At this, the Marchioness and all the nobles looked at him in surprise.
Soon, whispering could be heard from all directions.
“I guess the rumor that His Highness the Prince wasn’t actually an idiot was true.”
“That’s right. I heard that it’s because you haven’t received proper education until now?”
“Even if you haven’t received any education, what you have shown so far is a bit...”
Some people doubted the rumors even after seeing it with their own eyes, but it didn't matter because more people believed it.
What I wanted to do in the first place was to make people question whether Perdes was an idiot or not.
The idea was to create an atmosphere where it wouldn't be strange if he later took off his idiot mask and started acting like a normal person.
I exchanged a quick greeting with the Marchioness, who had quickly come to her senses, and then I also greeted the Lady.
“I sincerely congratulate you on your coming of age, Young Lady of the Marquis de Lanchot. This is my congratulatory gift to you.”
First, I presented the gift I had prepared.
Since it was polite to open a gift immediately after receiving it, she opened the box right away.
The luxurious velvet box contained a necklace set with a large red gem.
It was surrounded by expensive diamonds, but the important thing was not that, but the red gem.
The Marquis of de Lanchot is a family of ancient magicians, and the Marquis of de Lanchot's daughter also had the qualities of a magician.
“This jewel could not be...!”
So I expected to immediately recognize this red gem, and sure enough.
“It’s Pura.”
I kindly explained about the red gem on behalf of the Marquis de Lanchot, who was speechless from shock.
“I was wondering what would be a good debutante gift for the Young Lady, and then I heard that you were studying magic hard, so I prepared this.”
It was the best gift that appealed to me I was very interested in the Marquis de Lanchot and at the same time made sure to let people around me know that the Duke Leopold family was still alive and well.
“I can’t believe you gave me something so expensive as a gift. I heard a rumor that Duke Leopold’s wealth is great, but I guess it’s true.”
“Of course, since it is a region where Pura is born. Moreover, thanks to the protection of the Red Dragon, the territory is peaceful...”
“I thought things were in danger after His Highness the Duke passed away, but I guess it wasn’t.”
“Oh my, didn’t you hear that story? Lady Leopold...”
It also let them know that it was thanks to me that Duke Leopold was able to survive even without my father.
I've informed you as much as you wanted, so now let's move on to the next plan.
I had no intention of doing this until I came to the capital, but I couldn't just sit still when Chernosser did something so pointless.
“Take this too.”
I offered the champagne I had received from Perdes to the Marquis de Lanchot
“It’s a gift from His Highness Prince Chernosser.”
“Oh my, His Highness the Prince?”
“Yes. He must have felt sorry for not being able to come and congratulate Young Lady on her debutante in person, so he sent me this card yesterday.”
I also gave the card Chernosser sent to the Marquis's daughter.
The card briefly said, “I am sending you a gift with a sorry heart.”
Since it didn't have my name or anything on it that he was sorry about, there was no problem with wrapping it up like this.
In addition, there was a rumor that Marquis de Lanchot's daughter was once in a relationship with Chernosser.
Both of them denied it, and a month later, the Lady got engaged to another man, so everyone thought it was just a rumor.
“Oh my, you don’t have to do that.”
Judging from the slightly reddened cheeks of the Marquis's daughter, it appears that it was not a rumor.
Well, there's no way there would be smoke coming out of the chimney.
“You should drink what His Highness gave you.”
The Lady handed the staff champagne and told them to prepare it.
“Congratulations again, Young Lady.”
I got what I wanted, but staying there for too long would just be annoying, there would be no good, so I got there at the right time.
And it went to the outskirts, out of sight of people as much as possible.
Perdes, who had been following along silently until then, asked in a small voice.
“That champagne, that bastard gave it to you, right?”
“If that bastard you're talking about is the second Prince, then yes.”
“Can I give that to someone else?”
"Yes. The second Prince won’t be able to say anything about this anyway.”
"What..."
Just as Perdes was about to say something, the music changed.
It meant it was time to dance.
The nobles, including Marquis de Lanchot and Lady de Lanchot, each held their partner's hand and headed toward the center.
Perdes looked at the sight with a thoughtful expression, his nose wrinkled.
Why are you doing that?
Oh, is it because you don't want to dance?
Thinking back on what happened last night, it was clear that it was true.
“If you don’t want to dance, you don’t have to dance.”
It was to show that Perdes wasn't an idiot when it came to dancing, but I didn't intend to force him to do it when he hated it so much.
So when I brought it up, Perdes looked at me with a puzzled look.
"Really?"
"Yes."
“But if the guy was attending the party, it would be polite to dance with his partner at least once.”
“It’s literally just courtesy, it’s not set by law, so you don’t have to follow it.”
It didn't matter if I didn't dance, as long as there were circumstances that other people could understand.
"Yes...?”
Is it my imagination that it looks like you're feeling sorry?
“So are we just going to keep watching here?”
"No. I have to dance.”
There was silence for a moment.
Perdes stared at me as if he didn't understand what I said, then asked back.
“Young Lady dances?”
"Yes."
“Then what about me?”
“Perdes is here. I’m going to dance with someone else.”
Perdes could make an excuse because he's still not good at dancing, but I wasn't.
Since there was no good excuse, it was right to dance with someone else.
“...”
The corners of Perdes' lips tightened as if he didn't like my answer.
His stubborn, hardened face was filled with discontent.
What else are you dissatisfied with?
I was about to ask in curiosity when Perdes extended his arm to me.
"Let's go."
"Yes?"
“Let’s go dancing.”
What? Why does the story suddenly become like this?
It was absurd, but Perdes' expression looked so serious and earnest that I placed my hand on his outstretched arm without asking anything.
As I walked straight to the center, curious people's gazes caught my attention.
There was a curious look on their face as to whether Perdes, who had not received any training until then, would be able to dance properly.
The music that had paused for a moment started flowing again, and as Perdes stepped to the melody, more attention was focused on him.
Surprising voices could be heard everywhere.
I was surprised too because Perdes danced better than yesterday.
Although the eye contact was still lacking, it was okay because it was at a level where only the partner standing face-to-face could tell.
“When dancing with other ladies, make sure to make eye contact.”
I sincerely advised him that that way he wouldn't hear bad things about him.
Then Perdes looked down at me with the same discontented eyes as before.
"What's wrong?"
“Do you want me to dance with another woman?”
I've never really thought about that part... I think it'll hurt if I say that.
“Do you really want that?”
"No. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to.”
"No."
Perdes answered as if he had been waiting.
“I will never dance with another woman.”
It was a surprisingly excessive rejection, but at the same time, it was understandable.
Since you've never danced with a woman other than me, you might be worried that someone might step on your toes.
"Therefore..."
Since it was my turn to spin around and away from him, I couldn't hear what Perdes was saying.
“What did you just say?”
So when I asked him again when we got back together, Perdes didn't tell me again.
***
As soon as I came out to the outskirts after dancing, I looked for Lady de Lanchot.
It was very easy to find her, as all you had to do was look for a woman dressed most lavishly and surrounded by people.
As soon as I found the Lady de Lanchot, the employee who had taken the champagne I had given her returned carrying a tray with champagne glasses on it.
The staff gave a glass of champagne to each of the Marquis and his wife.
There are five champagne glasses left.
It was an absurdly insufficient amount to distribute to all the guests here.
Therefore, the Marquis will only hand out champagne to important or very intimate guests.
Of course, I was included among those important people.
“Here it is.”
Also.
"Thank you."
I smiled and accepted the champagne glass offered to me by the staff.
Then, let’s try some champagne.
Of course, I was just pretending to eat.
Later, I planned to check for abnormal reactions that appeared in people who consumed this champagne and act as if those reactions were the same.
"Uh?"
I was going to do that, but Perdes took the champagne glass away from me.
Then he bent down slightly and whispered softly in my ear.
“Are you making weird plans again?”
Anyway, I heard he's quick-witted.
“Well then?”
"I'll do it. Tell me what I can do.”
“I don’t have time to explain in detail. And that’s alcohol.”
“You’re just going to pretend to drink it anyway.”
...Did you notice that too?
At that moment, when I looked at him in a bit of confusion, Perdes took a gulp of champagne without any time to stop me.
What if he swallows it like that?
I was startled and grabbed Perdes' arm.
Then Perdes tilted his head slightly like a drunk person and leaned on my shoulder.
Then, he spat what he had in his mouth back into the glass.
The reason he leaned on my shoulder was to prevent other people from seeing this scene.
Perdes threw the champagne he had spit out on the floor.
Everything happened in less than a minute.
Perdes smiled prettily, his eyes narrowing as he thoroughly rinsed his mouth with plain water.
“Is this okay?”
I was very angry at his dangerous actions, but when I saw his smiling face, I couldn't be angry.
Is this why they say you can't even spit on a smiling face?
“...Don’t do this again.”
Instead, I gave him a warning and Perdes shrugged his shoulders.
“I can’t guarantee that.”
“Perdes.”
“I will step forward again if the young lady tries to do something dangerous.”
“...!”
“So if you don’t want me to do this, Young lady, don’t do anything dangerous.”
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