Chapter 82: Banquet

“Hmm.”

In front of the wardrobe.

Isaac was lost in thought.

For today’s banquet, he didn’t really have anything suitable to wear.

He attended such events a few times as Helmont’s son-in-law in the past, so he had a few presentable and expensive formal uniforms, but…

I should have brought at least one set with me. My pride really isn’t doing me any favor.

He left everything behind when he left Helmont. Since it wasn’t a pleasant departure, he felt that it wouldn’t be appropriate to take things he got from there.

Well, I have one that I wore at the title conferment ceremony…

He did have a suit, but he figured that one was too extravagant for the occasion.

The conferment ceremony was an event where he had to act as the main character, so being all flashy and extravagant was pretty much a courtesy.

But this time, he wasn’t the main character, nor did he have any particularly grand position to warrant wearing such an outfit.

Haa… This is troublesome…

He had heard about how nobles without money would have to bow to wealthy commoners before.

But never did he expect that he’d be in that exact position right now.

As he was pondering about this, he could hear a knock coming from outside the dressing room.

“My lord, the princess has sent you your clothes.”

“Clothes?”

When Isaac opened the door, Karen politely elaborated with a smile.

“Yes. She mentioned that these are the clothes you should wear for today’s banquet, my lord.”

“But, why would she…?”

“Well, my lord.”

Karen continued with a bright smile.

“It’s because you’re the princess’ partner!”

“…Me?”

“Yes, you, my lord.”

For a mere baron to be the princess’ partner at a banquet…

She really is making full use of the situation.

Well, it isn’t a bad thing.

At the very least, this saved him the trouble of choosing clothes. Since the clothes were sent by the princess, he had essentially gotten an expensive formal uniform for free.

“Hehe, I’d get to grease my belly for the first time in a while too!”

Karen let out a bright smile.

He heard that she’d be accompanying him as a maid to help out with the banquet.

Karen was originally a palace maid who worked for the royal family, so she occasionally went over to help out.

“Alright, you don’t need to come to work tomorrow.”

“S-Sorry?”

Receiving the formal uniform from her, Isaac tried it on in front of the mirror.

Karen asked, surprised, but Isaac quickly added while he was still looking at himself in the mirror.

“What I meant is, go and drink with the royal maids. You’re close with them, right? Have some fun once in a while, it’s okay.”

“My lord—!”

Hearing that, Karen looked at him with a moved expression. Clasping her hands tightly she praised him as if praying.

“If only there were more people like you, my lord! I was actually a bit worried when I was assigned to you… But now, I’m so grateful I can’t even begin!”

“Worried? Why?”

As he glanced at her, Karen confessed shyly.

“Actually, I already have a fiancé. When he heard that I’d be working under a handsome baron, he was really, really upset, so…”

“…I see. Well, you can tell your fiancé that I’m not that kind of person.”

“Yes! This Karen will serve you with her humble body, even when death is knocking on my front door, my lord!”

“No need to go that far. Enough, you can go now.”

He needed to fit the clothes, after all.

“Understood!”

“Oh, one more thing.”

As Karen was leaving, Isaac offered some sincere advice.

“Think carefully before marriage. Love alone won’t be enough to make you happy.”

“…Is that really an appropriate thing to say to a bride-to-be?”

“Well, it’s just simple advice from someone who was married once before.”

Adeline Seraphia Regardia.

The first princess, the first in line to the throne. Worthy of the gravitas of her name, the banquet she threw was both splendid and bountiful.

Said banquet was held in the palace’s banquet hall, which was opened for this exact purpose.

The way Clarisse spoke of it made it sound like an insignificant home party, but in reality, it was far from that.

“Seriously, how does this even…”

Since he was acting as Clarisse’s partner, he was pretty much part of the host’s side, which meant he couldn’t join the already ongoing banquet just yet.

Typically, the hosts would only make their appearance when the mood had ripened.

So, he had been tidying up his clothes in the back of the banquet hall instead.

“Oh, wow.”

Clarisse, who entered the room at that moment, immediately exclaimed in admiration.

“I was the one who sent it, but it really suits you well, hm? It was worth using expensive black dye to tailor it.”

Clarisse, who had also worn a black dress to match Isaac’s black formal uniform…

Approached him with a sly smile before adjusting his attire.

“Your necktie is crooked. Seriously, you aren’t good at tying it, are you?”

“Uh, you know…”

It was a familiar gesture to Isaac.

There was one thing that was different though, the lack of the thick scent of roses.

[…Necktie.]

Back when he used to occasionally attend banquets as Helmont’s son-in-law, Rianna would tie his necktie just like this.

She did it with an expressionless face as usual, but that alone was enough to make him happy.

“There, all done. How is it?”

“It’s all good.”

“Not that, I mean how do I look?”

“…”

Clarisse stepped back with a playful smile.

The elegant black dress and well-groomed hairstyle made it hard to believe she was the same person he had seen in the marketplace before.

Indeed, the saying that a woman shone the brightest through adornment was true.

“You look like a proper princess.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment? Are you implying I didn’t look like a princess until now?”

“…”

He chose not to answer that.

To that, Clarisse pouted and grumbled, but didn’t press further.

“More importantly, is it alright for you to have me as your partner?”

Everything else aside, at the end of the day, he was still a divorced man.

For the princess to partner herself with someone like him, there was no way it’d leave a good impression on people.

It wouldn’t be strange if rumors that she was at odds with Helmont would fly around.

“Just treat it as we’re using each other.”

She explained with an apologetic smile.

“They’ll know me as a wild and reckless princess who’s fallen for a pretty face. Thankfully, you got the look, so it’ll cement the image further.”

“All for the sake of the royal authority, huh?”

“Yes. I need everyone to look at my sister favorably.”

“I see.”

He nodded, showing his understanding of her intentions.

“In my case, since I’ve left Helmont, some nobles might view me unfavorably, but this shows them that I have you as my backing, right?”

“Exactly! Isaac, have you ever thought about becoming my guard? You’re much, much easier to talk to than Heyrad!”

He pretended not to hear that.

In any case, he understood the princess’ intention.

Due to Helmont’s extremely high status, there were plenty of noble families that were closely connected to them.

Among them, some viewed him unfavorably for tarnishing Helmont’s reputation.

However, if they could see that Clarisse was backing him, he wouldn’t need to worry about their opinions ever again.

“Do you have some experience with banquets?”

“I attended a few with Rianna.”

“That means you almost have none.”

She wasn’t wrong.

Back then, he had been no different from a puppy following Rianna around.

He never engaged in conversations with the nobles or tried to discern their intentions behind their masks of courtesy.

“Banquets are essentially a place to show off. ‘This is who I am. This is how outstanding I am.’ Everyone tries to show such things through their clothes, manner of speech, etiquette, and so on.”

“Are you teaching me how to be a noble now?”

“I can’t always be your partner, can I? Who knows when I’ll get married off.”

“…Think carefully before you get married.”

“Coming from you, that’s quite a scary piece of advice…”

Clarisse chuckled softly.

“Do you know what’s the most precious and envied among the things people show off?”

Clarisse subtly extended her hand.

Matching her gesture, Isaac gently took her hand.

“What is it?”

“Their partner. Would you please give me the honor of being the partner of the most handsome man in this banquet?”

“…”

“In turn, I’ll give you the honor of having the most noble lady in this banquet as your partner.”

Their eyes met, and the corners of their mouths lifted slightly.

The atmosphere between them seemed less like that of a man and woman, and more like mischievous children roaming the alleys of a countryside village together.

And so, the two set off. Their goal, to receive the envy and jealousy of the nobles in the banquet hall.

How boring.

Inside the banquet hall.

The Grandmaster, sitting in a corner, eating her food, let out a sigh.

She came together with Clarisse, but she had only been eating food ever since she got here.

There wasn’t particularly anything she wanted to do, or could do even.

She only wanted to quickly take off the awkward hat she was wearing to hide her ears.

Just, where on earth are my schoolmates…?

She knew Princess Clarisse was doing her best to inquire about them.

But, with no news of them even after two months passed, she could only wait pitifully like this.

“Huu.”

She closed her eyes.

Naturally, she ruminated on her old memories.

Something she had done several times already.

Following the same order, the familiar flow…

Those days when they lived together, swung their swords together, and ran towards their goals together.

“Huu.”

As her memories reached their ends, she slowly opened her eyes.

She had no desire to dwell on the tragedy.

How weak.

The Grandmaster smiled mockingly at herself.

As she was about to eat more food and think of something else, she heard a familiar name being thrown around.

“Baron Logan gave you permission to drink?”

“You have a day off tomorrow, Karen? Ugh, I’m so jealous…!”

“Hehe, it feels like yesterday when you were crying about leaving the palace. You really made the right choice in leaving.”

Hmm?

It was Karen, the woman who worked at Isaac’s mansion.

She heard that Karen was originally a palace maid, and it seemed she was taking time to chat with her old colleagues after not meeting them for a long time.

“Ah, I’m so jealous… Baron Logan is just so cool…! Even his eyes are cool…!”

“I’d be happy if the baron used me as my foot mat! Can you get me a job there too?”

“We cried when you left, Karen, we thought you’re pitiful when you left. Pitiful my foot! You’re living your best life there!”

Ho, quite popular, isn’t he?

Interesting.

I did hear that maids staying up all night, gossiping about men is part of their job description.

Anyway, isn’t their evaluation of Isaac a little too high?

Is him being a divorcee not a flaw?

That shouldn’t be the case, right?

“But Baron Logan is divorced, isn’t he? Doesn’t that mean there’s a problem with him?”

Hearing one of the maid’s words, Karen immediately retorted.

“Hey, the baron isn’t that kind of person at all! If anything, I always wonder why they even let him go in the first place!”

“Who cares about that! If it were me, I wouldn’t care at all. I’ll cling to him no matter what!”

“You crazy woman!”

The maids laughed raucously.

As they were the type to indulge in romance novels, they seemed to have their own fantasies.

“Just think about it! Embracing the wounded baron, telling him, ‘It’s okay. I’m here for you’.”

“Kyaa! That’s a good one, Montblin! You should try writing!”

“The baron would say something like, ‘Montblin, I… I can no longer trust women,’ then I’d say, ‘I’ll be by your side whenever you need me,’ and then I’d embrace him to my chest—!”

…That woman has quite a vivid imagination.

The maid called Montblin was twisting her body as she indulged in her fantasy.

Then another maid voiced a different kind of fantasy.

“Ah for me, I like something like this. What if the baron actually loves it rough at night?”

“Oh.”

“Rough? That sounds good too!”

“He calls you to his bedroom at night, tells you to take off your clothes, and then, he forcefully—”

“Then, you’ll go, ‘Oh, my lord, please don’t do this!’ but inside you’ll think, ‘Hurry up and undress me! Quickly…!’.”

The maids chattered while laughing loudly.

Ugh, I can’t listen to this anymore.

The Grandmaster was about to move away to avoid hearing more of such things, when Karen’s sharp voice stopped her in her tracks.

“That’s not true, the baron would never do that. He’s extremely kind, gentle, and considerate. Every time I prepare his meals, he always thanks me, it feels so rewarding!”

“Well, I could see that.”

“I was really surprised when I heard that Helmont’s eldest daughter was marrying a commoner.”

“So it’s because he’s that kind of person!”

The maids calmed down after that.

As if they had acknowledged that they got too carried away, and it was time for them to return to their duties.

Suddenly, the banquet hall fell silent.

Then, a couple entered.

Baron Logan and Princess Clarisse.

With the former escorting the latter, the two matched in black dress code.

Their beauty literally dominated the banquet hall.

“Hmm… I can see where they came from, to some degree…”

Understanding the palace maids’ fuss, the Grandmaster raised the corners of her mouth slightly.

Clarisse