"Pfft! Hahaha! I''m Veena, Dan''s mother. Now I can see why that little sister of mine took a fancy to you. You are quite broad-minded. I certainly felt delighted to hear that... I pray for a greater height for you, just like you do for Dan."

    Dan''s mother, Veena, which made her the older sister of Mimosa, said with a giggle. Count Serdos, on the other hand, hastily rebuked her.

    "T-These words aren''t suitable for the occasion, Madam."

    "Fufu, I see, I apologize then. It''s just my unfamiliarity with such occasions that got the best of me. It should''ve been Lady Brient''s, the first wife''s, moment, but she followed her eldest son — he had been enlisted in the army dealing with the Hellrowcast extermination operation — and returned to the territory. Though I do hope you can continue to take care of Daniel."

    After greeting Count Serdos, we made a greeting round to the other attendees, and eventually found ourselves a place to sit.

    I hadn''t expected this, but it appeared that today''s soire?e was quite high profile with the attendance of not only the royal family, but also of the three ducal houses— the Zatstinger, the Shutrene, and the Guraster.

    Among them, I only found the Knight Order''s Supreme Commander, Olina of the Zatstinger family, to be a familiar face.

    I scanned the venue to see if Mujikka-sensei, the advisor of our Magic Research Club and also a member of the royal family, or Director Miharu from the Shutrene family, were present, but I didn''t see even their shadow.

    Maybe they wanted to avoid coming in contact with students in private scenarios so as not to appear like they were giving someone preferential treatment. With how much they stick to formalities, I wouldn''t be surprised if that was the case.

    It reminded me of the time when Director Miharu had summoned me to her office, asking if I had some suggestions to improve the Academy. Needless to say, I presented her with a slew of ideas, most of which were commonplace in modern Japan, out of habit.

    By the end, Director Miharu''s facial expression seemed kind of stretched as she returned with ''We will positively consider them'' in reply.

    Aside from them, I had no acquaintances from the Grauster family, though I was intrigued by the color of their eyes. I felt de?ja? vu when I noticed that.

    Anyway, at the end of the day, all these arrangements felt a bit too strange, or forced if you may. Our group of backwater nobles was clearly sticking out like a sore thumb, and if anything, even Count Serdos’ family appeared mismatched with the high profile setting of this soire?e.

    "Hark! His Majesty has arrived!"

    Espin, the head butler who welcomed us, announced. All the attendees promptly stood up and turned to look at the entrance.

    We, too, followed their examples and turned our heads in the direction of entrance.

    ◆◆◆

    His Majesty made his entrance in quite a rough appearance with his familiar gold-embroidered mantle being nowhere to be seen.

    A beautiful woman appeared beside him, presumably the Queen Yuain. She was dressed in an occasion-appropriate evening dress. If I recall correctly, the queen had been married from another nation.

    Appearance-wise, she was a pretty woman, with her facial features leaning on the cute side, as she walked with an impeccable gait, her spine straight like a pole.

    His Majesty casually glanced at my father, and confirming his ashen and tensed expression, he proposed.

    "Fumu, it''s hard to talk with such a distance between us, huh? Tonight''s arrangements were made hastily, so it''s inevitable that the seating arrangement wouldn''t be as I intended. Well, since it''s a personal event, let''s enjoy it as a buffet party style."

    When Queen Yuain heard him, she hastily stopped him from proceeding with his idea.

    "Gracious, you''re at it again with your whims. There are various things that need to be considered, like security arrangements, and food, among others, you know? Moreover, a king can''t be without his due prestige. This country isn''t small enough to gloss over such formalities."

    As the two stood against each other, the other attendees cleared the area with expressions of keen interest.

    My mother gave the sword a swing, and promptly channeled her mana, releasing her battle intent. The pressure emanating from her was so intense, it had knights around us instinctively reaching for their weapons.

    "*Whistle* Way to go, Mother. This is the best chance to show your cool side to Father! You think that person will be alright, Allen-kun?"

    Oh, my dear sister, just where do you see the romantic angle in that bloodthirsty demon-like aura surging from her? That''s worlds apart from the ballpark of our no hope father.

    Everyone in the venue was shocked when they heard my sister''s cheers.

    Meanwhile, our esteemed father was propped on the table.

    "...Well, she should be more than alright. My master did say Olina-san is the strongest swordsman in this kingdom."

    It''s not like I had seen Olina-san in action personally to make a guess, so I paraphrased my master''s words. Most of all, I couldn''t just say ''She may lose, so it''s better to stop the spar'' when everyone was keenly listening to our words.

    My eyes drifted to Olina-san. Even after bearing the brunt of my mother''s aura, she still had that fearless grin on her face.

    On the other hand, my sister stood up from her seat with sparkling eyes when she heard me.

    "It sounds interesting~! I would like to try as well!"

    Huh? Hold on for a moment, my dear sister! Don''t make it sound like she''s some sort of amusement park attraction!"

    Nonetheless, my sister merrily slipped past my mother and her suppressive aura, picked up one of the swords from the stand, and happily returned to stand behind our mother.

    The grin on Olina-san''s expression widened when she saw this, and she continued with her outrageous remark.

    "Interesting. I had been wanting to see your caliber for myself too, Roselia Rovenne. Truly fearless, much like your brother Allen... One-on-one would be a waste of time, so both of you come at me at the same time."

    Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. She''s definitely in deep trouble this time! And for the record, I wasn''t that fearless, alright!? I ain''t even a mere shadow of what they''re capable of.

    I quietly glanced at my father, but his focus was on counting the veins of the decorative plant''s leaves. He had clearly put the chaotic situation on the backseat of his mind.

    I sighed as I saw no other option, so I picked a sword for myself and stood next to Olina-san.

    "What are you doing, Allen? Surely, you''re not implying that I will lose, are you? I’m pretty sure that even if you join them, and come at me all at once, I can still fight regardless."

    I suppressed my urge to sigh, and replied.

    "Of course not. I just thought this was quite a good chance for me to learn as a knight along with my leader."

    I slowly moved the wind at my will while speaking.

    "It''s been quite a while since our last face-off, eh, mother, sister?"

    The two curled their lips into smiles at my words.

    T/N - Despite what he says, he truly like to add more fetters to himself, eh? And on this short note, Merry Christmas everyone! Though I would add like to add more, I guess let''s leave the later greetings for new year, not the creative type so can''t exhaust my arsenal here, haha. But, have a good long holidays~