# 88 - 88
* * *
“When did you become able to walk?”
“You haven't needed the wheelchair for two days, have you?”
“But why did you keep riding it?”
There were adult circumstances that you wouldn't understand, Leon.
Have you ever heard of the war of public opinion?
“Because I felt like it.”
"Oh my God, look at this girl. She's already using me as her personal horse."
Even as he said that, Leon Fraser couldn't take his eyes off me.
I was also completely satisfied with my appearance.
The word “beautiful” alone was not enough to describe her.
Just as there are poisonous potatoes among potatoes and poisonous spiders among spiders.
Tullia was the strongest supreme beauty in this world.
“But why a bright red dress?”
Well, today.
Because I plan to decorate this feast with some people's blood.
...Instead of saying something ominous like Tulia from, she gave the real reason.
“Plum blossoms bloom beautifully on the plain of Statis, don't they? That's why I wore them.”
"…What?"
Leon Fraser had a look of confusion on his face, as if asking what exactly that meant.
“Half of it was just a joke, and the biggest jewel I own is this red ruby.”
In Tulia's jewelry box, which was filled with all kinds of cheap, low-quality jewelry, there was strangely one high-quality red ruby necklace.
I didn't know that at first either.
I was going through Tulia's jewelry box to get rid of it when I accidentally pressed a button inside the mirror, and a hidden space appeared behind it.
What was hidden inside was this ruby necklace.
Of course, the family treasure vault was full of precious antiques that would not be incomplete even if it was presented as a kingdom's treasure.
But most of those necklaces were the kind that Opray took to heart, so I didn't really want to wear them, and this ruby necklace I found as a secret bonus was very much to my liking.
The dress Adel brought happened to be a red dress that went well with the ruby necklace, so I put it on immediately.
By the way.
“This man is truly the hero of the novel.”
He is a very popular, even hugely popular, male hero.
Leon Fraser's appearance was impressive even if we ignore personal feelings.
Eyes in which green and blue blend, like a green island embracing the sea.
Perfect features and a very elegant uniform.
Leon Fraser was like a perfect statue calculated with extreme precision down to the smallest detail.
Even his jet-black hair seemed to be nothing more than a symbol of emotion, which was simply amazing.
'Of course.'
At least that's how it looked to my eyes in the mirror.
"Oh. But how do I ask this man to dance?"
This is correct.
I was still a prisoner of the mission.
Ding!
When I checked the Quest after a long while, the text appeared immediately.
Subquest Content: Banquet Master
You are scum!
You have no money, your luck is bad, and everyone hates you!
(Except for one person) No one likes you!
Sub-goal: Dance with Liziane Fraser and Leon Fraser at the Gala.
Failure: -10,000 coins
But the situation wasn't quite as hopeless as it was when I first received this Quest.
Honestly.
I feel like Leon Fraser and I have become very close lately.
Disagreements can only occur if there is some kind of friendship.
I had a strong belief that if I asked Leon Fraser to dance, he would probably complain or maybe laugh at me, but in the end he would dance with me.
“What would the reward for success be?”
Now, I was very curious about that question mark part.
I closed the quest window and asked Leon Fraser, who was still looking at me.
"Oh right. But why did you come to my room?"
“What? Whew...”
Leon's voice sounded in disbelief.
I could hear the employees, including Adel, laughing quietly behind me.
What? Why are you all laughing without me?
"Why are you laughing?"
“Ms. Tullia.”
Adel said in a tender voice, still unable to completely erase her smile.
“What do you think it means for a man to visit a lady right before a dinner party?”
“But he is not a gentleman?”
"Oh, seriously! Hey!"
Finally, Adel couldn't hold back his excitement and burst out laughing.
The same was true for the personal doctor and the butler's assistant who were monitoring the mood.
“Oh, really… turn around, turn around.”
Leon began to run his hand roughly through his hair as usual, then belatedly realized that he had carefully dressed elegantly for today's banquet, so he lowered his hand.
The low hand suddenly extended in front of me.
“I came to accompany you, okay?! Madam Tullia!”
* * *
There were a huge number of people at the banquet.
“That hunting competition was nothing compared to this.”
Even though we opened the widest hall, it was hot.
Even though it's winter.
It was worth deliberately hanging thick curtains made of fabric of bright colors.
We could ventilate by opening the large windows slightly, while thick curtains provided some insulation.
“In addition, the cream-colored Bhutani fabric lined with wool makes the hall look brighter.”
People who attend such large banquets, regardless of their gender, always wear their best clothes.
That is why the hall should be very bright and cheerful.
This way, the expensive dresses, jewelry, hats and gloves they bought can be seen better.
Show off.
Show off.
The banquet host has a duty to fulfill the wishes of his guests.
Thanks to that, the hall sparkled like a lake in the middle of the day.
I was overwhelmed with admiration as I watched the colorful dresses and sparkling suits.
“His Highness the Grand Duke is coming!”
When the servant standing at the door shouted loudly, the hall immediately fell silent.
The band we called in advance also lowered the volume appropriately and moved to calm tunes.
At times like these, I really realized that I was in a different world.
“How interesting.”
Grandpa, who had stepped onto the prepared platform, slowly looked around at the nearly hundreds of nobles.
“Thank you for coming to my birthday party.”
Although it was a short greeting, many nobles' eyes sparkled, hoping to hear more of Grandpa's words.
That's why strength is important.
“If he had also received gifts, they would have accumulated tremendously.”
Maybe we would have to open another hall.
Today was my grandfather's birthday party, but no gift arrived from abroad.
Because that was the Fraser family's tradition and unspoken rule.
Gifts are not accepted on the head of the family's birthday.
Otherwise, various vicious cycles would have occurred as people would offer bribes to curry favor, which is one of the lines of Kuriko's internal monologue in.
Having witnessed all these nobles myself, my sympathy for them increased.
“I hope everyone enjoys the feast.”
Shortly after Grandpa got off the platform.
Sweet melodies began to echo around.
Couples of nobles came out to the dance floor and began to dance happily.
“By the way, Tullia is stunningly beautiful.”
The grand banquet hall had many tall mirrors hanging on the walls, extending from floor to ceiling.
These mirrors served as decoration, and at the same time made it easier for the guests present to quickly check their appearance.
Thanks to this, Tulia's figure, sometimes reflected in the mirrors, was so bright that I could see that she did not need lighting.
Oh, it's so impressive.
But no man asked Tullia to dance.
In fact, not even one.
“…”
Although I had somewhat realized the power of the Grand Ducal House by now.
Although I changed my image dramatically.
Despite all this, Tullia remained shy and introverted.
At that time, the wall flower was called “wall crystal,” and the “party beauty” was called “high society crystal.”
I liked that phrase.
“It was funny because it looked like a wall lamp.”
And I thought I could avoid becoming a wall lamp now.
I have received glory from God, and rumors have spread everywhere that I have serious favor.
But Tulia is still a wall lamp.
But Tulia is me.
Oh my God…
Wall lamp.
I'm a wall lamp!
I think rumors about gaining power are useless in the face of so much accumulated notoriety.
Besides, does Tulia have a nice impression?
No matter how beautiful she was, if she smiled even a little wrongly, she looked like a nine-tailed fox about to steal someone's liver, so no man would approach her easily.
“…”
Thanks to this, my dance card is empty.
Leon Fraser had temporarily turned away from me because a noble who had served as my mentor at the academy was attending.
Lycian was also completely summoned due to a flood of requests for greetings from the elders.
‘Hmm.’
I realized it again.
The fact that it had been so long since I had stood alone as Tullia.
I suddenly had a reasonable suspicion that Tullia had been deliberately making trouble everywhere out of loneliness.
Because there are descriptions that indicate that Tullia in the game was always a lonely figure in the Grand Duchy.
Therefore, whenever she was bored, she would spill wine on other nobles and constantly bring up incidents of quarrels with Kuriko as well.
Suddenly, I remembered a scene from within the game.
The day Kuriko had sufficiently established her position in the Grand Ducal House, she was hosting her grandfather's birthday banquet.
Since it was a game with many options, you could choose decorations directly as well, and among them was this option:
-What flowers would you like to choose to hang on the walls?
1. Roses
2. Lilies
3. Tulips
If you click on option 3 to choose tulips, you will see an event in which Tulia is imprisoned.
That choice was a blatant insult to Tullia, so as she was, she would not have remained silent.
“You can see an illustration of Tullia being dragged away by soldiers as she tries to pour wine on Koriko...”
I swallowed down the nostalgic memories of the game, looked around, and surprisingly...
“Are there quite a few shy people like Fraser?”
Sophia Fraser too.
And Sandra Fraser, Belladonna's daughter, the mistress brought in by the Grand Count Nigella.
They were both standing against the wall like me, either talking with their followers or drinking champagne.
Their eyes were actively rolling at this time.
“It seems they are looking for Lycian and Leon.”
That was true.
There were two unmarried men of the highest status in the Grand Duchy of Fraser.
That is, Lycian and Lyon.
So these two people had an obligation to dance at every banquet they attended.
“If this were the imperial capital, the twins would have had the first dance.”
The Grand Duchy had slightly different fine social customs than the imperial capital, so it was not that strict.
But the desire to dance with the most handsome and distinguished men at a banquet was a natural desire for any lady of the Briang Empire.
So Sandra Fraser and Sophia Fraser were always asking the twins to dance.
While the Fraser twins were attending their grandfather's birthday party, they couldn't refuse to dance, and they always accepted dance requests.
“Normally, it would be more appropriate for Tulia and the twins to dance.”
Tullia was a person who ignored customs, so she always stood against the wall staring at the dancing twin with terrifying eyes.
“Tulia?”
At that very moment, a voice reached my ears.
For a moment, I almost mistakenly thought that this world was inside a movie and not inside a game.
Because a stunning beauty capable of deceiving the world was shining dazzlingly right before my eyes.
“Oh my God, Lisien...”
Wow, he really is Kuriko's true hero.
Lysiane, who was dressed as splendidly as Leon Fraser, had somehow approached, and was now standing next to me.
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