The announcement of Fawks to the party seemed to cause a stir.
Many of the people there seemed to be even more surprised to see Kotori at her side.
The room seemed to be filled with merchants and nobles with their retainers following them like ducklings. Kotori was no different and Shu stood at her side, while Amelie, Layla, and Umi trailed behind.
Although it was taboo Amelie was wearing a hat to cover her ears.
"You're a prince?" Kotori asked
Fawks said he was a merchant from Eris, he said nothing about being crown princes.
"Well yes," he said smiling.
"Are you impressed? Want to marry me now?" He asked
"Keep waiting," Kotori said at his joke
"What a shame," Fawks said in response he seemed slightly disappointed as if he was expecting her to say yes
"What does being a "Sea Lord" mean anyway?" Kotori asked Fawks.
"Well, The merchant here, don't like the kingdom very much, so we made our own government. The Sea Lords are the people chosen among the merchants to lead and represent them when we talk to the kingdom."
"I guess you're pretty important" Kotori snorted.
Fawks gave a pained smile,
"Couldn't you at least be a little impressed with me?"
[Wait, isn't he a prince or something? Why is he part of a foreign government?]
"Can you be a prince and be part of the sea lord?" She asked him
"Well, I'm only third in line and my brother is going to take the throne anyway, I'm free to do as I please" Fawks explained.
"Besides, the Sea Lords are independent and just represent the merchants and govern the surrounding area, we are not the main governing arm of the Kingdom anyway. We still have to give a portion of our taxes to them anyway"
Several people and their attendants came up to Fawks to talk and Kotori took the time to chat with her party members
Amelie seemed oblivious to the situations and announcement
"Kotori, don't lose pastries look delicious?" Amelie asked pointing to some custard sweets on a table nearby
"Mhmm, would like to try some?" Kotori asked
Since Amelie was here as Kotori's retainer, she couldn't just grab food from the table herself.
"Yes please!" Amelie said
Kotori walked over to the table ignoring the stares of the other party-goers and grabbed two of the custard pastries off the table.
She walked back to her group it appeared well-dressed a man was busy trying to talk to Layla.
"You are positively gorgeous my dear, don't tell me you are simply just a retainer." He said to her
Layla looked annoyed, She had been hit on quite a lot in the dwarf village and she looked on humans trying to do so even more disdainfully than the dwarves.
[Hey buddy, back off she's mine] Kotori thought
"Excuse me—"
Before Layla was about to say something rude on accident Kotori butt into the conversation
"Hello is something wrong here?" Kotori asked.
The man turned toward Kotori,
"Oh my! You must be her lord, I'll be willing to hire her off you for a reasonable price" He said
According to Madame Dupont, nobles would often sell the contracts of their retainer on a whim. It was rather normal and since changing bosses rarely causes a change in the living conditions of the retainer they didn't complain that much about it.
Retainers were of course free people and could reject the contract once it was transferred but it was considered rude and would make finding further employment difficult.
The look the man was giving Layla gave Kotori the feeling he wasn't simply just trying to get Layla to be a maid for him. Besides, Layla was one of Kotori's treasured companions.
"I'm sorry, I'm going to have to decline the offer," Kotori said
"Oh, I see, if it's an issue with the price I'm sure I can give you a price that you would be extremely satisfied by," The man said putting extra emphasis on the word "extremely"
[He's trying to buy me off!] Kotori thought
The man seemed to have misunderstood why Kotori was rejecting his offer. He must've thought Layla was just a particularly expensive retainer.
[Typical merchant type, thinking they can solve everything with money] Kotori thought
Through living in the city and the inn Kotori had seen the attitude that merchants would adopt. The only god they worshiped was the coin and they believe their god could solve all their problems.
"I'm still going to have to deny your offer," Kotori said loudly
Several Male merchants were eyeing Layla, Umi, and even Amelie so Kotori was intentionally loud to dissuade them.
She heard several people click their tongues nearby in frustration.
Kotori was aware that her appearance at this party had caused a commotion, but she couldn't do anything about it. The only thing she could do was pass the time and avoid as much attention as possible until she could leave.
Another person began to walk towards them which annoyed Kotori she thought she had managed to get most of them to leave but this one seemed quite brazen.
As the man got closer Kotori got a better look at him.
He looked like a large obese toad. He suit was ill-fitting, with flabs of fat bulging out of sleeves. He was followed by his retainers which was a cadre of beautiful women.
"Hello" he said in a deep voice.
"I hope you enjoyed my invitation," he said.