My father looked at me and Aria with an expressionless face.
However, I noticed that my father’s gaze, even though it was only for a moment, was slightly shaken as he looked at Aria. It seemed that even a stout man like my father couldn’t easily maintain his composure
while facing the current Aria.
“I will enter the banquet hall with His Majesty. So Aria, take good care of Cain at the banquet hall. And Cain.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Don’t mess anything up today, please.”
“…..”
****
The National Foundation Day Banquet was an event held to celebrate the founding of an Empire with the blessings of dragons a thousand years ago.
The banquet took place over three full days.
The first day was for the glory of the Empire that has lasted for the last thousand years. The second day was for the eternal glory of the Emperor who was leading the current Empire in the right direction, and the third day was for the hope that the glory of the Empire would continue for another thousand years.
Originally, the banquet itself was not as festive as commoners would imagine. The purpose of holding banquets by nobles was to give themselves a reason to gather legally, and when nobles gathered in one place, insidious and greedy things tended to take place more often than not.
However, the atmosphere the banquet was quite different today.
It was because there was a more exciting ‘story’ spreading among the nobility. More interesting than merely concerning wealth and power. The story, of course, was about romance and drama, the only other thing the nobles found exciting.
And, to my great regret, I couldn’t say that the story was to my liking. Because one of the main characters of that damn story was me!
I didn’t know exactly how the words spread so far, but the news that Sarah and I were breaking up our engagement was sweeping the entire aristocratic society like a storm.
It was the first time since I was born that I had monopolized other people’s attention like this, so I was experiencing a constant stream of unpleasant feelings.
“Oh, is that young man the one from the rumor?”
“Hmm, isn’t Sarah Cernard one of the top five beauties on the continent? Rumor has it, however, that the young man rejected Sarah Cernard first.”
“This is just a rumor, but I heard that young man decided to break off his engagement with Sarah Cernard in order to marry the woman he truly loved. And it is said that the woman is better looking than even Sarah Cernard!”
“This is really nonsense. Isn’t Sarah Cernard the only daughter of Count Cernard? There are probably less than ten women in the Empire who are of a higher rank than her!”
“By the way, the woman the Heir to Estelle has next to him is also truly beautiful. Judging by her dress, she seems to be a girl from a noble family. Has there ever been a young lady with white hair in the Empire?”
From the moment Aria and I entered the banquet hall to the present, there was never a moment when other people’s gazes left me. The freely talking voices while looking at me were so loud that even though I didn’t want to hear them, they kept buzzing in my ears.
Aria also didn’t think about leaving me, and tightly held my hand, as if the atmosphere was frightening.
And, while watching such a scene, the noble began to talk even more.
To be honest, I had a budding desire to run out of this banquet hall, but I didn’t even want to imagine what would happen if I left the banquet hosted by the Princess even before it started, so I had to forcefully suppress that desire. There was no other option but to endure it.
And that’s when something even more dramatic happened.
“…..”
“…..”
Suddenly, a strange silence fell over the entire banquet hall.
The nobles, who were busy talking nonsense about me at a considerable distance, suddenly stopped their tongues and looked our way. Their eyes were full of interest and anticipation for what was about to happen next.
Sensing something wrong, I slowly turned my head, while ignoring the feeling of a truly indescribable ominous feeling.
And before long, my pupils clearly reflected the image of a woman staring at me with a stiff face.
“Gulp…”
I didn’t who was the one that gulped, but the place had become so silent that even a small sound as that was heard throughout the banquet hall. And all the spectators watched on with anticipation as the sappy drama was about to take place right in front of their eyes.
“…Cain.”
A voice I knew all too well reached my ears.
However, that voice was ten times colder than the one I was familiar with. It was cold enough to be comparable to the northern wind and snow.
‘Why the hell is she here?’
It was as if I was cursed with misfortune. Terrible things kept happening to me one after another.
“…Sarah.”
In the end, I didn’t have a choice. I sighed and looked straight at my ex-fiancé, Sarah Cernard.
“…?”
Aria, who didn’t seem to understand the situation, kept looking at Sarah and me alternately with a puzzled expression on her face.
And so, it was the beginning of the muddy three-way confrontation that everyone here had been waiting for so long.
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