episode_0068

I slowly moved to the banquet hall with Ceresria. As I carefully held her hand and walked away, the strangely awkward atmosphere was stronger than usual, and as I was not saying anything, I heard Ceresria’s laughter.

“It occurred to me that silver hair suits me better than I thought.”

“I didn’t change my hair color because I wanted to. When I came to my senses, it turned out like this.”

“I think it is the fate of ice wizards, just like Erica-senpai.”

“Not all ice wizards are like this. Among the ice wizards at the Academy, there are probably less than five people with silver hair.”

“It’s part of talent, isn’t it something that some people can’t have even if they want it?”

“If you say that, I have nothing to say… … ”

As we spoke and arrived at the first floor of the palace and walked to the banquet hall, the maids and servants around us were bowing their heads to us. This is what royalty has always been like. So, I was curious about how she would react if she came to my hometown, and even if she really came hiding her identity, whether that would be possible.

It’s probably impossible. No matter how hard you try to hide it, human dignity is not easily hidden. No matter how much you receive the title of noble and act like one, humans do not change easily.

“When I think about it, I never thought I would become this close to Astan.”

“Well, wouldn’t that be the same for me too. It wasn’t that neat from the first meeting.”

“I met the cat at the back of the bar, so it might be funny if it were funny.”

“But that cat was senior Isabel’s familiar, and I think that senior Isabel may have created this situation.”

“Well, it’s Isabelle. The title of reincarnation of Denatus is not so easily given to a human.”

I used to think that way. I wonder if Isabel-senpai put us together on purpose, because I can see fate in Isabel-senpai’s eyes, even if I can’t see my destiny… … You may have seen Ceresria’s fate.

I was curious, what kind of fate was Celestria’s fate as seen by senior Isabel? And will I be in that destiny, and what will I look like?

When we arrived in front of the banquet hall, the guard saluted Ceresria.

“Are you here, Princess Ceresria?”

“Is your father still here?”

“You have been notified that you are coming, but you have not arrived yet.”

“Okay, open the door.”

“Yes, Her Royal Highness.”

The guard opened the door and began to introduce Lord Shurn in the same voice he used when he first entered the banquet hall. Araelia’s youngest princess, and there was no long introduction. As if that was enough, as if it were the power of her status as the youngest princess, after the introduction was over, Ceresria smiled at me.

“Shall we come in?”

Celestria led me by the hand she was holding and entered the banquet hall.

“May the light of Araelia reach you. Greetings to Her Highness, Princess Shurn de Beroth, leader of the Order of the Blue Rose.”

“I already saw you at lunch, but greeting you again is more exciting than I expected. You did well with Astan, Lord Shurn.”

“This is an order given by Her Majesty the Princess, so how dare I make a mistake.”

“That’s right, have you eaten? My father said that for today’s banquet, they invited skilled chefs to cook the food.”

“No proper food will be served until your Majesty comes, Ceresria. Right now, all I can do is simple snacks.”

“It’s a shame, I wouldn’t have had a proper meal at Ignolia.”

Celestria and Shurn started talking with each other smiling, and I looked at Celestria’s hand. I didn’t know if I could keep holding on or if I should slowly let go and move. I must have been an escort before in my life, and I have never held a woman’s hand for this long in my life.

“And I saw Astan’s magic once, and it didn’t look like I would lose easily even if I competed with Her Highness.”

“You didn’t fight the Knights of the Blue Rose, did you, Astan?”

“He said he wanted to see magic for a while, so I just demonstrated it.”

“You ignored me every time I said you wanted to see me, but somehow listened to the knights?”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to compete with me, Ceresria? You never said you wanted to see magic.”

“That’s what I mean, because competing among wizards also means wanting to see the other person’s skills.”

“That’s why I should say it.”

In response to my answer, Celestria covered her mouth with her left hand, smiled slightly, and looked at me with those eyes. The moment I met those unique red eyes, I naturally swallowed my saliva. The eyes were truly beautiful yet fearful.

“But Astan is not the person to say that to me. If I ask you to compete again, won’t you say no?”

“You said asking for obvious things is something only a fool does.”

“Maybe I’m a fool.”

Shurn laughed out loud at our conversation and opened his mouth, handing us glasses filled with drinks.

“Would you like to make a toast to the blessings of Fea on your friendship, Your Highness?”

“Of course, there are no problems with Astan, right?”

“It’s not even alcohol.”

I held the glass with my right hand and carefully removed my left hand, which was holding Ceresria’s hand.

“Then, for Araelia.”

Celestria held the glass in her right hand and spoke to us, raising the glass slightly. Seeing that, I also raised my glass and opened my mouth.

“For Araelia.”

And Sir Shurn moved first, saying that he had somewhere to go for a while, and then numerous nobles came towards us and began to greet us.

I never thought there would be so many families in Araelia, and I never thought they would all gather here. Of course, there are some nobles who did not attend the banquet… … Just the nobles here were making their heads explode.

After the greetings were over, Ceresria took me to a seat in the banquet hall, and I carefully sat down next to her and let out a long sigh.

“I started to wonder why this banquet was held.”

“They just greet each other, ask if they are alive and well, are there any problems, etc. If they are nobles with married children, they may even chat about marriage in places like this… … Sometimes I ask nobles in power.”

“These are not words that would come out of a princess’s mouth.”

“Just because she’s a princess, there’s no reason to say anything classy and elegant, right? Come to think of it, I heard that someone was talking about confronting Astan at the banquet hall. Is that true?”

“How did you hear about that? It must have been something that just happened at the banquet.”

“I always say this, but when you are in this position, you hear a lot of things. I even heard that it was rejected. If it wasn’t for Lord Shurn, you would have almost gotten engaged?”

“I will thank Lord Shurn separately later.”

At my answer, Ceresria smiled slightly and ate the small bread with thin ham on the table, then moved slightly towards me and whispered softly in my ear.

“It’s very popular, Astan.”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, even now, I think most of the gazes I feel everywhere are young women? I would like to introduce everyone to you, but… … Due to Astan’s personality, he will ignore everything, so that’s annoying. Maybe if I wasn’t here, he would have come over and tried to talk to me.”

“I don’t know why there is so much interest in commoners.”

“That’s the law because they are commoners. It’s not easy for nobles to aim for that rank. Once you’re born into an earldom, you’ll always be in the earldom unless you make a really big contribution. However, it is different for commoners. If you graduate from the academy, you can become at least a baron, and if you have good skills and become a magician in the royal palace or a noble family, you can become at least a viscount.”

Then she moved the bread she was holding in her right hand towards my mouth and smiled.

“If you get a good grade in Rune’s martial arts system, it may be higher, because skilled wizards are rare, and even if you graduate from the academy, you are still young, and there are cases where you become a knight, but that is really not the case. Only exceptional people can do this. This is the way magic is a talent. Everyone dreams of it, everyone wants it, but Fairy doesn’t listen to it.”

And when the bread touched my mouth, she smiled, and I carefully moved my right hand to take the bread out of her hand and put it in her mouth.

“So, there are not many wizards like Astan in this world. Looking around the academy, is there a wizard of that level among Araelia? No matter how much I search, I can’t find it. There aren’t many of the previous wizards who appeared in Rune’s Fighting Championship, and the knights of Araelia are strong, so the wizards don’t want to come back… … Well, that’s your choice.”

Saying that, Celestria placed her hand on my shoulder.

“So, I hope Astan doesn’t do that. As for marriage talks, you might have to quit the academy if you get married, right?”

When I slightly turned my head to look at Ceresria, she was smiling at me. I couldn’t tell what she meant because her red eyes were covered, but I could feel the fear rising inside her, so I guess… …

It probably felt like a compulsion, not a choice.

And then, the door opened and the King of Araelia entered the banquet hall. As soon as they saw the king arrive through a different entrance than the one we came in from, all the nobles stood up and raised their glasses, and Ceresria whispered softly to me.

“Well, shall we talk about this later?”