Meeting

Aaron blurted out instinctively, "Are we meeting the parents?"

"Meeting the parents?" Alice blinked, then quickly realized what he meant and shot him a fierce glare.

Under the cover of her fluffy evening gown, she "accidentally" stepped on Aaron's foot and then nonchalantly looked around.

Aaron wisely let out a pained cry to avoid further harm, but the subtle twitching of his lips betrayed him.

Seeing his crestfallen expression, Alice finally showed a hint of a sly smile. She then reluctantly answered his question, "If you mean my relatives, then yes."

Everyone knew she was Alice of the House of Iris, and some knew that her father was the Grand Duke of Iris, but no one knew who her mother was.

Or rather, her mother wasn't worthy of having her name remembered.

With only the status of a maid, and having died in childbirth giving birth to Alice, her presence was exceptionally weak.

Naturally, within the House of Iris, there was no room for favoritism. The Grand Duke of Iris paid very little attention to Alice.

Even the number of one-on-one conversations between father and daughter could be counted on one hand.

The ones who accompanied her growing up were her sword instructor, Ed, and her uncle, Degas.

Considering that her father would likely not be willing to meet Aaron, it meant that Aaron was actually going to meet Degas, who was Alice's half-father figure.

"Honestly, it's a bit sudden," Aaron scratched his head and gave a wry smile. He truly wasn't prepared for anything.

Alice reluctantly led him around the edge of the dance floor and then whispered, "If Lord Bals hadn't suddenly requested it tonight, I... I wouldn't want to either."

Amidst the soft music and the slightly noisy crowd, her intentionally lowered voice was drowned out, barely audible.

Even though she had mentally prepared herself for marriage with Aaron, every time she thought of his unreliable demeanor, she couldn't help but hesitate.

Well, even though he seems okay in some aspects, he completely lacks the bearing a noble should have...

With the mindset of delaying it for one day at a time, Alice had hoped to postpone this matter a little longer.

But she hadn't expected Lord Bals to invite her to the banquet at this particular time!

Aaron hadn't received an invitation, but she clearly saw that the invitation read "Madame Albert," which meant she couldn't escape.

And as the president of the Iris branch, Degas had every reason to attend this banquet. Alice decided to just go with the flow and brazenly dragged Aaron along, wanting to resolve these two troublesome matters in one go.

"Who are those people?"

Aaron glanced at the edge of the ballroom and saw a few figures lurking in the shadows.

What caught his attention was that these individuals were excessively robust. They even reminded him of Lord Bals, with slightly longer and thicker arms, making them appear particularly awkward in proportion to their height.

Upon closer inspection, Aaron could even vaguely see the thick body hair on their exposed skin.

These individuals looked like uncivilized beasts. Despite wearing standardized armor, they still exuded a strong sense of wildness.

"Those are Orcs," Alice followed Aaron's gaze and whispered, "It's best not to stare at them. It's very impolite."

Orcs?

Does that mean catgirls or bunny girls?

Aaron's thoughts immediately drifted away.

"There are quite a few Orc tribes living in Badipila. Most Orcs are not very friendly towards us, and only a small portion are willing to cooperate with us."

Alice paused and added, "They're wearing standardized armor. If I'm not mistaken, these should be Lord Bals's attendants. I heard from Uncle Degas that Lord Bals once traveled to Badipila a long time ago and lived there for a period. Perhaps that's when he forged friendships with these Orcs?"

As she spoke, Alice continued to pull Aaron along.

She had already delayed for a while regarding Aaron's attire. Perhaps Uncle Degas had already arrived.

Aaron let Alice drag him, but he kept looking back, staring thoughtfully at those Orcs.

This Lord Bals seemed to be more troublesome than he had imagined.

To his surprise, Alice led him up to the second floor, and he saw Lord Bals again, seated by the railing in a certain spot.

"That's Uncle Degas," Alice spotted Lord Bals's unique iron arm and said softly to Aaron from a distance before leading him over.

Aaron saw Degas's characteristic smiling face and the kindly smile in his eyes.

Before Aaron could figure out what to say, he saw Degas rise with a hearty laugh and stride forward to greet him, "Little Alice, I've been waiting a long time to get a look at him."

As he spoke, he gave Aaron a bear hug with no gentlemanly manners, and took the opportunity to whisper in Aaron's ear, "Be careful tonight."

Alice glanced left and right, saw no one else, and finally relaxed. She playfully chided, "Uncle!"

"Hahaha, we're all family now. It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Aaron. I'll be entrusting Little Alice to you from now on." As he spoke, Degas held Aaron's hand and squeezed it slightly, quickly signaling Lord Bals with his eyes, then turned back to Lord Bals and said, "Lord Bals, I don't think I need to introduce this gentleman, do I?"

"Of course, we already know each other," Lord Bals said with a smile, looking at Aaron.

It seemed that for this evening's banquet, he was also wearing a specially tailored evening suit.

The fabric was clearly very elastic, perfectly outlining his explosive muscle lines.

Aaron couldn't help but glance at his clothes, feeling curious about the fabric. He had a feeling that any slight movement from Lord Bals would cause the suit to rip.

Degas squinted and casually sized up Aaron, chuckling a few times. He then fiddled with a few spots on Aaron's clothing.

With a few soft clicks, metal supports sprang open, and the torture device finally reverted back to clothing. Aaron immediately felt the air become much fresher.

"Nonsense," Degas said to Alice, then apologized to Aaron on her behalf, "My apologies, Mr. Aaron."

"Uncle!" Alice glanced at Bals.

If Bals hadn't been present, she would have dared to shove the metal stand back into place right then and there.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Degas."

"Actually, Lord Aaron, I know you," Degas chuckled a few times. "I wonder if you remember, but when you pawned your estate, you came to our Iris Merchant Guild."

Hmm, thank you for the tip, Aisraiya~

And a big thank you to the great Peanut Butter for all your support...

Wow... double-digit recommendation votes in one day (kneeling softly.jpg)