Book 15: Chapter 37
The national banquet was held in the evening. Therefore, it was when the palace was most bustling and busy. There were many people who were clearly officials or nobles. All of the nobles of Troy City were excited about the ball. The invitation to the banquet was the most financially valuable thing in Troy City. In reality, the nobles, humans and elves who attended were divided into nobles and servants. However, very few nobles from the North attended. The reason for that was straightforward: Freya had killed most of the nobles in the North.
Freya sent out lots of invitations to nobles in Troy City, and she sent out lots of invitations that could be sold. Hence, the wealthy merchants in Troy City spent exorbitant sums to buy the remaining invitations. Then, they retailed them at even higher prices. Subsequently, lots of the costs in the palace for the event were reimbursed. With that said, though, I felt sorry for the people who bought the invites, because it was meaningless to attend.
The ball had yet to officially commence, but there was already a long line of horse carriages at the palace. The men dressed in extravagant clothing were accompanied by their even more extravagant female partners. Even those who had only met once were particularly close. After all, it was a very rare opportunity to be allowed here, so there was nothing wrong with getting to know each other better.
The women were dressed in their most premium clothing, flaunting themselves as if they were peacocks. Their makeup and fragrances mixed with the men’s money and authority filled the palace. Because of the ball in the Imperial Palace, all areas of the palace were open. Choose a random strolling in the flower garden, and chances were they were a noble. The lowest ranked nobles present in Troy City’s Imperial Palace were, in actual fact, high ranking leaders of specific regions.
Additionally, there were the diplomats dressed in simple but systematically uniformed uniforms. To them, it wasn’t just a ball but their battlefield. With all sorts of nobles, barons and so forth attending the ball, every person they were able to recruit under their banner was a victory for them.
Humanity’s idea wasn’t firm. They just heard a different voice, so they had to rethink. The more they deliberated it, the more they questioned themselves. Generals forced their enemies to change their attitude by defeating them on the battlefield. The diplomats tried to change things through those around the ruler or the ruler directly. While their life wouldn’t be at risk, the job, which was oftentimes to act as a spy, of theirs does put them at risk.
From the perspective of diplomats, women were their strongest weapon. Generals liked men, because men could bravely cut down enemies on the battlefield. With diplomats, however, a few words from a woman who slept with a man could convince him to open the doors to his city that countless men couldn’t break down. Women were very well-versed in that sort of stuff. Money, power and women were three things that men can’t resist the allure of. Women could easily be convinced, but they produced the most impactful results. It was just that they were heavily handicapped this time, as their targets they had to seduce were Vyvyan and Troy, who didn’t bring his wife.
The only woman with Troy was a woman they’d never seen before, and she was never alone. As for Luna, she wore a polite smile and refused to interact with anyone. She also refused all gifts and prohibited anybody from approaching the King’s living quarters. They didn’t even get to see Freya.
I gave Dragon Mom a smile. Her dark purple skin covered her veins that could scare people; hence, she strongly resembled an enchanting mature woman. She nervously checked her clothes. Her clothes were authentic and expensive. They weren’t scales. She had clothes provided before, but nobody could tell if she wasn’t dressed. She didn’t like clothes too much. She felt that they were too stuffy.