Banquet (2)

The boy who greeted Selly was named Cobin. He was the second son of the Baraton family.

"Get lost, Cobin. Don't talk to me."

Selly spat out coldly. She seemed to detest Cobin greatly.

In fact, that was the case for most of the nobles attending the banquet.

Everyone disliked Cobin.

Because of Cobin's usual behavior.

Until now, Cobin had played many mischievous pranks at the banquets.

He would trip passing servants, request a dance from a lower noble lady and then deliberately dance ridiculously to embarrass her, and so on - he did not hesitate to act in ways that made onlookers frown.

Cobin was shunned among the nobles, but he was still invited to the banquets because of his family's status.

Cobin's Baraton family owned the gold mountain range, making them the wealthiest family in the empire.

Just as Castarck was called the ruler of the north, Baraton was known as the ruler of the west.

As the second son of such an influential family, no matter how ill-mannered Cobin acted, they had no choice but to overlook it.

"Haha, Selly, don't be so harsh. Are you still mad about that incident before?"

Cobin grinned smugly. His smile looked extremely sly and vile.

"That was just a prank, you know?"

"Shut up."

Unlike the sneering Cobin, Selly felt sick to her stomach.

A few months ago, at an imperial capital banquet, Cobin had spread an outrageous rumor.

That Selly had courted Cobin, and Cobin had accepted, with the two promising to marry in the future.

For Selly, it was unthinkable. She had no interest in the opposite gender at all, especially not in someone as sly-faced and vile-natured as Cobin.

Later, Cobin admitted it was a prank, but it remained an unpleasant incident for Selly.

"But still, it wouldn't be so bad for you to become my wife. You could live a wealthy life buried in gold forever. How about it? Since it's come to this, why don't we get engaged..."

"Not interested. Don't talk to me. If you talk to me one more time, I'll slap you."

"Haha. As feisty as ever. That's why I like you. All the women of the Matiel family are..."

"Let's go, Ariel."

Selly ignored Cobin and walked with Ariel towards the food.

Dealing with Cobin was a waste of time.

"Oho, an elf! Is she your slave, Selly? She's quite the looker!"

This time, Cobin spoke to Ariel.

"Hello, elf. I'm Cobin of the Baraton family. Even an elf must have heard of the Baraton family, right? If you treat me well now..."

"Ariel, ignore him. He's not worth dealing with."

"Okay."

From the start, Ariel had no interest in Cobin.

Ariel's interest was solely on the food laid out in the banquet hall.

What Ariel wanted to eat was the tall chocolate dripping cake.

"Ariel! Look over there!"

Selly also pointed at the chocolate cake.

"Let's devour that first!"

"Okay."

The two walked excitedly towards the chocolate cake.

*

'...How insolent.'

Watching Selly and Ariel head for the chocolate cake, Cobin frowned.

He understood Selly being rude to him - the Matiel family couldn't be ignored.

But he was displeased that this elf girl he'd just met was ignoring him too.

In the west, the elf race was nothing more than slaves.

No matter how rare, their status itself was lowly.

To Cobin's eyes, she was no different from a servant.

Cobin beckoned a passing servant and received a cup of milk.

'I'll have to teach that elf girl the dignity of a noble.'

And with the milk in hand, he approached Ariel.

Cobin's plan was this,

To pretend to bump shoulders while passing by and spill the milk on Ariel's face.

It was a tactic Cobin often used.

Coincidentally, Ariel was carrying a plate with the chocolate cake, following Selly to a table.

"Oops~!"

Cobin bumped into Ariel with force on his shoulder.

Or rather, he tried to bump into her.

But there was nothing hitting his shoulder.

Ariel had clearly been right in front of him, but the moment he bumped, she had vanished.

"!"

Losing his balance, Cobin staggered and ended up falling over ridiculously, spilling the milk all over himself.

"Puhahah!"

Selly's laughter could be heard.

"Cobin, before talking about an engagement, shouldn't you relearn how to walk first?"

At Selly's words, laughter burst out from here and there. Everyone was mocking Cobin.

It was a very delightful reaction because of Cobin's usual bad behavior.

clack.

Cobin gritted his teeth and stood up.

A servant approached and handed him a towel, which he snatched and used to wipe the milk running down his face, then glared at Ariel.

Ariel was already sitting at the table, munching on the chocolate cake.

'...What happened?'

Cobin couldn't understand.

Just before their shoulders collided, Ariel was clearly in Cobin's line of sight.

But she suddenly vanished.

Cobin didn't know what trick she used, but he couldn't let this go.

"Hey, give that here!"

Cobin snatched another cup of milk from a passing servant's tray and strode towards Ariel.

His plan had changed.

Cobin intended to simply pour the milk over Ariel's head.

Selly would probably make a fuss, but so what?

Cobin planned to say that Ariel had tripped him, and he was punishing her for it.

At his family's home, he would punish servants this way when they made mistakes.

Each time, the servants would end up soaked in milk, crying - quite a sight.

"Hey, you insolent elf girl."

Having approached Ariel, Cobin spoke menacingly.

"Because of you tripping me, I was humiliated. So now you'll get the same treatment."

Cobin raised the milk over Ariel's head.

Until then, Ariel had only been munching on the cake, not moving.

"Cobin, what are you trying to do now..."

That's when Selly said that.

Puck!

A fist flew in from the side, hitting Cobin and sending him crashing to the floor again, drenched in the spilled milk.

"Kuhk... what!"

Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Cobin looked up.

It was no longer just about pouring milk.

Assaulting a noble was absolutely unacceptable.

The situation had become serious.

"How dare someone..."

The person in Cobin's sight was an unexpected one.

Carl Castarck.

The Grand Duke of the North was looking down at Cobin with cold eyes.

*

Carl, who had been tailing Ariel all day, only returned to his quarters when it was time for the banquet to start.

In fact, he wanted to continue following Ariel, but he had to attend tonight's banquet in Sierra.

A family as prestigious as the Castarcks didn't really need to attend such minor banquets.

However, Carl had been firmly instructed by his father.

Attend any banquet he was invited to, no exceptions.

His father's reasoning was that while training and studying were good, to properly rule the North, he needed to observe what the other nobles were like.

Attending the banquet, Carl stared blankly with dead fish-like eyes.

Banquets were indeed dull.

Nobly dressed young noble ladies approached one by one and shyly greeted him, but Carl's eyes didn't register them at all.

The only thing in Carl's mind was Ariel.

In the midst of this, the sound of people laughing could be heard.

Turning his gaze, he saw a blond scruffy-haired boy with a sullen expression getting up from the floor, drenched in milk all over his body.

'Cobin Baraton, huh...'

Carl frowned.

Since ancient times, the Castarcks of the North and the Baratons of the West did not get along well. They were almost like sworn enemies.

Whether it was fending off invasions by barbarians in the past, or much earlier during the war against the demons, the two families were always growling at each other whenever they met.

Nowadays they don't even associate with each other, but occasionally when they run into each other at banquets, they still glare at each other.

Especially Carl greatly loathed Cobin, the second son of the Baraton family.

He loathed him more than other nobles did.

Seeing Cobin always acting disrespectfully, rudely treating servants and children of lower noble families without mercy, and flaunting his family's wealth was disgusting enough to make Carl feel nauseous.

Now, Cobin was being laughed at for some reason.

Probably because he stupidly fell and spilled the milk he was holding all over himself.

'What a pathetic guy as always.'

Thinking that, Carl tried to ignore Cobin.

But then...

In the direction Cobin was walking with the milk, she was there.

It was Ariel, with that expressionless face, munching on a chocolate cake.

"!"

Carl's heart pounded like it would burst, and he unconsciously stood up.

"Hey, you insolent elf girl."

Then Cobin spoke to Ariel in a menacing tone.

"Because you tripped me, I was humiliated. So now you'll get the same treatment."

Cobin raised the milk over Ariel's head. It seemed he intended to pour it over her.

Seeing that, Carl lost his senses and lunged forward.

Puck!

When he came to, he had already struck Cobin in the face with his fist.

"How dare you lay a hand on our young master!"

A knight who had been standing on one side of the banquet hall rushed over hurriedly.

He was Cobin's escort knight.

"This is unacceptable behavior, even for House Castarck!"

Cobin's escort knight glared at Carl and drew the huge spear on his back.

Shin Marcus.

Perhaps there was no one in the empire who didn't know that name.

Marcus was a formidable warrior who skillfully wielded his massive spear like it was part of his body, mowing down barbarian tribes.

Whenever Marcus swung his spear, four or five barbarian warriors would definitely lose their heads and collapse simultaneously.

During the war, Marcus was as feared by the barbarians as Shin of the North.

Thanks to such a renowned name, Marcus was able to become the captain of the knight order of the wealthiest family in the empire, the Baratons.

"To dare draw a weapon towards the heir of the North..."

Someone behind Carl spoke in a chilling voice.

"Are you prepared to take responsibility for that action, Marcus?"

It was Shane, Carl's escort knight.