Master Puskas' keen insight was perfectly reflected as, before long, special envoys from the Saint Francisco Empire and Count Totti from the Shalba family quietly emerged at the inn, meeting with the Feilengcui Lord. They both wished to invite the Lord to a secretive banquet.
The present predicaments of the Shalba family were very delicate, even though the greatest political rival within the Duchy, the Danze family, had already collapsed. The whirlpool of influence around them was causing the Marquis of Capello, who primarily controlled the Duchy, to have a headache. As descendants of Valenbuer Bat People, the whole Shalba family might be described as walking on a knife's edge, causing ripple effects with the slightest movement. The strategic location of Dorott Duchy made them all the more cautious, wedged between the Bimon Kingdom and the human world, the Shalba family lacked any strategic buffer. Like walking on a tightrope, upsetting anyone could be disastrous.
