"Now entering! Lady Allina Crest, Second Daughter of Viscount Miles Crest! Young Master Lucas, First Disciple of Marquess Celestina Balfour!"
Resisting the temptation to rub his ears after the overly loud shout from the guard standing at the hall’s entrance, Lucas stepped inside together with Allina to an unexpected sight.
How, in any way, is this a small banquet? Lucas wondered to himself seeing a huge room with tables to seat at least 200 people, as well as what appeared to be a wide-open dance floor, all of which was illuminated by a couple dozen custom built Spirit Lamp chandeliers hanging from the 5 tres tall ceiling.
All around the ballroom, people were mulling about, talking to one another; so were seated at the tables, others were standing before the tall windows which looked out over the Belton. There were even a few who looked like they were just walking around, crystal wine glass in hand, mingling with whoever they happened to bump into.
One thing that stood out to Lucas in particular was that aside from the guards and a few military types who were dressed in polished armour, almost everyone in attendance was in attire similar to what he and Allina were wearing.
Most, in fact, were dressed even more opulently, with puffier collars, flashier jewelry, bigger skirts, or pointier shoes than them.
It was, quite frankly, a gaudy display.
I should see if I can find a tailor or two and try passing them so of the designs from the other universe, Lucas made a note to himself.
Keeping the look of distaste on his face to the barest minimum possible, Lucas walked over with Allina and greeted the hosts of the evening.
"Hahaha, Young Master Lucas, Lady Crest, co co, let introduce you to my family," Count Carlson beckoned with great zeal.
Surrounding the middle-aged man were a large number of people, so of whom Lucas recognized, others he was eting for the first ti.
Mathias, like most powerful male nobles, had more than one wife; but, unlike so who drowned in debauchery like Richard Baker, Count Carlson only had 2 official partners, one of whom Lucas had t previously as she served as the Elder responsible for the family’s finances, a rather important position.
Between his 2 wives, Mathias had a total of 7 children, 3 of which Lucas had already t: the eldest son, a Spirit Initiate who commanded the Carlson Family’s ard forces, the second daughter, who oversaw the family’s smithing industries, and the youngest son, who had delivered the summons for the council eting to Lucas and Allina earlier that evening.
5 of the Count’s children had partners and children of their own.
In total, Mathias’ imdiate family consisted of 18 individuals, with his Direct Descendants ranging from 12 to 75 years old, and that wasn’t even counting the Count’s siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, elders, etc.
Needless to say, it took a bit for Mathias to introduce each and every one of his family mbers to Lucas and Allina.
Sothing that caught Lucas’ attention, though, was that while about half of the Carlson’s were relatively friendly in their attitude, the other half seed to be holding so kind of grudge against him.
Regardless, Lucas greeted each mber of the Count’s family politely.
The whole affair took about 5 minutes to complete, and by the end of it, Lucas wasn’t totally sure he rembered all the nas he had been given despite his mory being far sharper than ordinary.
It was all a bit too much for him.
Lucas was about to excuse himself, when he suddenly noticed that one particular individual was missing. Turning to Mathias, he couldn’t help asking, "Pardon , Count Carlson, but where might the Supre Elder be?"
Mathias and the rest of the older mbers of his family, as well as many of the nearby Elders, froze up for an instant at Lucas’ question, but they all quickly recovered, with one of the Count’s wives taking the initiative to explain, "Supre Elder Elizabeth decided her presence here would be... counterproductive to fostering a relaxed atmosphere, so she volunteered to stand guard over the city for tonight instead."
Raising his brow slightly, Lucas found this excuse both reasonable and unreasonable all at once. While it was true that having Elizabeth Carlson around would make many from Iron Rock feel a bit tense, surely the benefits of her attending would outweigh such minor discomfort.
There’s no way anyone from the Carlson Family can order their Supre Elder around, so the only explanation is that the old woman didn’t want to be here for so reason, Lucas quickly concluded.
As for what that reason might be, he didn’t bother to speculate as it wasn’t his concern. He had already spoken extensively with the Carlson Family Supre Elder today and secured her full support, so while she was a pleasant conversation partner, there wasn’t a need to see her again imdiately.
Thinking so, Lucas smiled politely and nodded, "I see. In that case, we can all rest easy with the Supre Elder protecting our safety."
"Too true, too true," Count Carlson readily agreed before shifting the subject again, "You must be interested in eting with the other guests gathered here tonight, Young Master Lucas."
"Indeed," Lucas didn’t try to deny the charge, even going so far as to say, "I was planning on doing that right now, in fact. After all, this may be a social event, but it is also a precious opportunity to network and secure cooperation from the powerful local rchants and nobles."
"En," Mathias nodded, signaling to one of his grandchildren, "Audrey, accompany Young Master Lucas around."
"Uh," Lucas instinctually wanted to reject this offer, but before he could, a young girl, probably just 12 or 13 years old, swiftly stood up, curtseyed to her grandfather with a big smile, then gently grabbed the young boy’s arm and tugged him away from the head table.
Darting his eyes towards his supposed partner for the evening, hoping she would rescue him, all Lucas got was a smirk from Allina, as well as a casual, "Enjoy yourself."
Damn you! I’ll rember this! Lucas silently scread inside his head.
"So, Young Master Lucas," Audrey began in a polite, friendly, almost familiar tone, "Grandfather told before to take you anywhere you wish to go, and introduce you to anyone you want to et. Where would you like to start?"
How about we start with you letting go of my arm? Lucas almost unconsciously blurted out.
Lucas wasn’t arrogant enough to believe he was a pri catch, and that girls would just throw themselves at him; however, he also wasn’t naïve enough to believe Count Carlson wouldn’t try to send his prettiest granddaughter who was closest to his age to try to beco... friendly, with him.
Whether the Count’s objective was to probe his reaction, extract so information, or forge a political alliance sohow, Lucas didn’t know, but as long as such possibilities remained, he had to be cautious.
Wait, do I really need to be so careful? Lucas suddenly thought to himself.
As long as he didn’t do sothing stupid or make so foolish promise he shouldn’t, couldn’t he just treat this little girl the sa way he treated Eris or Tina?
Thinking so, Lucas relaxed a bit and smiled back at the girl who was just slightly taller than him, "Thank you for accompanying , Lady Audrey. I don’t have any particular individual in mind, so please just introduce to whoever you think is appropriate."
"En!" Audrey’s smile brightened further, gripping Lucas’ arm even tighter, seemingly very enthusiastic about this task of hers.
And so, Lucas was dragged around the banquet hall for the better part of the next hour, during which ti Audrey Carlson proved herself to be a true social butterfly despite her young age.
She seed to be familiar with all the big rchants, nobles, and other important figures in Iron Rock, and was obviously adored by many of these older n and won, almost like she was so kind of child celebrity.
Lucas, for his part, held several productive conversations with key figures of the city, either securing support from them for the evacuation plan, or at least scheduling etings for the following day where they could talk in a more formal setting.
Only once he felt his throat becoming a bit parched from all the talking did Lucas ask his new host where the refreshnts were.
Audrey, seemingly having waited for exactly this mont, pulled Lucas with great zeal over to a table set up on the far side of the hall with glasses of water, juice, and wine.
As soon as the pair of children secured their drinks, and Audrey had found them a quiet place sowhat out of the way, the teenage girl finally couldn’t contain herself anymore, grabbed Lucas’ hand tightly with her own, and stared into his eyes, leaning in far closer than would normally be considered polite.
Having interacted with this girl for the past hour or so, Lucas discerned that she was truly invested in helping him, but not because she had so kind of interest in him personally.
There seed to be sothing she wanted from him, though he had no idea what.
It was for this reason that instead of becoming flustered with the young girl’s forward attitude, Lucas simply smiled back at her and asked, "Is there sothing I can do for you, Lady Audrey?"
Nodding her head vigorously, Audrey at last blurted out the question she had been burning to ask ever since she heard about this young boy, "Lucas! What’s it like being Lady Celestina’s Disciple?!"
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