âAgain Iâm surprised at how fast the Helwin family gathers information. Considerable effort was put in to keep the information tight lippedâŚâŚAnyways, the equipment is not going to stay in my hands for long, as Iâm intending to give it to someone else.â
âWhat a lucky person. I donât want to make our Earl uncomfortable, but itâs just that Iâve heard some concerning words that youâd want to hear.â
Earl Hannbon, after briefly contemplating, sighed as he replied.
âI didnât expect the Helwin family to be interested in this item. Alright. My ears are yours. However, the banquetâs not an appropriate place for this discussion. Iâll arrange a room in the back for us to talk privately.â
Heretia gave a curt nod.
After Earl Hannbon left, Juan let out a deep sigh. Heretia tapped his shoulder.
Suddenly feeling tired, Juan went and sat on a chair. Heretia whispered quietly.
âThank you.â
âGive me your word that you wonât interfere if I take his head after youâve finished your business with him.â
ââŚâŚâŚ.I hope you donât do anything rash. I was thinking of maintaining a good relationship not with Earl Hannbon but with you. Earl Hannbon is Hivedenâs feudal lord and the one who manages all the gangs.â
Juan didnât respond. His mind was already set.
âCanât you just walk up and say, letâs talk and negotiate?â
âThatâs not the way nobles do it. First you get on friendly terms at a social gathering, then speak out about the topic you want to discuss, then conduct business as if this wasnât your objective in the first place. After three or four interactions, you can then start to think about having real talks. This is normally how it goes, but seeing Iâm in a bit of a rush this time, Iâll try to get it done in one.â
âI wish you would all die.â
Juan was being serious.
âIn the past, life was much more simple.â
âYou sound like an old fart. The outer district shouldnât be that different compared to the capital. Or maybe you just didnât know.â
Juan was about to deny this but then acknowledged that he couldnât be compared to normal standards.
Kings and heads of states all rushed to bow in his presence.
Back then, Juanâs words were the law. Whatever that was said, however he wanted things to be.
âMaybe this behavioural conduct was gradually surfacing, hidden from my eyes.â
Tradition was something that didnât change easily. Juan decided to respect Heretiaâs way of doing things.
Then suddenly, they heard a disturbance from the main hall. Everyoneâs attention turned towards it. In the middle of a group of girls, a girl similar in size to Juan was looking at him with embarrassed eyes.
âThatâs Earl Hannbonâs daughter.â
The other girls whispered into her ear, as if they were encouraging her on about something.
Juan had a bad feeling about this. And his intuition was spot on.
The other girls basically pushed Hannbonâs daughter towards Juan.
Hannbonâs daughter fidgeted for a bit then with her closed embarrassed eyes, she asked.
âWou, would you like to dance with me?â
Juan now understood why the girl was so embarrassed. Heretia was a little surprised but then smiled and whispered.
âSee, didnât I tell you, that youâd be popular with the girls.â
âShut up.â
Juanâs standing in this banquet was not much different to a pet or a servant, so to dance with him, approval from his master was needed before anything else.
But Hannbonâs daughterâs eyes werenât straying off Juan.
Florid cheeks and hazy eyes, it told of a girl clearly in love.
âDo I need to accept this?â
âPreferably yes, but I donât mind if you decline. Iâm the one who needs to give the approval or decline anyways. But why donât we do it gentlyâŚâŚ?â
Before Heretia stopped talking, Juan had grabbed Hannbonâs daughterâs hand.
The girl slightly flinched at Juanâs sudden bold act and Juan made sure her hands didnât escape his.
âIt would be my honor, young lady.â
He took her hands and led her onto the middle of the dance floor. There were other servants like him, who had gotten approvals from their master to dance with their respective counterparts.
Heretia looked on in astonishment, seeing Juan able to dance with etiquette.
She didnât stay surprised for long.
The banquetâs attention was still aimed at Juan. Heretia felt a little bitter about the situation. She had never received this much attention, even on her birthdays.
Currently, Heretia was dancing with Juan.
ââŚâŚâŚ.When did you learn to dance?â
âThought it would be useful to learn it. It wasnât all that different from swordsmanship.â
Heretia recalled Juanâs dance patterns. It seemed Juan wasnât versed with the current dancing trend but his traditional and elegant motions captured even the other dancing performers as well. They soon were dancing to the beat of Juanâs dancing rhythm.
By the time the second song had finished, the stage was Juanâs solo performance.
As each song finished, partners were changed but Hannbonâs daughter wanted to continue dancing with Juan.
However, being his master, Heretia used her authority and took the position of his dance partner again.
âNot bad. You continue to impress.â
âI recall you saying it before. Women are attracted when men show their unexpected side.â
Heretia was about to scold him but then stopped herself, after realising she didnât know why she was annoyed about this.
It was a waste of time, getting emotions involved with this child. But it didnât stop the fact that it kept happening.
âAre we continuing?â
âYou can give me your orders, as Iâll listen to you for today. Enjoy it while it last, today will be the last of it.â
Heretia felt a bit disheartened but tried to not show as she whispered to him.
âThereâs still alot of young ladys waiting in line, so continue dancing for a bit more. You donât have to dance with the whole lot though. Get yourself out, when you think itâs enough. Iâll deal with the lot who misses out.â
âAlright.â
Finally the song ended. Juan and Heretia parted their hands and went to find their new partners. As if she was waiting, Hannbonâs daughter quickly grabbed his hand.
Wanting to show that she wouldnât relinquish his hand to anyone, she firmly held on to Juanâs hand for all to see.
As he placed his head over her shoulder, thinking âitâs going to be hard to change partnersâ, he saw a familiar face.
Anya.
Unlike her usual comfortable leather outfit, she was wearing a dress like any other lady at the banquet.
Like Juan, Anya had also noticed his existence and was staring at him with surprised eyes.
The next song began. Even though Juanâs body started to move instinctively, he never left his sight on Anya.
He could feel that she was armed beneath her dress.
Juan was only able to escape, after dancing three more songs with Hannbonâs daughter.
As soon as he was free, Juan made his way over to Anya.
Anya with a panicked look tried to escape as Juan approached.
Juan was about to run towards her then thought twice about it.
He shouldnât do anything stupid. He had to comply with Heretiaâs orders. At least for today.
Anya disappeared into the crowd.
âWhere were you headed?â
Heretia had chased after him. She expected Juan to come towards her after the dance had ended and yet, he had headed off in a completely different direction.
Juan shook his head as he briefly glanced where Anya had disappeared.
âItâs nothing.â
Moments after, a man approached Heretia and Juan. He was a young man with cheeks bright red, looking already drunk. He glared furiously at Juan as their eyes met.
âWhat are you looking at, kid.â
âKelmory kyung, can I help you?â
Heretia quickly got between them before Juan had the chance to respond. Instead of replying, the young man called Kelmory looked at her then turned his head as he snorted.
Juanâs eyebrows twitched at his rude attitude.
âEarl Hannbonâs daughterâs fiance.â
Heretia quickly whispered. Juan instantly could figure out what was going through his head.
The organiser of this banquet was Earl Hannbon and it was right to say his daughter and her fiance were the protagonists of this banquet.
And yet, Kelmory who was supposed to receive all the participantsâ interests, had it stolen by some kid who had rolled in from god knows where.
And furthermore, his fianceâs interest as well.
And to top it all off, the kidâs master was a noble of high standing that he couldnât look to compare himself to. Therefore, he couldnât just mindlessly let out his anger on him.
âA big pitiful blob with an inferiority complex.â
That was the quick description Juan had got of him.
âHmmpf! A barbaric child acting like heâs all civilisedâŚâŚâ
âKelmory kyung, if you have something to say to my servant, say it to me.â
âItâs nothing my lady. I was just thinking, bringing along a barbaric child along to a banquet would degrade your name and the banquet.â
âOh, I never thought of it that way. Thanks for your concern. Iâll happily pass on your concerning words to Lady Elemoore and Lady Linde. Iâm sure theyâll be pleased to know how their servant is being treated and perceived by Kelmory kyung.â
Kelmoryâs face turned sour. He knew the names that Heretia had mentioned.
Like Heretia, they both had black haired servants and their families had powerful influences over Earl Hannbonâs family.
If Heretia actually passed on the word, Kelmory would likely end up having to bow and apologise.
Of course, Heretia had no intention of doing this.
She didnât want to make things difficult on Earl Hannbon when she was planning to strike a deal with him later on.
But Kelmory didnât know this. So he had to back off. As he pulled back, his ego didnât allow him to back off without saying anything back.
âHiding underneath a Ladyâs skirtâŚ..Tsk. Does he even fit inside the skirt? Seeing as you brought him to the banquet, I suppose he entertains you well from underneath the table?â
As a skilled politician, Heretiaâs smile never left her face, even in the face of such disturbing remarks.
Upon seeing that Heretia wasnât agitated by this at all, Kelmory grumbled as he turned around.
âDisgusting apostate family. Having only survived by licking the Popeâs buttâŚ..They should have eliminated every single one of you.â
Juan moved first before Heretiaâs lips could part in reply.
Juan kicked Kelmoryâs calves, who was backing off.
Suddenly losing his balance, Kelmory split his wine over his face as he fell on the floor.
Everyoneâs attention was drawn to the sound of the wine glass shattering out loud.
Having received such unexpected attention, Kelmoryâs face reddened to the colour of his split wine.
âWha, whatâŚ..â
Kelmory looked at the small child standing in front of him. Juan was looking down at him with a cool expression.
Juan pulled off his white glove that he was wearing and chucked it at Kelmoryâs face.
Chul-suk! The glove was thrown so hard that Kelmoryâs face had almost turned the other way. Juan chucked the other remaining glove as well.
âTimes have changed but you insolents bastards always stay the same, huh.â
âYou, what⌠Do you want to die?â
âLets duel. Trash. No servant is going to stand and do nothing while their masterâs name is tarnished.â
Kelmory looked at Juan, unable to comprehend what was happening. He couldnât understand the situation.
While the entire banquet fell into a silence, Heretia quickly came over and whispered.
âJuan, itâs been 40 years since we requested for duels that way. This bastard wonât even know that was the tradition in the past. If you want to fight in an honorable duel, you need to file a claim suit to the church. A duel only happens once the church approves the claim suit and they send a priest to overlook the fight.â
âWhat? Then how on earth does a lady reclaim her tarnished honor?â
âFor now, beating him half to death.â
âAh.â
Juan understood very well.
He swung his fist at Kelmory who was still looking on dazely at the situation.
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