2nd November 299 Paign Era,
Bideford today seems to be busier than usual. A number of carriages are heading to Noble Hill.
Noble Hill is where the Ryntum Mansion is located. People in Bideford called it with the term 'Noble Hill'. It is initially not an official name but as generations pass by, the name gets stuck in people's heads. So, Richard took a chance to formalize that name.
"Why are there so many carriages going to Noble Hill today?", asked one of the fruit sellers in the market.
"You don't know? Today the celebration banquet will be held to celebrate the Count getting promotion to Marquess", replied the seller next to him.
"Make sure you be careful, there's a lot of big shots coming today. If you get into trouble, nobody can save you", advised one of the customers.
The Ryntum family is on its rise. Many people are looking at them right now, some wish for their prosperity and some wish for their downfall.
Thus, they need to make sure there's no problem during the banquet.
Riz suggested to Josephine to only invite upper rank nobles and influential people. This is to give them an illusion that they were the chosen one.
Most people like to stand above others and love being looked upon by them.
Those that received their invitation will make an effort to attend it. 200 people were invited to attend this banquet. Given the total number of nobles in the kingdom, 200 is a very small number.
The banquet hall is located on the first floor. The area of the hall is around 3,000 square feet.
Instead of a large long rectangular table, small round tables with an eight seating were chosen. Each table was separated by a certain distance from each other.
A typical banquet with predetermined seating was too formal. The purpose of choosing this round table is to make the guest interact and socialize with each other.
The banquet was a buffet style which is Riz's idea. In this world, nobody has ever done it before. Thus, he decided to take this chance to assert Ryntum influence by setting up a new trend.
For this banquet, Riz wears a simple black suit with white shirt and black tie. On his chest, there are ornaments made in gold with the shape of Ryntum emblem attached.
He refused to wear tunics or jackets with hose, leggings and breeches. It just goes against his fashion style. He preferred something simple and minimalist.
At noon, all the guests started to enter the hall. Richard and Josephine greeted the guests while Riz was already there picking up some food to eat.
His outfit makes him stand out like a sore thumb. As they never see such fashion before, they keep glancing at him with a great interest from time to time.
The well informed nobles know that Riz is a person responsible for Bideford's victory against Gyalcakes. His invention is already an open fact among the nobles.
Riz still doesn't have engagement with any noble lady yet. They were eager to form a connection with him by introducing their daughter.
He doesn't care about what they're thinking, his stomach has been empty since this morning so food is his first priority right now.
There are many varieties of food prepared for this banquet. Chicken, beef, mutton, duck and geese are the meat that were prepared. This meat was either smoked or salted.
As for vegetables, there are peas, beans, carrots, lettuce, cabbage and spinach.
Pastries like cheese tarts made up the dessert. Some of the fruits available are apples, pears, plums, peaches and cherries.
Wine and fruit juice was served as a beverage because there was no good way to get a clean water in this period of time.
'I will definitely build a water treatment system in the future.'
As Riz wants to start eating the food, someone approaches him from behind and tap his shoulder.
He turns around and sees a girl around his age smiling at him.
She has a long brown hair that reach her waist. Her hair is wavy, between straight and curvy. She has golden eyes. Her face looks gentle and beautiful but has a fierceness hiding behind it.
She's giving a vibe of a warrior in disguise just like Charlotte did.
"My lady, how can I help you?", Riz asks while throwing his most polite smile. Instead of being fascinated by her beauty, Riz is pretty irritated right now.
This girl just does one of the things that he hates the most. She disturbs him while he is about to start eating.
"Nice to meet you, young master Rizieri. My name is Theodora Tetherswest, daughter of Count Theodore Tetherswest". The girl introduces herself to Riz.
"Tetherswest? Is it the county in the north?", asked Riz.
"Yes", Theodora replied.
'I see. No wonder she gives a vibe of a warrior. Tetherswest was the frontier of the kingdom'.
The only thing that separates Tetherswest and northern countries is a narrow strait of the sea. If Barlia and Blandge decide to invade the south, Tetherswest will be the first target.
Tetherswest was dubbed as Iron Wall of Bagyarosia because Lord Tetherswest had successfully prevented Blandge from setting foot on northern part of the kingdom 183 years ago.
To this day, they uphold the duty of protecting the northern frontier.
Riz stops his inner thoughts because Theodora keeps staring at him, waiting for his response. He then asks, "What does miss Theodora want from me?"
"Aahh, no, nothing actually. It's just that my father told me to go and greet you".
'Your father probably wants the trebuchets technology', Riz guess. "If you have nothing else, please excuse me", he proceeds by ignoring her and starts to eat.
Theodora who is standing next to him was dumbfounded. This is her first time being ignored.
'This guy actually chose food over me!?'.
Among her peers, she can be said to be one of the top beauties. All nobles' sons will try their best to make a good impression to her.
Just as he is enjoying food, someone taps his shoulder again. "Ohh damn it, what do you...", he cursed as he turned around only to see his father standing behind him. "Oh father, did you finish greeting the guest?", Riz suddenly became polite.
"Pfftt...", Theodora tries her best to hold her laughing.
Riz glared at Theodora, signaling her to stop.
"I see that both of you are getting along well", said Richard.
"No", Riz refutes as fast as he can.
Ignoring Riz's refutation, Richard began to introduce an old man to him, "Riz, this is my friend, Count Theodore Tetherswest."
"Nice to meet you, I am Rizieri Ryntum", he casually introduced himself.
"I know, I heard a lot about you", Count Tetherswest said while looking at Riz from top to bottom. To his surprise, this young man looked indifferent toward him.
Count Tetherswest was confident that every young nobleman would look up to him. For them, serving in the military gives them a fame that they can use later in life.
Sadly, Riz is not your typical nobleman. He didn't have a shred of patriotism for this kingdom at all. So long as his interests were not touched, he wouldn't move.
"Well, I guess I'm pretty famous right now", Riz shamelessly said.
"Hahahaha, good...good. A young man should be confident", he never met such an interesting young man.
"Let's get this straight to the point, what do you want from me?", Riz asked.
"Trebuchets."
"No"
"I will give Theodora to you as your wife", Count Tetherswest is confident in Theodora's beauty.
"My technology is worth more than all of your daughter and wife combined". Riz sharply replied.
'What a joke, did he really think his daughter is the only beauty I've ever met'.
Hearing this, Theodore was fuming. "You bastard!!! Are you saying that my daughters are not beautiful".
"No, I'm saying that I'm already used to her level of beauty. In fact, my personal maid is on par with her", he started comparing Theodora and Charlotte.
Count Tetherswest was speechless while listening to Riz bragging about his personal maid. He sighed and asked, "so what do you want?"
"Durbotes Town and Torksey Island", Riz stated his demand.
Durbotes Town is located east of Newbigle, at the end of the tiny peninsula. It has a strategic location which is at the entry of the Gulf of Napuna.
If Ryntum family can control this place, they basically can control the in and out of any ship.
(A/N: The peninsula resembles the shape of 'C' and Torksey Island is located in the middle of 'C')
"Impossible!!"
"I will give you a complete blueprint and technical support.", Riz offered.
After thinking for a while, Count Tetherswest reluctantly agrees with a condition to take Theodora as his wife. Right now, the threat from the north is more important.
Riz contemplated momentarily. He knows that Count Tetherswest is trying to use his daughter to form a connection with him. He glanced at his father seeking help.
Richard just smiled and said, "It's all up to you". Richard doesn't mind which choice Riz makes. If Riz accepts, having Theodora as his daughter in law is not a bad choice. In his opinion, she's a good and capable girl.
Even if Riz refuses, Richard is already satisfied with the current Ryntum territory.
"Fine, but we will only get married once we turn 18 years old", Riz is trying to prolong this as much as he can.
Theodora can only listen, she doesn't have a right to decide this.
'Well, he's good looking even though he is a bit annoying'. Theodora decided to just accept it.
She's grateful that at least she wasn't match with some old, fat and smelly nobleman.