Chapter 124
The Beginning of Spring Festival
No sooner had Ferda finished his speech than several nobles approached him.
“It is an honor to meet you, Regent Valdrova. Your speech was truly inspiring.”
“I spoke rather hastily, so I am unsure whether I conveyed my meaning properly.”
“What are you saying? Your words deeply moved me! I sincerely wish to take part in that magnificent dream of yours, Regent!”
Most merely expressed their approval and praised it as a fine address, but a few reacted passionately, as though they had genuinely been inspired.
Middle-aged men thought with their heads, but young men thought with their hearts.
Within those hearts, heroes were still embarking upon adventures and making their way toward princesses imprisoned in castles.
Ferda, meanwhile, reflected upon his own speech with his head.
That was so embarrassing I could die.
Hope and friendship?
They were empty flourishes that did not suit Ferda in the slightest.
He could scarcely imagine such things, much less write a speech about them.
Only someone experienced in politics could have crafted something like that.
Ferda glanced toward the ambitious woman responsible.
Olivia Arken.
She stood beside a circular table near the banquet host’s seat.
Naturally, she was not alone.
She was mingling with the daughters of other high-ranking nobles.
Was it called the Golden Rose Society?
It was a social circle centered around Olivia Arken.
Ferda had been told that it existed to drive away men who tried to approach her.
Olivia, the Golden Rose, was protected by the thorns and leaves surrounding her.
Ferda watched her smile.
It looked thoroughly artificial.
How strange.
When she smiled at him, he had never sensed that kind of pretense.
Perhaps her acting has simply improved since then.
After receiving greetings from all the nobles crowding around him, Ferda approached Olivia.
He needed to follow the scenario she had devised.
“Thank you for your assistance with the Beginning of Spring Festival.”
“Not at all. It was my honor to be of help.”
“Then I hope you enjoy the festivities.”
Olivia smiled faintly and tilted her head.
Ferda moved on without saying anything unnecessary.
Their interaction was clean and restrained, nothing like that of a man and woman rumored to be involved in a scandal.
She is handling it well.
Privately satisfied with her assistance, Ferda made a brief circuit of the banquet hall and exchanged greetings with the guests.
The event was ostensibly a banquet for everyone, but separating knights from nobles was an unspoken custom.
Their clothing made the distinction clear.
The nobles wore lavish attire, while the knights wore comparatively modest vests.
Among the knights, Ferda noticed two familiar faces.
Zed and Malcolm.
“Your speech was truly impressive, Regent.”
“I-it was incredible! Really!”
Despite wearing similar clothing, the two gave entirely different impressions.
Zed looked stylish and refined regardless of what he wore, while Malcolm somehow resembled a country bumpkin in everything.
William would have been perfect for an occasion like this.
William was so disciplined that even Ferda considered him an exemplary man.
Ferda had wanted him to attend, but William had politely declined.
His sense of duty as captain of the guard compelled him to remain awake throughout the festival and oversee security.
It was regrettable, but Ferda needed to respect his decision.
“Regent, may I have your ear for a moment?”
Despite the broad smile on Zed’s face, a disgruntled complaint emerged from his mouth.
“How much longer are you going to let this fellow shadow me?”
“Shadow you?”
“Whenever I try to go anywhere, he asks, ‘Where are you going, Sir Zed?’ and follows me around.”
“Is that so?”
“If I want to shake him off, I’ll have to say I’m carrying out a secret mission, won’t I? But then that bastard might tell everyone about it. And then it wouldn’t be a secret mission anymore, would it?”
Zed glared at Ferda with bloodshot eyes brought on by stress.
Ferda did not particularly care about Zed’s suffering, but his argument had merit.
“Go. I will deal with him.”
“Then I’ll be on my way.”
Zed hurried off, moving so quickly that Ferda could not tell whether he felt relieved of a heavy burden or was simply fleeing before Malcolm noticed.
“Huh? Where did Sir Zed go?”
“He forgot something, so I sent him on an errand.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Do not go looking for him. Why not mingle with the other knights?”
“Ah... Well...”
Malcolm awkwardly scratched his head.
“Was I... getting in Sir Zed’s way after all? I was hoping to ask for his help because I’m unfamiliar with gatherings like this, but... I suppose I annoyed him.”
So that was why Malcolm had been shadowing him.
“You once served as a knight of the imperial palace. Are you saying you have never attended an event like this?”
“You’re the only person who has ever invited me to one, Regent... I wasn’t even allowed to attend my own knighting ceremony. They merely gave me my letter of appointment. So I naturally assumed I would spend the Beginning of Spring Festival at the barracks, eating leftovers and going to sleep. But then you invited me. I wanted to conduct myself properly so I wouldn’t embarrass you... I hoped to ask Sir Zed what I should do, but it seems I only bothered him.”
Malcolm might have spent his entire life unable to approach the rank of a knight, but his tenacity surpassed anyone else’s.
Ferda had been considering sending him back to his room, but he could no longer bring himself to do so.
“You would feel more comfortable carrying out an order than socializing at a place like this, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes! If it’s something I can do, I’ll do anything!”
Malcolm practically wagged his tail like an eager farm puppy greeting the morning.
“Then I will give you an order.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Watch for any incidents that might occur here. Understood?”
“And then I should deal with them?”
“There is no need to intervene. Simply watch. Eat some food and drink something while you do it. Understood?”
“Yes, sir! Understood.”
Malcolm accepted the order, although he belatedly sensed that something about it was strange.
The doubt soon vanished, however, as he decided that all he needed to do was follow his instructions.
In practice, nothing had changed from before Ferda gave him the order.
Yet the aimlessness surrounding Malcolm had disappeared.
With that, Ferda considered the matter settled.
After passing one unfamiliar person after another, he finally spotted someone he knew.
It was Arwon.
His name had not originally been on the guest list, but Ferda had deliberately added him.
“Arwon Wolfheart, knight of Consilus County, greets the Regent. Thank you for inviting me to the Beginning of Spring Festival.”
“Count Consilus is rather fond of you. Shouldn’t I lend you a hand?”
“To say that he is fond of me would be absurd.”
Count Consilus had never explicitly asked him to do anything, but Ferda knew how much he treasured Arwon.
The count was an elderly man and would need someone to inherit his territory.
Someday, Arwon would be acknowledged not merely as a knight but as Ulvera Consilus’s adopted son, and he would inherit the county.
Therefore, Arwon needed to become Ferda’s ally, and Ferda needed to look after him.
“Zed told me that there is a woman you have feelings for.”
“W-well... Nothing has really developed between us yet...”
It was precisely the sort of reaction one would expect from an inexperienced bachelor who knew nothing but swords and honor.
Arwon discreetly glanced somewhere.
A woman in a green dress met his gaze and smiled brightly.
Ferda had undoubtedly seen that somewhat naïve-looking young lady at the Grand Council.
“She is from the Purity ducal family.”
“Yes. She is their third daughter.”
She resembled a princess from a fairy tale.
Not in a flattering sense. Rather, there was something vacant and naïve about her.
Unlike the sharp-minded eldest and second daughters, who had been strategically cultivated into weapons, she appeared to have been left unattended inside a greenhouse.
In other words, she possessed little value as a political asset.
Arwon was unlikely to suffer much hardship because of her.
Still, Ferda offered him a warning just in case.
“Do not do anything inappropriate here.”
“Of course not. Why would I cause trouble here?”
“If you must do something, wait until you return to the county.”
“What? Ah... Understood.”
Arwon did not understand Ferda’s meaning.
Once their conversation ended, he approached the duke’s daughter.
Arwon smiled awkwardly, and the young lady smiled sweetly in return.
Watching them made Ferda’s heart ache for no reason.
Some people could not even hold hands with their fiancées, while others were happily enjoying themselves...
It must be this atmosphere.
What had things been like when Ferda attended parties before his regression?
No one had approached him when he arrived as a guest.
It had been as though they had sent him an invitation merely as a formality, only to become uncomfortable when he actually attended.
I was exactly like Malcolm.
Perhaps that was why Ferda had unconsciously sympathized with him.
He had experienced it himself and understood the feeling.
Even now, Ferda felt lonely.
No—he felt even lonelier than he had back then.
It was as though he had left half of himself somewhere else.
Shortly afterward, the orchestra played a signal.
The guests had been given enough time to laugh and converse. Now it was time to truly enliven the atmosphere.
The ball was beginning.
Well-dressed bees moved about, hovering around the flowers that caught their fancy.
My duty as host.
Ferda searched among the flowers the bees had ignored and found a quiet young woman.
She was thin, with black hair and a face covered in freckles.
She was neither particularly beautiful nor ugly. More than anything, she possessed an inconspicuous appearance.
Naturally, Ferda had no idea which family she belonged to.
He approached her and extended his hand.
“As the host, I would like to invite you to dance. Would that be acceptable?”
The freckled young lady looked around before pointing at herself.
“My, do you truly mean to dance with someone like me?”
“It would be a shame if you could not enjoy yourself at such a wonderful gathering.”
“If you have no objections, Regent, I would be delighted.”
The freckled young lady shyly took his hand.
Once most of the guests had found partners, the orchestra moved from the prelude into the main piece.
It was not an intense dance, but a gentle waltz.
The volume was carefully adjusted so that the men and women could converse as they danced.
Each pair began exchanging questions about their identities and backgrounds.
Ferda, however, said nothing.
He believed that he merely needed to fulfill his duty as host, so he saw no reason to engage in idle conversation.
“You are engaged to Lady Valdrova, aren’t you?”
The freckled young lady introduced the first topic herself.
“I am.”
“Have you seen Her Highness the Princeps in person?”
“Yes.”
“Were you... not frightened? I realize that may be a foolish question...”
“I was not.”
The woman’s eyes widened.
“How is that possible? She is a dragon.”
“...”
“My, I keep saying discourteous things. But to insignificant people like us, the thought of someone marrying a great Aspect is so extraordinary...”
“It is fine.”
As she said, no one else could understand Ferda’s engagement to Valdrova.
Ferda alone knew what kind of person she truly was.
“She possesses greater wisdom and a warmer heart than any human. I know that because I have witnessed it myself.”
“Is that so?”
“She is also interested in many things and constantly strives to understand and empathize with others.”
It was a side of Valdrova known only to Ferda.
And it was a side he wanted others to know.
So Ferda began telling the freckled young woman about her, one detail at a time.
After listening quietly, she said,
“Now that I look at you, Regent, you seem like a remarkably warm person too.”
“Pardon?”
Ferda did not understand what she meant.
“I can tell that you love her with every part of your being.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Whenever you speak about Her Highness, a smile appears on your face.”
I’m smiling?
The revelation startled Ferda, causing the steps on which he had been concentrating to become tangled.
Fortunately, it did not lead to disaster.
The freckled young lady turned gracefully and skillfully guided their mismatched rhythm back into place.
Ferda naturally asked,
“Am I truly smiling?”
“Yes. Didn’t you know?”
He had not.
Ferda so rarely smiled in front of others that the realization surprised even him.
“Ah, your face is returning to normal.”
The young lady drew Ferda’s attention back to it.
“Please keep smiling like that. Show everyone that the man engaged to Her Highness knows how to love.”
“Do you think that would be better?”
“Of course. Please continue telling me about Lady Valdrova—about the kind of person she is.”
At the freckled young lady’s words, the tension naturally left Ferda’s expression.
Following his heart, he revealed his true self and continued speaking about Valdrova.
A short while later, the music ended.
“Thank you for granting an insignificant young lady like me the honor of dancing with you, Regent.”
“No. I should be the one thanking you.”
He sincerely meant it.
The freckled young lady met his eyes, offered him a gentle smile, and disappeared into the crowd.
As Ferda watched her leave, he realized that he had forgotten something.
Come to think of it, I never asked her name.
He had been so comfortable speaking with her that he had neglected to inquire about her identity and background.
Yet suddenly approaching her to ask her name would be discourteous.
The ball was still underway, so he could ask her after it ended.
For now, Ferda proceeded according to his highest-priority scenario.
Now I must ask Olivia to dance.
It was the scenario meant to resolve the scandal.
Olivia would reject him, implying that their relationship was not romantically intimate.
Ferda walked toward the table where the Golden Rose stood.
Just as planned, he approached her like a mere acquaintance.
His conduct showed that although they knew each other, he held no affection for her.
Then he extended his hand toward the solitary flower.
“As the host, I would like to invite you to dance. Would that be acceptable?”
Olivia covered her mouth with her fan.
Her response came exactly as anticipated.
“Yes.”
“Yes, then... What?”
“I would be delighted.”
She had personally destroyed the scenario she had devised.
“Let us dance.”