บท 65: Chapter 24. Preparations before the banquet
After walking around a bit and unloading her thoughts, Remesis returned to her palace, where Hannes Wrightly was already waiting for her and greeted her as soon as the girl entered the drawing room.
— Your Highness!
— ...What's wrong? — Remesis asked, noticing the worried expression on the knight's face.
— I heard that the founding day banquet will be held in three days. I was wondering if you were ready for it.
— Huh? What do you mean?
The fortress commander seemed extremely impatient.
— Princess, this is a very important event where all the noble families will gather! So... You've already picked out the clothes you're going to wear, right? — Hannes asked with hope in his voice.
As soon as Remesis suddenly heard this, she was slightly surprised and shook her head.
— Ah, no, not yet.
In fact, Remesis had planned to wear whatever dress she wanted to wear to the banquet because she didn't pay much attention to it. Unlike most noble ladies, she wasn't willing to spend hours picking out jewellery and outfits because she found it too tedious. Of course, her wardrobe now contained a fair amount of beautiful dresses and jewellery, but they were rather necessary simply to emphasise her status. Besides, Remesis saw no unnecessary need to dress up in front of these peacocks of the capital, who would treat her with prejudice anyway.
Thus, the princess of the north honestly told the knight that she had no particular preferences regarding her choice of attire.
But the commander of the fortress was clearly not satisfied with this answer.
Hannes spoke with a serious expression:
— Your highness, compared to the past, you can't neglect such things so easily now!
When Remesis attended the banquet in the imperial palace last time, she was also wearing the simplest dress. That was because back then, the northern principality was so poor that they simply couldn't afford more expensive outfits. But things were different now. And the knight rightly thought that the princess could not approach her choice carelessly.
— Why not?
— Your Highness, this is the first time you'll be appearing in public for a long time. People will judge you on how you look. In other words, the reputation of the North will depend on your actions! You can't let yourself be made to look bad when other aristocrats are flaunting their best outfits!
When the knight spoke to her in complete seriousness about this, Remesis couldn't help but chuckle quietly.
— Is that really what you mean? That the reputation of the north will be saved by my beautiful dress? — She asked with irony in her voice.
— Your Highness, you are the noblest man in the North! — This is an opportunity to show the capital's turkeys the dignity of the northerners!
Remesis squinted sceptically at his words.
In the capital, and throughout the empire, the northerners were spoken of as bloodthirsty barbarians with their teeth set on the imperial crown. And yet, Hannes Wrightly still naively thought that Remesis' spectacular appearance at the banquet would be able to affect their reputation. In the girl's opinion, her knight was too optimistic in this matter.
After a moment's hesitation, Hannes spoke again:
— Why don't you order the dress you want and wear it to the banquet? With our current finances, you won't have to worry about the price.
In other words, the knight was telling her to order the most colourful dress so that she would attract the attention of others. But instead of answering, Remesis remained silent for a while. Well, even if she decided to do that now, it would become quite a problem. All because the banquet was really to take place in the very near future, and accordingly all the ateliers in the capital should be overflowing with orders. And is it even possible to prepare a decent dress for going out into the world in just three days?
— Now all the famous establishments are swamped with work. Is there anything we can do?
Currently, all the decent ateliers were busy with orders because of the royal ball. Of course, for such events, most people took care of their outfits in advance, and almost no one did it at the very last moment. And what atelier in their right mind would take her order on such short notice? So, thinking it a suitable excuse for refusal, Remesis voiced these thoughts to the knight. But Hannes was not one to give up so easily, especially when his lady's reputation was at stake.
— It's too early to say that we have no way out! I'll try to find out if there's an atelier nearby that will take our order.
— Really? You're really going to do that? — The girl asked in surprise.
— Yes, ' the man nodded seriously, 'I don't think a custom-made dress can be finished in time, but we'll be able to accept a ready-made one.
'.....'
Apparently, the knight was indeed determined and had no intention of backing down. Therefore, Remesis had no choice but to eventually agree to it. For some reason, the princess even remained confident that he would succeed in carrying out what he had planned. Because Hannes always took a responsible approach to his tasks, no matter what they involved. Whether it was clearing the northern territory of monsters, or finding a dress for the banquet...
— Alright... — The girl sighed patiently, ''Then do as you please.
After the princess of the north answered satisfactorily, the knight's face brightened.
— Your highness, you can rely on me for this. I will do my best to make you the star of this banquet! — The commander said responsibly, placing his hand on his chest as if swearing an oath to the girl.
— Huh... Good.
Remesis only managed a strained smile when Hannes' enthusiasm for the occasion seemed too great. 'I guess there's nothing I can do about it.' She sighed quietly and resigned herself to the situation.
***
The day flew by so quickly. When the time was almost approaching midnight, Remesis was about to go to bed. By now, she had finished all her business related to their temporary move to the Imperial residence and could rest with a clear conscience.
Silence reigned in the dark room. Remesis' breathing evenly raised and lowered the blanket, creating a calm and measured sound in the silence. During this time, while she slept peacefully in her bed, what she failed to notice was that all this time a pair of eyes had been watching her from the darkness.
'...'
At one point, a hand reached out to the neck of the princess of the north, intending to take action, but before it could do so, the night visitor to the chambers froze. Just at that moment, the footsteps of a maid who was making her routine rounds around the palace to check that everything was in order were heard outside the door.
When the maid stopped in front of the girl's bedroom, the unknown man had to retreat. And before the door opened slightly, the dark shadow had already disappeared from the room without a trace.
***
— All preparations are complete, Your Highness.
The next three days flew by so quickly that Remesis didn't even notice that it was the very day of the banquet that was to be held in honour of the founding of the empire.
— The dress may be uncomfortable, Princess. Just a moment. — The maid was carefully tightening her corset.
Remesis took a breath. It took about half an hour to get dressed.
In the end, the result of Hannes Reitli's work really exceeded her expectations. The dress on the black background dazzled with gold and precious stones. The design of the dress was magnificent that it was impossible to look away. Even though the knight had contacted one of the best ateliers in the capital almost at the last minute, he was still able to somehow get such a magnificent dress. Remesis was truly left amazed by his abilities.
— ...It's amazing!
— Isn't it?
— Even the most beautiful noblewomen from the capital can't keep up with our princess's looks!
— Ha ha.
Remesis laughed almost silently in response to his compliment.
Anyway, the knight looked very proud when he saw Remesis in the mirror. The maids were also delighted.
On the other hand, the Princess of the North herself was in a colder mood, unlike the people around her. To be more precise, the girl was now feeling a bit distant from reality. She was really thinking of nothing but her purpose for attending this banquet.
— Eh, ' Hannes meanwhile complained disappointedly, 'It's really a pity that no one will be able to accompany you today. If it were up to me, I would have done it myself. But unfortunately, I am not worthy of the honour of accompanying the princess.
After his languid sigh that followed those words, Remesis only smiled at the man.
— That's alright. The escort isn't that important.
— Still...
— The main thing is that everything goes well today, ' the girl said more firmly, and the knight had to keep silent.
Remesis turned back to the mirror and looked at her reflection again. Though the maids had applied simple make-up to her, it was as natural as her blank face. It was exactly the effect she wanted. Without being overly extravagant or flashy.
Usually, at social receptions like this, people came with their partners. A chaperone could be a person with a blood relationship or a spouse. But Remesis did not have a suitable person in mind. Her lawful spouse was now hundreds of kilometres away. As for blood relations... Remesis had no desire to attend the banquet with her father. And the latter would never have agreed to it. The situation was the same with the heir to the family.
That was why she had to abandon the idea in advance. Nevertheless, Remesis was more than satisfied with the prospect of going to this banquet alone. After all, she wasn't originally going there for entertainment or to have a good time.
All the preparations had been completed. Now it was time to go to the banquet.
All the way to the banquet hall, Remesis couldn't stop thinking about what awaited her at this event. Honestly, the princess of the north would clearly be an unwelcome guest there. People would start whispering and gossiping as soon as Remesis appeared in the hall. Yet the expression on her face remained calm.
One thought made her feel definitely more confident.
'Things are different now than they were then.'
As soon as Remesis approached the entrance to the banquet hall, she froze for a moment. The girl hesitated for a moment, and then took a deep breath. It was then that she felt that she was finally fully prepared for this.
As expected, the banquet hall was already full of people.
It made her involuntarily sigh in disappointment that so many people she couldn't stand were gathered in one place tonight.
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