By the time Nora finally got somewhat used to her high heels and slowly approached the banquet hall while holding Ron's arm, it was already close to 6:30 in the evening.
Night had begun to fall, while the hall remained brightly lit.
Ron dealt with the arriving guests one after another, occasionally patting the back of Nora's hand to signal for her not to be so nervous.
But Nora still couldn't suppress the tension rising in her heart.
There were just too many people!
Of course, sheer numbers alone wouldn't have made her this nervous.
After all, when she had once been captured by human traffickers and transported toward the southern region, the long convoy of carriages had carried far more people than this.
But this was the first time Nora had ever seen a crowd dressed so brilliantly.
It felt like a lamb wearing a wolf's skin walking into a pack of wolves.
Even though none of them had discovered her true identity, she still felt extremely tense—
as if she were caught in a swirling mire.
Eventually, Ron found Soren, along with Miss Penny, beside him.
The guy was hiding in a corner, not greeting anyone.
And since he was the Sixth Prince, others didn't bother coming over either.
So this corner had become a rare sanctuary.
Only after arriving here did Nora feel like she had finally surfaced from water, desperately breathing in fresh air.
Sovin lifted a silver lid slightly to sneak a peek at the food inside, only to have his hand slapped away by Penny.
He pulled Penny into his arms and looked at Ron as he approached. "Yo, our lovestruck handsome man has arrived?"
"You're pretty relaxed," Ron said, glancing at the sparsely populated corner. He also tried to lift a lid to check the dishes, but Nora quickly stopped him.
"It's not easy for a young girl to follow Ron—look, her forehead is already sweating," Soren said, patting Penny's hand.
Penny immediately understood and took out a wet wipe from her sleeve with a smile.
"Use this to wipe your sweat—it won't smudge your makeup."
Nora glanced at Ron, and after getting his approval, she accepted it with both hands. "Th-thank you."
While Nora wiped her sweat, Ron loosened his collar and let out a breath. "What a hassle… honestly, I didn't want to come to this banquet at all…"
"Well, of course someone like you, a winner in life, wouldn't want to," Soren said casually, sneaking a piece of fish into his mouth. "Everyone else is here for networking—not for the food."
"And what about you, then? A loser in life?"
"Who are you calling a loser?" Soren pulled Penny closer again and kissed her cheek without hesitation. "I'm the real winner here, alright?"
Ron was speechless, but Penny was clearly delighted, gazing at Soren with soft, affectionate eyes—already lost in her own thoughts.
Soren raised his eyebrows at Ron smugly, as if showing off his flirting skills.
Ron rolled his eyes and offered his arm to Nora.
After wiping her sweat and putting away the wipe, Nora obediently held onto his arm like a well-behaved little kitten.
At that moment, the lights in the hall gradually dimmed, and a spotlight focused on the podium at the front.
Emperor André III stepped out from the lounge, walked onto the stage, and delivered a long speech that Ron didn't listen to at all, before finally announcing—
The banquet had officially begun.
The lights brightened again.
The silver lids on the tables were lifted one after another by the maids.
The aroma of food instantly filled the air.
People began moving between the long tables, selecting their favorite dishes.
Of course, most of these were nobles under twenty.
As for the nobles and merchants in their thirties and forties, they wouldn't waste such an opportunity. After taking a small sip of wine, they immediately sought out people who could be useful to them and started conversations.
To them, what they ate didn't matter.
Who they spoke with did.
But that had little to do with Ron and Soren.
Needless to say, for Soren—and as for Ron, since the plants in Ron's Wonderful Flower Shop were always available as long as you paid enough gold, no one really needed to curry favor with him.
At most, they exchanged a few polite words before leaving.
Thus, the most popular figures in the hall were undoubtedly Emperor André III himself and the First Prince, Eil André.
The First Prince, Eil, had a tall and slender build and still wore the light black armor from yesterday, highlighting his identity as a returning warrior.
His features weren't as sharp as a typical soldier's, but rather quite gentle. It was only with the armor that he appeared heroic.
Otherwise, if he wore a black formal suit, he might look more like a delicate noble young master than a warrior.
That was probably why he insisted on wearing armor.
Aside from the Emperor, who was surrounded by people, the most sought-after person in the hall was the First Prince.
Especially the grain merchants—after the winter war, trade with the beastfolk would resume, so they placed great importance on interacting with the First Prince at this banquet.
Everyone hoped to gain more benefits from post-war trade.
Meanwhile, Ron and Soren—both princes with no princely decorum whatsoever—simply found a chair, piled their favorite foods onto a few plates, and started eating heartily, truly treating the place like a dining hall.
"B-Boss… is this really okay…?" Nora asked as she took a small bite of cake. Feeling the faint attention from around her, her body tensed up again.
But when she looked around, she realized no one was actually paying them any special attention.
"Don't worry about it," Ron said, cutting a piece of steak and feeding it to Nora. "Only those who want something from others are desperately trying to use this time to talk to people with more resources."
"I'm not after that. My life is already pretty good—just eat and drink as you please."
"Look at that carefree guy next to me—he's doing the same thing."
"Brother Ron!" Mia's voice came from behind. "Even when you're eating, show a little restraint! Stop hanging out with Brother Soren all the time—you're getting corrupted by him!"
Ron froze mid-motion with a meatball on his fork, just about to argue, when Soren complained:
"My dear sister, aren't you being a bit biased? What do you mean, I corrupted him? He was the one who suggested sitting down to eat in the first place!"
"Hmph!" Mia didn't give Soren a good look. "That's not the only thing I'm talking about—you know exactly what I mean!"
"Nora, take a good look—this guy is bad news. Don't always let Brother Ron go out and fool around with him, got it?"
"Ah… o-okay…" Nora nodded blankly, not quite understanding why Mia would say that.
After all, it was thanks to Soren that Penny had given her the wet wipe earlier.
"Princess Mia! Is it really okay for you to leave me alone to deal with them?" Eileen's resentful voice came from behind Mia.