Chapter 24: Are You Interested in Her?

Kaios first followed Xiao Zhuo'an to a lounge to rest. This arrangement was designed to ensure guests wouldn't cross paths with other nobles directly. In fact, Kaios noticed that ever since they entered the city, every administrative detail had been tailored to facilitate the travel of nobles and prevent any unexpected, unprepared encounters between them.

The lounge was stocked with food and drinks, and it boasted an excellent ventilation system that made it extremely comfortable.

"Kaios, I chatted with the auctioneer for tonight," Xiao Zhuo'an said with obvious excitement. "He said your painting will definitely be one of the most popular items in the art category. There's almost no suspense—the final price will break ten thousand!"

"Then I really have to thank you for persuading me to attend this auction," Kaios replied with a smile.

He didn't actually believe that a single painting could fetch tens of thousands. If that were true, all the pieces in his studio would be worth that much, and he could just sell a few whenever he was short on cash. He knew very well that the value of such art relied heavily on its rarity. The original owner had only ever released one painting, which was likely one of the reasons its price had been driven up so high.

"Ah! I just wanted to bask in your glory, haha! Thanks to your painting, we got great seats for tonight!"

After chatting for a while, an attendant came over to inform them that the banquet had begun and they could proceed to the banquet hall.

Every noble with an invitation was only allowed to bring one person, and it could not be an armored Guard. Since Xiao Zhuo'an didn't have his own invitation and had to tag along with Kaios, Lu Hao, Sharvella, and Harvey had no choice but to wait in the lounge.

Naturally, a banquet designed for socializing was set up buffet-style. Although they had already eaten a little in the lounge, the sight of the delicacies still made their mouths water. The culinary standards of this world were truly exceptional.

"That over there is the Lord of the Shen Family, Earl Shenmao. The one with the slightly balding head. Their family is currently seeking the Three-leaf Earl certification and has been buying people up. Oh, by that I mean buying Contracted Servants who already possess a certain level of strength.

"That handsome young man with the female companion in the black dress is Count Philips' eldest son and first-in-line heir. He's incredibly talented in singing and is a famous tenor in our Yulang City. The year before last, when Elder Wadon visited Yulang City, he performed here and received high praise. It's truly enviable.

"For just one of his concerts, the ticket sales alone can bring in four figures. Tsk, tsk, he really knows how to make money. Oh, of course, he still falls a bit short compared to you, Kaios. Any random painting of yours can sell for over ten thousand.

"See the beautiful lady in the black dress beside him? That's his wife, Earl Samuel's beloved daughter. It was that very vocal performance during Elder Wadon's visit to Yulang City that made them fall in love!"

Kaios grabbed some food to eat while listening to Xiao Zhuo'an quietly introduce the nobles he recognized.

Since it was still relatively early, there weren't many people in the banquet hall yet. Moreover, according to Xiao Zhuo'an, many nobles attending the auction wouldn't bother with the preliminary banquet or dance, preferring to arrive only when the auction actually began. Even so, the number of nobles Xiao Zhuo'an could recognize—and provide names, backgrounds, or interesting anecdotes for—was quite small. Some of the attendees were people he was seeing for the very first time.

Kaios could easily understand why. Xiao Zhuo'an hadn't yet received his inheritance and lacked any "tools" to generate money. Relying solely on a meager allowance, he was largely looked down upon by other noble youths—except for a rare oddball like Kaios. Opportunities for him to attend banquets of this level were few and far between.

As the crowd in the banquet hall gradually swelled, Xiao Zhuo'an wandered off on his own to greet a few acquaintances, using them as a bridge to integrate into various social circles. Every now and then, he would bring over one or two people who had heard Kaios was present and wanted to meet him for a brief chat.

For the nobles of the Holy Protection Alliance, beyond the innate advantages of status and wealth, the most highly valued personal traits were artistic accomplishments. This included Realms such as painting, calligraphy, singing, theater, and literature. At merely eighteen years old, Kaios had already inherited his title and assumed the position of Lord as a Three-leaf Baron. Furthermore, he was an emerging Painter beginning to make his mark within the Alliance. Naturally, he was highly revered in such social settings.

Xiao Zhuo'an could have easily drawn a whole crowd around Kaios to make him the center of attention. However, knowing that Kaios wouldn't adapt well to that dynamic, he opted to bring people over for introductions one by one.

These exchanges lacked any real substance. Most of it consisted of blatant flattery, or people pretending to be his kindred spirits by discussing painting techniques, styles, art, and other related works. Kaios had zero interest in any of this. He simply listened more than he spoke, maintaining the persona of a brooding, profound artist. It was mostly about showing his face and getting a general sense of who was who anyway; he hadn't planned on forging any genuine friendships today.

Among the young noblemen and women Xiao Zhuo'an brought over, several had halos behind their heads that were more than a third yellow, indicating they had a fairly good impression of him. As he scanned the rest of the room, he didn't spot any entirely purple or bright red halos either. At the very least, none of the guests present harbored any direct hostility toward him.

While covertly observing the behavior of the distant nobles, Kaios's mouth never stopped moving. He just kept eating.

The food here was incredibly delicious!

One unnamed dish was particularly exceptional: it had sashimi in the middle, roasted meat on the bottom, and caviar on top, along with some sort of paste that might have been crab roe. It tasted phenomenal.

However, there weren't many portions of this dish left, and he felt embarrassed about eating them all back-to-back. Instead, he would take one piece, eat it, take a lap around the room to sample other things, and then return for another...

When he reached for the very last piece, a delicate, fair hand reached out at the exact same time. The two of them touched the small saucer holding the food almost simultaneously, then quickly pulled their hands back.

"Sorry, please go ahead."

"You first, you first."

They spoke in unison. Kaios then noticed that the person who had set their sights on the same piece of food was a tall, young noble girl with Eastern features. He had actually noticed earlier that, out of the entire banquet hall, he and this girl were practically the only ones genuinely focusing on the food. Everyone else was primarily busy socializing and chatting.

"I've actually already had quite a few. It really is delicious, you should try it," Kaios said.

"I've had quite a few too," the girl replied somewhat sheepishly. "The meat of this Formless Fish tastes incredible. It's my first time eating one of such high quality."

"Formless Fish? Is that the sashimi in the middle? Then what's that on top? The yellow paste."

"Oh, that's snake paste. It's made by mashing the eyeballs of a Nine-Ringed Snake and mixing them with its brains."

"And the roasted meat on the bottom?"

"Roasted Dragon Palm."

"Dragon?"

"Of course not *that* kind of dragon. It's..."

Just then, an attendant came over to announce that the auction would begin in fifteen minutes and invited the VIP guests to prepare for entry. The girl gave Kaios a polite nod before heading toward the hall's entrance.

"Do you know who that is?" Kaios asked, his gaze fixed on the girl's departing figure.

Xiao Zhuo'an frowned as he studied her for a moment. "I think that's Count Zi Yuan Asakura Hoshizuki's youngest daughter. What was her name again... If I remember correctly, she's an Explosive Art practitioner, or maybe a firework artist? But that art form isn't very mainstream right now, so her reputation is just average. She's definitely pretty, though. What, Kaios? Did she catch your eye? She should still be unmarried. Do you want me to play matchmaker for you?"