Chapter 57: Stars' Ball (3)

'No matter how many times I think about it, an aphrodisiac doesn't seem right.'

If it were a secret gift, maybe.

But giving an aphrodisiac in the middle of the Founding Festival was no different from openly telling them to go screw themselves.

— ‘I hear you're having trouble getting it up these days?’

It could be taken as that kind of message.

From that point on, it would be an immediate duel with the Imperial Family.

No matter how much Misunderstanding Genre Correction I had, I didn't think I could fix that, so I rejected the idea.

So I chose the most conventional option: a gun.

Turns out the hobby of the highest-ranking person participating in this Founding Festival is hunting demonic beasts.

'Well, at least it's expensive.'

Firearms, especially a gun and ammunition effective against demonic beasts, boasted a price that was a bit of a burden even for nobles.

It was a gift that the young ladies and young masters, who were still receiving allowances, couldn't even imagine.

It was a strategy of paying with cash that only I, who was rolling in money, could pull off.

You can't buy a person's heart with money, but it's possible to express your sincerity with it.

And so, the day of the Founding Festival arrived.

Clatter.

A carriage stopped at the Nihilrit Mansion.

The coachman's seat of the carriage was empty.

Perhaps because this is a fantasy world where magic exists.

The self-driving vehicle had been implemented much earlier than in my previous life.

It goes without saying, but that coachman-less carriage is far more expensive than our family's automobile.

On the side of the carriage was the crest of the Marquis Hausen Family.

Click.

The carriage door opened, and a person appeared from within.

“It's been a while, Young Master Nihilrit.”

Charlotte Hausen, greeting me from inside the carriage.

Today's Charlotte wasn't wearing her usual detective's outfit.

She wore a white dress with a cape embroidered with gold thread, and a small pearl pin was placed in her short, blonde hair.

I spoke to my fiancée, who seemed strangely uncomfortable.

“It has been a while, Miss Charlotte. Is this the first time we've met since the Count Kirchner Family Incident three months ago?”

“If you don't count letters as conversations, then I suppose so.”

Even after our engagement, we met from time to time.

If there was an interesting incident, we would arrange to meet there.

Usually, Charlotte would make deductions, and I would subtly provide the necessary knowledge from the side.

“By the way, I solved the problem from your last letter. The score is now 95 to 4.”

“Were you keeping count of all of them?”

“No reason not to.”

I gave her a silver coin with a bitter smile.

No matter how I think about it, was giving her a silver coin at our first meeting the problem?

I'm being extorted for a silver coin by my fiancée every time we meet.

Of course, she buys me gifts of equivalent value later, so I don't really have any complaints.

“Ah, thank you for explaining the difference between a stab wound and an incised wound last time. Your insights on the abrasion collar, in particular, were admirable no matter how many times I read them.”

“It's not very difficult knowledge. It's just the basics.”

When I sent letters, I also taught her forensic medicine on the side.

I'm not a forensic scientist, but I was a trauma surgeon.

So my forensic knowledge related to trauma is relatively deep.

By occasionally dropping bits of forensic knowledge that were at a medical student's level,

it was no trouble at all to make Charlotte mistake me for a trustworthy rival.

“By the way, Miss Charlotte. Didn't we agree to call each other by our first names in the letters?”

“Mmm. It's still a bit awkward now that we're face to face.”

“I'll wait until you get used to it.”

“...Ahem. I'll try to get used to it as quickly as possible.”

She let out a dry cough, pulling back her elbow that was resting on the windowsill.

The tips of Charlotte's ears turned faintly red.

I realized this after meeting her for a year, but Charlotte is surprisingly vulnerable to sweet atmospheres.

“Please, come in.”

“Thank you, Miss Charlotte.”

I opened the carriage door and climbed aboard.

Before I took my seat, I smelled a faint peppermint scent from inside.

It was the scent of her father, Inspector Hausen.

That man, he lives with peppermint candy in his mouth.

I once saw Charlotte and the Inspector bickering over that candy at the engagement ceremony.

— “Stop eating candy in a place like this. I heard you're even taking Insulin these days.”

— “What kind of attitude is that towards your father, Charlotte?”

— “Don't give me that father crap.”

The lack of formality between the father and daughter was quite nice to see.

Even more so because it was a rare sight in this era.

“Is the seat to your liking?”

“It's very nice. Ah, could you wait a moment? My party hasn't come out yet.”

“I was informed. I will wait.”

A few minutes after I sat across from Charlotte and waited,

the mansion door finally opened, and two people came rushing out.

One of them was Erika.

She had her dark red hair in a high ponytail and was wearing a backless black one-piece dress.

She had detested it, but it was a dress she ended up wearing, unable to refuse the insistence of the Head Maid and my Mother.

The other person was Freya.

Her neatly braided silver hair was tied with a sky-blue ribbon, and she wore a silvery-white dress with a sky-blue shawl.

Seeing the two of them side by side gave me the impression of a demon and an angel.

“Unnie! How could you forget that?”

“Was I supposed to wear underwear with this dress?”

“How can you say that outside!”

Hmm. It's probably better not to ask why they were late.

The two of them climbed into the carriage.

“Thank you for the ride, Young Lady Hausen.”

“Hello.”

Freya greeted politely, and next to her, Erika gave a half-hearted nod.

Charlotte didn't seem to pay any special mind to Erika's greeting.

If anything, Charlotte's interest was directed toward Freya.

“You don't have to be so formal, Young Lady Nihilrit. Try calling me Unnie.”

“It would be rude to call someone who isn't married yet that, I think.”

A warm conversation passed between the two, who were smiling gently.

After exchanging simple greetings, the two boarded the carriage.

Freya sat next to Charlotte, and Erika took the seat next to me.

Erika leaned against the windowsill, staring out the window with a dazed look.

“...I should have eaten lunch.”

She wasn't sick or sleepy.

Her blood sugar was low because she had skipped lunch to eat a lot in the evening.

Rattle, rattle.

The pleasant sound of the wheels rolling over the paving stones began to echo rhythmically.

On the way to the Imperial Castle, the inside of the carriage was filled with an awkward silence for a while.

Then, around the time the carriage was passing through the central street, Charlotte broke the silence.

“By the way, Miss Freya, aren't you sixteen this year? I think it's a bit early for you to attend the Founding Festival.”

Freya's eyes narrowed at Charlotte's words.

“Thank you for your concern. But I am here partly because Inspector Hausen requested it.”

“That man... my father made a request?”

“Yes.”

Before answering, Freya straightened her posture.

“Before that, let me ask everyone here one thing. Do you happen to know of a scion attending this year's Founding Festival called the Silver Hornet?”

Freya said, looking around at the faces in the carriage.

Charlotte tilted her head slightly.

“My head is already busy being filled with other knowledge. Why should I memorize the name of such a person when it has no bearing on my work?”

Freya's gaze moved to me.

“What about you, Older Brother?”

“I'm sorry. I don't have much interest in that sort of thing either. I don't have enough time just seeing patients and conducting research.”

It's already overwhelming enough to fill my head with medical knowledge, essential liberal arts, and cooking-related knowledge.

My passion doesn't extend to paying attention to recent high society news.

Freya's gaze finally turned to Erika.

Erika answered, still leaning on the windowsill.

“Do I have to know that?”

“Haaa...”

Freya sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead.

“This is why I'm coming along. None of you three know anything about high society. That's why both families decided to send me.”

“Both families? You mean my father agreed to this?”

“Yes. Inspector Hausen was also worried about you, Miss Charlotte, so he asked me.”

At those words, the three of us couldn't help but shut our mouths.

I could see what part both families were worried about regarding us three.

Worse, it was such an accurate assessment that we couldn't even refute it.

Tsk. “That man does such useless things.”

Though Charlotte, who doesn't feel the need for socializing at all, seems to think differently from me.

“For that reason, I've come along with you all. There's no rule that says I can't participate in the Founding Festival at my age.”

That's true.

The reason people usually attend the Founding Festival around the age of 17 is because that's when they start looking for a fiancé.

But there's no major issue with debuting at an earlier age.

“Then, before we arrive, I'll tell you about the people you absolutely must know. First, as for which members of the Imperial Family are attending...”

In the end, we headed to the Imperial Castle while receiving a crash course on high society from Teacher Freya.

***

In this world where demonic beasts are the masters of most of the land, even travel is not free.

The powerless commoner cannot guarantee their life during travel.

Even nobles who could protect their own lives were no exception.

Not knowing what might happen in their absence, they couldn't rashly set foot in other cities.

Thus, the interactions between nobles were usually limited to letters or magic tool communication.

But the Founding Festival was an exception to that rule.

Once a year, nobles from throughout the empire risk the danger to head to the Empire's capital.

Once a year.

Because the Founding Festival was their only opportunity to announce that their family had not yet fallen into decline.

And so, nobles gathered from throughout the empire.

The carriages carrying the scions of those noble families formed a long line, tail to tail, up to the front door of the Imperial Castle.

Eagles, snakes, roses.

Carriages bearing their respective symbols on their doors let people down with their own level of decorum.

Young ladies adorned in silk stepped down, holding the hands of their attendants, while young masters dressed in formal wear akin to military uniforms ascended the stairs.

Each time someone alighted from a carriage, those who had arrived earlier would murmur amongst themselves on the terrace.

— “Looks like the scion of Viscount de Vroe has arrived.”

— “The Stenbeck Family from the West is already here? I heard the atmosphere among their faction is tense because of the Belheim Incident...”

— “Isn't that the Singh Family? Is it already time for their young lady to debut?”

Sometimes showing off their connections, other times showing their disdain.

The noble scions on the terrace began to quickly take note of the families participating in today's Founding Festival.

And in the middle of that procession.

A single carriage with an empty coachman's seat came to a stop.

The appearance of a coachman-less carriage, a privilege granted only to high-ranking nobles of count level or above, drew the focus of the noble scions' attention.

— “The Marquis Hausen Family?”

— “They're new nobility.”

— “I haven't heard very good rumors about their young lady...”

Amidst all that attention, the carriage door opened.

The first to step out was a young man with black hair.

The indifferent gaze of the young man, who had swept back his crow-like black hair, scanned the terrace.

“Is that... the Black Swan of Nihilrit.”

“I certainly don't understand how someone with a face like that hasn't come to a banquet until now.”

“The fact that he got out of the Marquis Hausen Family's carriage... does that mean the engagement was true?”

Yulian, unconcerned by the gazes appraising him, turned and extended a hand toward the carriage.

Taking that hand and stepping down was a blonde-haired girl.

A single pearl pin in her short, blonde hair.

A gold-thread cape over a white dress.

Her attire was befitting a marquis family's young lady, but her movements as she descended from the carriage were far from those of someone accustomed to wearing a dress.

She valued courtesy on the first step, but then came down two steps at once on the last, as if it were a bother.

Yulian, who was escorting her, also wore a bitter smile.

“She's as peculiar as the rumors say.”

“I wondered why a marquis family would get engaged to the Black Swan. So that was the reason.”

Following them, two more people descended.

They were Erika, a girl with red hair in a black dress, and Freya, a girl with silver hair in a silvery-white dress.

Erika performed the odd feat of jumping down and then, remembering her etiquette belatedly, taking Yulian's hand.

Freya, watching from behind, barely managed to keep her expression from crumbling as she took Yulian's hand and slowly descended from the carriage.

Only the Nihilrit Family siblings maintained a gait and posture befitting the occasion until the very end.

“A dramatic entrance in many ways.”

Someone on the terrace muttered.

Everyone on the terrace couldn't help but agree with his assessment.

Amid such attention, the four passed through the banquet hall entrance.

As Yulian and Charlotte passed through the entrance first, the protocol officer standing beside it shouted at the top of his lungs.

— “Young Lady Charlotte Hausen of the Marquis Hausen Family and Young Master Yulian Nihilrit of the Nihilrit Baronial Family!”

It was a short and plain introduction.

Normally, Yulian, a mere baronial scion, might be overlooked, but Charlotte, from a marquis family, should have had a longer introduction befitting her house.

But one cannot make up what isn't there.

The protocol officer had no more words to add about the strangely information-scarce Marquis Hausen Family.

However, Charlotte didn't seem to mind the plain introduction at all.

Behind Yulian's party, which had passed through the entrance.

Freya whispered in a voice only her party could hear.

“You know where we're supposed to sit, right?”

Charlotte and Erika shook their heads.

Fortunately, Yulian nodded.

What he didn't know was merely the news of people's lives.

He had thoroughly studied etiquette for his protagonist persona.

Thanks to that, he knew where they were supposed to sit in the banquet hall.

Yulian scanned the layout of the banquet hall and immediately found their seats.

Slightly to the right of the center.

The third tier down from the highest inner section.

It was a spot that took into account Charlotte, the young lady of a marquis family.

“Please sit, Miss Charlotte.”

As Yulian pulled out a chair, Charlotte sat down with familiarity.

Next was Erika's turn.

“Erika. Don't go get food yet, just sit down.”

“(Whimper). Then when does it come out?”

“In an hour. Not everyone has arrived yet.”

“Hiing.”

Erika, who had been fixing her gaze on her empty plate, lowered her head.

Her long ponytail drooped as if to represent her mood.

Erika plopped her butt onto the chair listlessly.

Finally, Freya.

“Thank you, Older Brother.”

As expected, Freya was once again the only one to greet with proper etiquette.

As Yulian finally took his seat, Freya looked over the party and spoke.

“Now that we've found our seats, we have to go and greet the other scions. I'm just asking just in case, but do you remember who I told you about in the carriage?”

“You said Baron Wolf's Family is on friendly terms with our family, right? And Count Gilbert's Family is on bad terms.”

“Then what about the faces of those families' scions?”

The three of them fell silent at the same time.

Freya, as if she expected it, sighed and rose from her seat.

“As I thought, let's go together, Older Brother. I'll guide you.”

Charlotte, Yulian, and Erika headed toward a group with Freya.

On the way, Freya expertly assessed the situation.

“Not over there yet. Young Lady Lilienthal seems very busy.”

“What about over there?”

“Since Baron Wolf's Family and Baron Heide's Family are on good terms with my father, it should be fine to exchange greetings.”

Freya approached first, smiled, and offered a greeting, and the other party recognized her and greeted her warmly in return.

And following behind her were Yulian, Charlotte, and Erika.

The first couple of greetings were perfunctory.

But by the time the third and fourth greetings came around.

other scions joined the conversation, and it naturally turned into a group.

Once a group had somewhat formed, Freya changed the direction of the conversation as smoothly as flowing water.

“Let me introduce you all again. This is my older brother, Yulian Nihilrit, and this person here is my older brother's fiancée, Young Lady Hausen.”

At Freya's subtly implied attitude towards Charlotte, the introduced young ladies gave a bitter smile.

Some of the young ladies who met his eyes blushed.

“That person is...”

“The Black Swan of Nihilrit...”

Freya's sharp glare at those young ladies was a bonus.

Among them, the scion of the Heide Family pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses and sent Yulian a look of respect.

“I've heard the story from Freya, Lord Yulian. That you solved the unsolved case at House Belheim. Could you perhaps tell us more about it?”

Yulian realized it was the young man's consideration.

There couldn't be a single young lady or young master here who didn't know about the news from House Belheim.

Unless, of course, they were cut off from high society like Yulian or Charlotte.

Nevertheless, asking to hear that boring story from over a year ago was a gesture of consideration to help Yulian blend into this group.

'To think that I, who've lived for nearly 50 years, have worse social skills than this child...'

After a brief moment of self-reflection at the scion's consideration, Yulian began his story of that time.

“That is an undeserved evaluation. I simply did what I could at the time...”

Before long, Yulian had naturally blended into the group Freya had introduced him to.

Beside him, Charlotte's lips twitched as she barely held back the deductions that were instinctively trying to burst out.

It was proof that she had at least the minimum social skills to know not to break the mood here.

After the scions of the families introduced themselves one by one.

it was naturally Erika's turn.

“This person is...”

“I'm Erika. I have no family name.”

“Ah! This is the person Young Lady Freya praised so much!”

Erika floated a question mark above her head as she looked at Freya.

The look meant, ‘What have you been telling other people about me?’

As if answering that question, a young lady unfolded her fan and praised Erika.

“Young Lady Freya is famous as an outstanding apprentice Mage among her peers. I heard that in her spars with Lady Erika, she has never won once.”

“Huh?”

“I would be grateful if you would give me an opportunity to witness that skill someday.”

The young lady's eyes sparkled as she leaned toward Erika.

Erika, without realizing it, took a step back.

“I'm not that grea—”

“Our family also has high expectations for Erika.”

Yulian cut in, interrupting Erika's words.

This was not a place to be humble.

In a place where people exaggerated accomplishments they didn't even have, there was no need to downplay the ones she did.

Yulian whispered to the wide-eyed Erika.

“You don't still doubt the reason I chose you, do you?”

Erika vigorously shook her head.

Her long, tail-like ponytail slapped her on the cheek.

Yulian gave Erika a smile, then began to introduce her greatness to the scions.

How she had already begun to apply her Fighting Aura at this age, her Level of Mastery that allowed her to use magic in actual combat, and her talent that seemed destined to reach Rank 1 in the not-so-distant future.

At Yulian's explanation, the scions also gave Erika a small round of applause.

“Ah, that's... I was just...”

Her words began to get tangled.

Erika took a step back and then naturally shuffled behind Yulian's back.

She had always admired nobles and dreamed of success.

Now that they were busy praising her, she couldn't get used to it at all.

And so, with Erika's introduction being the last.

Freya skillfully changed the subject.

“Ah, did you hear which member of the Imperial Family is coming today?”

“I heard it's The Twelfth Highness.”

“The twelfth... right.”

At the mention of the Imperial Prince, one young lady's voice lowered.

Another young lady opened her fan and interjected.

Lowering her voice to a near whisper, the young lady spoke to the group.

“I heard that the auspicious event for Her Highness, the Imperial Princess Consort... fell through again.”

“I heard. This is the 4th time...”

The young ladies and young masters all lowered their voices.

Only Erika couldn't keep up with the conversation.

Yulian, noticing this, whispered to Erika.

“It means she had her fourth miscarriage.”

“Oh, no.”

Miscarriage.

It was a surprisingly common occurrence in D-Sector.

Erika had seen many prostitutes who, unaware of their pregnancy, continued to work as usual, leading to terrible consequences.

Because of that, Erika also knew well the weight of the word miscarriage.

“What's the reason? Is it a curse?”

“Who would dare place a curse on the Imperial Family?”

“Then is Her Highness, the Imperial Princess Consort, someone with a constitutionally weak body?”

“At this point, the Imperial Court won't just stand by.”

“I'm worried this might lead to an annulment.”

“I know, right? I heard His Highness the Imperial Prince cherishes his wife and is trying to block it somehow, but...”

Everyone present knew the result that would follow.

If the miscarriages continued like this, the position of the Imperial Princess Consort would inevitably be in jeopardy.

No matter how deep their affection, the problem of an heir had already crossed a line that could not be overlooked for personal feelings.

The proof was this rumor.

Unpleasant affairs within the Imperial Court are always controlled so that outsiders never find out.

The fact that a rumor was circulating, despite that, also meant that the Imperial Court was intentionally leaking it.

It was natural to think that the Imperial Court was already preparing for an annulment.

Just then, Yulian, who had been listening quietly to the story, suddenly showed interest and spoke.

“By any chance, where is Her Highness, the Imperial Princess Consort, right now?”

The feeling that his voice was strangely excited, unlike the others in the party, may not have just been their imagination.