Volume 4, Chapter 53 – Three Minutes of Fate (Part 1)

The grand banquet was held a week after the end of the northern expedition. The hall, adorned in gold, was exceptionally lively. All who were invited were renowned nobles of the Pescia territory. Of course, the nobles who had originally been attached to Hetty had already been purged by Edith with swift and decisive action. Most of the nobles standing here were the ones who had remained neutral, not daring to express their stance. Edith did not delve too deeply into this matter.

Although Edith was stubborn, it was only on necessary matters. Hetty stealing her position was something she could not tolerate under any circumstances. As for those neutral nobles, while she didn’t investigate them further, she would certainly not place them in important positions in the future.

As for the main character of the noble gathering, it was naturally Edith herself, who had reclaimed her position. Her act of single-handedly facing an army of tens of thousands had become a celebrated tale among the nobility, and the praise she received even surpassed that of Count Pescia.

Of course, following closely behind Edith, the other group that received much attention was Yisi’s party. As unaffiliated individuals with great power who had also helped the heir to the countship, Yisi and her group received invitations from numerous nobles, all of whom hoped they would visit their mansions in the future. The underlying meaning was that they hoped to establish a good relationship with Yisi, or simply to pull someone from her group into their family, so that their family could receive Edith’s protection in the future.

Yisi tactfully declined their invitations on behalf of her companions, and Fran and Shinku did the same. The only one who was different was Clementine. Perhaps due to the smooth personality he had developed as a former guild master, he did not directly refuse but promised to visit when he had time.

It was also worth mentioning that Count Pescia was truly a high-ranking blood clan member with reformist ideas. Considering that the main guests were human, he did not arrange for any “living food.” All the blood clan nobles present could only drink the pre-prepared blood, which made the scene not at all gory.

In addition, during the week they had stayed at the Count’s mansion, Mary and Sera had taught the chefs some rather luxurious cooking techniques, so at first glance, the entire banquet looked like a gathering of human nobles.

Of course, a banquet naturally couldn’t be without wine to accompany it. Originally, Count Pescia had planned to serve the vintage wine he had stored in his cellar, but Yisi took the opportunity to have Fran promote the new Margaret, “Shinku Nyan,” which had a red wine flavor, to him. Although it didn’t receive his highest praise, it was still added to his cellar collection. When it was served at the banquet, it was well-received by many nobles.

And the new dishes created by the head chefs almost made the always-elegant nobles bite their tongues off.

Normally, vampires needed to supplement with both ordinary food and blood. And because blood was easy to obtain and didn’t require much processing, the cost was relatively low. Therefore, for the nobles, the taste of ordinary food didn’t matter as long as it was delicious with blood. Over time, their food had often been just bread with blood. Now, suddenly tasting dishes beyond their imagination, some of the less well-mannered nobles, like country bumpkins, disregarded their decorum, picked up their plates, and began to feast.

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In terms of noble etiquette, a so-called banquet was more of a social occasion. One should not think about filling their stomach and just eat whatever they get, otherwise they would be considered an uncultured noble.

But the food was just too delicious. Even the invited high-ranking nobles could only cast disdainful glances at the lower-ranking nobles who were feasting, while elegantly and quickly scrambling for the remaining few dishes.

Yisi even caught a glimpse of a few nobles quietly leaving the hall and heading for the back kitchen.

Let’s hope they’re not trying to poach the Count’s staff.

Pretending not to see, Yisi, who was hiding alone in a corner of the hall, sighed.

Then, a voice that sounded very abrupt to her appeared by her ear.

“What’s wrong? You don’t look very energetic. You’re one of the main characters today.”

Yisi subconsciously looked up.

It was Edith in a formal gown.

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Her usually loose white hair was tied into a side ponytail, cascading down one side of her shoulder. Coupled with a purple gown unsuitable for combat and her azure eyes, she gave off an elegant and ladylike feeling.

This person looks good in anything.

Whatever she wears, she looks beautiful.

Grumbling inwardly, Yisi explained the reason for her sigh.

“It’s because you’re occupying the body. Thanks to you, I can only look at the food and wine and can’t enjoy the taste at all.”

“Is that so.”

There was no guilt in her words. Edith shrugged, leaned against the wall, crossed one arm, and held a glass of Margaret in the other. The clear liquid looked exceptionally tempting as it swirled.

“Sorry.”

“Huh?”

Yisi couldn’t help but suspect she had misheard.

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Edith sighed as if she had expected this and turned her face to Yisi.

“I said, ‘Sorry.’ Did your hearing get bad after you became a doll?”

“No, that’s not it. I just didn’t expect you to apologize.”

“Do I look like that kind of willful, spoiled brat?”

“Yes.”

Edith frowned.

“You, are you looking for a fight?”

“I don’t know about that, but I do know you definitely can’t beat me.”

“Tch.”

The conversation fell silent for a moment. Gazing at the lively banquet with its clinking glasses, Yisi, unable to bear the silence, spoke first.

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“Where’s Refina? I heard from Mary that you two have made up, but she’s no longer your pet and has been demoted to an ordinary maid.”

“Hmph, I just gave her the freedom she wanted. If she wanted to live an ordinary person’s life so much, she should have just gone and done it. In the end, she still had to cry in front of me and beg me to let her stay.”

“oh…”

Yisi had originally wanted to say, “I didn’t know you had a humane side,” but that would probably make Edith angry, so she swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue.

When Refina had stood before Edith again, she had shown no intention of killing her, only treating her as a stranger and ignoring her completely. In the end, it was Refina’s desperate pleading, along with the intercession of others, that made Edith let her stay.

This was the version Yisi had heard from Mary.

“So, why did you come over here? The high-ranking nobles who were invited should be looking for you, right? Even I can see that they want to introduce their offspring to you—you didn’t just leave Count Pescia there alone, did you?”

“I trust that Father can turn them down for me.” Looking at her father, who was surrounded by nobles, Edith took a light sip of her wine. “As for why I came here… I can go wherever I want in my own home. Do I need a reason for that?”

“Yes, yes, Miss Pepe the lady.” Her tone was full of resignation and teasing. Yisi changed the subject. “Although this topic is not suitable for the current occasion, I still have to ask. What about Hetty? I found her and handed her over to you, but I haven’t heard any news about her for several days.”