After Sir Cedric had finished getting ready, the three of them set off in Sir Cedric's horse-drawn carriage. The welcoming party this time was held in the form of an outdoor party. So, guests can immediately see and know whose carriage is coming without the need to hear a signal from the guard guarding the entrance.
Seeing the horse-drawn carriage bearing the Litchbell family coat of arms, several young ladies of nobility prepared to stand by the door to welcome Sir Cedric. Who knew one of them might catch Sir Cedric's attention and become Litchbell's mistress. The horse-drawn carriage bearing the Litchbell symbol stopped near where the party was taking place.
Sir Cedric, Sir Damian and Rowena got off the horse carriage. Before entering Rowena hugged Sir Damian's right arm and Sir Cedric's left arm. Then the guards guarding the entrance shouted their arrival.
"Marquess Damian Leonard von Squella, Duke Cedric Theobald de Litchbell, and Grand Duchess Rowena Ernest de Erica, enter the banquet venue."
The three of them had indeed arrived late for the party so there were already the imperial family as well as the Edelle royal family. All eyes were on the three of them. Most of the people were surprised because it was very rare to see the three great nobles of the Empire come together to a party, and they were also very surprised to see Rowena who was wearing a black dress and her hair had turned red even though a few days ago the woman's hair was still black.
Rowena had deliberately changed her hair color to intimidate those ruffians from Edelle. And the result was very satisfying, the King Edelle especially his concubine paled at the sight of Rowena's arrival.
The Empress Sunverro also looked surprised because this time Rowena really looked like her mother, Erica. Rowena, Sir Cedric, and Sir Damian walked over to the imperial family and the Edelle royal family who had been chatting. The three of them paid their respects to the imperial family.
"It's a shame you guys came together," said Prince Helios.
Rowena chuckled. "Helios, the residences of the three of us are close to each other. So it's only natural for us to want to come together. Today these two are my party partners after all."
Seeing the three of them having fun talking to Prince Helios. The members of the Edelle Kingdom also saluted the three of them. In Sunverro no matter how high-ranking guests from other kingdoms were, if they met the Sunverro nobles, they still had to greet the Sunverro nobles first.
"We salute the three great nobles, may the Sun God always bless you all," said the King.
"May the Sun God always be with you," replied Sir Damian.
The Edelle royal family who were present there included the king of Edelle, Yvonna who is currently pregnant (the only concubine of King Edelle), Princess Arabella and Crown Prince Owen (both are children born to Yvonna).
Prince Owen approached Rowena and took Rowena's right hand and kissed her palm. Rowena gripped Sir Cedric's hand tightly with her left in disgust. "Nice to meet you, beautiful Grand Duchess Rowena. Will you be the first woman to dance with me?"
Despite being disgusted, Rowena still managed to smile. "My apologies, Your Majesty. But it would be very rude if I dance with other people even though I have brought my own dance partner. Then I will say goodbye first."
Rowena pulled Sir Cedric and Sir Damian away from there. Rowena danced alternately with the two of them. During the dance, Rowena noticed that Prince Owen, who was her half-brother, was constantly looking at her.
"What do I do if I want to get out of here. I feel like I'm about to throw up. I can't stand this place anymore," Rowena complained to Sir Cedric who was dancing with her now.
"What if you pretend to be drunk? When you start to get drunk, Damian and I will take you away from the palace and back to our residence," replied Sir Cedric with a warm smile.
"Is that the only way I can get out of here?" Rowena asked for sure because if she did that her reputation would be a little tarnished.
"At least that's the only way I can think of right now."
"In that case, okay." Rowena removed her hand from Sir Cedric's shoulder and ran to the waiter with a few glasses of wine. Then she drank all the wine glasses the waiter brought.
Rowena also tried to act like a very drunk person. She staggered and laughed to himself so that the people around him began to whisper about him. Then she started walking up to Sir Cedric and gave him a cuddly hug.
Rowena laughed wryly at Sir Cedric. "I-I really love you, Cedric. But I'm also tired of working. The point is Cedric is the best for me."
Sir Cedric hugged Rowena tightly and began to play along. "Oh, you're so drunk now, Rowena! We'd better get home soon."
Sir Damian who had known about the two of them from the start also helped with the play. "Oh my Little sister. Come on Cedric, let's get Rowena back to my house!"
Sir Cedric nodded his head and carried Rowena bridal style. Sir Damian also walked towards the Emperor and Empress to say goodbye to go home. Before the three of them left the party venue, Prince Helios walked up to them.
"Wait! You'd better take Rowena to my palace so she can rest in the palace," said Prince Helios.
Sir Damian immediately refused with a smiling expression on his face. "No need, Your Majesty. We don't want to trouble you."
Prince Helios laughed and replied, "Gosh, you don't have to be so shy Damian. After all, the four of us have been friends for a long time. Come on, let's take Rowena to my palace."
In the end, like it or not, they gave in. The four of them exited the party venue and walked towards Prince Helios' palace. After walking some distance from the location of the party, the four of them stopped walking.
"Rowena come down. I know you're pretending to be drunk," said Prince Helios.
Rowena immediately got off Sir Cedric's arms. "Oh man, I thought you were fooled like the others!"
Prince Helios replied, "You think I can be gullible like those people. We've both had wine together after all. So I know your alcohol tolerance."
"Then we will return to our residence," said Rowena.
"You can't, Grand Duchess. You must stay in my palace or else you will get suspicious and word of the three great lords who are charlatans and deceiving will spread widely," Prince Helios replied.
Finally the three of them followed Prince Helios to his palace. They stayed there for one night. The next morning Rowena walked over to the table. There she saw Sir Cedric and Sir Damian having a big argument.
"Hey, what's wrong with you guys?" Rowena asked, rubbing her eyes.
"Cedric was angry when I said that Helios would be betrothed to Princess Arabella. Do you know why he was angry?" said Sir Damian in gossip mode.
"What's the reason?" replied Rowena who pretended to be interested in the topic Sir Damian was talking about.
"Back when we were little. After returning from the Edelle Kingdom, this one human said that when he grew up he would marry the Princess of Edelle. So he was angry because the woman he liked would become the wife of his own friend," said Sir Cedric while accompanied with a satisfied laugh.
Sir Cedric hit Sir Damian's head from behind hard. "Stop talking nonsense, dammit! The princess I was referring to at that time was not this Edelle princess, but the other Edelle princess."
When the three of them were chatting about Prince Helios' future fiancé, the person who was the topic of conversation finally came out of his room and walked towards the dining room.
"Good morning, everyone," said Prince Helios and then yawned loudly.
"Hey, how come you just woke up from your sleep now? Shouldn't you hurry to the Sun God's temple with His Majesty the Emperor, the Empress, and the family of your future wife?" said Sir Damian.
"Hah? What other nonsense are you spouting in the early hours of the morning like this, Damian?" replied Prince Helios.
"Don't you know that everyone is talking about your engagement to Princess Arabella?" said Sir Cedric.
"WHAT? Who did that so arbitrarily?" replied Prince Helios who looked panicked while looking at Rowena when the only one talking to him was Sir Cedric.
"Of course Your Majesty the Emperor and Empress, Fool," said Sir Damian.
Prince Helios who had just woken up immediately ran out of his palace to meet His Majesty the Emperor and Empress. Sir Cedric and Sir Damian who saw that couldn't help but laugh.
"So why did Helios have to go to the Temple of the Sun God?" asked Rowena who was still trying to digest the conversation the three of them just had.
"In Sunverro, when the Imperial family is about to get engaged, that person must take the prospective spouse to the temple of the Sun God for a blessing and as a small addition the High Priest will also recite the future he sees in the prospective spouse," explains Sir Cedric.
"Back when the current Empress married His Majesty the Emperor, the Priestess who had just seen the empress immediately predicted that she would become the mother of the bright imperial star and who would make Sunverro a great Empire. And the results are now actually coming true, even though Helios conquered other kingdoms with our help," added Sir Damian.
"Since Helios has no more siblings, shouldn't the three of us also accompany him at the Temple," said Sir Cedric.
"Yes, I think so. At the very least Rowena will help the empress when the blessing ritual begins," replied Sir Damian.
A few hours later, a woman who was the empress's lady-in-waiting came to the palace and met the three of them. As Sir Cedric and Sir Damian had said just now, the empress had sent her lady-in-waiting to invite them to go together to the temple of the Sun God.