TPIHLMD - Chapter 23 < Government >



Hearing a sound, he turned his head in the direction he came from and saw a young man wearing a large white suit and a hood. The color of the man's eyes was as bright blue as a cloudless sky. Red lips tightly coupled with gentle eyes had the magical power to attract people's attention.

Unlike the people dressed neatly in suits, the man was dressed as white as snow. For a moment, people were surprised by the way he behaved like a priest who should be in the main hall, not the banquet hall.

The rich man, who was looking at him as if fascinated, screamed in surprise.

“Y-Your Excellency Duke Gregrick?!”

The banquet hall was in great commotion. The noble ladies who were conversing at the bottom of the stairs and the noble ladies who were complimenting each other's dresses all stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of the rich man.

Illeon took off his hood as if he was troubled. His distinct features, along with his dark silver hair, shined dazzlingly under the chandelier.

“!”

People opened their mouths. Illeon was famous for rarely appearing at imperial banquets.

If he made an appearance once in a while, his face would be featured in the newspapers for several days.

The ladies' eyes flashed sharply. Of the three Dukes, Illeon was noble, intelligent, and handsome, so he was very popular among the ladies.

The ladies who were arguing over their wits hurriedly approached Illeon. The rich man was pushed around by the ladies and almost fell to the floor.

“Oh my!”

No one cared about him. The ladies' eyes sparkled and they surrounded Illeon like a circle.

“Ieon, my name is Tresia of the Marquis Nate family. This is a handkerchief I embroidered myself... Would you please accept it?”

One young lady courageously held out a handkerchief that had been carefully embroidered, stitch by stitch. Illeon gently folded his eyes and took the handkerchief.

“Lady Trecia. I will cherish it.”

When her name was called by Illeon, her face, and even her neck became red. However, her happiness did not last long.

“Illeon, me too!”

“Illeon, please look here!”

“Illeon!”

When Illeon appeared, the noble spirits quickly became a cold meal. But they could not express any complaints.

Illeon was the one who rose to the pinnacle of power. Although he was not the Emperor, Illeon was a symbol of Abelon.

The three Dukes occupied most of Abelon's territories. It was no exaggeration to say that, except for the capital where the imperial palace was located, almost all the land belonged to the families of the three Dukes.

Moreover, Illeon was still single.

The people in the banquet hall were struggling with what to say to impress Illeon.

At that time, a loud curse rang out from the entrance of the banquet hall.

“Oh, damn it! It’s so hot it’s killing me!”

The person who appeared with a swear word was a man with a huge and threatening body.

The tanned skin that was well-tanned by the sun was impressive. Wearing a black uniform, his eyes were very harsh, unlike the gentle-looking Illeon.

He was Balt Portman, one of the three Dukes.

When Balt appeared, people rushed to get out of the way.

Unlike Illeon, who had a gentle temperament, Balt was famous for his foul temper. People were very afraid of Balt because he had a rough mouth and a threatening size.

He was even the only sword master in the empire.

If it was a mystery that two people with completely opposite personalities could become friends, it was also a mystery.

“Illeon, what are you laughing about?”

Balt said, scratching the back of his head.

On the day of the Crown Prince's birthday banquet, Balt is probably the only person wearing a sword. Even the knights of the imperial palace could not stop him.

Even if all the imperial knights attacked at once, they could not defeat Balt.

There was only one person who could be his opponent: Dietrich.

Whenever Balt came to the imperial palace, he would provoke Dietrich several times, but each time, Dietrich never changed his expression or drew his sword.

This time, as usual, Balt's desire to win was boiling over, and as soon as he came to the banquet hall, he first checked to see if Dietrich was there or not.

“I guess that son of a bitch isn’t here yet.”

Illeon tapped Balt's shoulder in response to his harsh tone.

“Balt, please maintain your dignity for today. Isn’t today Your Highness’s birthday banquet?”

"Yes."

Balt crossed his arms and furrowed his eyebrows in displeasure. Dark gray eyes flashed fiercely beneath the angry eyebrows.
 
The ladies were so afraid of Balt that they were unable to approach Illeon.

Gabriel, who was watching this scene from afar, whispered softly into Hariel's ear.

“Mother, the imperial family is a very interesting place.”

“Gabriel, it really happened as you said! I never thought we would really come to the imperial banquet.”

Gabriel responded by smiling.

A banquet hall with gold ceiling and walls, a large brightly shining chandelier, and a luxurious red carpet on the floor.

Various high-quality foods and rich-flavored wines were placed on the table.

There are even handsome Dukes whose eyes seem to be purified just by looking at them... There wasn't anything she didn't like.

However, there was something else that Gabriel really wanted.

“Will His Excellency Duke Calypso also come to this banquet?”

Hariel answered Gabriel's question by unfolding a fan made of peacock feathers.

“His name is the Commander of the Imperial Knights, so he will come.”

Gabriel kept glancing at the entrance to the banquet hall with an expectant face. At that time, several people recognized her as Seliya's family.

A noblewoman in a purple dress looked Gabriel up and down. Gabriel was decked out in all kinds of luxury from head to toe.

If you look at the accessories individually, they look pretty, but perhaps because they were hung too loosely, the decoration was excessive.

The noble lady smiled and greeted Gabriel.

“I didn’t know that the Brillion family would also attend the banquet. Nice to meet you. I am Hera from the Marquis of Ertera family.”

“Hello, Marchioness Erterra. I am Gabriel of the Viscount Brillion family.”

Gabriel bowed to the Marchioness. The Marchioness furrowed her eyebrows and shook the fan she was holding.

“Lady Gabriel, it is very unfortunate that your younger sister was caught up in the suspicion of assassinating the Emperor.”

The Marchioness's words were full of thorns. Gabriel snorted inwardly as she watched the noble lady who seemed so easy to attack her.

“Thank you for your concern. My younger sister is a troublemaker, so as her older sister, I am very worried about her. Fortunately, she was found not guilty, so she attended the imperial palace banquet.”

“Um, but... Isn’t your sister attending the banquet today?”

Gabriel's expression suddenly calmed down.

Annoying. Wherever she went, people only talked about Seliya. This was true for everyone, regardless of gender.

It's been like that since she was young. Seliya was extremely beautiful, and it was always Seliya who got the attention, not herself.

Hey Shelly, Hey Shelly. That damn Sally.

'You will fall to your death in the arms of the lecherous Emperor.'

Gabriel smiled pretentiously, hiding her dark intentions.

"Well, I do not know."

“Oh, you’re family, how could you not know that?”

Hariel joined the conversation.

“Marchioness. As for Seliya, we haven't had any contact with her since she went to the imperial palace. I know that kid well. It's because she doesn't want to cause trouble to us because of the suspicion of assassinating the Emperor. How thoughtful...”

Gabriel nodded his head up and down at Hariel's words. The Marchioness seemed to have lost her excitement and walked away from the two people.

Hariel muttered under her breath as she looked at the back of the Marchioness.

“I didn’t just pick up a sword, there was no separate battlefield. What did we do?”

“Isn’t that what social circles are like? They won’t like us because we are just a Viscount family and have a lot of rotten wealth.”

“... I'm so shocked. It's all because of that damn Seliya. She’s like an X who tarnishes our family.”

Gabriel looked around to see if anyone could hear Hariel swearing. Fortunately, everyone's attention was focused on the two Dukes, Illeon and Balt, so no one paid attention to them.

Gabriel lowered his body and spoke to Hariel.

“Mom, today we have to keep our pace. If you use Seliya well, you can become completely entrenched in this vast imperial palace, rather than just staying on the outskirts.”

“Don’t worry.”

As the mother and daughter were whispering and planning, a loud noise was heard from the entrance.

“The rising sun of Abelon is served by His Highness the Crown Prince!”

Everyone who attended the banquet hall was excited. Unlike the dead Emperor, the Crown Prince did not have a bad reputation. The eyes of the people, filled with anticipation for the new Emperor, turned to the Crown Prince.

“...Huh?”

Someone made a strange noise. This is because the Crown Prince was entering the banquet hall escorting a woman.

People's eyes fell from the Crown Prince in his red uniform to the woman he was escorting.

Her silver hair curled up on her slim face, sparkled in the reflection of the chandelier.

Pure white skin with no flaws, red lips that look like biting into a rose, and clear emerald eyes that remind them of a summer forest.

Dressed in a white mermaid dress, Seliya looked like a new bride who was about to get married.

Everyone in that place held their breath and looked at Seliya. Some were jealous, some admired, and men fell in love.

Her gait, her posture, everything was flawless.

Even the Crown Prince, who looked exactly like the beautiful Empress in her past, was almost overshadowed by Seliya's halo.

Illeon looked at Seliya observingly, holding his wine glass in his hand.

Beautiful people are common, but those with the magical power to attract people are extremely rare.

Crown Prince Jeremy, escorting Seliya, climbed onto the podium with a happy look on his face.

He shrugged her shoulders and gave her greeting to those who couldn't take their eyes off Seliya.

“Thank you all for attending my birthday banquet. Today, let go of all your worries and eat and enjoy yourself to your heart’s content!”

The smile never left Jeremy's face. he exclaimed, raising the glass handed to him by his aide.

“Before we raise our glasses, I have something to say to everyone.”

Jeremy grabbed Seliya's shoulder with the other hand that was not holding a glass and added something that shocked everyone.

“Here, let me introduce you to my mistress. Everyone knows her, Seliya Brillion.”


Previous            Next

Comments