Hunting Banquet

Altair held his parasol as he walked down the road, cursing inwardly, "George the Third is out of his mind. What was he thinking, holding a hunt in the summer? Doesn't he know the temperature right now?"

"Altair, over here."

As he entered the large tent, Altair heard someone call his name. Following the sound, he saw Hether Grant waving him over.

When Altair reached the table, he found Hether Grant already holding a deck of "playing cards," saying, "Come play a few rounds of 'Fight the Evil' with us."

Looking at the "playing cards" in her hand, Altair couldn't help but smile wryly to himself.

Back then, Rochelle had copied everything and claimed it as his own invention. If no one knew about it, it would be fine, but if someone did, he'd become a laughingstock.

Fortunately, he had the foresight to not change the names when he copied them. Whoever designed it was credited as the designer, avoiding future discovery.

At the same time, he was curious. After two and a half years, when "Klein" saw those items and the designers' names, would he come looking for "them" directly?

"A 9."

"A 10."

Altair had nothing else to do, so he sat down and started playing "Fight the Evil" with Hether and the others.

Looking at the cards in his hand, he casually picked one and threw it down, asking curiously, "What's this 'hunt' event about? Why is it being held in the summer?"

Tiffany O'Neill looked at the cards on the table, threw down a K, and said, "I heard it's related to the third prince, 'Edsac'."

Hether tapped the table to indicate she passed, saying casually, "It's nothing major, just building momentum for 'Edsac'."

Hether's words confused Altair, and he immediately asked, "Is this to pre-emptively decide the successor to the throne?"

Hether looked at him and smiled, "Why do you assume it's about the succession? Couldn't it be something else?"

"For example, supporting one prince to contend for power with the eldest prince."

Listening to Hether's explanation, Altair sighed. This method of balancing power in the court was used everywhere.

Now it depended on who would enter the game. If they bet right, they'd be rewarded for their loyalty; if they bet wrong, their entire family would be executed.

"Tap, tap, tap."

Hether's tapping on the table interrupted Altair's thoughts.

Seeing Altair's dazed expression, Hether slowly said, "Why haven't you played a card yet? You need to concentrate."

Altair looked at the cards on the table and directly played a 7.

"A 10, I win! Quick, pay up, pay up!" Hether said with a happy smile.

Altair's distraction allowed them to win this round. He casually took two one-pound notes from his wallet and handed them to Hether and Tiffany.

After taking the money Altair handed over, Hether began shuffling the cards again and said calmly, "This is also why I asked you to come play cards with me. Owen and Leif both told me to be careful and to keep an eye on you during this period. No matter what happens, don't get involved. You are just an ordinary noble right now."

"Alright, don't overthink unimportant things. They will handle it and won't affect our mood for playing cards."

Just an "ordinary noble"? Not letting me get involved? Am I being targeted?

What kind of "ordinary noble" is as special as me? My family members have served in the military for years, establishing strong connections, I'm quite wealthy myself, and now I'm leading the construction of the new industrial zone.

Whether it's political influence or social influence, I have considerable power.

My family only has one person left, a perfect resource to "assist."

Altair lost thoroughly in the "Fight the Evil" game this morning. In front of Hether, he felt like a child; all his thoughts were easily detected.

It was a case of losing nine out of ten bets. If Tiffany hadn't been there to buffer the losses, Altair would have thought his "Spectator" ability had failed.

Using his "Mind Reader" ability, Altair could only probe Tiffany's thoughts.

It was completely ineffective against Hether; she was like a walking "anti-magic zone."

Hether patted Altair's shoulder and said, "Still spacing out? Let's go~ The luncheon is about to start. If we're late, those people will say we're impolite."

"Altair, you should try this. This dessert tastes quite good."

"Indeed, it's less sweet than the other desserts."

The luncheon adopted an open-style dining format, where guests served themselves without any waiter service.

This style was, of course, invented by Rochelle and brought over from Intis.

It was said that Rochelle disliked the traditional noble dining style, finding it too rigid. During one banquet, he ordered the attendees to serve themselves.

For this aspect, Altair had to give Rochelle a thumbs-up.

If they were to follow the traditional dining method, seating arrangements would be based on rank, from highest to lowest.

During the serving of dishes, the King would be first, followed by the Prince, Duke, Count, Viscount, and Baron.

The King never waited for the servants to serve everyone before starting to eat.

Instead, he ate whatever was served to him, and once he finished, the dishes would be cleared and the next course brought out.

When the number of people was large, the nobles at the end wouldn't get any food. They could only go to the kitchen privately after the banquet to find something to eat.

As the afternoon sun began to set, the young men couldn't contain their restless hearts, eager to race horses in the sweltering summer heat.

Hether led Altair into the VIP box, gazing at the horses sprinting by.

The summer temperature made Altair constantly fan himself, paying no mind to anything else.

Hether turned her head when she heard the strong gust of wind from Altair's fan.

She cast a look of approval at his actions and then said, "It seems bringing you along is quite good. At least I don't have to fan myself."

Altair said expressionlessly, "When will this banquet end! I'm really uncomfortable right now."

His grumbling went unanswered by Hether, who instead chuckled, "You can't stand it now? There's a part tonight that will make you even more uncomfortable."

"Tonight, what other part is there?"

Altair immediately stopped fanning himself and asked in confusion. After a moment's thought, he muttered, "Could it be about Edsac? But didn't Uncle and the others say they would handle that matter?"

"Of course, there will be reasons for it, and perhaps it's not just him," Hether affirmed, then explained:

"You are now the target of all the noble youths in Bexland. Look at those young men in the distance, dressed so flamboyantly. A large part of the reason is that they're after you."

"If you don't believe me, you can try it tonight. During the Ball, you will definitely be the center of attention."