"Ah, sorry, sorry." Mia turned and stuck her tongue out playfully at Irene, then waved to Ron and the others. "I'm busy, so I won't chat with you guys."
"Go on, go on. Hurry up and find someone to marry already," Soven said, waving her off in disdain.
Ron swallowed the meatball in his mouth and laughed. "Just don't find someone like Soven."
"Hmph! You two should worry about yourselves first!"
Mia pouted and shot back unhappily, then turned and followed Irene back.
As the Empire's only current princess, Mia was naturally immensely popular at the banquet.
Many young nobles gathered around her, and people frequently went up to strike up a conversation.
But everyone knew Princess Mia's temperament—she disliked being pestered by too many people—so most merely chatted among themselves and bragged, hoping to catch Princess Mia's attention that way.
And as Her Highness the Princess, she couldn't possibly ignore everyone all the time, nor could she have Irene fend them all off for her. She still had to deal with them herself.
So, with the mindset that fewer troubles were better than more, after coming over this time, she simply did everything she could to steer the topic toward Elemental Cards, saying that she loved watching Magic Duels.
As a result, quite a few people immediately took out boxes of Elemental Cards and, under Mia's eager gaze, each chose an opponent and began playing.
What followed was a rather bizarre scene.
In the center and toward the front of the hall, properly dressed middle-aged men raised their cups and traded toasts, exchanging staggering amounts of resources unimaginable to ordinary people.
A single word, nod, or even smile from them might determine the lives of tens of thousands of common people.
Meanwhile, near the doors and in the corners