After entering the imperial palace with Stella, who had become a fool, and entering the main hall with the court guide, she seemed to have calmed down to some extent and began to find stability little by little.

Being the first ball in her life must have been a cause for nervousness, but anyway, since she participated as the daughter of Count Arwen, she couldn’t stand there stupidly forever.

Fortunately, as long as she kept her mouth shut, no one could figure out the contents of this blonde lady, as she was an ideal aristocratic lady.

“… It wasn’t as nerve-wracking as I thought.”

“That’s right, Stella. It’s an event where you just stand and talk to other people for a few hours, and then leave when time passes and the seats are empty one by one.”

“Aside from me, there are many people who came in fancy dresses. I feel ashamed of myself for thinking that no one will pay attention to me.”

Well, how about that.

Stella didn’t seem to notice, but the men around her were already focusing their attention on the blonde girl standing next to me, so it wasn’t so wrong.

First of all, if her face was basically that of Stella, her beauty was of a level even among aristocratic ladies.

Although it is said to be hidden with a wide dress, the beauty of health, which is difficult to see among young girls, was also vaguely revealed.

If you can’t hide your gaze and turn around or walk a little unnaturally, you may be suspicious of your culture, but anyway, that will also be seen as an innocent charm to someone.

Nevertheless, there was a high possibility that the reason why there were no aristocratic children coming to talk to Stella was purely because of my existence.

It was impossible to come up with a proposal to a woman who already had a partner, such as wanting to interact in the future, unless she was quite determined.

Of course, I wasn’t very active externally in aristocratic society, so my face wasn’t known much, but that would have been a bigger deterrent.

‘If it’s about the Viscount Confucius of the outskirts… Even men who might think ‘.’ don’t want to be hated by ‘someone who doesn’t know who they are’.

It was truly fortunate that he brought up the offer of being a partner at the prom.

If it hadn’t been for that, Stella would have been able to monopolize the attention of so many men.

It was something I didn’t like, so I had to step in and stop it.

While I was thinking about that, a man who seemed to be a waitress came forward and showed us a tray with various drinks on top.

“Do you need a drink?”

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Just as I thought my hands were empty, I picked up a blue cocktail from the tray.

“Senior Konrad, what is that drink?”

“Aquamarine Cocktail. It looks awkward when you stand there with nothing in your hands.”

“Can I have a drink too?”

“It’s not a weak alcohol… . Then just have one drink.”

“All right.”

Saying that, I lightly toasted Stella, who had picked up the same type of liquor as me.

I felt the refreshing and sweet taste of the alcohol going down my throat.

As I was chatting with Stella in the corner of the hall with a suitable drink, someone with a familiar voice called my name.

“Oh, isn’t that Prince Conrad?”

The number of male acquaintances I knew was not very large, and besides, there was only one person who was qualified to participate in this kind of event.

Without looking at his face, I turned my head away, sorting out what I had to say.

“Hello, Prince Antonio.”

“I’m not that surprised.”

“Since it is a ball hosted by the imperial family, I thought that the prince would participate. Isn’t this kind of social space a place for exchange where all kinds of talented people gather?”

“Hmm, yes. Compared to the academy, there are fewer types of people, but anyway, it is a place where a lot of highly educated people gather.

… Of course, the one who benefits the most from this gathering is the fourth older brother who hosted this gathering.”

Having said that, Prince Antonio slightly turned his gaze and pointed at a man in the center of the hall with a wink.

The 4th Prince of Beckhart Alexander.

Thanks to his tall stature and handsome appearance, it was not too difficult to find him among so many people.

Prince Beckhart is famous for being popular among nobles, especially among women.

Although his swordsmanship and magic abilities were poor, he was a person who was popular with women wherever he went thanks to his natural splendid appearance.

… No, the expression of being born is a bit strange. Bechhart’s appearance was not originally his.

“Lord Conrad?”

“Yes, Prince Antonio.”

“You don’t look very good. Did I say something that offended you?”

“No, could it be?”

Lightly denying Prince Antonio’s words, they lightly clashed glasses and shared a toast.

Now wasn’t the right time to deal with Beckhart.

“Coming to think of it, I’ve met Lady Arwen face-to-face a few times, but I think it’s almost the first time we’ve talked to each other.”

“okay. I’m familiar with Prince Antonio Alexandros’s impression, but I don’t remember having much conversation with him.”

“Probably because most of them met through things related to the hunting festival. The situation was not conducive to a leisurely conversation.”

The memories of the two of them must have been when they were rescuing Prince Antonio’s party who was seriously injured in the Devil’s Forest or when they exchanged a few words before going up to the hunting festival podium.

Compared to me, who had met Stella and Prince Antonio privately a few times, their face-to-face relationship would not have been that close.

“By the way, does appearing here as a partner with Lady Arwen officially mean that you have a special relationship with her, Prince Conrad?”

“No, being here today is just an act of fellowship.”

“Hmm?”

“Because I brought up an offer to help Stella, who was nervous about her first aristocratic ball, as a partner.”

“… … .”

Hearing my words, Prince Antonio blankly looked at me and Stella.

“You are suffering too.”

“It’s not even worth the trouble.”

“It was a story I told Lady Arwen, not Prince Conrad.”

I was just conveying to Stella something that I couldn’t understand.

“Come to think of it, Prince Antonio.”

“Why is that, Prince Conrad?”

“Didn’t Delphina attend the party together? There’s no way my sister wouldn’t attend an event like this.”

The fact that an invitation came to me meant that an invitation also came to the current student council president of the academy, Delfina, who has been in office for two years.

Of course, the possibility that Delfina, who had many things to do again after the student council election, could not participate because she was busy was not 0%.

It was hard to imagine that he would skip the aristocratic ball, especially the ball hosted by the imperial family, and live a life overworked.

“Can it be?”

“Yeah?”

“Miss Delphina is over there.”

Pointing his thumb backwards and looking in the direction Prince Antonio had pointed, he saw his sister talking with several young ladies there.

“Because if I sit next to you for too long, Miss Delphina won’t have enough time to build personal connections. I just left the place for a while.”

“Well, if Prince Antonio is by your side, you’ll have to talk only to Prince Antonio’s acquaintances throughout the exchange.”

“Of course, that would be a good opportunity for Miss Delphina, but it seems like what she’s looking for right now is a connection that can bring the adventurer’s guild into the Perdalos estate.

Now that I think about it, I don’t know if I just made her busier. That’s why you complained to me for ‘such a thing’ a while ago, right?”

“… You mean ‘something like that’?”

“Well, it’s not something worth talking about in front of Lady Arwen. Let’s talk about ‘that person’ you assigned to Delphina later. It’s about time to go back to Miss Delphina.”

After saying that, Prince Antonio disappeared in the direction of Delfina, leaving me with only words I couldn’t understand.

He left only the question of what “that kind of thing” was and who “that person” was.

“Conrad-senior seems to have had a good relationship with Prince Antonio.”

“Well, even if it wasn’t for the hunting festival, there were a few things that happened with Prince Antonio.”

“After talking for a while, it seemed that the atmosphere was quite different from the royal family I know.”

“Actually yes. Because Prince Antonio is a person who lacks a lot of authoritarian personality.”

It was an explanation that omitted the word “among the members of the royal family,” but they probably understood it enough.

It could be dangerous to evaluate the imperial family too much in the imperial palace, so I didn’t talk about Prince Antonio for a long time.

“Do you need a drink?”

When he gave Stella a second glass, one without alcohol, and started talking to her again.

The center of the venue was emptied and a wide stage began to unfold.

The time to say hello has passed, so with the sound of music that seems to be about to start the main stage soon.

“Looks like a prom in earnest now.”

“Muh, if it’s a prom, do I have to go out and dance? Wouldn’t people find it strange if I didn’t do anything like this?”

“Nothing to worry about. After all, not everyone can dance. If you don’t want to stand out, you can talk as you normally would.”

“… okay. You don’t even have to dance… .”

And after all, the order of the beginning of the prom is fixed.

Beckhart, the organizer of this aristocratic ball, and his supposed partner appeared on the stage.

Unlike the inside of the academy, the ballroom of this aristocratic ball was a gathering of people who strictly followed class order.

It was common sense that the two princes with the highest status among the participants in the party would go on stage first.

Among them, it seems that Prince Antonio gave the first stage to Beckhart, who hosted this event.

Beckhart started dancing on stage with a pretty-looking woman.

Perhaps all of their strength, which should have been invested in swordsmanship and magic, was invested in seducing women, and Beckhart and the other woman caught the attention of most of the ballroom participants with their splendid dance moves.

Even the gazes of the waitresses and maids who had to deliver drinks and refill refreshments.

From an objective point of view, he was definitely an outstanding person in terms of his dancing skills.

However, it seemed that breathing was not very deep with the other woman.

After one song ended, the audience applauded Beckhart and his partner.

“That’s the dance that the sons of nobles do… .”

“You’re a nobleman too, Stella.”

He whispered softly to Stella, who forgot her identity and stared at her in awe like the others.

After Beckhart’s performance, Prince Antonio appeared.

In the seat next to you, you bring an unexpected and unexpected person together.

“The person next to Prince Antonio… Aren’t you Conrad-senpai’s younger sister?”

“Yes, I think Delphina is right.”

I thought that Delphina would definitely reject a stage that would create more enemies than necessary.

I don’t know how the hell he roasted his sister, but anyway, Prince Antonio seemed to have put in quite an effort.

In addition, the words he had said before that he was sincerely thinking of Delphina added more credibility.

The time when I was trying to focus my attention on what kind of dance my sister would do with Prince Antonio.

“oh.”

The voice of the young lady I had heard reached my ears from the opposite side of Stella’s standing position to my left.

“I thought that senior Konrad wouldn’t participate in events like this.”

“… Hilla?”

It was the moment when he came face to face with the red-haired lady of the Warburg family.