Following Megis’ appearance, there were still several marquis and even dukes who showed up.
Some of them were important nobles with statuses on par with Megis, while others were even former royalty of the same generation as Ancil. The fact that one after another all showed up at this banquet is something that utterly befuddled many nobles watching.
“How is this possible?”
“Lord Latrard coming is at least understandable. He had been supporting this person since the very start, but why would other marquis and even dukes show up?”
“This is illogical!”
Many nobles were shocked, even panicked in some cases.
They never imagined that Shien would actually have such wide connections. That he had enough power to make so many marquis or even dukes show up. This was just too unbelievable.
How could they possibly know though?
Those marquis and dukes obviously had no relations whatsoever with Shien. Some didn’t even get an invitation. However, what they did know was that Shien had Lucy’s favor, and they also knew just what kind of status Shien had within the Kingdom after gaining the black dragon of Ataru.
Therefore, they won’t be treating Shien like a normal viscount.
In such a situation, so long as those high nobility didn’t have a major grudge against Shien, then they would all try to at least show their faces and establish some relations with Shien in order to smooth out further interactions in the future.
A point that bears repeating is that not all nobles disliked Shien. There were even some who, despite disliking him in the past, after learning of Shien’s abilities and potential, they immediately purged any thoughts that they shouldn’t have had and switched tracks completely to instead try to forge a friendly relationship with Shien.
That’s what nobility is like.
The smart nobles will all act that way. There are no eternal enemies, nor will they slight someone to the point of no return when they don’t see any chance of victory.
So long as there are advantages to be had, then even switching from foe to friends is merely an extremely common occurrence. The opposite of course is also true.
Thus, those nobles who were originally planning on laughing at Shien not only had no way of achieving their goals anymore, they were even guaranteed a great shock.
After all, near the end, even Bali came with Limgir in tow.
“Let’s go.”
Bali spoke emotionlessly to Limgir at his side.
“Yes.”
Limgir took on an utterly submissive attitude, making it so that no one could see through his true thoughts.
They had to appear in this banquet.
For one, they also wanted to see Shien’s own political backings after becoming nobility from a close distance. For two, Limgir had already established a friendly relationship with Shien, even if it’s only on the surface.
If Limgir didn’t show up, then that would basically be telling Shien that all his friendly actions from before were merely an act.
Add in that Bali himself also wanted to confuse Shien some. He wanted to give Shien the impression that Bali didn’t truly consider Shien an enemy and that Bali is already planning on switching from an adversarial relationship to a friendly one. That way, Shien might lower his guard against Bali. This was why Bali decided to show up at this banquet.
This is also proof that the banquet this night is filled with all sorts of plots and calculations.
It’s not like everyone who showed up is on Shien’s side. Those people also may not be part of Shien’s connections at all. There may even be people who are secretly planning to stab Shien in the back, and that was the only reason that they’ve shown up.
Of course, none of those considerations are things that outsides could actually guess at.
In the eyes of outsiders, they would only end up additional points contributing to Shien’s legend.
Thus, Bali and Limgir were also lead by a beautiful maid into the Bayztrot home.
Afterwards, several other marquis and ducal families also arrived one after another. By then though, the watching nobles were already numb to it all.
At this point, the scale of this particular banquet can already match up or even exceed the ennobling banquets held by the more notable dukes.
Until…
“T-that’s the royal family’s exclusive carriage!”
Following a shocked gasp, everyone saw a magnificent carriage arrive.
Then, several people got off of the carriage.
“It looks like we came a little late.”
The Kingdom’s first princess, Liadella, smiled as she looked at the bustling Baytrot home.
“Your highness, please watch your steps.”
Charl, the prodigy of the Vladina, the daughter of the vice captain of the Royal Knights, and currently the personal knight of the first princess reminded her lady, who was wearing a formal dress with high heels.
“There really are a lot of people who have come. We should be able to see quite a few familiar faces, Aldia.”
The current King of the Kingdom, Ancilfrig, who just granted Shien his noble title today spoke to the knight by his side with a gentle smile.
“Please be careful of the crowds, your majesty. Please don’t allow any exploitable openings.”
Aldia, the head of the Arbin family, the captain of the Royal Knights, the legendary knight of the kingdom, and the one known as the strongest of humanity spoke up with a calm tone. It was as if all the rowdiness around him had nothing to do with him at all.
And naturally, Lucy had also come.
Today, Lucy had taken off her normal clothes and instead switched to a pure white party dress. She didn’t bring a sword with her, and she even wore a veil on her head. She was like a goddess of purity who has descended from the heavens, entrancing in her beauty.
All the nobles around were utterly stunned. Even the noise around them had died down quite a bit, giving the area an atmosphere of awe.
“Princess Lucilosti…”
“My gods…”
“So beautiful…”