Chapter 76
“Marquis Nemeia didn’t attend, I see.”
“Well, he absolutely loathes these kinds of banquets.”
Serea, walking side by side with Kierne, made a face as if shuddering in disgust.
“I can’t stand the smell of sweat either.”
Grumbling that the marquis only ever talked about sword training, Serea squinted one eye and added.
“Be careful. Your second son uses dual swords, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“If he catches Marquis Nemeia’s eye, he’ll be dragged off immediately.”
“Just like how Your Grace dragged me away?”
No matter what was said, he had a knack for twisting it into something irritating.
Serea glared at Kierne.
“I shouldn’t have taken you on as a disciple…”
To her sigh, Kierne reminded her of the upside.
“But thanks to your disciple, you avoided bankruptcy, didn’t you?”
“Oh, thank you so much. Thank you ever so much. Even now, thinking about the time I borrowed money from you makes me bolt upright in bed at night.”
Serea muttered with a slightly pale face.
But despite her words, she was genuinely grateful.
If it hadn’t been for Kierne back then, the current glory of the Evroiel ducal family probably wouldn’t exist.
It had been entirely Serea’s fault, and Kierne had guided her back onto the right path.
Though his methods had been a bit rough.
Rough enough to make one suspect he ran a usury business on the side.
He was the one who had come chasing after her from the eastern Black Forest, wielding a demonic sword typically used for slaying monsters.
Shaking her head in resignation, she said indifferently to Kierne.
“Marquis Milton is someone worth knowing. He has connections everywhere. And crucially, he’s close with the cardinals.”
Among the holy knights, the most outstanding become inquisitors.
Among the holy priests, the most devout are elected as cardinals.
They had brought in Hailon, but he was an inquisitor.
For holy priests, cardinals would wield far greater influence.
They needed to establish a connection to the cardinals as well.
Chesha, attending the Little Saints’ Prayer Assembly, would undoubtedly give it her all more than anyone.
However, the world wasn’t a place where effort alone guaranteed success.
Behind the prayer assembly, attended only by innocent children, the adults were already engaged in fierce, sordid under-the-table negotiations.
Kierne absolutely had to obtain the Fairy Queen’s Crown.
He had no intention of yielding it to anyone, so he would ensure Chesha won no matter what.
It would be easy to bind them all with mind control, but since he couldn’t reveal that he was a black mage, he was carefully weaving his web, applying mind control only to a select few.
For example, the Supreme Sun Emperor of the Palen Empire…
“Do your best.”
Serea patted Kierne on the shoulder and then opened the door.
Inside, an elderly marquis and a young noblewoman were waiting.
“This is Marquis Milton and his wife. And this is Count Basilian.”
Serea briefly introduced both sides.
Kierne smiled brightly and greeted them.
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Kierne Basilian.”
“Have a good conversation. I hope it leads to a fruitful connection.”
Serea excused herself to attend to other guests.
Now, only the marquis couple and Kierne remained in the room.
Probing gazes flew his way.
Accustomed to this, Kierne said nothing, simply smiling as he waited for their scrutiny to end.
Lady Milton fanned herself with a flutter and spoke with evident delight.
“I’m utterly astonished. I had no idea you’d be such a remarkably handsome man.”
But unlike his wife, Marquis Milton openly displayed his dislike.
He was worried that his young wife might develop an affection for Count Basilian.
Though there was absolutely no need for concern…
Nevertheless, Kierne didn’t lose his polite smile.
Seeing the smile, Marquis Milton furrowed his brow deeply, scowling.
It seemed he had come to this meeting already harboring firm hostility.
It didn’t look like it would be easy to steer things in a positive direction.
Still, Kierne was about to toss out several enticing baits that might pique the marquis’s interest.
He glanced toward the door.
The marquis couple wore puzzled expressions, and shortly after, the door burst open with a bang.
“Waaah, Father, Mother…!”
A boy came running in, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Louis!”
He was the heir to the Milton marquisate.
Marquis Milton briefly showed embarrassment at the child’s immaturity in barging into an adult conversation.
But soon, he was busy consoling his son.
“Good heavens! What happened, my little lark?”
“Oh dear, he’s drenched in juice from head to toe. What a mess!”
The sound of Lady Milton joining in the fuss reached his ears.
Marquis Milton had only one son under him.
It was said he had changed wives three times to finally obtain this precious child.
Kierne knew he was the same age as Belzeon.
Seeing him bawling over a little juice spill, it wasn’t even amusing.
Kierne didn’t have time to waste.
This was his first attendance at a banquet as ‘Count Basilian.’
He needed to finish his conversation with Marquis Milton and then speak with other nobles as well.
Silently, he pulled out a pocket watch from his pocket.
While checking the time on the silver pocket watch, the Milton couple managed to nearly stop their wretched lark’s crying.
The sniveling lark, contrary to its endearing nickname, had been making unpleasant croaking sounds, so it was a relief when he finally shut his mouth.
The boy, having barely stopped crying, blew his nose into the handkerchief handed to him by Lady Milton.
Marquis Milton cleared his throat.
“Ahem, as you know, Count, raising children inevitably leads to all sorts of unavoidable incidents.”
As he spouted such nonsense, a polite knock sounded.
Knock knock, accompanied by a neat rapping and a composed voice.
“Father, it’s Issueel.”
“An’ Chesha.”
At the adorable voice that followed, Kierne couldn’t help but smile.
If Marquis Milton’s lark had come in, there was no reason Count Basilian’s baby bird couldn’t.
Thinking of a few nicknames that would horrify Chesha if she heard them, Kierne grinned mischievously.
“Come in.”
But the moment he saw Issueel open the door and appear.
The smile vanished from his face.
Issueel’s outfit, adorned with fresh flowers, had caused quite a stir at the banquet.
It fit perfectly with the Fairy Forest theme, to the point that some guests were subtly taking flowers from the decorations and pinning them to their own collars.
However, no matter what flowers they used, they couldn’t compare to the ones Chesha had created with fairy power.
Surrounded by the fresh floral scent, Issueel and Chesha truly looked like fairies.
“Thanks.”
Issueel, his mood fully restored, whispered to Chesha with a beaming smile.
As he walked slowly toward the inner part of the banquet hall in search of Karha, Chesha grabbed him.
“Look ova there.”
The boy who had spilled the juice earlier was glaring fiercely in their direction, surrounded by what seemed to be his group of friends.
The boy stared menacingly before running off somewhere.
“Fowwow him.”
He clearly hadn’t come to his senses yet.
Issueel, sharing the same thought as Chesha, quietly followed the boy.
As expected, the boy was running to his parents, bursting into tears again.
He was tattling on his own accord.
One unexpected part was that the person conversing with the boy’s parents was Kierne.
Issueel, who had been quietly eavesdropping outside the door, looked at Chesha with eyes asking what to do.
Chesha snorted dismissively.
If she had her way, she’d want to chop him clean in half with an axe, shove his head first into a man-eating flower, or pound him flat with a giant chess piece, among other things.
But in her current position, she couldn’t do any of that right now.
However, even without using fairy powers, Chesha knew a very effective way to handle it.
‘Does he think he’s the only one with a dad?’
Chesha pointed sharply at the door with her finger.
Issueel obediently knocked and entered the room.
Kierne smiled brightly, but upon seeing the juice stain on Issueel’s clothes, his face gradually hardened.
Chesha reached out her arms to Kierne.
Nestled in his embrace, Chesha pressed her lips to Kierne’s ear.
“Daddy.”
Then, pointing at the boy who was rolling his eyes and sneaking glances their way, she whispered softly.
“That meanie bwullied Chesha.”
