Chapter 117: The Marquis’s Welcome Party (Part 2)

The most important thing to establish oneself in high society is reputation.

Only a very good reputation serves as a passport to high society.

Therefore, no matter whether a Noble was kind-hearted or ruthless deep down, they all paid great attention to appearances, just like Baron Tier, who spared no expense, even spending half a year’s fiscal budget to gain a bit of ‘face’ for a Moon festival celebration. Thus, guests at a banquet like the one hosted by Marquis Vauban were even more cautious.

After all, besides Marquis Vauban himself, there were also Big Shots from other counties in the Four Northern Counties present. If they made a fool of themselves, their reputation would spread throughout the Four Northern Counties in the shortest time, becoming gossip and a joke for people after tea and meals.

So, at this moment, Miss Baron had already predicted what kind of treatment she would receive.

Sarcasm, mockery, and harsh evaluations!

And it was not just her; even her Father would face such blame.

Thinking of the scene of her Father facing this blame.

This Miss Baron wished she could die right now.

Because she knew very well how much her Father would suffer from living worse than death when facing them.

Her body continued to tilt forward uncontrollably, and the despair in her heart grew stronger and stronger—clearly, once she fell here, Miss Baron would do something unexpected yet reasonable.

Undoubtedly, at her age, Miss Baron had not yet understood the value of Health.

Just as she was about to make a decision, her tilting body suddenly stopped—

Not by her own will.

A firm hand supported her forearm.

D-Dean?!

Miss Baron was utterly surprised, looking at Dean who had appeared in front of her without her noticing and was supporting her arm. Before she could recover, Dean’s hand slid down, holding Miss Baron’s hand, and he bowed, saying, “Miss Lily, may I have the honor to lead you for the first dance?”

His voice was clear, and all the guests in the inner hall could hear it clearly.

It also covered up Dean’s extremely low voice behind it—

“Refuse me!”

Only Miss Baron could clearly hear Dean’s voice.

Miss Baron, originally full of gratitude and even feeling a strange emotion, was about to agree to Dean’s request, but Dean’s next words made Miss Baron hesitate.

“Hurry up!”

Dean urged.

Several oppressive gazes from the inner hall appeared again; clearly, he did not have the chance to remind the Miss Baron in front of him again.

After all, those oppressive gazes that made Dean feel pressured came not only from power and status but also from Strength.

Fortunately, Miss Baron did as he instructed—

“I’m a bit tired and just want to rest!”

Miss Baron said with a cold face.

“T-then, it’s a pity…”

With a helpless look of being rejected, Dean shrugged and once again subtly stood behind Miss Baron.

From beginning to end, Dean acted like a young man who admired someone, was eager, and then was rejected—no different from those young men falling in love at the banquet.

For this, some men in the inner hall who had such experiences threw sympathetic glances at Dean. Many men who felt deeply in their hearts even raised their glasses from afar to signal him not to give up.

And Miss Baron attracted even more attention.

In noble banquets, there was an unchanging truth—a girl or Lady always had ‘a swarm of butterflies’ surrounding her before her rivals—just like male antelopes dueling for female antelopes.

The Noble circle was roughly the same.

However, Miss Baron, who had just experienced Dean’s ‘rejection’, did not have such a mood, nor even the mood to perfunctorily deal with it. After entering the inner hall, with a cold face, she directly and cleanly rejected no less than five men who believed themselves far better than Dean, only then letting those men quiet down for a moment.

But the gazes looking at this Miss Baron became increasingly hot.

The unobtainable is always the best.

This seemed to be another truth.

And Dean, at this time, had already secluded himself in a corner of the banquet—the most inconspicuous corner—casually holding two pastries to fill his stomach.

In Dean’s opinion, the banquet in front of him was far less important than filling his stomach.

“The banquet hasn’t started yet, and Regiment Commander Dean Ken seems a bit anxious!”

A voice came from beside Dean.

“A nobody like me wouldn’t be noticed—Don’t you agree, Lord Marquis?”

Dean, who had already heard the footsteps, said without looking up.

In this inner hall, the only one who could be called a Marquis was naturally the host here, Marquis Vauban.

“A clever young man!”

Marquis Vauban said so.

In fact, after Miss Baron was about to fall earlier, and Dean suddenly appeared and subtly resolved the embarrassment, Marquis Vauban and several interested parties had kept their eyes on Dean—clearly, for Marquis Vauban and those interested parties, Dean was far more attractive than that Miss Baron.

At least, he was worth noticing.

And for young men who could be noticed, Marquis Vauban never spared his praise.

“You are also very wise—at least, I couldn’t think of using such a way to ‘urge’ my subordinate Lords!”

Dean said, eating pastries while speaking ambiguously; it was unclear whether it was flattery or sarcasm.

In fact, when Dean found that the inner hall was already full of guests, he had already guessed what Marquis Vauban wanted to do—simply to carefully knock some sense into his subordinate Lords during the private auction.

First, make them nervous under the public gaze, preferably somewhat embarrassing, and then he would step out to resolve the tension or even the embarrassing situations of these subordinate Lords.

Next, to gain more loyalty and praise from the Lords.

This kind of thing was not unfamiliar to Dean—he hadn’t experienced it, but he had witnessed it countless times.

After all, following the Grand Duchess, Dean had attended countless banquets.

And almost once in every three or four times, such a plot would appear.

Of course, at that time, both the Grand Duchess and he were the ones exerting pressure.

Therefore, Dean was not surprised at all that Marquis Vauban would use such means.

In fact, it was precisely because the other party used such means that Dean chose to help Miss Baron—even though they were in the same camp, Dean could not truly make that Miss Baron lose face.

But the presence of Marquis Vauban was also the real reason Dean chose to intervene.

After all, as a Guard Captain, it was too difficult for him to approach Marquis Vauban, unless the other party actively came looking for him.

And fortunately, Dean, who knew the other party’s personality well, knew what to do.

Just like now—

“Young man, you are even smarter than I imagined!”

Hearing Dean’s words, Marquis Vauban looked at Dean in surprise; clearly, he did not expect Dean to see through his intentions.

Although such means were obvious to every Lord.

But for a young man, it was absolutely not something that could be understood just by looking.

Unless someone told him, or he had experienced too much…

The first possibility, Marquis Vauban ruled out very easily.

After all, he did not believe that someone had leaked today’s arrangements to Dean, because the arrangements for this banquet were known only to a few, and the loyalty of those few had been verified countless times.

Then, only the second one remained!

Thinking of the second possibility, Marquis Vauban couldn’t help but size up the young man in front of him—his straight body, even when standing there with his head down eating pastries, made one think of a javelin; his fairly handsome appearance, more coldness, made his originally youthful face appear very mature, causing people to unconsciously ignore his actual age.

If not for the fuzz on his lips, no one would think this was a young man.

On the contrary, he should be a Knight who had seen countless battles.

Especially those eyes, which were truly memorable. They seemed calm, but naturally carried authority. Anyone who made eye contact with them would feel layers of pressure.

Marquis Vauban was too familiar with such eyes.

Those Lords who held power in their respective areas, and the Generals who commanded thousands of troops, all had such eyes.

And the young man in front of him was certainly not one of those existences.

It could only be the result of Family cultivation. Considering the information he had obtained about this young man’s Strength, Marquis Vauban became increasingly certain of his guess.

“Dean Ken… Ken is your mother’s surname, then what about your father’s side?”

Marquis Vauban asked with interest.

“Before restoring the glory of my Ancestors, I will not speak of or inherit that surname!”

Dean, who was well-prepared, said so.

“As expected!”

Hearing Dean’s words, Marquis Vauban showed an expression of ‘as expected’—after all, people like Dean, who struggled to revive their Family after it fell into ruin, Marquis Vauban had seen too many in his life; some succeeded, while others lived an obscure life.

But no matter what, they were all trying hard.

And for such hard workers, Marquis Vauban had no bad feelings.

“If you need anything, come find me! Or, when your ‘Knight’s Baptism’ comes, we can have a good chat. After all, ‘Knight’s Baptism’ is very important, especially for young men like you!”

Leaving these words, Marquis Vauban walked toward the center of the inner hall. Dean silently watched him—Dean certainly would not naively take this as an unbreakable promise. Although Marquis Vauban said such words, they were limited to the scope of simple and convenient help.

What if it went beyond that?

That would absolutely require paying an equivalent price.

The reality of Nobles far exceeded that of ordinary people.

But what did it matter?

Dean had at least achieved his initial goal—getting to know Marquis Vauban.

And this was one of Dean’s main purposes for coming here.

After all, only by getting to know Marquis Vauban would he have the chance to meet his Teacher, that Grand Duchess; and only then would he have the chance to turn around that defeated war.

And ‘Knight’s Baptism’?

Dean naturally had his own arrangements, but it would certainly not be completed in the banquet hall. He needed to go to the places he was most familiar with.

Ding, ding…

That old man, who looked like a steward, tapped his cup.

“The most loyal servant of the Emerald Kingdom, the most respected Lord of Vauban County…”

Amidst the long opening speech, the banquet began.

But Dean, standing in the corner, had his thoughts flown elsewhere.

You should know, he did not come to Vauban City to attend this private auction.

But fortunately, the private auction was tomorrow, and tonight was just a simple banquet opening, which would not last long.