Subconsciously I responded while also hid behind Captain Jullius. Ugh… I was really startled and my old habit got me there. I sticked out my head to take a peek from behind Captain Jullius. I saw Princess Aranea with her big round eyes extended her hand which was holding the necklace. Ugh… ermm… I don't want to go forward. Princess Aranea who was taken aback seeing my behavior, hardened her face.
"Miss Silla Epheria."
"…, yes."
"Are you scared of me?"
"N-no…"
"Then please come forward."
I thought I've managed to escape, but in the end I still got scolded huh? I was about to step forward as I felt like I didn't have any choice but suddenly Captain Jullius extended his hand to stop me. He looked at Princess Aranea and said, "Isn't the problem already solved?"
"I don't have any intention to bully her."
Princess Aranea answered back while directly facing Captain Jullius and saw him eye to eye. The Princess, who grew up well inside the Palace could directly looked into Captain Jullius' eyes without being scared in the least, was also a scary person too.
"If so, then please leave her be. Your Highness also saw it yourself that she's afraid of you, Princess."
"What did I do– nah… forget it."
Princess Aranea just sighed and passed the necklace to Captain Jullius.
"As the host of this banquet, I apoligized for making you uncomfortable. Have fun for the rest of the time."
She glanced at me once and turned away. Somehow I felt sorry… but it wasn't intentional. Whenever I heard the Princess called for me, I grew a habit of running away. As the Princess left the place, the crowds also started to dispersed. Captain Jullius turned around to face me and asked in a small voice.
"Are you okay?"
"Oh…, yes. Thank you."
He prevented me from stepping forward when I felt uncomfortable with the Princess. He's truly a kind person. After Captain Jullius passed over the necklace, Countess Canaly approached us.
"The banquet's mood isn't that good, but the relationship between the two of you has certainly gained the public interest."
Is that so?
"Then the purpose has been achieved?"
"You can say so. Besides, although it was unintentional, we've dealt a blow to the Count Epheria family."
Countess Canaly smiled brightly.
"Enjoy the rest of the banquet but try not to make any troubles."
"Okay."
Why would I look for troubles when I got something else to do and that's to fill my stomach. Although Sofia had forbid me from eating during the banquet, but I need to fatten up this body by eating lots of sweet desserts. I grabbed Captain Jullius' wrist and headed straight towards the dining area.
The food served at the banquet must meet three requirements. The food must be in bite-sized and won't leave behind any crumbs that might stained one's clothes or mouth; doesn't have any foul smells; and lastly, it's appearance must be pleasant to the eyes like those beautiful decorations. Those three requirements were the most important and unfortunately the taste matter last. For this reason, if the banquet's host couldn't hire a skillful partissiere to make the desserts, then the food being served would just fullfiled the three requirements while the taste was just there as it is. It would be just some pilled of colorful sugars or a lump of flour. The banquets with such bad food would make it into my blacklist and I would never attend the said banquet ever again for sure. After all, my main purpose to attend the banquet was just to eat the desserts.
And of course, the food at the banquet hosted by someone from Imperial family must be tasty! Really delicious! That's why, everytime I got Princess Aranea's invitation card, I got really heartbroken. My deputy said that there's nothing to worry about and I should just go to the banquet. But, for someone who had been scolded for three times because I couldn't properly followed her conversations and didn't understand the words she were saying, made me didn't want to come to Princess Aranea's banquet ever again. Not even the size of my fingernail did I ever have any interest in politics!
(T/N: literal translation of 손톱만큼도 is 'not even the size of my nail'. Korean idiom that means 'not even in the slightest'.)
Unlike other knight squads, the requirement to become the leader of Holy Knight Squad is only one, and that was to have the best necessary skill out of the rest. And to have it, someone only need to have massive amounts of holy power to become the Captain of Holy Knight Squad because The Goddess' blessings is considered as the foremost important. Of course, same goes for the priests in the church.
I've done the best for my part, so why did Princess Aranea had to scold me with her scary eyes to make me do this and that and ordered me to learn something if I couldn't do it? If I said 'I hate it' then she would stared at me with her cold gaze. Then, what else did she say again? Right. She said it would be my lost for not making use of my opportunity to my advantage in an environment where being a woman is still considered as an obstacle… anyway, she's angry.
In our first meetings, she's angry. In our second meetings, she pressured me to arrange a schedule because she would personally taught me. Then, in our third meetings, she was angry again because I've been avoiding her and she said that what she did was all for my own good and for all women in the empire. After that, I've been desperately avoided of meeting her, and thus we have never met properly since then.
Anyway what important right now is it has been a long time since I went to a banquet.
When the Crown Prince was cursed, no banquet was allowed to be held. Although there's no ban was imposed on holding a banquet, but I noticed that no one dared to held a banquet. With an empty plate in one hand and a fork in my other hand, I looked up to face Captain Jullius. Unlike me who was ready to get some desserts while disregarding Sofia's advice, he seemed troubled by something.
"Did Ortzen tell Captain Jullius not to eat?"
Captain Jullius was surprised and turned his gaze from a tiramisu topped with chocolate cream instead of cocoa powder to look at me.
"How did you know?"
"Because I also heard the same thing."
I heard it from Sofia and my deputy also said the same in the past. I didn't understand on why they insisted on make other people starve. I gave my plate and fork in my hands to Captain Jullius and asked him to held onto them firmly.
"It's fine. We can eat, you know?"
"But, I've been repeatedly warned to pay attention to my conduct because this is Princess' banquet, not elsewhere. And…"
Captain Jullius hesitated a bit before continuing his sentence.
"I was told to stop you from eating too."
"….."
Damn you, Ortzen! What's wrong with me eating some food? It's supposed to be eaten anyways! Are these just some decorations? Huh!? …well, I knew that the food was just for decoration purpose, but… I bit my lower lips while looked around. Few people were interested in us, but Countess Canaly glanced at us once in a while as she was having a chat with some noble ladies. If we ate, then certainly the news would flow to Ortzen's ears through Countess Canaly's mouth. Then Ortzen would definitely have another round of nagging for the poor Captain Jullius. I was already felt sorry to Captain Jullius for him to suffer because of the banquet, so I couldn't make him hear Ortzen's nagging…
I could only enjoy the appealing desserts feast that were inviting to be picked with my eyes, then I just sighed.
"… I really can't eat even just for a bit?"
Even Sofia said that it's okay if only a bit. To answer my question, Captain Jullius nodded his head in affirmation.
"He said that it's fine for me to eat but Miss won't be able to resist the desire once you have a bite…"
… what? Did lieutenant Ortzen really know my identity? Or maybe he could read other people minds? Could it be that someone who's from the demon clan wasn't Clauen, but Ortzen? There're plenty of possibilities just based on what he did. Nah… I don't care about Ortzen's real identity. Why! Just why couldn't I eat those appetizing food in front my eyes?! … I felt like crying.
Perhaps what my heart desired was obviously reflected on my face so Captain Jullius was confused and said in a low voice.
"It should be fine to eat a bit, right?"
"No. Even if I'm hungry, I won't eat because Ortzen has said so."
How dare he saw me as a woman with little self-control! He infuriated me! Even though I acted as I pleased, but I had been living a life similar to the clergies for a long time. Before I was promoted to become an official holy knight, I had to endured everything! And even after I became an official holy knight, I never broke any rules. Well, I did broke some rules for two to three times in a year, but it's still considered as something normal as human sometimes made mistakes, right?
Captain Jullius seemed to be contemplating for a while before opened his mouth again.
"It's okay as long as no one see us, right?"
"… what?"
No one saw us? Did he intend to get rid of all guests in the banquet hall…? No, that sounds a bit too much.
"What are you going to do?"
Instead of answering, Captain Jullius checked on Countess Canaly and our surroundings, and he quickly picked up a thin wooden skewers used for food decorations. Then, using a large glass bowl of frozen fruits to block others sights, he swiftly snapped it into some tiny pieces. What does he want to do? A dozens of tiny wood pieces were ready and Captain Jullius raised his head to look up at the ceilings of the banquet hall. In the middle of the high ceiling, a few layered of chains were hanging down to the height of one floor and at the end of it, a large chandelier was shining like the sun. Ah, will you…?