Chapter 124

Chapter 124: Spring Festival

Spring Festival
Chapter 124. Spring Festival
The moment Ferda’s speech ended, several nobles approached him.
— Greetings to Regent Valdrova. I listened to your good words attentively.
— My words are clumsy, so I wonder if they were conveyed properly.
— What do you mean?! I was deeply moved by what you just said! I want to join that great dream without fail, Regent-nim!
Most showed their favor saying that it had been a good sermon, while some reacted passionately as if they were truly inspired.
Middle-aged people think with their heads, but the young think with their hearts.
In their chests, a hero still embarks on an adventure, heading toward a princess trapped in a castle.
In that sense, Ferda was thinking about the speech he gave with his head.
‘It’s so embarrassing it kills me.’
Hope, friendship, and the like.
They were formalities that did not suit Ferda.
He could not even think of such things, let alone carry them out.
It is impossible to do so much unless you are a veteran in politics.
He cast a glance toward that ambitious woman.
Olivia Arken.
She was standing at a round table near the banquet host.
Of course, she was not alone.
She was mingling with other high-ranking young noble ladies.
‘Was it called Golden Rose?’
A social club centered on Olivia Arken.
It was said to be a device to scare away the men who approached her.
The Golden Rose Olivia is being protected, surrounded by thorns and leaves.
Ferda watched her smiling face.
It overflowed with pretension.
It was strange.
He definitely did not sense that pretension when she looked at him.
‘Perhaps her acting has declined a lot in the meantime.’
After receiving the greetings of the swarming nobles, Ferda now approached Olivia.
To play along with the scenario she had written.
— Thank you for helping with the Spring Festival.
— Not at all. It is I who am honored to be able to help.
— Then, please enjoy yourself.
Olivia smiled faintly and bowed her head slightly.
Ferda also moved on without saying more than necessary.
It was a neat appearance that would not make anyone think they were a man and a woman with a scandal between them.
‘She’s doing well.’
Internally satisfied with their cooperation, Ferda took a light tour around the banquet hall, greeting people.
They say it is a banquet for everyone, but it is an unwritten rule that knights and nobles are separated.
They distinguish them through attire.
Nobles wear splendid clothes, but knights wear vests, making them relatively simple.
Ferda saw two familiar faces among the knights.
They were Jed and Malcolm.
— I heard Regent-nim’s speech very impressively.
— Me, it was really cool! Totally!
Even wearing the same attire, the vibe was different.
Jed, who looks neat and elegant no matter what he wears, and Malcolm, who looks like a country bumpkin no matter what he wears.
‘William would be perfect for this occasion.’
William was a meticulous man whom even Ferda considered a role model.
Actually, Ferda wanted him to participate, but William politely declined.
His intention was to stay up all night during the Spring Festival out of a sense of duty as Captain of Security.
It was unfortunate, but he needed to respect that.
— Regent-nim, I will steal a moment of your attention.
Unlike his radiant face, a complaint poured from his mouth.
— How long are you going to let this bastard trail me?
— What trailing?
— Every time I try to go somewhere, this brat says ‘Sir Jed, where are you going?’ and persistently follows me.
— Is that so?
— To get this bastard off my back, I would have to say it’s a secret mission, right? But then this bastard might go around blabbing everything, right? Then it wouldn’t be a secret mission, would it?
He looked at Ferda with eyes bloodshot from stress.
Extreme stress was not something Ferda needed to worry about, but Jed’s words made sense.
— Go. I’ll handle it.
— Then I’m off.
As if a great weight had been lifted off him, he moved quickly, whether with light steps or running away to avoid getting caught.
— Huh? Where is Sir Jed going…?
— I sent him on an errand because he suddenly remembered something.
— Ah, is that so?
— Don’t bother looking for him. How about mingling with the other knights?
— Uh… that…
Malcolm scratched his head in embarrassment.
— Was I… was I a hindrance to Sir Jed after all? I’m not good at these occasions, so I was trying to get help from Sir Jed…
Was that why he was trailing him?
— You became an Imperial Knight, yet you’ve never been to an occasion like this?
— The only one who invites me to occasions like this is Regent-nim… I couldn’t even participate in the knight investiture ceremony and only received the appointment letter. So, naturally, I thought I would just eat leftovers in the lodging and sleep during the Spring Festival, but you called me. I wanted to look good… I wanted to ask how to do it, but it seems I bothered Sir Jed.
He was a man who could never have achieved the position of knight in his life, yet had more grit than anyone.
He decided to change his mind about sending him back to his room.
— You feel more comfortable executing orders than socializing in a place like this, right?
— Yes! I will do everything I can!
— Then I will give you an order.
Malcolm wagged his tail like a country puppy in the morning.
— Keep watch if any accidents happen here. Understood?
— And do I just clean them up?
— There is no need to intervene. Just watch. While eating and drinking. Understood?
— Yes! Understood.
He accepted the order, but Malcolm belatedly felt that something was amiss.
But soon he dismissed that doubt, thinking he only had to fulfill the order.
It was practically no different from before receiving the order, but the aimlessness surrounding Malcolm vanished.
That settled matters regarding Malcolm for now.
Passing among unfamiliar people one after another, Ferda found someone he knew.
It was Arwen.
He was not on the list particularly, but Ferda had deliberately included him.
— Count Consillus’s knight, Arwen Wolfhart, greets Regent-nim. Thank you for inviting me to the Spring Festival.
— Count Consillus favors you, so shouldn’t I help?
— Favor is out of the question.
Although he did not ask particularly, Ferda knows that Consillus cherishes Arwen especially.
He is an older man, and he will need someone to inherit his territory.
Someday Arwen will be recognized not as a knight, but as the adopted son of Count Ulbera Consillus and inherit the county.
So Arwen must become Ferda’s person and be looked after.
— Jed said. That you have a woman in mind.
— Cough, cough… there is no such progress yet…
A reaction typical of a virgin who knew nothing other than the sword and honor.
Then he looked somewhere.
A woman in a green dress met his gaze and smiled radiantly.
That young lady who looked childlike was definitely a woman he had seen in the Grand Council.
— She is from the House of Duke Purity.
— Yes. She is his third daughter.
She looked like a fairy-tale princess.
Not in a good way, but meaning she had an appearance that seemed vacuous in a bad way.
Unlike the sharp eldest and second daughters, who were strategically forged weapons, she conveyed a strong sense of having been neglected and raised in a greenhouse.
Meaning she has no utility value.
Arwen did not seem like he would suffer heartbreak.
Even so, just in case, Ferda gave Arwen a warning.
— Don’t do anything strange here.
— Of course. Why would I cause trouble here?
— Even if you do, do it after returning to the county.
— Eh? Ah, understood.
Arwen did not grasp Ferda’s meaning.
After finishing the conversation, Arwen walked toward that princess.
Arwen smiled awkwardly, and the princess smiled shyly.
Seeing that, it hurt inside for no reason.
One cannot even hold hands with his fiancée, while another is having fun…
«This atmosphere makes it worse for no reason».
How was it when he came to parties like this before the regression?
No one approached Ferda, who came as a guest.
As if they had sent a nominal invitation, but found it awkward that he actually attended.
«It was the same as Malcolm».
That must be why he felt a subtle pity.
Because I was like that, I know what that emotion is.
Ferda felt lonely even at this moment.
No, he was lonelier than back then.
As if he had left his other half somewhere.
Shortly after, a signal sounded from the orchestra’s side.
They had already had enough time to laugh and chat; now it was time to properly warm up the atmosphere.
It was the sound indicating that the dancing was beginning to liven up the banquet.
Decked-out bees fluttered toward the flowers they liked.
«Host’s duty».
Ferda looked for a quiet one among the flowers the bees ignored.
A freckled, slender, black-haired young lady.
She was not pretty, but not that ugly either, simply a woman with a strong sense of being unremarkable.
Naturally, he did not know what house the young lady was from.
Ferda walked over there and extended his hand.
— As host, I would like to ask you for a dance, would you mind?
The freckled young lady looked around, then pointed at herself.
— Oh dear, would you really dance with someone like me?
— Not enjoying such a fine occasion would be wrong.
— If it pleases His Excellency the Regent, I will gladly accept.
The freckled young lady took his hand shyly.
When the couples were already more or less formed, the orchestra transitioned from the prelude to the main piece.
It was not a passionate dance, but a light waltz.
The volume was adjusted just enough for men and women to converse.
The paired men and women probed each other’s backgrounds.
Of course, Ferda said nothing.
He thought he only had to fulfill the host’s duty, so he did not bother to chat.
— You are engaged to Valdrova-nim, right?
The freckled young lady brought up the topic first.
— That’s right.
— Have you also seen the Grand Duchess-nim directly?
— Yes.
— W… weren’t you afraid? Though it’s a bit of a silly question…
— I wasn’t afraid.
The woman’s eyes opened wide.
— Is that possible? The other party is a dragon?
— ……..
— Oh dear, I keep committing discourtesies. Even so, for insignificant people like us, marrying a great Aspect is astonishing, so…
— It’s fine.
As she said, no one can understand what it means to be engaged to Valdrova.
Only Ferda knows what kind of existence she is.
— She possesses a wiser and warmer heart than any human, and I know because I saw it, so that is how it is.
— Is that so?
— Furthermore, she takes an interest in many things and makes an effort to understand and empathize.
The other side that only Ferda knows.
And the other side that he wants others to know.
That was why Ferda told the freckled young lady one by one.
The freckled young lady, who had been listening quietly, said this.
— Come to think of it, His Excellency the Regent also seems like a truly warm person.
— Eh?
He wondered what she was saying.
— It feels as if you love her to the bone.
— Why do you think that?
— When you talk about the Grand Duchess-nim, a smile appears on your face?
«Am I smiling?».
Ferda was surprised by that fact, and his concentrated steps became tangled because of it.
But it did not lead to a catastrophe.
The freckled young lady skillfully spun her body and corrected the off-beat step, returning it to normal.
Ferda naturally asked her.
— Am I smiling?
— Yes. Didn’t you know?
He didn’t know.
For Ferda, situations where he smiled at others were extremely rare, so it was surprising even to himself.
— Ah. My face is trying to go back to normal.
The young lady captured Ferda’s attention.
— Please smile like that. It shows that the person engaged to the Grand Duchess-nim is someone who knows how to love.
— Would that be better?
— Of course. Keep talking. About what kind of person Valdrova-nim is.
Hearing the freckled young lady’s words, Ferda’s expression relaxed naturally.
Following his heart, he revealed his true self and talked about Valdrova.
Shortly after, the piece ended.
— Thank you for granting this humble young lady the honor of dancing with His Excellency the Regent.
— Not at all, it is I who am grateful.
This was sincere.
The freckled young lady looked into his eyes, smiled slightly, and disappeared.
Seeing that, Ferda realized he had forgotten one thing.
«Come to think of it, I didn’t ask her name».
Since he had spent a truly comfortable time, he could not properly investigate her background.
But suddenly approaching and asking her name would be rude as well.
The dance was in full swing, so it would be fine to do it later.
Ferda moved according to the highest-priority scenario.
«Now I ask Olivia for a dance».
Scenario to resolve the scandal.
And be rejected, implying that the relationship is not romantically deep.
Ferda moved his body toward the Golden Rose table.
As planned, like strangers.
Showing that we have an acquaintance relationship, but without affection,
He extends his hand toward a single flower.
— As host, I would like to ask you for a dance, would you mind?
Olivia’s response, covering her mouth with a fan, was as expected.
— Yes.
— Yes, then… eh?
No,
— I would like to.
She shattered the scenario she had written herself.
— Let’s dance.