Oh my God... I've been standing here... For almost an hour... Smiling... Greeting... AND THERE'S STILL A HUGE LINE?!?!?!?!

I kept my ever-smiling countenance on my face and greeted everyone politely, but I was completely raging inside!

Why are these people offering their children for marriage to me and Lu-nii like they're selling fruits?!?!?! Seriously?! We're just supposed to greet each other, have a little talk, and go our own separate ways!!!

I've never even met most of the nobles that greeted us! I've only ever heard of them in passing! Some I never even heard of!!

Is this the mob mentality? Where many would follow if one had led by example? Is that why all these people started crowding us?!

I don't really care about ranks, but please just stop offering your children for marriage like they're a bargaining chip! It's so sad!

Hah... Well, I guess this is the norm in this noble society. I am the lucky one for being born in a high-ranking and powerful family...

Fortunately, some of the families we greeted were actually good friends with my mom and dad, so I greeted them extra carefully and politely to help mom and dad as well. They seem like good people, considering the first few lines didn't include "What do you think of my child?"

Hah... How many more do we have to go through? When will Alexus and the royal family come? We're not going to greet all the families that are lining up as if they're waiting for the supermarket with a huge sale to open up, right?

Just then, as if hearing my prayers, an angel came.

From the corners of my eyes, I saw Evelyn holding hands with her mother, Maria-sama, along with her father approaching us with a smile.

"Lord Altair. It has been a while since we've met."

"Ah, Lord Eric. Likewise. I'm glad to see you in good health."

As soon as both lords of the ducal households greeted each other, all other families reluctantly moved away, allowing the two families to meet.

"It is a pleasure to see you again, Lord Eric."

"You too, Lady Lisa. Thank you for taking care of my wife during the tea party you hosted a few days ago."

"Ufufufu~ It is my honor."

Oohhh~ So this is Maria-sama's husband and the lord of the Silium ducal household. He looks like a dignified middle-age man with those neatly treamed beard and visible muscles that rippled through his suit. While not on the level of Roland-sama, he's still quite built; a warrior type man.

I looked down to his hands, and saw several callouses. Judging by the locations of his callouses, it seems like he was a swordsman. It looked similar to Roland-sama's callouses.

"This must be the young girl who have taken the entire noble society by a strom with just her beauty."

Eh?! W-What's with that embarrassing description?

I looked up from his hands and he looking at me with a gentle smile on his face. Even though he's a warrior type, it seems like he has mellowed with the years.

I quickly curtsied as elegantly as possible and greeted him.

"Thank you very much for your praise, Lord Silium. My name is Alterisa von Lorya, the first daughter of the Lorya ducal household. I have been in the care of Evelyn-sama and Lady Maria."

"Mm. I've heard a lot about you from my wife and especially my daughter. She will always bring you up during our family dinner. Ahahahaha!"

"D-Dear father! P-Please don't say such embarrassing things!"

Oh my~ What's this~? Has Evelyn been talking about me~? Ufufufu~ With those cheeks blushing redly, I wonder what she's talking about~

Noticing my smile at her, Evelyn averted her eyes away shyly and covered the bottom half of her face with the sleeves of her beautiful light blue dress.

"Fufufu~ Look at her, dear~ Our little angel is blushing like this~"

"Dear mother!"

"Umu. It seems the two of you do share a deep bond indeed. How about it, Lord Altair. Shall we not bore the girls with our conversations and let them play?"

Dad considered for a moment and looked at me.

Uhn! Let me go! I'd rather go with Evelyn than stand here doing nothing! I can protect myself and Evelyn with magic too, so you don't need to worry!

Seeing the eagerness in my eyes, dad nodded and turned back toward Lord Eric.

"Very well. Our Risa has been doing her best all these times to greet the many noble families who came to us. It is time for her to have fun and enjoy the banquet as well. If you encounter a problem, feel free to prove that you are our daughter."

Ufufufu~ I got it, dad~ He said proof that I am my mom and dad's daughter. Meaning to prove that I am the daughter of two powerful mages, not that I am the daughter of the Lorya household.

Kekekeke~ Now that I have my dad's permission, I'll turn anyone who dares annoy me and Evelyn into popsicles!!!

"Thank you very much, dear fa- I mean, dad... I shall be on my way. Please excuse me, Lord Silium, Lady Maria."

"Please excuse me as well, Lord Lorya, Lady Lisa, Lucas-sama."

"Mm. Go and enjoy the banquet."

Curtsying to our family, Evelyn and I went ahead to explore the venue together.

"Hehehe~ I'm finally with Risa-sama~ I've been waiting for this moment the entire night~"

"Really~ Me too~ I've been greeting all the nobles who came to us all this time, so I didn't have the chance to go and explore or find you."

"It is understandable. My family has also been greeting the other noble families all this time. It is only because my dear mother saw Lady Lisa in the midst of the crowd and urged dear father to come to greet Lord Lorya that we could escape them."

"Seems like you've had it hard too, Evelyn~ But now that we're together, let's have fun, okay~?"

"Yes~ Ah, that's right. Let's go and find Celine. She has been waiting for me to finish my greetings as well."

"Really~? Then let's go~!"

Following Evelyn's lead, we found Celine waiting near the table for refreshments. She was wearing a beautiful white and yellow dress and beautiful hair adornments that decorated her golden twin-tails.

The moment we came near, she immediately noticed us and looked at me in shock.

"Eh?! W-Why are you here?!"

"Eh~? Why wouldn't I be here~? Don't you want to see me, Celine-chan~ Evelyn told me how much you missed me~"

Seeing this little cutie tsundere, I decided to tease her a little bit. And as expected, she immediately became red.

"W-Wha-! E-Evelyn! How could you tell her that?! It's supposed to be a secret!"

E-Eh? Really?! She misses me...? I was just making that up to tease her though!

"Oh my~ It seems like you revealed your secret yourself~ Ufufufu~ I've never told Risa-sama that you missed her, you know~?"

"E-Eh?! T-Then..."

Celine-chan slowly turned towards me, and I could only look at her in shock. I-I never actually thought she'd miss me! I was just going to tease her!

Her eyes began becoming teary as her blushing cheeks inflated into a pout.

"I-I'm leaving!"

"Ah! Wait! Celine-chan! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to tease you this much! I'm sorry, okay!"

I quickly grabbed her hand with both of my hands and looked at her apologetically. I was just trying to get her tsundere reactions out a little bit, but I didn't know it'll make her this mad.

She slowly turned back towards me and looked between the hand I'm holding and my eyes.

"...Fine. I-I'll accept your apology! But I won't forgive you if you tease me again, okay?!"

"Yes~! Thank you, Celine~ I love you~"

"Uwah! D-Don't hug me so suddenly! G-Get away!"

"Aww... How envious..."

I kept Celine in my embrace despite her resistance. I'm much stronger than her because of my training, but after a while, I don't feel much resistance anymore.

I looked down, and Celine was just standing there, averting her gaze away from me with her cheeks blushing super redly.

Ufufufu~ She's so cute~ This kind of expression is just cheating!!!

"Now then~ As an apology, I will be feeding you all the sweets you want, okay~?"

"I can eat them myself!!!!"

After calming down the little tsundere kitten, the three of us began wandering around the venue.

As expected of the biggest royal banquet of the year, there was plenty of amazing food and desserts of the greatest quality, even for nobles' standard, that have been served to the nobilities who came to attend.

But just as we were about to dig in, I heard a familiar beautiful voice calling out to me.

"Ah! Alterisa-sama~!"

All three of us immediately turned towards the source of the voice and saw Noir, as well as Luke, Roland-sama, and Latis-sama approaching us.

Noir quickly run towards me and curtsied with a brilliant smile.

"I'm very happy to have been able to meet you this evening, Alterisa-sama~ Evelyn-sama, and Celine-sama as well~"

"Noir~ I'm very happy to meet you as well~"

"Likewise, Noir-sama~"

"U-Uhn. It is nice to see you as well."

I then turned my attention towards Roland-sama, Latis-sama, and Luke who were already standing before us, and greeted them with a curtsy.

"Greetings, Lord Raeven, Lady Raeven, and the young master of the Raeven Household, Luke-sama. It is an honor to be in your presence."

Evelyn and Celine followed suit right after my greetings, followed by Celine introducing herself as well to the Raeven family. Although she had met Noir before, this was the first time she had ever met the royal guard commander, his wife, and his son.

"Umu. It is nice to see you in good health as well, Alterisa-kun. And greetings to the daughter of Duke Silium and Marquis Silva as well. Luke, Noir, greet them."

"Y-Yes."

Hm? What's wrong with Luke all of a sudden? Was he daydreaming? He seemed like he was just staring off into the distance like usual. But he usually wouldn't get flustered this much.

Luke greeted us and bowed sitfly with an awkward and blushing expression on his face. In contrast, Noir greeted us perfectly with an amazing curtsy!

As expected of Noir~! What a cutie lady~!

As I was admiring Noir's good job, Latis-sama let out a small sigh and looked at me with a wry smile.

"It seems like your beautiful appearance had entrance my stupid son, Alterisa-kun."

What? Entrance? Me entrancing the cold robotic Luke? No way~ I've trained with him and showed him my rambunctious side~ There's no way he'll be entranced now~

"Indeed. You do appear especially beautiful this evening, Alterisa-kun. I almost forgot that you are the same wildcat I've been training."

Even Roland-sama? Hah... Well, for now, I'll just thank them.

"Thank you very much for your praise, Latis-sama, Raeven-sama."

"Noir. Would you like to join your friends and enjoy the banquet?"

"Eh? Will that be alright, dear mother?"

"Of course. Go ahead. Alterisa-kun, Evelyn-kun, Celine-kun. Will that be fine with you?"

Eh?! Really~?! Noir's joining us too? Yaaaayyy~!!!

Of course it'll be fine~!!!

"Of course, Latis-sama!"

"We shall take care of her, Latis-sama."

"Yes!"

"T-Thank you very much!"

Noir happily approached us and bowed her head.

"Please take care of me!"

"Uhn~! Please take care of us as well and have fun~"

Ehehehehe~ Another cutie~ Ufufufu~ The night's just getting more and more fun~!!!







AN: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter~! Please vote and comment your thoughts~!