Noble Tea Party

"I, Anvis Lo Olivenndi, am a brand-new, noble, pure aristocrat, free from base vulgarity—"

"From the moment I was born, noble and glorious blood has flowed through my body!"

"I will become an enlightened ruler, a benevolent grand noble, and a generous industrialist."

"I will crush all conspiracies and enemies, leading my family toward prosperity and strength. I will care for my subjects with wholehearted devotion, bringing them safety and happiness."

"I will never fear, never retreat, face evil head-on, and fight until death. Glory is my life!"

The above was complete nonsense. Please do not take it seriously.

At the noon tea party in the castle garden, beside a cluster of blooming Silver Leaf Roses, the handsome boy dressed in fitted white formal attire delivered an impromptu speech with great animation to the noble boys and girls gathered around him.

His refined features were soft yet remarkably charming, his complexion carried the distinctive pallor of aristocracy, and deep within his azure eyes gleamed a faint cyan light of Mana. His bearing was incomparably mysterious and elegant.

The true purpose of such tea parties was to allow the younger generation to become familiar with and adapt to social interactions among the nobility in advance.

Anvis was not particularly interested in it, but it would not do for him to appear too unconventional.

Besides, the families of these youths all belonged to factions close to the Olyvendi Family. Letting them become familiar with him early on would also help him win people over in the future.

Earlier, as the peers chatted, the topic had somehow turned to their respective plans for the future.

As one of the two highest-ranking people present, everyone was curious about Anvis's aspirations.

To better shape his persona, Anvis searched through his memories and cobbled together a template for an aristocratic declaration.

Although he had largely forgotten where he had heard those things, that did not stop him from tweaking the lines and using them himself.

Anvis's impassioned speech left many of the still somewhat innocent youths utterly amazed.

Some even began reconsidering their original dreams and felt ashamed of them.

Fiona, dressed in an extravagant and elaborate pale-pink princess dress, with a cute light-cyan ribbon tied atop her head, sat off to one side and stared at her brother in surprise.

Her soft pink lips parted slightly, and her large lake-blue eyes were full of admiration.

This was the first time she had realized that her brother possessed such a radiant side.

Protecting the family, caring for the subjects, never fearing, fighting until death, and all that...

It was simply... simply too glorious, too aristocratic!...

On the other side of the garden, the invited nobles of all ranks were also holding a tea party. Unlike the children's playful gathering, this was a genuine social occasion among aristocrats.

As the hosts of the tea party, the duke and duchess were leisurely enjoying its atmosphere. Yet as they listened to Anvis's speech, their expressions gradually became strange.

They wanted to laugh, but when they remembered that he was their child, they could not bring themselves to do so.

"Has our child read too many biographies of great figures? Should we limit him a little?"

After a long while, Elena looked at Duke Carlot with some hesitation. Rarely, a conflicted look appeared in her beautiful amethyst-like eyes.

The duke also looked somewhat troubled. After thinking for a moment, he ultimately shook his head.

"No. He has already reached the age where he is qualified for independence. We should not interfere too much with his choices.

Reality is the best teacher. Some things only leave a particularly deep impression when one experiences them personally."

Although most of the peers had stars in their eyes, Anvis noticed that two youths and one girl still maintained polite smiles, with more or less undisguised contempt on their faces.

Though they had also received aristocratic education, they ultimately lacked experience. Some subtle facial expressions still surfaced unconsciously, betraying their true thoughts.

Martina, the twelfth daughter of Marquis Anderson; Elen, the illegitimate son of an Olyvendi branch family①; and... Lewis, the sixth son of Earl Elino, who would later betray the Olyvendi Family and join the rebel army.

Hmph, so this was the direct descendant of the Olyvendi Family, the uncrowned king of the Northlands, the Undropped Crystal Bird? How naive—

Though Lewis smiled and voiced his agreement on the surface, he could not help inwardly looking down on Anvis's speech.

Unlike the descendants of ordinary nobles, Lewis possessed the rare talent of mutated Spiritual Power, which gave his Spiritual Power an innate strength and quality far surpassing those of his siblings.

This talent granted him precise control over Mana, as well as genius-level learning ability.

Lessons that his brothers and sisters found extremely difficult were as simple as one plus one equals two to him.

Over time, his mentality quietly swelled. Though he remained exceedingly polite on the surface, inwardly he developed a sense of superiority and arrogance toward most people, unwilling to associate with those "fools."

Originally, he had no interest in such a childish tea party. He did not think he had any common ground with those peers who still seemed so naïve.

But this time, the event had been organized by the Olyvendi Family. His father had forced him to attend, so he had come reluctantly.

He simply had not expected that the lofty ideal of a direct descendant of the Olyvendi Family would be as laughable as the aristocratic biographies written by those mud-legged commoners of the Kingdom Federation.

What Lewis despised most were nobles who were born with high-grade bloodlines, yet only knew how to rely on the power of those bloodlines, made no effort to improve themselves, and idled their lives away.

They were merely people fortunate enough to be born into better circumstances and sheltered by the legacy left behind by their ancestors! Without all that, they would be nothing at all!

But he, Lewis Lo Elino, legitimate son of Earl Elino!

Even without any bloodline at all, relying solely on his own effort and talent, he was destined to achieve greater accomplishments than them in the distant future and leave these second-generation bloodline inheritors far behind! "Anvis, what was that industrialist you mentioned?"

A golden-haired noble girl spoke with feigned composure. Her violet eyes blinked as she looked at Anvis, curious about the term she was hearing for the first time.

This was Marquis Emerald View's eighth daughter, Intis.

Unlike Fiona's aura of pure sunshine, Intis carried herself with greater nobility, and a hint of the arrogance unique to great aristocrats had begun to show between her brows.

"Simply put, an industrialist is someone who owns large numbers of estates, merchant caravans, Alchemy Shops, jewelry stores, and other such businesses."

With a natural, elegant smile, Anvis glanced over the many noble descendants gathered around him and calmly explained.

"But isn't that just a noble?"

Intis tilted her head slightly, her beautiful violet eyes widening a little in confusion.

"No, they're different."

Anvis smiled faintly.

"Simply put, nobles possess territory and subjects, with taxes as their main source of income.

Industrialists possess businesses and workers, relying mainly on operating profits for their income. In reality, the two have a complementary relationship.

Industrialists can provide more jobs, allowing more subjects to make a living.

And the more subjects there are, the more prosperous the territory becomes, and the more taxes the lord receives."

"Do you understand?"

"I... understand."

The girl maintained her smile and nodded as if she understood.

But from her somewhat unfocused gaze, Anvis could tell that she did not understand as well as she appeared to.

Hearing their conversation, the crowd fell slightly quieter.

Nearby, Lewis, who considered himself clever, had a somewhat stiff smile. He had failed to understand the words of the "lucky fellow" he had secretly looked down upon.

He opened his mouth, but did not know what to ask.

Glancing at the many peers present and noticing that most of them were equally bewildered, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He quietly changed his expression to one of deep thought, and his sense of superiority immediately surged—

This was only a small interlude, and everyone soon changed the subject.

After that, Anvis did not speak again. Instead, he picked up a cup of Elf Black Tea and quietly sipped it while listening to the idle chatter of the noble descendants.

He knew clearly that, due to their living environments and experiences, these youths and girls would find it difficult to fully understand his words.

However, he had not said those words entirely for their sake, but for the duke on the other side of the garden.

On the other side, the duke and duchess exchanged a glance.

"What do you think?"

"It's somewhat too idealistic, but... it's already quite remarkable that he can think of such things."

①: Please do not fully apply the medieval European setting. The Gloria Empire has no church above imperial authority, and thus does not enforce a strict monogamous system.

Some nobles take their mistresses as concubines, while others do not. Therefore, both illegitimate children born within concubinage and children born out of wedlock exist.