“...And that's how it happened.”
Sushia recounted the entire sequence of events to Li An in thorough detail.
How had a simple tea party somehow evolved into an unprecedentedly grand banquet of this scale?
And just what kind of prominent figures were going to attend?
As she reached this point in her explanation, tears welled in Sushia's eyes.
Now, the Duchess had completely washed her hands of the matter, leaving the heavy burden of hosting the banquet entirely on Sushia's shoulders.
Of course, the servants and the Duke would provide some assistance, but even so, she was clearly run ragged and overwhelmed.
But if Li An, who was currently the man of the hour, would step up and bolster her, things would be entirely different.
At the very least, it would put Sushia, the host of the banquet, much more at ease.
Having heard the whole story, Li An nodded.
“You really have had a hard time, Sushia.”
“You... you understand me?”
Sushia's eyes instantly welled with tears.
As expected, Li An was the only one who understood her!
“Of course! So, do your absolute best. I believe you will manage it perfectly.”
“Once the banquet is over, I'll come back to visit. Be sure to greet me with a smile then.”
“Minister! You can't leave!”
The prestigious young lady of a ducal household actually clung to Li An's leg, wailing.
Li An was startled.
“Let go!”
“No! No! I won't! Didn't we agree that we would walk to the ends of hell together?!”
“When did I ever agree to something like that?”
This was beyond pathetic.
It was as if she had stripped away the last shred of her dignity, completely throwing caution to the wind.
Yet no matter how much Sushia pleaded, Li An had absolutely no intention of staying.
Because there were far too many landmines buried in this banquet.
The Crown Prince of the empire alone was already a massive headache, not to mention the Second Princess, Serena—the very woman he had met in his persona as the “Prince of the Night.”
On top of that, there was also Elizabeth, who would be attending in her guise as the “Third Princess,” Isha.
Though Li An was confident he could avoid Serena, the mere thought of running face-to-face into Isha made his skin crawl.
So after weighing his options, Li An still felt that not attending was the most sensible choice.
“Well, I'll be off then...”
“Mm.”
Right at that moment, a heavyweight figure appeared in the drawing room.
The Duke of Senistia had arrived.
Li An immediately rose from his seat.
“Your Grace, it is an honor to meet you...”
“There is no need for such formalities.”
The Duke waved his hand.
But Li An didn't buy it so easily.
Having survived the corporate ladder for years and being deeply versed in the subtleties of social pleasantries, Li An instantly grasped the true meaning behind those words.
‘I might not remember who paid their respects, but I will definitely remember who didn't.’
And so, Li An immediately performed a salute to the Duke according to the highest standards of etiquette.
“Haha, the youth of today are indeed quite sensible.”
Success.
The Duke's mood was noticeably brighter as he sat down opposite Li An with a look of satisfaction.
“I hear my daughter has caused you a great deal of trouble at work?”
“Not at all...”
Was that really true?
How could Li An possibly answer that with a straight face?
While Li An was thick-skinned enough that spitting out a few pleasantries meant nothing to him...
...in this situation, claiming “not at all” would transcend mere politeness and become a barefaced lie worthy of going down in imperial history.
Li An remained silent for a moment.
But the Duke suddenly lowered his head.
“I am truly sorry, Li An.”
Li An was stunned.
He had never expected the other party to suddenly apologize and quickly lowered his own head in response.
“Your Grace, what is the meaning of this...?”
“My daughter has always been prone to mischief, and now she has thrust the weight of such a massive banquet onto you. As her father, I am truly ashamed.”
So that was it!
Li An finally understood.
No wonder the Duke had suddenly lowered himself like this.
He had clearly overheard the entire conversation between Li An and Sushia earlier.
Yet, he chose to play dumb, using the opportunity to establish “Li An attending the banquet” as an absolute certainty.
As expected of an imperial Duke.
No matter how amiable he appeared on the surface, pulling off these subtle schemes was as natural to him as breathing.
But Li An, of course, was not about to be led by the nose so easily.
“Speaking of which, the one who should truly be ashamed is me.”
“...Why is that?”
“Lady Sushia is both my subordinate and my friend. Now that she is facing such a huge predicament, as her superior, I cannot offer any assistance and must simply turn away.”
“If only my relative hadn't fallen so gravely ill recently... sigh!”
This was the ultimate technique that Li An had spent years mastering—the Sickness Technique.
When a relative was gravely ill, surely you couldn't force someone to stay?
What if they didn't go back, and the relative passed away?
Li An even inwardly issued a challenge:
‘Your Grace, how do you plan to counter this move?’
Hearing this, the Duke's face immediately softened into an expression of understanding.
“At our age, friends and relatives around us do indeed fall ill quite often. I understand completely.”
“...”
“You said your relative is sick? Tell me the address. I happen to know an exceptionally skilled priest; I will dispatch him right away.”
“...”
Li An fell silent.
Dammit.
This was a countermeasure that simply did not exist in modern society!
Since he had already used a sick relative as his excuse, he couldn't keep fabricating lies.
Left with no choice, Li An could only honestly hand over his relative's address.
At the same time, he silently offered a prayer for that relative, who was suddenly about to be visited by one of the empire's top priests.
A total defeat.
Was there really no way to outmaneuver this old fox?
Right at that moment—
Wait.
There was still one other way.
“Actually... I don't really want to attend this banquet.”
“...!”
“The pressure is simply too immense.”
Li An spoke in earnest:
“For a Fifth-Rank official to attend a banquet where the Crown Prince and two princesses are present—if I were to make even a minor slip in my words or actions, wouldn't it invite absolute disaster?”
“To be perfectly frank, this banquet is far beyond my capacity to handle.”
“I see.”
The Duke actually nodded readily.
“If that is the case, then there is no helping it.”
Li An forced down the rising corners of his mouth.
He had won.
He had actually bested this grand imperial Duke, who had navigated the political landscape for decades, in a war of words.
“In that case, I must start preparing for your wedding with Sushia. What do you think would be a suitable date?”
“...”
What in the world?
Li An's brain instantly short-circuited.
“What do you mean by that, Your Grace?”
“Didn't my daughter just cling to your leg and cry earlier?”
The Duke stated it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“Quite a few people witnessed it just now. If word of this gets out, who would ever dare to marry her in the future? Shouldn't you take responsibility when that time comes?”
Li An was utterly flabbergasted.
Was this the legendary medieval marriage threat?
Facing this kind of underhanded tactic for the first time, Li An felt his head spin.
“...I'll just attend the banquet.”
“A wise decision.”
Li An was escorted away to be groomed and dressed.
His hair and eyebrows were trimmed by the Duke's personal barber, and his outfit was tailored to fit his exact measurements.
Finally, they even patted a layer of powder onto his face to make his complexion look fairer.
“Wait! Stop patting! I can't breathe...”
“It'll be over in just a moment. Please bear with us.”
An hour later.
The grooming was finally finished.
The barber presented a mirror in front of Li An.
Standing in the reflection was a complete stranger.
How should one put it...
It was still the same face, but it felt as if a plain piece of bread had suddenly been smeared with premium butter and garnished with caviar.
His entire class had instantly skyrocketed.
“Wow...”
Sushia stood behind him, unable to suppress her admiration.
“You actually look somewhat like my type now.”
“Sorry, you're not my type.”
“That's so mean!”
Sushia was actually quite beautiful when dressed up in her formal gown.
But Li An knew her true nature all too well.
So no matter what, he simply couldn't bring himself to compliment her.
“The banquet is about to begin. I'll head out first, and you can come out a bit later.”
Sushia instructed.
“Remember, don't try to sneak away again. If you do, I will hunt you down to the ends of the earth!”
“Got it.”
With that, Sushia, the prestigious young lady of the Senistia family, finally left.
Next, the banquet officially commenced.
As the host, she likely wished she had ten legs to handle everything.
As for Li An...
“Since there's no rush to go out, I might as well bake some cookies first.”
Li An decided to requisition the kitchen.
Meanwhile.
Serena Barba was waiting.
She was an extremely pragmatic person.
No matter how grand the banquet hosted by the Duke of Senistia was, if it yielded no benefits for her, she would not attend so easily.
There were two reasons why she was willing to come in person this time.
First, to keep the Crown Prince in check.
She had to know who Kane was contacting recently and who he was getting close to.
Second, to search for useful talents.
Serena had established a vast intelligence network across the empire.
If someone had a weakness, she would use it to blackmail them.
If someone had a desire, she would swap it for what they wanted.
Such was Serena's way of doing things.
However, there were always exceptions.
Such as... Li An.
No matter how thoroughly she investigated him, she couldn't find a single blemish on his record.
She had even wondered if she could buy Li An over with money.
Yet that fellow actually claimed that all of his income was donated.
What kind of political monster was he?
Serena truly wanted to get to know him.
Was he truly the “Light of the Empire” as the populace claimed?
Or...
was he just a guy blessed with absurdly good luck?
Right at that moment—
“Li An Adolf has arrived!”
The attendant announced loudly.
Serena looked up.
She saw Li An walking slowly from a distance.
According to high-society noble customs, people of higher standing usually initiate the greetings with esteemed guests.
As the host, the Duke of Senistia stepped forward to welcome him first.
Right after him was Crown Prince Kane.
Serena, on the other hand, began observing Li An.
“B-Rank.”
Serena had her own evaluation system for talents, and “B-Rank” was her preliminary assessment of Li An.
His looks were good.
If the rumors were true, his capabilities were also quite exceptional.
However, since his background was ordinary, it was difficult to judge how far he could go for the time being.
In Serena's eyes, the current Li An could only be considered a B-Rank talent.
Of course.
Even if he was only B-Rank, he was still highly worthy of attention.
In Serena's opinion, most of the noble young lords of the empire who were born with silver spoons in their mouths couldn't even reach C-Rank or D-Rank.
The surrounding noble young ladies also began to frequently cast their gazes toward Li An.
Yet at this very moment, Li An was doing his utmost to avoid Serena's gaze.
Unluckily for him, Serena had already made her way over on her own initiative.
She stopped before Li An, wearing a faint smile.
“Would you care to accompany me for a dance?”
Serena's eyes gleamed slightly.
She had already made up her mind.
‘If you are willing to align yourself with me, I will back you.’
‘I will elevate you from B-Rank to A-Rank.’
She had never once imagined that she would be rejected.
At least, not until this very moment.
“My apologies.”
Li An's expression remained completely unchanged.
“My legs are feeling a bit uncomfortable.”
“...”
“So, if you would please excuse me.”
With that...
Li An turned and walked away.
Leaving Serena Barba standing all by herself, completely stranded in the middle of the dance floor.
Rate on N.U.
