Time passed quickly, and the day before the engagement ceremony arrived.
Sen and Belial were busy preparing for their engagement ceremony, and Kyle would wander around the castle, looking for opportunities to interact with the high-ranking officials or the mercenaries. When I had time, I would follow Kyle, and when my schedule was ambiguous, I would lie down and fill my stomach with delicious food, enjoying my life as a human being.
[Quest completed!] [Reward: Northern Ally]
Kyle and Belial formed a temporary alliance.
Surprisingly, I was able to communicate with Belial.
I had thrown out the idea moderately, just in case, but I was a little surprised that Belial surprisingly agreed. It's likely that Sen spoke well on our behalf, but it's good that things are working out. Anyway, Kyle benefits from being free from Belial's bullying, and Belial is able to focus on confronting Lorenz.
If she can't be Serena, it means that Belial can't become emperor.
I'll think about that later. Right now, I have my own problems, and it's hard enough just trying to save Kyle Blake. Or rather…
How do you eat fish with a fork and knife?
[<⊙)+++◁] I waved away the unsightly system window. A dish of small fried fish with cream sauce was placed in front of me, but the problem was that it was fried whole. It was nice to come to dinner wearing freshly tailored clothes, but unfortunately, I wasn't good at the table manners of the aristocrats. No, I didn't know them. I only knew the basics. Chopsticks. I wished I had chopsticks. Then, I was confident I could remove all the bones within three minutes.
"Shhh," Kyle whispered, tickling my ear. I leaned slightly to the left, and Kyle smiled faintly, switching his plate with mine. It was the same fish dish as mine. The difference was that there was a neatly trimmed fish on the plate in front of me.
"It's a little different from northern food, so there will be a lot of inconvenience."
"…Thank you."
When I dipped the neatly cut fish meat in the sauce and put it in my mouth, a soft umami spread through my mouth. As I was eating so diligently, I felt a gaze from somewhere.
"Kyle knows how to take care of his people," a voice came from the head of the table. The man at the center end of the long table looked at me and Kyle in turn, and smiled. "I've never seen him so attentive. Haha."
"…That's a big compliment. It is a rare food in the North."
[Lorenz Serena Meinhardt, First Prince of the Meinhardt Empire, Belial Serena Meinhardt's half-brother.]
I could have figured it out even if the system hadn't told me. He had black hair like Kyle and features that looked a little like Belial. However, his overall features were blurred and he looked lifeless, and his thin lips gave off a slightly mean impression. No, it wasn't just despicable…
[(¬〈̫̿¬)] That's a really strange expression.
But somehow I understood. He seemed to be laughing harmlessly, but it felt chilly and eerie. Maybe it was because his eyes weren't smiling at all, but the whole time he was looking at me, he felt like a beast of prey looking for a critical point.
"It's a food that is hard to find in the North…" Belial, who heard our conversation on the other side, thought about something, and quickly trimmed the fish dish and exchanged it for Sen's plate. It was quite gentle of him to ask her to prepare another drink for her, as she couldn't drink well. I thought it was on purpose because there were so many eyes on me, but I couldn't help but laugh because the two of them weren't so bad at each other's glances and consciousness.
By the way, Sen is not good at drinking.
This is good. I nodded coolly at the nobleman's suggestion that I drink raspberry mead, which was made from a western specialty. "That's good. Since it's a memorable day, it seems they brought a lot of precious liquor besides mead. Is it a kind of tradition?" Even Kyle brought a bottle of hard liquor aged in the North and offered it. The golden liquor in the elongated glass looked so sweet that it made my mouth water. When I brought the tip of my nose slightly closer, I could smell the sweet and sour scent of raspberries. It looked delicious.
Is it poisonous? Well, how poisonous could it be? Kyle will take care of it properly, so let's get a little drunk today.
"No," Kyle said, grabbing my wrist to stop me. The liquor that was about to reach my lips was halted in vain. Why, what? Once he told me to wait, waiting had always helped me in my experience. As I lowered my glass with a nervous expression, he picked up a long stick from the side of his tableware and dipped it into mine. With a clear sound, the rod stirred the glass. The silver rod slipped away and was neatly placed on a handkerchief embroidered with intricate patterns. It was a simple gesture, but it was full of moderation. I looked at him in fascination, and it wasn't until Kyle nodded that I came to my senses.
[You can check if a drink is poisonous with a flu-specific bar!]
After reading what the system reminded me, I looked around and saw that everyone was checking their glasses like Kyle did before drinking a new drink. Of course, there were three princes, and it was a dinner for only high-ranking nobles, but it was poisonous. No way, there are people who would do that. I choked down a sweet drink and whispered to Kyle.
"…Is there really anyone who gets poisoned in a place like this? In the middle of the Imperial City, so blatantly?"
"My mother was accused of poisoning the flower tea that was to be offered to Serena and was kicked out."
"That's a rumor," I frowned, and his eyes narrowed.
"But the poison was actually detected in the tea."
"…"
I was stunned by his tone, as if this wasn't new information to him. Kyle's expression when he said that he didn't know when he would be betrayed and that he might drink poison to death made him look even more lonely. I glared at him with a serious expression, and he smiled quietly.
"It's okay. You're safe," he said, his hand twitching as if he was about to stroke my head, but he didn't act on it because he thought of the people at the banquet.
"It's not because of that…"
A body that has already died once, is it a big deal to drink poison? I was worried to learn about the kind of environment that Kyle Jane Meinhardt lived in and how his blunt shell was forged in such fierce winds.
"Uh, wait. You should also check your Highness properly. Do you know that I put it in and take it out for a while?"
The stick in the glass was quickly taken away, and the change in color was only slightly observed. Even if I get poisoned, I think it will burn on Kyle's plate rather than my plate, so why don't I feel so threatened!?
"You've been putting mine in for a while, haven't you?"
"When the poison comes into contact with it, the rod turns black, and in severe cases, it breaks. You can be dangerous even if you consume only a weak poison." Perhaps my gaze was too clear, Kyle added, "The children of the imperial family eat poison when they are young and train to build up their tolerance. You can't die from any kind of poison."
But there's nothing good about eating it. With a sullen expression, I snatched his glass and shoved the stick in front of me. After that, I stared at the stick for a long time to make sure it was safe and returned it, and Kyle laughed out loud.
"Friendly."
"Of course."
"That's why you're so affectionate," it was a normal compliment, but it tickled me in the back of my chest. I coughed and looked away.
After the endless food, a cake with orange ice cream was served. The food in Hwangseong was as delicious as it was gorgeous. Seeing me eating all the cake, Kyle readily offered me his own dessert. If so, I would not hesitate to eat well. He sat at an angle and watched me eat with his arms folded. His eyes, as if he were full even if he didn't eat, were sweeter than the dessert in front of me.
…Don't you see other people staring at you curiously? The countess over there is rubbing her eyes to see if she's mistaken.
The food was delicious, but the atmosphere made me feel bloated. After all, two slices of cake was too much? As I tilted my head and pondered with my hands on my upper belly, I could feel Kyle studying my complexion.
"Let's take a walk. Is it okay to have time?"
I tried to open the system window.
['Load' will be lifted after 65 minutes.]
It's quite generous. This is enough time for a walk. It was warmer than the northern part of the country, and there were a lot of flowers blooming, so let's take a look. I nodded, and Kyle stood up as if it were a matter of course. It seemed as if he was going to pull my chair back. I liked to see him smiling as he held out his hand to me, and I couldn't help but let out a small, leaky smile.
"Well, let's go now," we were about to leave the banquet hall in a warm atmosphere.
"Did you say you were the magician of the North?" said Lorenz, who had come to me and was smiling as he stood in front of me. "I don't know if you did a good job of visiting the Yellow City. I don't know, but the garden of the main shrine around this time is quite nice. So I thought I'd show you around."
"…"
Lorenz's white-gloved hand was held out to me.