Strange faces, endless chatter, stifling air… such were the things that permeated the environment I found myself in.
To say I was shocked would be an understatement.
"T-this is…" I mumbled, not knowing how to address what was meant to be my party.
"Do you like it, Jared? I made sure to invite everyone from our territory, at least, those who could make it." Anabelle, my diabolical mother asked me.
I wanted to give her a crude face and question her decision, but upon meeting her excited gaze and innocent smile, I decided against it.
'This woman…' I gritted my teeth powerlessly.
"Of course, mom. I love it." A kind, cheerful voice leaked out of my lips.
Embarrassing as it was, I had to play the part. We had guests, after all.
The guests we had numbered hundreds, but our large hall was more than enough to accommodate them. It took the shape of a ball, or a standing party, where no chairs were in sight. Light meals such as cakes, sweets, and cookies were served.
The sweet scent of their milky flavor wafted in the air, coupled with the strong and bold whiff of wine. Yes, alcohol! Of course, there was no way I would be given any since I was a child, but the temptation remained in my eyes.
'How long has it been?!' I licked my lips as I enviously eyed the geezers who fully enjoyed themselves in the sweet goodness of booze.
I loved Magic, but… wine was also very close to my heart.
"Come now, Jared. We need to greet the guests." My mom dragged me along with her, moving toward some exquisitely dressed personalities.
'Haa, here we go!'
Moving from one place to another, without rest, my mother and I showed our courtesy to the very important guests at the event. Nobles from other families, important stakeholders in my family's business, merchants, and several others.
It was mentally exhausting to do the same thing over and over again.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir. Whatever your name is. I'm overjoyed that you could make it to this event."
My facial muscles were already tired of the false smiles and repetitive greetings I gave strangers whom I hardly knew.
"Are you tired, Jared?" My mother suddenly asked, snapping me out of my exhausted daze.
Of course, I couldn't show weakness in front of her, so I stiffened up and gave her a warm smile, hurting my face even more.
"No way, I'm fine mo-"
"You don't have to pretend when it's just you and me, Jared." She interrupted my words.
Her response stunned me.
"Want me to tell you a secret?" Anabelle asked.
Still stunned by her response, but curious about what she wanted to say, I nodded. She smiled, beckoning me to draw closer to her as she brought her face to my ears.
"To be honest, I'm tired too!"
Quickly retracting her face from my ears, I saw her wince and yawn, stretching her hands playfully. This made me burst into little snickers, turning into laughter in no time.
"Really? Mother too?"
"Yep, I'd rather be in my room reading or cuddling you in my arms." She pinched my cheeks as she smiled.
"If this is so exhausting why do we do it, then?" I asked, still chuckling while rubbing my reddened cheeks.
"It's unavoidable. Noble's etiquette and whatnot. But if you ask me, it's just an excuse for false interactions and building connections. I don't even know half of the people here." Anabelle told me.
"Ah, for real?!"
I was surprised by this. I was no noble in my past life, so I didn't know anything much about their internal affairs. I had many noble acquaintances, but it wasn't like I was really interested in politics or the kind of life they lived.
"Yeah. It's all pretense, you know? Many of them are here to size us up, spy on us, or even try to curry our favor and build connections. It's all hypocrisy." She said, sighing.
'Welp, this is news to me.'
However, for this custom to have been passed down for generations, even back when I was still alive, it meant that no Noble could avoid the shackles of pretense.
"Do you know why I'm telling you all this?" Anabelle asked with a warm smile.
If I had to guess, it would have had to do with the fact that I was a growing noble, and was soon going to go through something so exhausting in the future.
"It's so that you won't imitate your father and leave your wife all alone to handle things like this when you grow up!"
'E-eh…?'
I certainly wasn't expecting that.
Looking at Anabelle's face, she appeared to be pouting. Did she miss my father? Perhaps she was upset at him. No matter what case it happened to be, it was still so very cute.
"Ah, I need some air. I think I'll be off to take a break somewhere. You should do the same. Let's meet up here in five minutes to resume the greetings." Anabelle said, quickly rushing away.
I knew she was tired, but knowing how old and mature Anabelle was, she could put up with something like this for the entire night.
'She's most likely doing this in consideration of me. How sweet of her…' I mused.
I turned to the several high-standing tables and saw a couple of glasses of wine seated on them.
A grin formed on my face as I swiftly blended with my surroundings and stole myself a glass.
"Perfect!" I whispered.
With no adult supervision, I was free to do what I wanted for a while.
'It's time to leave this place for a while…'
Naughty Jared. Haha!
Stealing away from the crowd, I was certain no one noticed my exit. In a place with hundreds of people who had different motives, they were certain to miss a young boy holding a glass of wine, no, make that two glasses of wine, leaving the hall.
I made my way downstairs, through the auxiliary passageway that only members of the household knew of. The main passageway was crawling with annoying adults, even the stairs, and I wasn't in the mood to greet them.
Descending the stairs and making my way to the backyard, I made sure no one followed me.
Upon getting there, I found that my spot had already been occupied by someone. She stood in a corner, also making an effort to be inconspicuous. A young-looking woman, appearing to be in her early twenties. However, that wasn't the most noticeable trait about her.
It was the uniform she wore. She was a maid of my household, and I knew her!
I waited a while since she appeared to be talking to herself for a few moments. I thought the wait would last forever.
Finally, I couldn't wait anymore, so I decided to intentionally recreate loud footsteps in order to notify her of my presence.
Instantly, she ceased her mumblings and stiffened as I made my appearance.
"Y-young master!" She remarked in surprise.
I smiled, nodding at her, with both glasses of wine held in each of my hands. She looked at my face with shock, her eyes fell to the two glasses I held, then turned to me again.
"You won't tell on me, will you?" I grinned mischievously.
"N-no way… b-but, young master… I don't think Milady will approve of you doing this. You're still underage, you know?" She said in her sweet and flustered tone.
'No, duh. You think I don't know that?' I rolled my eyes.
"Come on, Liliana. I'm a growing man, this much is to be expected. Magic isn't my only passion, you know?" I responded, trying to use my smooth words to convince her.
"B-but…" She muttered, looking away, as though considering what to do.
Liliana, or as most of the maids called her, Lily, was one of the youngest member of the servants in our household.
Not just when it came to years, but also in terms of service. Most servants had spent at least a dozen years in the household, but she had only spent about five. She was still new and inexperienced compared to most, which made her personality easy to manipulate.
"I hope you do not think of defying this young master," I said, suddenly switching my tone into something more aggressive tone.
"W-wha-?" She was now flustered, appearing a little scared.
My lips curled up in an evil grin and I licked my lips, staring at her with degenerate eyes.
"Eeeek! O-of course not, young master. I-I promise not to tell anyone." She squeaked powerlessly.
"Of course, you won't," I said in a low tone, drawing closer to her.
She attempted to take a step back the moment I was drawing near, but the intense gaze I gave her caused her body to tremble as she was rooted to the ground.
"Here. Have this."
Liliana looked surprised by my gesture. I gave her a cup of wine out of the two I held.
"Y-young master, I-"
One extra glare from my eyes shut her up as she nervously collected the glass cup and looked at it in surprise. Her body was still trembling, indicating she wasn't comfortable with this.
"Now, the both of us are with glass cups. This way, you can't tell on me or I'll also tell on you. Sounds fair, no?" I smiled.
Liliana widened her eyes in shock. The maid was apparently surprised by my diabolical means.
"Young master… you're so mean…" She whispered, looking at the contents of the wine cup.
"Hehe, of course not. I'm just playing it safe. Besides, this will also make you feel good, Liliana." I winked.
As long as she didn't tell on me, her secret was safe. Plus, she would also get to enjoy the rare wine being served to the important guests we had. Wouldn't anyone call that a win?
"Now then, Liliana. Let's drink to our little secret."
She nodded hesitantly, taking the glass of wine and sniffing it, testing it out with her tongue, swirling it around as it mixed with her tongue, and taking it down her throat in a refreshing manner.
As I downed my glass, I curiously stared at her method of consuming the wine and smiled.
"Liliana, you sure are an expert at drinking wine. Are you sure this is your first glass?" I grinned.
Upon hearing this, the young maid became even more flustered and her cheeks reddened.
"P-please, young master… don't tease me so. I just… heard that this was how to take wine, and I-"
"Pfft." I let out a snicker, amused by Liliana's reaction.
"Y-young master, what's so funny?" She asked, innocently gazing at me.
I kept laughing, while restraining my voice from peaking since I didn't want to gather any attention.
"Ahh, it's nothing. You're just a very funny character." I smiled, still chuckling a little.
"Me? Funny? Young master is so mean…" She pouted in a mock angry fashion.
Apparently, it was a rude thing to call a woman 'funny', and it appeared as though I was making fun of her nervousness.
All things considered, she was still a maid, and I was the young master of this noble family. She was certainly in the right to be nervous in our entire discourse.
"It's not that I'm mean, Liliana. You're just too nice." I smiled.
She was surprised by me saying this, and a slight blush appeared on her face. She was such a charming young lady. Beautiful, shy, mild, and extremely naïve.
Any man would want her just by her looks and personality alone, yet she worked as a maid.
"Y-young master, your praise is too much. I-I'm not that nice… I'm just inexperienced, and-"
My grin became wider as she said this.
"No, you're really nice, Liliana…" I repeated, interrupting her words.
I stared at her with narrowed eyes, while having a dark smile on my face. The young maid looked stunned by my sudden change in expression, now looking more nervous.
" … That is… when you're not trying to kill me."
You should all anticipate the next chapter... thank me later.
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