Chapter 132 : Chapter 132
Chapter 132. You Moved Me
The evening party was held on a larger scale than I had expected. It was not only the butlers who had gathered, but also the maids, the Knight Order, and all the servants.
I later heard separately from Arwen that Young Lady Sapiela had told everyone to put a great deal of care into it.
I was grateful.
In any case, I was the main figure of today’s party. Because of that, there was no need for me to attend to anyone else.
I leisurely held a wineglass in my hand, surrounded by people as I exchanged all sorts of conversations with them. By now, I had received so many congratulations that words of thanks were coming out automatically.
The party was more enjoyable than I had expected. If there were occasions like this in the future, I should attend them whenever possible.
By the way, Arthas was nowhere to be seen.
Could he still be training?
“Young Lady Sapiela is entering!”
At someone’s shout, the hall fell silent, and with a creak, the door opened as the Young Lady appeared.
The Young Lady, wearing a splendid dress, was the finishing touch to the party.
She was so beautiful that gasps escaped from people’s mouths. As if she had made up her mind to show herself to someone, she was filled with refinement and dignity.
“Congratulations, Sir Dilen.”
She approached me and offered her congratulations. I briefly set down my wineglass, then bowed reverently.
“It is an infinite honor that you have come in person to offer me your congratulations. I will continue to serve you with even greater dedication.”
“Now that you have been promoted and received a noble title, you should work for the house rather than for me.”
“There is nothing more important than serving you, my lady.”
Sapiela wore a satisfied expression. Yet at the same time, there was also a lonely look on her face.
She probably expected it too. From now on, I would be entrusted with important, unseen matters within the house.
“Even so, from now on, try to think more about the house. You are now also a retainer of our house, after all.”
With that single remark, I could now leave the Royal Capital without feeling guilty toward her even if I received a new assignment. Of course, such an opportunity would have to come first.
“Now, everyone, raise your glasses.”
Young Lady Sapiela was the first to lift her wineglass. To carry out her command, everyone took up their glasses.
“Today, I will make a toast for one person alone. To Sir Dilen and House Medici.”
Everyone raised their glasses and congratulated me. I would probably never forget this moment for the rest of my life.
After the toast ended, music began on one side.
People listened to the sweet music while eating, or wandered here and there, sharing conversations.
The atmosphere was better than ever.
Perhaps because neither the Head of House nor the heir was attending, everyone could chatter and enjoy themselves a little more freely. Besides, there had not been such a large event at the branch residence before.
After being dragged from place to place and finishing my greetings, I was finally able to sit down at a table.
“Sir Dilen. Shall I prepare your meal?”
It was Arwen. Now, the sight of her wearing a chef’s uniform and hat suited her quite well. I had heard that even at the branch residence, her skill was being acknowledged.
I decided to take a small revenge for what had happened earlier.
“I would like an especially delicious steak, Chef. Sprinkle it generously with spices, sear it lightly over a strong flame, and make sure the juices overflow when I bite into it. As for the sauce, please keep it within the range where it does not harm the flavor of the meat. Sautéing the vegetables in the meat juices would also be a fine method.”
“......I will prepare it shortly.”
Arwen looked thoroughly fed up. At that moment, Young Lady Sapiela sat down beside me. Arwen, slightly surprised, asked again.
“Shall I prepare dinner for you as well, my lady?”
“It is all right. More importantly, Sir Dilen. Shall we dance once while the food is being prepared?”
“Dance?”
It was something I had imagined, but it still felt a little sudden.
Most of all, this party was a somewhat burdensome occasion for dancing. Since no noblewomen were attending, no one was dancing at all.
If we danced in the midst of that, everyone’s attention would be focused on us.
Even for me, this was a little too much pressure.
“I have never danced before, you see. If I were to step on your foot by any chance......”
At that moment, the Young Lady extended her hand toward me. She seemed unusually bold today.
“It is all right. Everyone has a first time. Just follow my movements.”
The Young Lady took my hand and pulled me to my feet. I had not known she was this proactive.
Leaving Arwen’s disappointed expression behind, I went onto the stage with the Young Lady.
Applause poured from the people. The string quartet, which had been brought in at great expense, began playing a familiar dance piece.
The Young Lady spoke in a voice small enough that only I could hear.
“Now, relax and take my hand.”
“Excuse me.”
I held the Young Lady’s hand with my right hand and wrapped my left hand around her waist.
Perhaps because she had been skipping meals often lately, she felt extremely slender. I should tell Arwen to pay more attention to that.
It seemed that she had no appetite these days because of the heat, but if she collapsed at this rate, I might be removed from office.
At that moment, my steps tangled.
If I had not focused my five senses with mana, I would have stepped on the Young Lady’s foot. We briefly stopped moving.
“My apologies. My mind wandered for a moment.”
“I believe I must hear later exactly what you were thinking at a moment like this?”
The Young Lady replied haughtily and began moving again. I moved my body in time with her steps. At first, it felt as if I were slightly waddling, but once I grew used to it, it became manageable.
To begin with, the Young Lady was stepping with simple, repeatable movements rather than difficult ones.
“I was happy.”
“Did something good happen while I was away?”
I had not particularly seen or heard anything. I waited for the Young Lady’s next words.
“What you said about returning as quickly as possible. It must have been dangerous, but you went there with only Sir Arthas and came back. For my sake, you went that far...... I was moved.”
It seemed a misunderstanding had arisen. Saying that I had done it for her was only lip service. But since it was a favorable misunderstanding, I accepted it without correcting her.
“I merely did my best in my duty as your Attending Secretary.”
“Is that all?”
“I am not sure what you mean, my lady.”
“I am asking whether you took such a risk and returned quickly merely because you are my Attending Secretary.”
The pace of her steps grew a little faster. The Young Lady’s hand, which held mine, was gradually tightening. Was she becoming impatient?
“There are times when I feel confused.”
The Young Lady boldly changed positions.
A cheer rose at her splendid dancing skill. It became even harder to follow her footsteps, but I waited for what she would say next.
“To be precise, I suppose it began after you saved my life. Strangely, from that point on, my heart began to be drawn.”
“To me, my lady?”
She hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Her gaze, which had been looking up at me until just now, slid away slightly.
“My status is low. Although I have received a noble title, I was born a commoner. I am insufficient to receive your feelings, my lady.”
“If you truly think that way, then as Brother Hamel said, I will be sold off to the Astria family. Are you saying you would be fine with that?”
“No.”
“Then......”
The performance happened to reach its end. We stopped our steps and finished our words while facing each other.
“I wish for your happiness, my lady. Unfortunately, that is all I can say to you for now.”
Sapiela nodded as though she understood.
She and I each took one step back. Then we ended the dance by bowing to each other with proper courtesy. The people who had watched the splendid dance applauded.
“I will wait for the next part of this conversation, Sir Dilen.”
I smiled silently and bowed my head. At that moment, an unbelievable sentence appeared before my eyes.
====
The other party’s Favorability has reached its maximum value, creating a Bond of Fate. Even if Favorability decreases, a Bond of Fate that has been created once will never be severed.
====
It was a message saying that Sapiela’s Favorability had reached 100.
***
The banquet ended in a pleasant atmosphere. Although a little regret lingered, people looked forward to the next occasion and returned to their respective quarters.
“Congratulations once again, Sir Dilen. I hope you have a good night.”
“Thank you.”
After my colleagues’ final greetings, I also returned to my quarters. My day was not over yet. Now I had to go to the Training Ground and raise Arthas’s level of mastery.
“By the way, leaving Favorability aside, a Bond of Fate is really unexpected. What on earth is it?”
There was no particular change in the Status Window. Only one icon signifying the Bond of Fate had appeared; there was no overall change in Traits or Status.
If I were to make a simple guess, it probably meant that the relationship between Young Lady Sapiela and me had grown even closer.
“Let us think about it slowly later. My mind is already full of other matters right now.”
After taking off my tailcoat and changing into comfortable clothes, I headed toward the Training Ground behind the mansion. The closer I drew, the louder Arthas’s shouts became.
He had not attended the banquet.
He had surely continued training from around evening until now.
“You should at least have come and eaten something. Were you swinging your sword this whole time?”
“You can eat anytime, but an opportunity like this may not come even once in a lifetime.”
“I am not going to run away anywhere, you know.”
“There is no other reason. I wanted to receive your teaching with my body and mind completely emptied.”
“You stubborn bastard.”
Instead of answering, Arthas began taking deep breaths. I waited until he had steadied his breathing.
“But can you really raise the stage of my Aura?”
“With the Aura Mental Cultivation Method I comprehended, you should be able to rise by at least one stage. At most, perhaps two.”
Arthas’s eyes shone. It was not greed, but yearning for strength. He was a knight who wanted to become stronger purely, not for the sake of supremacy.
If he had not been that kind of person, I would not have been so close to him.
“Where on earth did you learn a cultivation method like that?”
“I just figured it out while practicing on my own. You know, do you not? That I am a genius.”
I had once entered a State of Selflessness. After that, Arthas had no choice but to acknowledge me. I had learned Swordsmanship in an instant, after all.
It was an ability I had gained as a reincarnation perk, but there was no need to explain that much to him. Even I still did not know its limits yet.
“First, sit comfortably. Then do as I tell you.”
“All right.”
Arthas put down his sword and sat comfortably. Just as I had raised Kalmond’s level of mastery in Adeline, I corrected Arthas’s Aura Circuit in the same way.
“Grrgh!”
Naturally, tremendous pain followed.
But if I took my hand off here, the circuit could become tangled and end up stranger than before. So I showed him no mercy and vigorously operated my mana for the sake of his future.
Trust had to be repaid with results.
VOOOOM!
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
As the amount of mana I poured in increased, Arthas’s muscles swelled and began convulsing.
“This is the last part. Endure just a little longer.”
“Ghk......”
Following my touch, his Aura started from his Dantian and successfully completed one full circuit through his pathways.
Now it was time to confirm whether he could circulate Aura with his own strength. I drastically reduced the amount of mana and flowed in only enough to stimulate his Aura.
Perhaps because the pain lessened in proportion, Arthas’s expression became somewhat more relaxed.
“Breathe slowly and circulate your Aura through your body in one large cycle.”
Arthas silently did as I instructed.
His Aura, now far purer than before, completed one cycle along the circuit. It ran much faster and more lightly than before.
It was a great success.
“It is over now.”
“Whoooo......”
After taking a deep breath, Arthas suddenly opened his eyes wide.
“That is impossible!”
He had felt that the amount and quality of Aura filling his Dantian had improved beyond comparison with before.
“What kind of magic trick did you use?”
“You do not need to know. Just remember the path your Aura moved along just now. If you practice the cultivation method every day as I taught you, you will be able to grow stronger.”
I had opened a road through which his Aura could run powerfully like a wild horse. Now Arthas had to decide what he would make run along that road.
“Thank you.”
“Do not thank me. If something comes in, something should go out as well. Think of it as repayment.”
Stretching out my hand to pull him up, I checked the degree of change in his Favorability. His Favorability, which had been 80, had risen by a full 12 points and now stood at 92.
And that was not all. His Level had shot upward and reached 35.
A new Trait, Aura C-Rank, had also been added. At this point, he could go around slapping the faces of most knights, could he not?