Manasvir Empire’s capital, Macnadix City. After the end of Olsylvia Academy’s Qualifying competition’s semi-finals, Emperor Manas the Eighteenth of the Manasvir Empire invited the one thousand advancing students to a feast for the sake of diplomatic etiquette. As the richest empire in the human continent, this banquet was one worth looking forward to.
As the receiver of the “Warriors of Lornosbill” medal, Bella really couldn’t decline and had to attend the feast together with Princess Kriss with reluctance. The other Rose Society members and the more important members of her ladies group were told by Bella to be on standby in the imperial city’s eastern district’s Christian Hotel, where it was safer.
Bella attended the feast under the identity of Grand Duchess Baize. She borrowed a set of black mage robes from the beautiful “Third Chapter of Taboo” Mage Princess Effie, then hand-in-hand, Bella caught a ride together with Kriss on the luxurious royal carriage to the palace. To prevent any accidents, Bella invited the strongest assassin among her girlfriends to come with her. Assassin Noreya was currently sneaking atop the royal carriage. Her sneaking ability was so strong that some of the detectors specially made to counter assassins couldn’t even see through it. Bella was more at ease with Noreya following.
The view of the moon wasn’t great tonight. Not seeing the moon was one thing, but there wasn’t even a single star. While en-route to the royal palace on the carriage with Kriss, Bella was mulling over the Emperor’s intentions. The invitation list did not include a single student from the Radiant Church’s branch campus St. Louis Church Academy. Even one of the originally invited Saviors, God Chosen Priest Norris, had the venue of his invite changed at the last minute to a noble hotel outside of the imperial city.
There was about a 90% chance that they were afraid that the Radiant Church’s students would find out something that would tear apart their masks in advance or something if they weren’t invited. The Radiant Church branch in the imperial city of Macnadix had all the clergy members changed again, replacing the real people from before with live puppet dolls. The beautiful priests and warrior nuns Bella and the others saved previously were Macnadix City’s Radiant Church branch members.
“What are you thinking about, Bella? Don’t worry, I’m here. I’ll be fine. I won’t let you hurt even more people!”
“Kriss, you… Seriously, it’s not like I’m that easy. Right, forgive me for making you wear such a conservative outfit.”
“It’s fine, Bella. The school uniform is actually pretty nice too. Oh yeah, when did you get a Thunder Dragon and Crystal Dragon mount? Can you tell me about it?”
Under Bella’s advice, Kriss changed into a set of very conservative Olsylvia Academy uniforms to attend the royal dinner. It was not that Bella didn’t like Kriss wearing something too provocative, but it was just that there were too many boys at the banquet. With them being the royal and noble sons of the various empires, things would get troublesome if they were to take a fancy to Kriss. Bella might lose control of her belligerence again.
Right at that moment, they heard three crisp knocks from the top of the carriage. It was Assassin Noreya sneaking above. Based on their discussed exchange of information, Noreya was to alert them if any dangerous enemy were to appear. However, the so-called enemy didn’t seem to have any intention of continuing their move, so Noreya sent out three knocks as an alarm, with no follow-up after. It seemed that the other party had given up on their ambush for now.
The loli voice of one of her contract mounts, Crystal Dragon Princess Purple Crystal, rang inside Bella’s head. Though she still sounded a little aggrieved, she had generally accepted that Bella was her master.
“Bella… Mistress Bella, I think I might have just felt the eyes of my arch enemies just now, the Demonic Emerald Dragon and Gem Dragon. You… You have to be careful in the human palace. It may be big, and the decor may be luxurious, but something doesn’t feel right.”
“Little Purple, your tone has really become more and more obedient. Once I’m back, Big Sister will have to reward you!”
“Annoying! I’m not little, don’t call me Little Purple. I… I’m still the leader of the Crystal Dragons. You… Even if you’re my master, please… Forget it, I won’t be able to talk any sense into a bad master like you.”
The Crystal Dragon Race was also pitiful. They, who had an exceptional talent for mining, were captured by the mastermind behind the imperial city’s occupation and taken to the so-called Crystal Dragon Lair in Dusk Valley to dig up precious and rare minerals for the demons. It took much effort for them to escape, but now they were being eyed by their enemies. It was indeed a real disaster.
On the roof of one of the palace buildings, two phantoms were standing there, looking at the royal carriage from afar. They were the two arch-enemies Crystal Dragon Purple Crystal spoke of, Gem Dragon and Demonic Emerald Dragon. Similarly to Purple Crystal, these two dragon races could also transform into a human shape. In cities with high human activity, using their own bodies to move around would be too eye-catching. It was easier to move around by shifting into a human shape.
“There’s a traitor in that carriage. I smell that girl, Purple Crystal. Why don’t we make a move?”
“No, don’t. Master has instructed us not to move without his orders around the imperial city. There’s a dangerous scent coming from on top of that carriage. It seems to be a human assassin. Moreover, it’s not just Purple Crystal. I smell at least five types of dragons in there, including the overlord of the Thunder Canyon, Thunder Dragon Queen Geleman.”
“Thunder Dragon Queen Geleman is a tricky one to deal with, and there’s also two other dragons who are similarly strong as Thunder Dragon Geleman there. I think it’s better for us to find a way to get back and report to our master.”
Hindered by the intimidating auras of the three contracted dragons by Bella’s side, Thunder Dragon Queen Geleman, Sea Demonic Dragon Amy Beth, and New Moon Demonic Dragon Dorothea, Gem Dragon and Demonic Emerald Dragon didn’t dare to just come up to them to seek trouble. So, they could only disappear into the night with curiosity and regret. Bella’s carriage did not encounter any other threats on their way and arrived smoothly at Manasvir Empire’s capital, Macnadix City’s imperial palace.
When Bella and the rest arrived at the great halls of the Manasvir Empire’s capital, Macnadix City’s imperial palace used by the Emperor to entertain their guests, the place was already packed. Besides the thousand or so students from Olsylvia Academy who had advanced to the final stage of the qualifying competition, there were also a good number of famous nobles here who lived in the imperial capital.
Though the girls from the Rose Society were mostly absent, except for Bella and the three others, most of the other Olsylvia Academy girls who had advanced to the top thousand were here. After adding the noblemen invited by the Emperor, there were still quite a few beauties to be seen in the banquet. Even though they weren’t as good eye candy as the Rose Society girls, they were also considered rare beauties.
After Bella and Kriss disembarked from the carriage, they walked straight into the banquet hall with Assassin Noreya lurking behind Bella’s shadow and following along. No one else knew of Assassin Noreya’s presence except for Princess Kriss.
Since they were dressed rather conservatively, neither Bella nor Kriss attracted much attention. In comparison, the “Warriors of Lornosbill” medals they wore on their chests weren’t as eye-catching as the “Conquerors of Waterford” medals worn by the male Saviors, Scott and the other.
The focus of the party seemed to be the boys, but Bella didn’t mind. Taking Kriss’ hand, Bella found herself a relatively quiet place to sit down and picked up a glass of wine from the table and savored it. It would be better if others did not pay attention to her. After all, she just came out for a stroll. If the situation didn’t seem right, she’d just run away immediately.
The food at the banquet had a very high standard, such as the roast deer meat of the elf continent and deep-sea snow-fish from the ocean, dishes that you might not be able to buy from other large hotels even with the money. Some dishes were relatively hard to come by, such as the famous Golden Crispy Roast Chicken. On the other hand, the vegetarian dishes were pure and natural fruits and vegetables purchased from the elves.
There were two types of alcohol served at this feast. One was “Pure Raging Passion,” a strong spirit served specially for the gents, and the fruity “Flower Rain” for the ladies. The former was brewed by the Human Race themselves and was similar to sorghum liquor, while the latter was a fruit wine brewed by the Elven Race and would not make a person drunk. It was basically not much different from fruit juice.
This Other World’s delicacies were not unappetizing like it was written in those novels back on earth, stuff that could be easily beaten by the protagonist’s “tomato omelet” or whatever. After all, the Manasvir Empire had been run for tens of thousands of years by one of the transmigrators, Empress Manya Felan. Many things here were not much different from earth. Only the outer “skin” was replaced with the Other World version.
Bella and Kriss enjoyed their meals at ease, indifferent to the money, power, and bodily transactions taking place at the center of the banquet venue; the two were more like a couple on a date. Since Assassin Noreya was sneaking in her shadow, Bella did not dare to be too lovey-dovey with Kriss. At most, they would just share food and whatnot, and that would be the end of that. If they went overboard, things would not be so fun if Assassin Noreya were to stab them in the back.
Of course, people would look over to Bella’s position every so often. The fame of Bella’s other identity, Grand Duchess Baize, was already coming up to par within the various empires with Bella’s first identity, Grand Duchess Bellina of the South. There were only two of these female grand duchesses in the entire human continent, and both were played by Bella alone, so it was hard for people to forget.
Fortunately, the noble guests attending this banquet were all well-mannered and cultured; seeing that Grand Duchess Baize was enjoying her food with Princess Kriss, they did not come up to interrupt the meals of these two beautiful ladies. Many of these nobles felt a little confused. It was rumored that Princess Kriss bore feelings beyond just normal friendship with Grand Duchess Bellina, so why was she so friendly with Grand Duchess Baize now? What a chaotic relationship.
There were quite a few beautiful women at the banquet. Since many dignitaries were attending the banquet, as a social scene of the Other World, most of the female guests who attended wore highly revealing backless and strapless evening gowns, dressing up like blooming flowers. Many beautiful female guests were wearing chic red roses pinned to their dresses in front of their chests.
There were more profound meanings to that rose accessory. Based on the “secret etiquette” Bella learned of the nobility not long ago, these beauties with roses in front of their chests signified ladies that could be taken out to do strange things after the banquet, such as a “frontal deal” or a “back door deal” or whatever. Compared to the ladies in brothels, they weren’t much different, except for their high price.
The one thing that remained the same was the roses, which were separated into two types: deep red and light red. It was the proof of experience. The dark red indicates that a woman was already a veteran who had done many deeds, while the paler red signified first-timers or just those new to the scene.
Bella casually swept her eyes through the venue and was somewhat pleased to see that none of the Olsylvia Academy girls attending the banquet wore this type of rose. On the other hand, many of the boys took the initiative to chat with these rose-bearing women. Even the male Saviors, God Chosen Knight Scott and the rest, were “following the local customs” in this feast. They still had relatively high tastes and specifically chose beautiful women with paler roses, hoping to try out the “first-time” play.
Bella was always wary around the other female guests because she had seen many of the realistic puppet dolls. So, she wasn’t sure if any of the female guests here besides the girls from her own school were really human or not, or were they just realistic-looking dolls. In the night banquet scene where the lines between reality and falsehood were blurred, only the food in front of them was real.
Quite a few Manasvir Empire’s royalty members were present, excluding Empress Manya Felan, who was absent due to illness, and her four subordinates, Imperial Prime Minister Anna, Imperial Envoy Amy, General Fanny, and Palace Archmage Ronnie, who all took leave for unknown reasons. Many noble young ladies were present as well.
Empress Manya Felan had already been resting at Christian Hotel’s secret room, and those great female ministers were even dancing those shameful and salacious dances! It would be odd if they were present. Bella held up her glass of wine and looked around as she enjoyed her drink. She suspected that those concubines and young mistresses had been tampered with by the mastermind in the shadows. Though they smiled beautifully, it was too professional, as if they had been trained to do so.
The girls by Bella’s side, Priest Isaman, Puppet Master Elaine, and Prince Pamela, were not the only princesses of the Manasvir Empire. She didn’t see a single one of the other ones. They were all princesses born more than a decade ago. In the last decade, the royal family had not borne any new princes or princesses. There were no new descendants for more than a decade. After some careful thought, it might not be the concubines’ fertility problem, but rather the fact that the real Emperor was already gone. Now that there was a demonic being taking the Emperor’s place, it would be strange if he would be able to produce children with the “reproductive isolation” between different species.
Many of the royal family’s princes also came to the dinner. Though they were very handsome and looked gentlemanly, Bella felt that they were even more fake than the concubines and noblewomen. They looked more like disguised demons instead. Their gazes did not look as if they were lustful wolves staring at beautiful women, but rather like a demon staring at prey. Many of the dark demonic beings by Bella’s side had eyes like them. Bella saw them often and would not be easily fooled.
Unfortunately, many of the female guests who were indulging in the handsome looks of the princes did not notice that these men in front of them weren’t human at all. The most conspicuous among them were the three beautiful hosts in charge of hosting the broadcast of Olsylvia Academy’s inter-academy qualifying competition in the magic broadcasting room. They seemed to be the girls from the “art school” next door, Antoinette Academy, and from their looks, they seemed to be the top idols in their school. Unfortunately, they wore pale red roses in front of their chests. This was simply asking for death in this sort of event!
Bella didn’t even bother to understand this when she saw the Manasvir Empire princes talking and laughing around them. The host of the banquet, the Emperor of the Manasvir Empire who had been missing since she had been here, Emperor Manas Charlie the Great, the 18th Emperor of the Manasvir Empire, had arrived. The Emperor was dressed in a finely crafted dragon robe that looked similar to those worn by the Emperors of Ancient China. Other than that, it was not symbolized by the eight-clawed golden dragon worn by Emperors of ancient China, but the rest was largely the same.
Manas the Eighteenth looked like a white-haired old man who also appeared to be quite amiable. He had kind eyes, not the shrewd and cunning type. Atop the Emperor’s head was an extremely eye-catching super jeweled crown. God knows how many jewels alone adorned that crown.
If she hadn’t talked to Empress Manya Felan before this, Bella might actually be fooled. She couldn’t see a single trace of falsehood on the counterfeit Emperor Manas the Eighteenth. He looked just like the real thing. Bella really had to give it to him that he could fake the Emperor to this extent.
Bella suddenly felt a strange gaze on her, but it didn’t come from the Emperor. She looked up to see a dark shadow flashing a pillar not far away. It seemed like there would be special events at tonight’s dinner. After some thought, Bella lowered her head and held her stomach as if she had a stomach ache, planning to take this opportunity to excuse herself.
“What’s wrong, Bella? Why did you suddenly hold your stomach?”
“Kriss, my stomach hurts a little bit. You go ahead and eat, contact me through the magical contact crystal if anything happens. I’m going to go look for a bathroom.”
“Are… Are you alright? Bella, your complexion looks terrible. Why don’t I come with…”
“No need, Kriss. Haven’t you forgotten that Noreya is here too? She’ll be following me, so don’t worry.”
