Chapter 304: “Keep You From Going Home Tonight.”

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…"

Many young noblemen didn't even notice the wine glasses in their hands slipping out of their fingers.

This includes Limgir. He was obediently staying by Bali's side when he saw Lucy, and then he too completely lost his wits as well.

Lucy on the other hand paid no attention to any of that. She just quietly looked at the Bayztrot home. This continued for a while before she finally showed a smile.

That smile made everyone fall for her.

Unfortunately for them, that smile wasn't there for anyone there at the time.

When it appeared, it was because the host of this banquet had finally arrived at last.

"Thank you, everyone, for joining us today."

A tall figure walked out from the direction of the main mansion and appeared before everyone's eyes.

Who else could it be but Shien?

The master of the house, who hates troublesome things, had stayed in his room the entire time until just now. He didn't show up to welcome his guests even when dukes and high officials of the Kingdom had arrived.

There were definitely quite a number of people dissatisfied with a mere viscount acting so arrogantly.

But this time, the royal family had arrived, and with the entire family at that. Thus, even Shien had to come out to welcome them despite the troubles.

No, rather than that, it should be that since Lucy had come, he had no choice but to come welcome her.

When Ancil's group saw Shien appear, they naturally also grinned one after another.

"Would you be welcome us even when we had come without invitations? Lord Bayztrot?"

Ancil teased him in a rare moment.

"Hope this didn't scare you too much."

Lia spoke in an even more impish tone.

"Of course I'm scared." Shien shrugged. He showed no signs of hesitation even in the presence of royalty, nor did he show any signs of submission. He just spoke in a very casual tone, "For royalty to show me such favor, there's no way that this one could not have been scared."

As he said that, Shien even gave Aldia and Charl a glance.

As for those two, one of them had his face in a blank mask as always, showing no emotions whatsoever. The other was staring at Shien like she was reminiscing over something. They made quite the contrast with each other.

Shien didn't try to converse with the two of them at all.

He knew that while the two of them both represent powerful families, each of them being the number one and two greatest night families in the Kingdom, today, they're showing up as guards, and that they had no intention of trying to forge any relation with Shien here.

Rather, a better question might be if the two of them even understand the concept of forging relations.

Thus, Shien didn't pay any attention to the two of them and instead turned to Lucy.

This is the first time that Shien has ever seen Lucy in a formal dress like this.

Truth be told, even he was rather stunned by her.

After giving the Treasure of the Kingdom an undisguised once over, Shien then teased her without holding back at all.

"Really, dressing up so pretty like that. Aren't you afraid of being kidnapped?"

This is the first time he's ever dared to tease Lucy like that in public, right?

In response, Lucy just rolled her eyes at him.

"You sure that there's anyone who would dare to kidnap me?" Lucy shot back with a grin.

That never-before seen soft expression of hers that didn't have a hint of anger to it made a lot of young noblemen's heart ache at the sight.

However…

"Sure there is." Shien refuses to stop without giving everyone heart attacks and simply continued without even thinking about it, "Take me for example. I would love to kidnap you and keep you from going home tonight."

That damned bastard. He seriously dared to say something like that out loud in front of everyone.

Lucy had no words.

As for everyone else, they were all utterly stunned.

Who would dare to say such things to the Treasure of the Kingdom?

Does he not want to see the sun rise on the next day anymore?

But Shien not only did it, he even did it in front of the royalty and about half the nobility in the Capital.

This made a lot of nobles enraged and on the verge of rebuking him.

But Lucy didn't even give them that chance.

"If you have the actual abilities to do that, then I really would look forward to you doing that."

Lucy just looked at Shien with a huff.

"I'll make sure to do my best then."

Shien just grinned and changed the topic.

Quite a number of young noblemen practically had fire in their eyes at the sight of Shien and Lucy chatting and laughing together without any hesitation. They wished nothing more than to charge up and stop them.

Limgir himself felt like his heart was ripping itself apart looking at them, and his expressions were slightly warped as a result.

Bali frowned deeply. He too was not in a good mood.

Even Ancil and Lia were looked at Shien and Lucy interact like that with some surprise.

This is also their first time seeing the two of them chat and joke about without any hesitation like that.

And naturally, this is also the first time they have seen Lucy like that as well.

Seeing Lucy act far more soft and relaxed than she did normally, Ancil and Lia both descended into thought. Their own thoughts on Shien has also changed a bit.

This is naturally the same for everyone else as well.

Only now did they understand that Shien and Lucy's relationship may be far better than they had imagined.

Although they had already known previously that the two of them were close, but only after personally witnessing this scene did everyone feel the reality of it. Thus, many of them felt a far greater sense of danger.

Bali and Limgir were one of those people.

They had already realized it. Perhaps they can't allow this situation to continue on.

Otherwise, the Treasure of the Kingdom, the most beautiful and valuable flower of humanity, will end up being stolen away by this adventure who came out of nowhere.

"We're going to have to do something."

A lot of people now had such thoughts.

They had no idea, however, that very soon, Shien will end up being the one person that they can risk provoking the least in the whole world.

…

The Capital. The demon embassy.

At this moment, all the demons within the embassy, with Jacinta at the head, were all gathered up in the main hall. They were all also kneeling on the ground in welcoming a certain great personage.

Her extremely sudden appearance when she appeared before everyone had the effect of practically instantly stealing away all the magic power and light in the entire world.

"It's been such a long time since I've been to the mortal world."

She looked up at the horizon with some nostalgia.

"Lady Sera."

Jacinta came up respectfully to welcome her.

"Are the preparations complete?"

The demon girl named Sara gave Jacinta a glance before directly moving into the main topic.

"Yes, we can set out at any moment."

Jacinta respectfully replied without the slightest hint of discontent.

"Good."

Sara nodded.

Then, the demon girl turned toward the direction of the noble district while showing a smile.

"Then let me take a look. Just what is the man who can get my prideful little sister to consider with such favor really like."

Thus, the true peak of the demon world descended.

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