“What’s with the party?”
“I don’t know.”
“I wonder if they’re ready for it.”
“How could they be ready? It’s all so sudden. They should’ve started preparing six months ago at least! It has been only two weeks since they announced it. I doubt it.”
“But I heard the countess has been working day and night in the kitchen.”
“She’s crazy. That’s why she’s considered a witch! Working with peasants and fooling around like some filthy- ARGH!”
A middle-aged man who was bad-mouthing the countess was kicked to the ground as he screamed in pain. The bottles on the table fell to the ground with him and shattered, creating a huge ruckus.
“WHAT?!”
“HOW DARE YOU ATTACK A NOBLE?!”
“DO YOU KNOW WHO WE ARE?”
“I WILL HANG ALL OF YOU!”
All the men around the table stood up in rage. However, everyone in the entire saloon stood up as one, glaring at them.
“Look at these fools!”
“How dare they talk ill of the countess on OUR land?”
“They must have gone crazy.”
“No, they just want to die.”
The men began to take out the daggers within their clothes and the nobles began to feel alarmed.
“Hey, I don’t know where you’re from, but you will have to leave your filthy tongues here before you leave. Boys, get’em!”
All the men jumped toward the nobles and began beating them up. The saloon instantly became chaotic, bottles and dishes breaking everywhere, but the owner didn’t seem to mind.
“HEY! Don’t break the furniture, alright?!”
The owner then looked outside the window, checking to see if anyone had noticed what was happening inside his store.
“YOU DARE TALK ABOUT THE COUNTESS WITH YOUR FILTHY MOUTH?”
The nobles began to realize what they had done, but it was too late. They tried to apologize but no one stopped beating the helpless nobles.
“STOP! The guards are coming!” the owner shouted, quickly bringing the beating to a halt.
“HAH! Consider yourself lucky. Don’t talk about what happened here if you want to stay alive.”
The nobles nodded in fear as a man threatened them with a dagger. They had already realized they would not be treated as they expected if they reported to the guard about what had happened. This was, after all, a land of the countess. Similar happenings had occurred in various places in the Ainos village. The village was growing bigger and bigger; it was now more of a city than a village.
A lot of visitors seemed to be jealous of such a marvelous place that they resorted to spreading bad rumors about the countess when they were drunk, hence all the problems. Time passed quickly and two weeks went by in an instant.
“Do we have to do this?” Joonbum asked as Jackson shook his head.
“We have no choice, sir. You have a lot of amazing things in your arsenal, but you still lack connections and power. Yes, we have the Ainos and Magnos, but they are not humans. Furthermore, they are your friends, not your servants.”
“Right.”
Joonbum was considered a part of the Ainos tribe, but that was when he lived and acted according to the Ainos way.
“That’s why we need to work now. It is the only way we can overcome the incoming strife. I’m pretty sure Miss Mayze would not object if you explain it to her. She will understand.”
“Are you sure?”
Jackson nodded.
‘Mayze…’
Joonbum thought of Mayze. It was not uncommon for nobles and people of wealth to have more than one wife in this world. The more powerful the man was, the more wives he had. Count Khalodian was a very rare case of an individual in that sense.
“You need your own force. You must not forget that most of the army we currently have belongs to the count, not you.”
It was right. Joonbum did have full authority to command them, but they were still loyal to the count. There were some who were just here to assist in the war with the empire.
‘I don’t have anything here… I do understand the quickest way to solve this is to get married to a powerful family.’
Joonbum hesitated but he quickly shook his thoughts away.
‘I don’t have any other choice. I need to survive and I will do what it takes.’
There was no other choice left for him and there was no use in hesitating.
“Ready!”
Joonbum and Jackson looked at each other as they heard the voice coming out from the room. It was time to join the party. Joonbum sighed and checked his clothes before grabbing the door handle.
“It’s all good, but under one condition. I will have to like the woman.”
“Huh?”
“Even if the person is a princess, I will not marry her if she is UGLY!”
“What?”
Jackson looked dumbfounded by Joonbum’s declaration. He repeated his stance more strongly.
“I am NOT marrying an ugly woman! Is that clear?”
“Ugh.”
“I won’t! I WON’T!!” Joonbum shouted. Jackson, who was lost for words at such a childish reaction, thought of responding, but HE held it in.
‘SO CHILDISH!’
*
“Thank you for waiting, you may enter now. First, we have Lord of Naren from West Toria! Marquis Hayte Naren and Marchioness Dalia Naren! They are accompanied by their two beautiful daughters, Miss Ezel and Miss Zahealin!”
The door opened with the announcement, and the nobles walked in. But it was them who were awestruck by what they saw as they entered.
“What in the world is this?”
“This is incredible!”
“It’s so bright!”
“Is this the famous magic item from the Daehan Empire?”
“It’s so bright! It’s amazing!”
The two daughters were squealing in excitement as they entered, As did the other nobles. All the attendees were either speechless with awe or they commented on the various fascinating items throughout the hall. The Great Hall of Count Khalodian’s castle had been reborn. People who visited before seemed most amazed by how different it currently was. Then, a loud thundering voice was heard, announcing the entrance of the host of the party.
“Please welcome Count Brant Khalodian and Countess Sunsook Khalodian!”
Loud music started up immediately, filling the hall and startling some nobles. They were the ones who had been complaining that they did not see any musicians to brighten up the mood.
Suddenly, all the lights went out, leaving only one bright spotlight on the door where the count and the countess entered.
“Wow!”
“Whoa…”
With her clean, white dress, Sunsook mesmerized almost everyone with her beauty.
“L-look at all that jewelry!”
“I’ve never seen such beautiful jewelry before.”
“Even the empress doesn’t have such beautiful ornaments!”
All the women began eyeing every item that Sunsook had on her. They were filled with lust and greed for the most beautiful jewelry they had ever seen. The countess was soon surrounded by those noble women. The count was pretty much the same, but the intention of the surrounding nobles was to gather aid from the count.
Joonbum was surrounded by young beautiful women.
‘I don’t see anyone special in particular… Huh?’
Joonbum found a person waving at him, grinning from a distance. He too, let out a laugh.
‘Jasmine.’
Joonbum walked out, approaching her. The group gathered around him opened a path for him to walk and Jasmine who tried to back away as she noticed Joonbum coming, sighed.
