Chapter 306
The best way to avoid conversations with people is to keep myself busy.
I was someone who greatly disliked being busy, but given the circumstances, I had no choice. To avoid awakening any deep-seated memories about me that might be buried in the subconscious of the nobles filling this place, I had to keep moving.
Keep conversations as brief as possible and serve as many guests as I could within that short span of time.
Fortunately—or perhaps not—this place wasn't entirely occupied by nobles. There were also non-noble guests: the parents and siblings of the commoner students. They had managed to pass the academy’s strict status checks to be here, so they couldn’t exactly be treated like ordinary commoners.
Luckily, no one seemed to find my behavior strange. In fact, some nobles openly looked relieved when I passed by without engaging them in conversation.
Though the full truth had yet to come to light, the current situation was clear: the Emperor’s ambitions had been thwarted, and another emperor had taken the throne in his place. Whether they had supported the previous emperor or not, all the high-ranking nobles were bound to be on edge. After all, no one knew which side we would ultimately support.
Honestly, if it hadn’t been for the noble children who had been with me and Alice—who, technically speaking, weren’t exactly my friends—there would have been outright resistance, perhaps even something close to a rebellion. Regardless of the reasons, the previous emperor had been deposed, and foreign forces had been involved in the process. From an objective standpoint, the empire’s dignity had been shaken quite openly.
If Winterfield hadn’t secured control over the military, if Lindburrow hadn’t remained firmly neutral, if the only heir of the Crowfield family hadn’t been standing by my side... who knows what thoughts might have crossed the minds of the imperial nobles?
Not to mention, there was also the gryphon I had arrived on.
Under these circumstances, it was understandable that people were hesitant to talk to someone who had gone head-to-head with an emperor in battle, returned in triumph on a gryphon, and now stood before them in person.
“Phew...”
After dealing with a particularly wealthy commoner, I exhaled softly as I returned to the kitchen.