Prepare for the party

"Why did you accept that!?"

Pacing back and forth in his room inside the inn, Alaric suddenly raised his voice and shouted at me. He looked so stressed and anxious that one would think he was about to take a math exam or something like that instead of going to a dinner party.

Inside the room, the young master's stuff was placed here and there messily without being put in their places. He ordered everyone to leave the room except for me and forcefully threw Ranger out as well. Alaric didn't even change his cloth nor did he take a rest. He kept roaming inside the room and occasionally yelling at me.

'You could've gotten Ranger's help, why did you throw him out of the room?'

I guess he was scared of Ranger finding out about the issue. It wasn't such a big deal though, I wonder why he is acting like this.

"We couldn't just refuse the young lord's invitation. It would be considered rude and at the same time ruin your image."

"Fuck my image I don't want to have dinner with anyone!"

"..."

Taken back by the sudden unexpected words, I was momentarily unable to respond to young master Alaric. After a few seconds, I heaved a sigh and shook my head.

"Don't blame me, sir. From the beginning, it was your own fault for starting that conversation regarding novels."

TAP

Alaric stopped in his tracks and turned to me.

"Didn't you say he was a knowledgable and cool person and all? Why did he suddenly change completely?"

"I have no idea!"

Alaric once again sighed and resumed his nervous movements. After a few minutes of silence and just when I had sat down on the bed inside the room, the young master stopped moving somewhere in front of me.

"What should I do? Should I say that I've suddenly gotten sick? Or should I say that I'm tired from the long trip? Can't you go and inform them that I've fallen into a deep sleep and you can't wake me up? I'll... I can pretend to faint if you want!"

He looked so desperate I was almost seduced to accept his request and help him fake a sickness. I wonder why he wanted to avoid a small dinner party so much... I heard that he had said similar words to Ranger before the family dinner in the mansion.

'Is he scared that he might mess things up because of his loss of memory?'

Well, anyone would be scared in such a situation I guess.

"There is no need to be so nervous, young master. The meeting is not anything formal and I don't think any political issues will be discussed. Since Barnett Blicra showed interest in the topic of novels, my guess is that he will most likely talk about those matters at the dinner. As for the part of the economy study, if Barnett Blicra asks anything, just tell him that you are not sure if the data of the county should be shown to the outsiders."

Alaric listened to me as he opened and closed his mouth like a stupid goldfish. I ignored him and kept explaining.

"Barnett Blicra is the second son of Duke Blicra. His older brother is the one who will become the next hair. That's probably why Barnett was sent to the ceremony because he is free. He also has a younger sister who is not really popular among the people of the dukedom due to her 'unladylike' actions. As much as I know, the three siblings have good relations so avoid talking bad about any of his siblings."

Alaric nodded his head before slowly raising his hand as if he had a question, but he lowered it again when he saw that I resumed speaking.

"They live in the south, where they have to guard the borders. They have vast wheat farms and grow almost 90 percent of the wheat used in Loyatou. That's why wheat has become their symbol as well as their strength. If anything about that subject is brought up, you can talk about the issues of wheat transitions in the past few months or the increased number of bandits in the area, as well as the weather that is getting hotter each year."

With his mouth gaped and his gaze blank, Alaric stood still until I was done talking. There was actually a lot more I could say, but looking at my young master's silly face, I don't think his mind has the capacity to take in more information at the moment.

"Ah... oh!"

Finally, after a few seconds of silence, Alaric seemed to have grasped an overall idea of Barnett Blicra and the duke's family as well as the state. His hand, which was frozen in the air since before, raised up once again.

"Excuse me, sir, won't it be rude if I don't talk to him about the economy as you mentioned?"

...Why are you talking to me as if I'm an academy professor...

"No, it won't. It'd further increase your image instead by showing that you deeply oversee all of the manners of your state strictly."

"Oh!" Alaric gasped quietly before lowering his hand. "You know quite a lot of things... I thought Ranger was the most knowledgable one among the servants."

"Heh!" I sneered, patted the bed with my palms twice, and shot up to my feet. "I'm really dedicated to my job and it caused me to want to study a lot and learn more!"

That was a lie, but who cares? I strolled towards the door of the room and grabbed the handle.

"I'll call Ranger to come to help you choose proper cloth and Ralph to tidy up this place."

I turned my back to Alaric to leave, but before I could step out of the room, a hand grabbed my collar from behind and pulled me back.

"You come to the party with me."

"Pardon?"

Alaric released me, circled around, and stood in front of my face.

"Take part in the party as my attendant and help me out if there is a need for it! Ranger will only send me scary looks and then threaten me to read those thick books if I say anything wrong! I'll pay you extra if you want to! Just make it seem as if everything is normal!"

"...."

I narrowed my eyes and stared at the man who was begging me to help him out. Am I seeing wrong? Do I hear wrong? Alaric Poqlen is asking me for help! It's funny as much as it's suspicious. I had no intention of hiding my doubt, so I asked the first question that came to my mind without thinking much.

"Why are you so desperate? You seemed to be doing pretty well when you were at the dinner party with your family!"

Alaric's eyes widened a little bit, surprised.

"H-How did you know that?"

"I was passing by behind the windows and overheard some things."

"Oh!" Alaric lowered his head and thought for a few seconds. "A family dinner is different than a dinner with someone you've met for the first time. I had a general idea of what is going on and what I had to say, but this time is different! It's a little bit scary to act without knowing what you have to do or how the other person is thinking..."

His words employed that he liked to act cautiously and have a plan on his mind before doing something. That was a little bit like how Alaric was before losing his memories, but it seemed that the level of caution he wanted to take had increased so much that it made him unable to do anything in urgent situations like this. Well, once again, I guess it's normal if you are someone with memory loss.

"Taking me there might cause more problems. Besides, Ranger is your formal butler so taking me with you might create suspicion."

Alaric shook his head almost immediately.

"You can cook up bullshi- excuses really fast. It'll help me a lot! Plus, I've heard from Ranger that we are the same age. Isn't that normal for me to prefer someone my age as an attendant?"

"No."

"Eh! Then... Isn't that normal for me to be close to a servant as a friend?"

"No."

"Eh! B-but I've heard noblemen often have good relationships with their personal servants!"

Utterly helpless, Alaric mumbled those under his breath with a solemn face. Well, what he said was true, but not for Alaric, and not for me.

"You beat me up every morning sir."

"EH!!!! I-I beat you up? Why!"

"Young master, can I come in?"

Before I could explain to Alaric why he'd beat me up every morning, Ranger knocked on the half-open door and peeked inside, causing our conversation to reach a stop.

"Yeah, come in, Ranger! I'll go call Ralph!"

Using that chance, I sneaked out of the room without looking back at Alaric's helpless expression.