We make our way back into the ballroom and begin walking through the crowd. Alto breathes a sigh of relief.
"You had me nervous there for a moment, Mizuki. I wasn't sure why you were provoking her at first." (Alto)
"Fufufu…yes, sorry I didn't give you any notice. Still, you seemed calm and focused despite her hostility – I was very impressed." (Mizuki)
Alto smiles at me.
"I've learned after a number of experiences with you that, when your behavior is strangest, that's when I should trust you the most. It always works out. In this case, I'm guessing you wanted to know how volatile she was while you still held the element of surprise?" (Alto)
Hmm…that first statement feels like a dangerous precedent, but I'm glad she trusts me. I'm proud of her latter deduction. I smile and nod at her approvingly, and she smiles to herself, satisfied.
As we make our way through the crowd, I spot Darak walking around alone. He seems to be watchful. After a moment, he catches my gaze, and his eyes widen in surprise. He quickly corrects his expression to a friendly and relaxed one, then leisurely walks over to Alto and me. However, his eyes are still searching the area around me nervously.
"Oh, Mizuki! Good evening, I hope you're enjoying the celebration – these kinds of events are quite rare!" (Darak)
"Oh yes, it's spectacular. I also truly admire the common elves' relationships with their nobility and royalty – the respectful dynamic is something humans should really strive for." (Mizuki)
Darak's eyes are still periodically searching the area around us.
"Well, I'm glad to hear that you have such a positive opinion of us…despite your unfortunate track record. By the way, I don't suppose that you've seen someone who could be my daughter, have you? Black hair, blue eyes, and a black dress – uncommon around the ballroom, I'm sure. We seem to have been separated." (Darak)
Poor dude, she definitely was not supposed to meet with me. I can't resist seeing the look on his face, though. I direct a smirk at him, and he looks puzzled.
"Oh, you mean Lady Vena? Certainly, she should still be in a conference room down the hall there. We just had a lovely little chat." (Mizuki)
Darak's face noticeably stiffens. He studies me for a moment, seeming to contemplate how to respond, and then sighs deeply.
"I'm very sorry, Mizuki. How bad was it?" (Darak)
"Oh? Straight to the honest approach, huh? I was curious if you'd feign ignorance and pretend the offer was well-intentioned and out of friendliness towards me." (Mizuki)
Darak gives a sheepish grin.
"I don't have such a low opinion of your intelligence, Mizuki." (Darak)
I give him an amused smile.
"Fufufu…well, I feel the same, so I'll just be honest with you. I was able to tell from her approach that she'd have me legally removed from your kingdom if she could – living in your territory was just her backup plan. Moreover, it was clear that your daughter is rash, stubborn, and genuinely volatile. I tested her a bit, and I think if I'd pushed her more, she would have tried to kill me." (Mizuki)
Darak goes pale, and he's silent. I decide to continue.
"You can relax. While my deductions lowered my opinion of her, they also raised my opinion of you. I don't judge by association, so our relationship with your house is on excellent terms while you are in charge." (Mizuki)
Darak gives me a shocked look for several moments, then a smile spreads across his face.
"I'm glad to hear that, Mizuki. I can assure you that I don't share Vena's desire to have you removed from the country. I tried to prevent her from doing something like this, and I genuinely didn't think she'd be so outwardly hostile. What you describe is worse than I anticipated." (Darak)
"For what it's worth, she wouldn't have been explicitly rude or hostile if I'd been completely polite. I just needed to know who I'm dealing with, so I apologize for antagonizing her a bit. Still, is she truly your first choice for heir, Lord Darak? That's what she claimed, and you brought her as a guest." (Mizuki)
Darak nods solemnly.
"It's true she's my heir, but I wouldn't say my first choice. Her sister, the one you rescued, is a much better leader. Unfortunately, Vena is my only high elf child. Her sister will die of old age before I do. It's one of the more practical reasons why high elves like myself tend to have high elf heirs. As for you antagonizing her, it's forgiven. I'm sure that after pointing out her obvious scheme, all it took was one or two well-placed criticisms for her to lose her composure." (Darak)
Hmm…that's too bad, but I have no way to help. Guess I'm stuck with Vena in a few millennia.
"Well, that's understandable. I sympathize with you…she doesn't seem to appreciate how remarkable of a leader you are, even after all this time she's been alive. Hopefully something will change her mind about how to evaluate people in the future. Anyway, can we consider this matter settled between us – no hard feelings on either side?" (Mizuki)
Darak gives me an appreciative smile.
"Yes, I think that would be best. I'll let you get back to your Lady then, Mizuki. Have a good evening. I'm going to go collect and reprimand my daughter." (Darak)
With a polite nod, Darak walks off after that comment, leaving Alto and I alone. We return to Nina and Zara, and they look at us expectantly.
"Fufufu…so, how did it go? Was she as irksome as I guessed?" (Nina)
"As always, my Lady, your instincts were excellent." (Mizuki)
Nina looks smug. Zara looks curious.
"What happened?" (Zara)
I flash her a teasing grin.
"Oh, Zara, you're going to be so sad you missed it. It's a funny story." (Mizuki)
Zara's eyes widen in anticipation, and I catch her and Nina up on our exchange with Vena and Darak.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
We spent the next several hours making idle chit-chat around the ballroom. Apparently, Alara told many elves that Nina and the rest of us would be helping in her new territory for a while, and that interested them. Similarly, Ilina alluded to her friendship with us, and that earned our group some intrigue as well.
Eventually, the festivities wound down, and my party and I retired to the conference room we first used. We have a short amount of time left until the final meeting with the nobles.
"Hey Alto, now that Alara is officially a noble, will she be included on these meetings?" (Mizuki)
Alto looks thoughtful for a minute, then nods.
"Yes, I believe that's likely." (Alto)
Perfect.
"Hey Zara, if you want to attend this final meeting, and maybe secure a learning opportunity for your people, follow me." (Mizuki)
Zara gives me a curious look, and she stands up to follow me. Using my magic sense to narrow in on a combination of race, magic power, and spell class, I locate Alara in the palace and begin leading us to her. After a moment, I realize we're on our way to the library.
When we arrive, I notice that it's unguarded, and a quick magic sense tells me there's only one person inside. I guess being demoted to nobility really comes with a loss of perks. Zara and I make our way inside, and Alara looks up in surprise. She's seated at the reading table in the library.
"What brought you here, Alara?" (Mizuki)
Alara smiles sadly.
"Well, I really love magic, and the palace has pretty much the most extensive magic library in the kingdom, except for the Elven Magic Academy. I'm losing my royal access to the palace, and the academy is in Uril territory. I doubt Tessa is going to let me use the Academy library. So, I won't really be able to do this anymore, and it makes me sad." (Alara)
She's kind of like Alto in a way, I guess. That really cranks up my sympathy. I sigh deeply.
"Well, it's going to cost me a favor from someone important, which I've been avoiding using, but I think we can add a personal library to your home that's at least as good as the academy's. I'm sure there will be stipulations from me for giving you that gift, but I'm not sure what they are yet." (Mizuki)
Alara stares at me, dumbfounded. Eventually, she realizes I'm not joking and her eyes light up in surprise.
"Mizuki…please don't say that if you don't mean it. You think that's really possible?" (Alara)
Uhm, yeah. Azazel literally wrote every incantation on this planet if I'm right, and he can manifest things he knows into books at will. The only question is whether I can convince him to give me copies of all those books.
"I know for a fact that it's possible, the only question is whether the someone that I'm referencing will grant my favor. Don't consider it a guarantee." (Mizuki)
Alara's eyes start sparkling, and she genuinely looks like she's about to hug me. That would make both of us uncomfortable, I'm sure.
"Mizuki, I don't know how many ways to keep saying thank you. Honestly, at the rate you're going, losing my royal status might have been the best thing to ever happen to me. Still, thank you. By the way, what are you doing here?" (Alara)
"Ah, yes, I came here looking for you. I have something I wanted to discuss with you." (Mizuki)