside me and my daughter.”

Ellie gave a wry smile for a moment but obediently headed that way.

***

As the girls approached, the woman seated beside the Duke stood to greet them.

“Welcome! I’m Isabel’s mother.”

Naturally, since the mother wasn’t born into the Sucre family, she didn’t share their golden hair and violet eyes.

She was like a woman sculpted solely from Isabel’s soft, bubbly traits—for better or worse.

In a bad light, one might say she had her head in the clouds; in a good light, she radiated warmth that put everyone at ease.

‘What an interesting couple.’

As she was enveloped in the cheerful hug of her friend’s mother, Ellie kept the thought to herself.

“…Anyone can see you’re Isabel’s mother.”

“What do you mean by that, Philia?”

Once again, the redhead delivered the blunt remark without hesitation.

Once everyone was seated, Isabel’s father raised his glass to announce the start of the feast.

“To everyone here, a blessing!”

Servants, who had been waiting, swiftly began bringing out dishes.

The large table was soon laden with all manner of food.

A whole roasted pig, tender cuts of beef marinated in fragrant sauce and grilled, dumplings stuffed with minced meat and vegetables, stir-fried vegetables heaped with spices, a rich and savory sauce made from reduced milk and cream, freshly baked breads, fruit juices, wine from the western valleys, beer from the barley-rich north…

“Now, there’s plenty to go around, so eat heartily.”

Isabel’s buoyant, beaming mother enthusiastically encouraged her daughter’s friends to dig in.

It didn’t feel like a host merely performing courtesy—it was clear she genuinely wanted to welcome Isabel’s friends.

“Okay.”

Ellie, touched by Isabel’s mother’s sincerity, smiled genuinely for the first time since entering the banquet hall.

“I’ll eat a lot.”

And Ellie kept that promise.

“No way… that much…”

“Did she recently cast some grand magic…?”

She ate an astonishing amount.

The other nobles, who had already eaten their fill, stared at her in stunned silence.

“What the…?”

“Even the royal family wouldn’t eat that much…?”

Not only the other nobles who had just learned of Ellie’s existence today, but even Isabel’s father was stunned.

‘Just how much mana does she have?’

Of course, the amount of food one eats isn’t strictly proportional to mana capacity.

But given her slender frame (except for certain areas), it seemed like she was burning it all off as mana.

“More, please!”

“Wow, she eats so well—it’s adorable! Can someone hurry the kitchen along?”

“You’re the best, Mother!”

Once the satisfying dinner ended, I used my status as a child to slip away with my friends.

There was no point staying longer.

I’d either have to deal with nobles who wanted to take me under their wing or those who wanted to belittle me.

Or I could follow Isabel’s mother around, but that would get boring after a while.

Yawn…

With my stomach full, sleepiness crept in.

***

As we headed toward my guest room, Isabel followed along.

Naturally, everyone ended up lounging around in my room.

Yawn…

Haaam…

It seemed everyone was feeling the same—tired from the day and drowsy after eating.

The only difference was whether they were sprawled on the bed or the sofa.

All of them had hazy, half-lidded eyes.

“Time to sleep…”

“Yeah…”

Despite saying that, no one made a move to go to their own rooms.

Sigh.

I guess this is how the first night goes.

“Alright, everyone, go wash up in your own rooms. At least brush your teeth.”

I shooed my sleepy friends out, then did the same.

I brushed my teeth and unpacked my things.

Not that there was much to unpack.

After changing into pajamas and placing my textbooks on the desk, my friends started trickling back in.

Yawn…

Haaam…

They still seemed sleepy, but washing up had chased away some of the drowsiness.

Just like we did at the academy or in the carriage on the way here, the five of us chatted about this and that.

Nothing particularly important.

Just things like which dish at dinner was the tastiest.

First impressions of the nobles present.

Plans for tomorrow.

Or what we’d do during the break at Drekgen.

To us, this time was more precious than anything else.

“If you have time, it wouldn’t hurt to preview some of next semester’s material.”

The moment I dropped that studious remark, my friends—who had just finished finals barely ten days ago—stared at me like I’d grown horns.

‘Guess I should avoid mentioning studying for at least a month.’

“By the way, my dad seems to have told everyone in the household about Ellie, but it looks like he didn’t say a word to the other guests.”

At Isabel’s words, Stella tried to make sense of it.

“Probably because they’re not part of the household, so he couldn’t just gather them all to explain?”

“No, he did it on purpose.”

When I corrected her, the others also turned surprised looks my way.

“On purpose?”

“Yeah. He deliberately only briefed the household thoroughly. On the flip side, he made sure not to mention me at all to the other guests.”

“Why? Why would he do that?”

Isabel, though my friend, was also part of the hosting family—and she looked baffled.

“To create contrast.”

The people of House Sucre, who were courteous and careful not to slight me.

Versus the guests from other families who, out of ignorance, might behave rudely.

“What does that mean…?”

Isabel tilted her head in confusion.

“For example, how would you feel if a stranger gave you candy?”

“I’d be happy?”

“Right, you’d feel goodwill. But what if someone insulted you first, putting you in a bad mood, and then you got candy? You’d feel even happier, right? More inclined to like them.”

“Gasp…!”

Isabel’s eyes widened in realization, then narrowed into angry slits.

“I’m gonna go yell at Dad!”

“No, don’t.”

Laughing, I pulled Isabel back onto the bed.

The blonde girl flailed, shouting, “I hate Dad! I hate hiiim!!”

“It’s your father’s job to do that. It’s not like he actually harmed me.”

‘If you have a valuable resource, you should try to monopolize it.’

‘If you find talent, you should work to bring them to your side before others can.’

That’s the duty of a leader.

“Hmph… Still…”

Isabel pouted, still not fully convinced, so I patted her head reassuringly while lost in thought.

‘That aside…’

At the banquet, there were a few who gave me unfriendly looks—which was fine, within expected limits.

But two people stood out.

The old prince who’d disliked me before the banquet even started.

And the marquis who seemed like his subordinate.

Their eyes held something… scheming.

It was unsettling enough that I felt the need to figure out what they were plotting.