Entering the banquet, the first thing that we saw was several groups of nobles gathered together and talking in low voices.
But despite their low voices, the high number of people in the hall made it crowded and noisy.
You could hardly listen clearly to what someone two meters away from you was saying. It was like a buzzing background typical of crowded places.
Just after we arrived, Headmistress Evelyn left to greet some familiar people; and not much later, Mia was taken away by some noble ladies, leaving Dina, Louise, and me behind (Daisy could not enter the banquet hall because she was a servant, so she stayed outside).
Several nobles came to greet us just after that. Some of them were cordial, others were polite, and some others were hiding their sneers behind their smiles.
Most of them, though, were looking at Dina and me with a bit of pity in their eyes.
After all, Dina's recent actions were an open secret. It was a known fact that she had been recruiting nobles into her faction to aim for the throne.
However, the emperor's actions afterward to get her a fiancée ruined everything.
It showed the emperor's will to not give Dina's the slightest chance to compete for the throne.
"… I wonder how they will react after what is going to happen today." A soft voice came from behind us at that moment.
Turning around, we saw a familiar white-haired young girl.
"Alice." I nodded at her.
"Hello, Prince Claus. It's nice to see you again."
"Same here." I smiled at the young seer before greeting the people behind her.
Unlike usual, the blonde knight, Hannah, and the middle-aged butler, Aaron, were not accompanying Alice this time. After all, servants were not allowed to participate in the banquet.
Instead of them, a handsome middle-aged man and a beautiful middle-aged woman came with her.
"Prince Claus, Princess Dina, I'm pleasured to meet the two of you again." A handsome middle-aged man with features slightly similar to Alice smiled gently.
"The pleasure is ours, Earl Ferret." Dina returned the greeting.
Yes, the two people behind Alice were her father and mother, Chris Ferret and Greta Swan.
We were not very familiar with them, however, we had met them before on a pair of occasions.
Strangely, though, neither the earl nor his wife behaved as the person in charge. Instead, they seemed to follow Alice's orders.
Dina and the others were slightly startled by that, but I found it normal.
after all, Alice is a seer. People of her kind are power-hungry and control freaks. I would have found it stranger if she had not taken control of her family after so long.
Well, that is not important now.
While Alice and her parents were talking with us, more guests arrived at the hall. Among them, I saw Saintess Safelia followed by two Archbishops.
When Safelia noticed me, she glared at me for several seconds before looking away.
Through our connection, though, I understood that she was trying to communicate something.
Be careful, and something is strange with the church today.
I nodded to myself. In fact, I had already noticed it.
After all, I did not see my fiancée, Clara, coming to the banquet. That in itself is strange.
Clara is the holy daughter of the church. Normally, she should attend this kind of event on behalf of the church.
The fact that she is not here is already suspicious in itself.
Alice and her parents excused themselves at that moment; and after them, Dina and Louise walked off as well to greet some familiar nobles. In the end, I was left alone.
Well, some people came to talk to me as well. But to be honest, it was very boring.
I shook my head with a wry smile, grabbed a nearby cup of wine, and started to walk around.
Soon, I noticed several interesting things.
Like the powerful magic circle hidden in the hall.
Or another magic circle surrounding the hall.
Of the two, one should be a teleporting magic circle and the other should be a barrier to stop the emperor from escaping.
Both magic circles were very well-hidden and they did not need the slightest mana fluctuation. However, they only needed a small trigger to be activated.
Hehe, how interesting.
It looks like Alan is well-prepared for today's party.
Just as I was walking around and observing the situation, I heard a commotion coming from nearby.
I looked in that direction only to see two people glaring at each other with ice-cold faces and talking in hushed tones.
More surprisingly, I was familiar with both of them. In fact, one of them came with me.
Mia Hera. My beautiful and sexy mother-in-law.
And the man in front of her was her husband, Earl Carlson Riea.
Judging by the situation, it seemed like Earl Riea was angry after seeing his wife here, and Mia was enraged by the fact her husband was treating her like this in public.
I put on a curious expression and extended my senses in that direction.
"… We are not related to each other anymore, Carlson." Mia said coldly. "Stop interfering with my affairs."
"Stop! Do you think that I don't know what you are intending to do here? Stop it, woman. You should know that it's useless, and you will only bring shame to our house."
"Shame? Haha, that is the only thing that you care about, right?" Mia's voice was laced with disdain. "Don't worry, I'll divorce you if you want to. Anyway, it's not like I want to continue being your wife."
"You…" Earl Riea's face turned livid. But then, he noticed that the people in the surroundings were directing their gazes towards them.
Taking a deep breath, the earl calmed down before looking at Mia with a frown.
"Anyway, how did you enter the hall? I don't think you were invited."
"You don't need to know."
"I do." The earl growled. "If you don't want to tell me, I'll just ask the guards." He then tried to grab Mia's wrist and pull her towards the guards.
But before he could, someone's hand stopped him in his tracks.
"… Earl, you should not treat a woman that way." I said with a slight smile on my face.
"Prince Claus…"
"Long time no see you. How have you been, father-in-law?"
"… Don't dare to call me again like that, Prince. I don't want to make a scene right now."
"Wow, father-in-law. You are so harsh."
Earl Carlson wrinkled his brows and his expression turned dark. However, he did not respond to my teasings.
Instead, he looked at my hand which was grabbing his wrist with a sullen gaze. "What do you think you are doing, Prince? Are you going to interfere with the affairs of my family?"
"Of course not, father-in-law." I chuckled. "However, mother-in-law came here as my partner. So I have more than enough reasons to intervene when you are treating her this way."
"Your partner?" Earl Riea was startled.
But in the next second, his expression turned incredibly cold and filled with killing intent.
Taking a deep breath, he glared at Mia with a face filled with wrath.
"Is it true?"
"… It is." Mia said coldly. "I came here as his partner."
"Is it so?" Earl Riea nodded as though he finally understood something. "I see. In other words, you became into a slut of Prince Claus as well, huh. Just like your daughter."
Mia was stunned.
But in the next instant–
*Slap!*
Angrily, Mia slapped Earl Riea's face.
Then, she glared at him with so much hatred that it seemed as though she wanted to kill him.
"I can't believe you said something like that."
Without waiting for Earl Riea's reply, Mia turned around and left.
Meanwhile, I looked at Earl Riea with an amused smile.
I mean, I understand that Mia came here as my partner and that it usually means that we are in a romantic relationship. However, anyone can see that it's just an excuse so Mia can enter the banquet hall.
The truth is that I have not put my hands on my mother-in-law (not yet at least).
Although to be honest, I can understand why Earl Riea reacted in the way he did. I mean, his wife left him and went to live in the house of his greatest enemy, and afterward, she even appeared in the emperor's banquet as his greatest enemy's partner.
It was as though she was mocking him.
Thinking about that, I could not help but chuckle.
But when the Earl heard my chuckle, he was unable to continue suppressing his hatred.
"You…"
Mana filled with killing intent started to leak out of his body, intimidating the people around him as his eyes turned bloodshot and he looked at me.
But when it seemed like he was going to attack me, a voice came from the entrance.
"Please, let's welcome His Majesty the Emperor, Grand Quintin, and Her Majesty the Empress, Lilia Quintin."
The banquet had finally started.