I, Who Came From the Abyss, Will Save Humanity Again Today - Volume 2 Chapter 83 Part 2

Chapter 83: The Banquet (Middle Part)

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“No…nothing!”

Parsifal and I trembled all over, hastily straightening up and putting on a dignified appearance. At the same time, I casually turned my head slightly to the side, stealing a glance behind us with my peripheral vision.

Then I met Madam’s piercing gaze directly.

The corners of her mouth curved into a beautiful arc, her face wearing an ambiguous expression that seemed like she was smiling but not quite, her starry eyes fixed intently on us. Her demeanor clearly showed she had already seen right through Parsifal and me.

I was so frightened that I quickly looked away.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you two are scheming… Parsifal, if you can’t even handle simple guest reception properly, then go roll over to Pagos and don’t come back.” Madam’s indifferent voice came from behind us. “Peipei, you need to behave well too, if you still want to have dessert at the banquet.”

…That really hurt.

Obviously, Madam was threatening us, and her precision was remarkably accurate. With just two sentences, half of my restless thoughts were immediately extinguished. I had originally been thinking of just going through the motions casually, then finding an opportunity to slip away… but now it seemed that if I did that, I probably wouldn’t get anything to eat later.

Although I had just eaten my fill, I’ve always been someone who plans ahead and would never ignore the enjoyment a few hours later for the sake of momentary comfort.

“I will definitely be very well-behaved.”

I promised her with a completely serious expression, and Madam chuckled softly before saying nothing more.

The three of us made our way to the entrance hall on the first floor. A servant stepped forward two paces and slowly pushed open the great doors of the inner castle. Parsifal and I followed behind Madam as we walked outside.

The outer courtyard was bustling with activity.

The sun had just peeked its head out, the sky still carrying the mist from last night, and the massive castle was still shrouded in clouds and fog. Yet the shed on the side of the courtyard used for parking horned carriages was already more than half full.

The shed had been repaired just a short while ago, with over a dozen carriages of various styles from all over the empire quietly parked inside.

According to Madam, many minor nobles were extremely eager to pledge allegiance to Shanter Castle. Most of them were lords and barons under the direct jurisdiction of the Wintermoon family, who had been fleeced and hammered by the Emperor’s tyranny and could no longer endure it. Now that they had caught wind of developments here, people had been continuously coming to pay visits since the day before yesterday.

The Duke’s prestige in the empire seemed to be much higher than I had imagined.

I raised my hand to pull out a strand of ponytail that had slipped into my collar, then lifted my head and looked forward, just in time to catch sight of the tail end of a patrol hunter squad.

Shanter Castle’s security today was quite tight. From what I heard at the dining table, in addition to three full squads of 561 people each patrolling along routes nearly twice as dense as usual, Bella had specially transferred nearly 2,000 people from the second squad who had been gradually stationed on the fortress walls since the night before last.

The security work inside the castle was entirely under Uncle Hoover’s responsibility. The purpose of all this was ostensibly to prevent anyone from deliberately causing trouble at the banquet, but it was actually more for display and intimidation.

While thinking about these matters, I shifted my gaze to the nearby garden. The pavilions built for resting had already scattered groups of people sitting in them. After the great doors of the inner castle opened, they stood up one by one and walked over here.

There were about a dozen people, both men and women, generally dressed in magnificent and refined clothing, even their servants were. Among them, a short, fat man walking at the front began shouting at the top of his lungs from dozens of meters away.

“Madam Catherine! I haven’t been able to feast my eyes on your beauty for a whole year. Are you well?”

Madam smiled and went to greet them, and Parsifal and I hurried to follow behind her.

“Thank you for your concern, Marquis Oliver. I’m doing well enough, but judging by your appearance, you’ve been living quite colorfully these days, haven’t you?”

“Haha! Madam, you jest. If life were really that colorful, I wouldn’t have chosen to come to Shanter Castle at this time.” When the fat man laughed, his eyes nearly squinted into slits. “It’s a critical period — we key figures still need to take the lead, don’t you think so, Madam?”

Madam’s smile remained unchanged.

“Yes, yes~ How could Shanter Castle’s first annual banquet be missing you?”

“Exactly right, how could it be missing me! I heard that His Lordship Scalliger has even brought out the snow wine he’s been treasuring for many years for this banquet! Haha, today I must drink to my heart’s content with an open throat. Madam, you mustn’t feel sorry about it.”

“Good wine meets the right person. This wine was prepared just for today, so how could there be any reason to feel sorry?”

The two of them began exchanging pleasantries that seemed endless.

Parsifal and I stood to one side, neither able nor wanting to join the conversation, staring at each other with the family members behind the fat man. Though we felt extremely frustrated inside, we still had to maintain smiles on our faces.

After smiling for so long, my mouth corners felt somewhat stiff, like an idiot.

At this moment, the fat man glanced at me behind Madam and finally changed the subject.

“Madam, are these two the future rising stars of Shanter Castle?”

Upon hearing this, Madam repeatedly waved her hands and covered her mouth as she laughed out loud.

“What are you saying? Compared to the wolf cubs of the Kariye family, the young man and young lady are still not mature enough. I hope you don’t mind the embarrassment.”

These words seemed to greatly please the fat man, and he laughed heartily.

“Ha~ Madam, you jest. In terms of achievements, who among their generation can compare to Lafayette? You don’t need to be so modest anymore…”

After another round of pleasantries, Madam led them into the castle, giving us instructions before leaving.

“You two stay here. When anyone comes, take turns leading them to the reception room on the second floor first… Peipei, you know where that is, right?”

“I know.”

Really, does she take me for a fool?

After she left, Parsifal turned his head and whispered to me: “That fat man just now is the head of the Kariye family. He wields power alone in the western part of the empire and commands over 3,000 heavy cavalry. He’s one of the main targets Father wants to win over. When the banquet starts later, we need to talk to him more.”

I looked at him with some surprise.

“What?” Seeing my expression, Parsifal unconsciously reached toward his cheek. “Is there something on my face?”

“Eye boogers.”

This guy had just been scheming about wanting to slip away, and now here he was putting on airs… suddenly becoming concerned about these matters.

I watched Parsifal desperately picking at the corner of his eye and felt nothing but contempt in my heart.

Was he really that afraid of Pagos?

Parsifal picked for a while but didn’t find anything, then immediately shouted at me: “Where are the eye boogers? You lied to me!”

But I didn’t want to pay attention to him anymore, because I saw another group of people approaching.

A fiery red horned carriage traveled along the newly built stone pathway beside the garden and stopped at the entrance of the inner castle. A young woman with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes lifted the curtain decorated with five-colored petals and stepped down from the carriage, her bright red armor clanging.

She looked to be around 27 or 28 years old. She wasn’t particularly beautiful, but she was heroic and spirited, with neat, precise short hair reaching her ears. Her cloak fluttered behind her, and her bearing showed the dignity of a woman who rivaled any man.

She removed the sword from her waist and handed it to the coachman sitting in front, then frowned and surveyed the surroundings with her gaze — finally settling on my face.

For the sake of dessert, I walked toward her with small steps.

I tried to pull up the corners of my mouth to give her a smile and was about to speak when I saw the woman suddenly relax her brow and show a gentle smile on her face: “Little Peipei, long time no see.”