The Ball

Duke and his party did not linger in Loba Town. After replenishing some supplies, they set out on the journey back to Maple Hill City.

Doyle's family had Fuke drive their carriage. He had often driven carts when he worked for the merchant guild, so he was highly experienced.

Naturally, Duke drove for his side. He had previously grinded his Riding skill to max level, and the experience he gained naturally included carriage driving as well.

The journey from Loba Town to Maple Hill City took around five days. The roads of this era were difficult to travel, greatly slowing them down.

The journey was peaceful, with few mishaps.

At night, the two carriages were drawn together to form a simple defensive position.

A campfire was lit, with an iron pot set over it. Vegetables, cured meat, and other ingredients simmered inside.

Looking at the iron pot, Duke could not help glancing at the helmet on Vivian's head.

When Vivian noticed his gaze, she smiled with pursed lips and reached out to knock on Duke's head.

Doyle's family had no idea what was going on when they saw this, nor did they dare ask. They simply lowered their heads and enjoyed the vegetables and cured meat in their bowls.

After confirming that Vivian was the count's daughter, their initial disbelief gradually turned into deep reverence.

It was something ingrained in the bones of commoners, and difficult to change.

From that day onward, they became much more cautious when speaking to Vivian. Their interactions could no longer be as natural as before.

Inside the carriage, Duke and Vivian lay side by side. Both had removed their armor, since sleeping in it was far too torturous.

Vivian had changed into a white undershirt she had bought in Loba Town, though she still kept Duke's coarse linen clothes, saying she would wash them before returning them to him.

Vivian naturally turned to her side and embraced Duke, just as she had in the forest before.

Neither of them spoke. Perhaps they both knew these days would not last much longer.

Once they returned to Maple Hill City, it would be difficult for them to lie together and sleep like this again.

Five days later.

News of Vivian's safe return quickly spread throughout Maple Hill City, then continued spreading elsewhere.

Ever since Vivian had entered Moonlight Forest and gone missing a month ago, Count Hardy had constantly sent people in to search for her.

In the end, they had only found Vivian's axe and several corpses that had been eaten clean. The only good news for Count Hardy was that the corpses were all male, while Vivian's whereabouts remained unknown.

They had also discovered the corpse of the two-headed ogre and roughly deduced what had happened from the traces at the scene.

Judging from their conclusions, Vivian should still have been alive, having merely fled while seriously injured.

Over the past month, Count Hardy had mobilized an unknown number of people. Even the Adventurers Association had issued many related quests.

Anyone who could find Vivian's whereabouts would receive all manner of incredibly generous rewards.

Unfortunately, they still failed to find Vivian. Instead, they had wiped out quite a few humanoid creatures in Moonlight Forest.

That evening, Count Hardy held a grand ball to celebrate Vivian's safe return.

At the ball, Vivian still wore her armor and refused to put on noble attire no matter what anyone said, because that would bring her too much trouble.

Once she changed into ball attire, countless people would surely come one after another to invite her to dance.

Wearing armor saved her a great deal of trouble. She did not even have to manage her expression, and felt completely at ease.

Hardly anyone mentioned Duke in this matter. Many people did not even know that a knight attendant of Nightingale had accompanied Vivian all the way back.

That was exactly the outcome Duke wanted. He did not want to expose himself before too many people and invite unnecessary trouble.

For him, being able to quietly grow stronger was perfect.

Throughout the ball, Duke had almost no presence at all. He huddled alone in a corner, sampling the fine wine and food. Before he knew it, he had wiped out a large amount of food.

After all, everyone attending the ball cared about their status. No one had actually come to eat, so it all ended up benefiting Duke.

Duke was holding a roasted Gale Wolf leg, his mouth glistening with grease as he ate, when a blond young man approached him and wiggled his eyebrows.

Duke did not recognize him and found it rather baffling. After swallowing the magical beast meat in his mouth, he asked, "You are?"

"My name is Rayne Acosta," Rayne said with a smile.

"Rayne... Acosta..." Duke felt that he had heard the name somewhere before. After thinking for a while, he remembered Vivian mentioning it when they had shared a bed.

Count Hardy had seven children in total. Vivian was his youngest daughter, while Rayne ranked sixth.

Rayne was only eighteen, making him the closest in age to Vivian among the seven children, so the two were fairly familiar with each other.

Most of the other children had already married, established themselves, and built their own power. They did not have much contact with Rayne or Vivian.

"You must have suffered a lot escorting Vivian back all this way, right? She's so fierce, after all." Rayne looked around, then lowered his voice after confirming Vivian was nowhere nearby.

Duke thought about it and felt that he had not really suffered. If anything, he had enjoyed it quite a bit.

But he obviously could not say that. He replied solemnly, "Serving Miss Vivian is my duty."

"Oh, give me a break. I know my little sister better than anyone. She's vicious. When I provoked her as a child, she chased me from the east side of the city to the west with a sword. I couldn't beat her either. Once she caught me, I got a thorough beating." Recalling his childhood, Rayne still looked shaken.

"Uh..." Duke did not know how to comment, so he simply lowered his head and continued gnawing on the wolf leg.

At least, Vivian had never acted like that in front of him.

Rayne could tell Duke did not dare say much, but he kept chatting away regardless.

Duke discovered that this young noble had no airs at all. He seemed like an ordinary young man from Maple Hill City, willing to talk about anything.

Vivian had told him that Rayne was rather carefree and unruly. He rarely participated in the family's power struggles and spent his days idling about.

He was either hunting or fooling around everywhere, and he did not train his Breathing Technique seriously. Even now, he was only a low-rank knight attendant.

Duke did not understand why Rayne had singled him out to keep chatting with. Thinking back, he and Vivian had kept their distance after entering the city, and he had not done anything unusual.

As the ball was about to end, Rayne patted Duke on the shoulder. "Next time, I'll go to Habs Manor and treat you to a drink!"

Duke was somewhat bewildered by his familiar attitude. This man was far too quick to treat strangers like friends.

As Vivian passed by him without drawing attention, she murmured, "Ignore him. He can become brothers with anyone in three minutes."

After the ball ended, Duke returned to the manor with a heavy chest and entered his long-missed room.

The chest was filled with gold coins—one thousand in total. It was Count Hardy's reward for escorting Vivian safely all the way back.