The first course was white bread sprinkled with salt, accompanied by a dish of olive relish, served before the six holy warriors of the Hand of Tyr Knight Order: Richard, the Grand Master, the commander from Haisha Port, and three renowned holy warriors.
To prepare for the worst, the Hand of Tyr had filled the guest list entirely with their finest elites.
Eating the bread before them meant invoking guest rights.
Some could not wait and bit into the bread directly; others, wary of poison, first licked it with their tongues to taste.
Only Aurina, as usual, acted differently. Before the servant could even set down the plate, a red whirlwind blew past.
The glazed white plate became spotlessly clean, reflecting a circle of white light.
The servant was momentarily stunned, looking left and right down at the floor to see if the white bread had fallen.
Finding no white bread on the ground, terror appeared on the servant’s face—if the bread had dropped somewhere, he would be in serious trouble.
Richard, holding his half-bitten bread in one hand, reminded: “The bread has already gone into the dragon’s mouth.”
Aurina’s cheeks puffed slightly as she mumbled: “No! This king… didn’t see any white white. It must have fallen. Hurry and bring this king a new one!”
The servant’s face turned pale in an instant.
“You scared him.”
Richard raised his hand, his iron-gauntleted fingers slightly curled.
Aurina’s puffed cheeks suddenly swelled like a hamster’s.
She chewed vigorously, her cheeks bouncing.
It turned out she had stuffed the olive relish and bread into her mouth at a speed invisible to the eye, then compressed them forcefully with her cheek muscles.
Only then did the servant breathe a sigh of relief—and not just him.
All the holy warriors at the long table relaxed.
The food had gone down into the belly; there was no poison, and everyone had seen it.
Without doubt, guest rights had been invoked as the food entered their mouths.
Tense faces now showed relaxed smiles, and the atmosphere at the banquet eased accordingly.
Sophia said: “Dear, the blood banquet might not happen. Everyone has seen us eat.”
Richard whispered: “Don’t let your guard down.”
Sophia said: “In this situation, if he initiates a blood banquet and stains the tradition, how could he ever host banquets or conduct diplomacy again? We must trust in order.”
As Sophia spoke thus, her peripheral vision kept glancing at the great shield leaning nearby.
Richard said: “I hope so.”
“Once we’re done eating, take Aurina and leave this place of trouble.”
Sophia said: “Then we won’t have to live in constant fear.”
“What a beautiful moonlight tonight.”
The hostess of this banquet, a noble lady, approached.
She wore a smiling face, black hair, and a red gown.
The high-slit dress revealed one thigh, clad in expensive, elastic patterned silk stockings.
Sophia glanced at her, examining—the attire on this noble lady was several grades above her own, exquisitely crafted.
“Hello, the renowned dragon-slaying warrior.”
She smiled broadly at Richard: “It is truly an honor to host you, to mend some small misunderstandings between you and the emperor.”
Richard said: “I hope they are merely misunderstandings.”
Upon seeing this noble lady, Aurina stood on her chair, raising her slender arms, trying to flex muscles to draw her gaze back from Richard.
But the once infallible display of virility only earned a glance and an amused smile from the red-gowned noble lady.
Then she looked back at Richard:
“Shall we toast once more to the emperor’s health?”
The emperor sat high above.
Last time, he had not returned Richard’s toast.
He had kept his head down, looking at something unknown, occasionally smiling.
Richard said: “He may not be willing.”
“This is just a misunderstanding. The empire cannot do without the good god’s grace, and you cannot do without the monarch’s protection.”
The red-gowned noble lady said: “This time, let’s all loudly wish him good health together—how about it?”
Aurina had already raised both arms, but alas, her thin arms no longer bulged with muscles hard as steel like before.
Before Richard could agree, the red-gowned noble lady announced loudly: “Esteemed Emperor, the dragon-slaying warrior and I are here—may you live long.”
The Emperor of the Yanting Empire in purple robes turned his face toward her.
Richard stood up, raising his wine cup with the red-gowned noble lady toward the emperor, then draining it in one gulp.
The Emperor of the Yanting Empire nodded to them and took a small sip from his own cup.
This gesture of goodwill immediately relieved almost everyone who had been worried.
The guild masters’ faces flushed red, the pressure built up over many days dissipating in an instant.
The white-bearded master even looked gratefully at the emperor.
Thinking of the hardships these past days in bridging the gap to bring both sides to this reconciliation banquet, his eyes moistened.
He felt he had achieved great merit, doing something beneficial for all citizens of the imperial capital.
Without exaggeration, it could rival the feat of saving the capital from the Dread Dragon.
The holy warriors also relaxed their expressions.
Laughter and cheerful voices increased at the banquet.
“See, a conflict that was about to spill blood is resolved just like that.”
The red-gowned noble lady smiled at Richard: “It’s said that the dragon-slaying warrior is the embodiment of knightly spirit. Before you arrived in the capital, everyone was buzzing about you.”
Richard sincerely said: “You flatter me.”
“Then, for the sake of my humble contribution, may I have this dance with you?”
A peppercorn seemed to lodge in Sophia’s throat. She coughed urgently a few times: “Cough cough.”
Richard said almost simultaneously: “I’m sorry, but I am already betrothed to my childhood sweetheart. After repaying my debts, we will return home to marry.”
“That couldn’t be more appropriate.”
The red-gowned noble lady pointed to a noble inviting a matron: “My husband and I have been married four years and have a son. While dancing, I could share post-marriage experiences with the renowned dragon-slaying warrior—this would be conversation material for my next life. What do you say?”
Richard said: “I’m very sorry.”
“I was speaking to your beautiful fiancée.”
The red-gowned noble lady looked generously at Sophia: “You have excellent taste, Master Sophia.”
Sophia raised her face, showing a mischievous smile: “I… have no objection.”
“Of course, I’m sure you understand.”
The red-gowned noble lady said: “Just a dance—mere social courtesy.”
Sophia forced a smile: “Of course I understand. Noble etiquette is universal in many places.”
The red-gowned noble lady extended her hand to Richard.
Sophia stared at it—adorned with jewels.
A shiny ring on her finger, nails painted bright red. Sophia really wanted to ask what nail polish that was.
So she asked.
“Nail polish?”
The red-gowned noble lady smiled: “This is a secret formula from my family’s exclusive alchemist. It looks good, doesn’t it?”
“Yes.”
Thus, right in front of Sophia, the red-gowned noble lady took Richard away by the hand.
Sophia watched their retreating backs, puffing up in anger.
She swore inwardly: Lord above! No matter who—even if it’s an upright-walking fat pig extending a trotter toward her—she would dance with it.
A roasted pig’s trotter extended before her eyes.
Sophia jumped in fright. Lord, though I swore, You’re too efficacious!
Following the trotter, she saw it held by a small hand. Aurina, cheeks bulging as she chewed food, said: “Want some? It’s delicious.”
From not far away, someone shouted: “Why is half this roasted suckling pig missing?”
Sophia directly snatched the roasted suckling pig and bit into it forcefully, far from ladylike.
A noble youth approaching from nearby immediately turned and left.
Aurina said: “Come, let’s dance together.”
With that, regardless of whether Sophia agreed, she grabbed Sophia’s hand and pulled her off the chair—as if that pig trotter was the invitation.
The emperor, head lowered, wore a smile.
On a palm-sized curious device, he pressed buttons. Words appeared on the screen: “Everything is going according to plan. Are you ready?”
A unicorn avatar appeared—that of Frostsilver. Below it, a line of text: “Always ready, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor of the Yanting Empire’s smile grew even brighter.