The Banquet (Part 1)

"Hiss..." Edward gasped, the scene felt all too familiar! Balls were one of the prime battlegrounds for early webnovel protagonists to show off and get revenge. Why was it his turn this time?

He asked calmly, "Forgive my ignorance, but are there any special customs for the first dance?"

Mr. Henry looked at Edward with exaggerated shock and asked, "You really don't know?"

"You see, although I'm a native White Eagle Person, I'm the son of a blacksmith. By chance, I became an Alchemist, which allowed me to attend the Duke's Mansion banquet. I'm not really familiar with these traditions," Edward explained.

"It was my oversight. Back then, I was just a hunter's son. It was thanks to the Grand Duke's favor that I could serve the Duke's family. I didn't understand anything at first either," Mr. Hunter said sympathetically. He reminisced about the past for a moment, then continued, "The first dance at the New Year's Ball holds great significance. In the customs of the entire Middle Earth, the first dance of the New Year for a noble maiden after coming of age is usually with her beloved. That dance partner might become the host's son-in-law!"

"Oh..." Edward feigned a look of sudden realization and said, "I wonder who will be the lucky one this year?"

Butler Hunter, standing nearby, twitched the corner of his mouth. He thought to himself, You're pretending, keep pretending! Acting like you truly don't know. I sent out all the invitations for this banquet. Only one was personally delivered by the princess, and she came back with an ugly ring on her hand. All the servants in the Duke's Mansion have been gossiping about it. Why else would you be here so early? You've probably been practicing dancing at home for days, haven't you?

Edward was unaware of Mr. Hunter's internal monologue. He had already followed Mr. Hunter into a small lounge.

The small lounge was currently empty. The room was as luxurious as the outside. Gilded sofas and coffee tables were arranged around the room. A vase with dried flowers and a fruit platter were placed on the coffee table. There were also several oil paintings on the walls.

Mr. Hunter said he had something to attend to and excused himself. Edward, with nothing else to do, propped his chin on one hand and began to admire the oil paintings on the walls.

In his previous life, he hadn't had much artistic cultivation. Here, he was just looking out of curiosity, feeling that the oil paintings in this life were not much different from his previous life, all depicting people and landscapes.

Just then, he heard the sound of a door opening behind him. A servant led two people into the lounge. Edward turned around and saw that one of them was an acquaintance.

He saw the baby-faced priest enter with a kind-looking old man.

Seeing Edward inside, Elwin greeted him first, "Mr. Smith, you're here quite early. Please allow me to introduce you. This is the bishop of our White Eagle Diocese."

Then he turned to the old man and introduced, "Bishop, this is the newly appointed president of the Alchemist Association branch, Edward Smith."

Upon hearing the introduction, the old man happily stepped forward and shook Edward's hand, saying, "Oh, Mr. Smith. I've heard so much about you. Thank you for taking care of Elwin. And thank you for your contributions to the people of the New Continent."

"Not at all, I've admired you for a long time as well," Edward replied.

Edward exchanged a few meaningless pleasantries with the bishop. The three then sat in the lounge and drank tea. Edward now understood where the baby-faced priest learned his old-fashioned tea-drinking mannerisms from. The old man and the young priest sat there, squinting as they sipped their tea, their actions identical.

They then chatted about everyday matters. Edward had always been curious. Although formal professionals were rare, why did the baby-faced priest frequently associate with the Duke's family? Usually, the church would assign older, more mature, and steady priests to interact with nobles.

This time, he couldn't suppress his curiosity and asked.

It turned out that in this life, there was a custom similar to the ancient dramas in Edward's previous life. Nobles would find a priest from their faith to be their family's patron, somewhat like Wei Xiaobao acting as the emperor's proxy in The Deer and the Cauldron.

The baby-faced priest was the Duke's Mansion's patron. Therefore, he would accompany them on diplomatic occasions.

If nothing unexpected happened, Elwin would become the next or the next-next bishop of the Holy Light Church in the White Eagle Region.

At this moment, the door opened again. Reinhardt led in a young man dressed in a well-tailored tailcoat.

The young man was also around twenty years old, with a slender build and handsome features. He had shoulder-length golden hair, slicked back neatly with pomade. Edward felt like he was looking at an elf prince from the movie The Lord of the Rings in his previous life, except this one didn't have pointed ears.

However, the young man's expression was arrogant. In Edward's previous life terms, his mouth was pursed as if everyone owed him money.

Reinhardt, standing behind him, also had an unpleasant expression. After politely ushering the young man into the small living room, he had no intention of introducing him and turned to leave, gritting his teeth.

The arrogant young man paid no attention to the three of them. He merely gave a perfunctory nod to the bishop seated on the sofa and sat down, closing his eyes to rest.

Seeing that Pastor Elwin seemed to know the newcomer, Edward nudged the baby-faced priest sitting on the sofa beside him. When the priest looked over, Edward gestured with his chin towards the newcomer.

The baby-faced priest immediately understood. Without a word, he dipped his finger in some tea and wrote a few characters on the table. Edward looked down and saw: Your love rival.

Edward covered his face. First of all, this is too vague, how am I supposed to know? he thought. He wiped away what Elwin had written and gave him a look.

The baby-faced priest understood and wrote a few more characters: Francois, the young master of Highland Castle, one of the princess's suitors.

Edward wrote on the coffee table: What's his strength?

The baby-faced priest rolled his eyes and wrote two characters: Idiot...

After writing, the baby-faced priest felt his finger was tired and gently rubbed it. Edward nodded in understanding, wiped away the water marks, and quietly drank his tea.

About half an hour passed, and it was completely dark. Carriages flowed endlessly to the entrance of the Duke's Mansion. All the prominent figures of White Eagle City had arrived.

A waiter came to guide them to dinner. Edward and the others followed the waiter into the brightly lit grand dining room.

In the center of the dining room was a long table, already set with tablecloths. Cups and plates were neatly arranged. A row of waiters stood neatly in the living room. As guests arrived, they were led one by one to their seats. Edward thought that Butler Hunter was truly meticulous and thoughtful.

However, when he found his seat, he suddenly felt something was wrong.