Chapter 120: Dignity of a future ruler
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Differently from his three previous visits, the outside of the Gorfard mansion was quite crowded. After all, the Duke Gorfard was one of, if not the most, influential noble after the royal family.
On one part, this was because the Gorfard family were in-laws with the royal family through Lilith but this was also because Loki Gorfard was a very good politician.
As such, the invitation they sent received widespread replies. This was compounded by the fact that the noble knew that the mysterious prince would attend this party, giving the impression that the relationship between the two camps was slowly mending.
Of course, the sharp-minded nobles understood that the current undercurrent was quite heavy and abstained from participating. As such, only the low-level nobles and the nobles affiliated with the Gorfard family were attending.
The moment Sol stepped down from the carriage, all the regard immediately focused on him. Any other man would have felt a little cowed before such intensity. The Sol from a few months ago would have surely felt a little somewhat intimidated.
But at this moment, as he walked down the red carpet, Sol didn't even do so much as flinch nor even spare a regard to the people around him.
Men were shaped by their experiences and the lessons they received from them and Sol had learned many lessons. He was also sure that he would learn many more.
If he was cowed by some little weak nobles here, then all this time would have simply been a waste.
----
The moment he reached the door, he was respectfully greeted by the head butler. A gentle-looking old man, accompanied by two well-dressed young women and two maids.
But, the moment Sol faced this man, he immediately felt extremely uncomfortable. As if he was facing something filthy and disgusting.
Even though this feeling passed in flash and was quite fleeting, Sol was sure that it wasn't an illusion, and this made him ponder.
It was the first time he saw this man and he had absolutely no reason to feel such an intense dislike for someone like this.
This could only mean that something supernatural was at play.
'Either his race is something I cannot support or there is something else.'
From his recent discussion with Camelia, he was quite sure about what this feeling means, proving that many dangerous events will happen soon.
Even though thousands of thoughts were running in his head, Sol's face betrayed nothing. He even showed a faint smile and slightly nodded his head.
Those few days of visiting the nobles had been more rewarding in experience than years of studying.
The butler was accompanied by two young women who were rather beautiful. Since he made some research about Gorfard, he knew that those two were concubine daughters born between some of the maids and Loki himself.
Seeing them, the warmth in his eyes immediately chilled.
Sol was someone who didn't particularly care about rules because of his modern upbringing. Still, this didn't stop him from understanding that what was happening now was the Duke slighting him.
After all, even though the Prince came to visit them, neither the Duke nor his heir came to welcome him.
If this was all, it could still be pardoned, but they had to send a woman of extremely low birth to salute him with a servant. In a way, this was sending a message,
'You are the prince, but so what?'
Even though Sol didn't care about social convention, this didn't mean that others thought the same as him. If he let this pass, it would be a grave insult.
So how should he respond? Thinking so, he looked at the butler with a playful light in his eyes and asked,
"Is the Gorfard family trying to humiliate me?"
This question was asked very lightly as if the answer didn't matter, as if the prince was simply looking at a bunch of clowns prancing and jumping around.
This, more than anything, unsettled the butler.
He had been ready for many kinds of response from the prince. Mainly anger or silent acceptance, not this seemingly indifference and amusement.
After years of serving the previous Gorfard Family, he had thought that knew well those creatures called nobles, more precisely young nobles.
In his opinion, all young nobles were selfish spoiled naive brats. Some of them despite this naivety were quite good morally wise, while some others like his own young master were evil little shit.
From the information he had gathered about Sol, he wasn't particularly any better than any other young master, just less evil. Though, after the fight in the arena, it was clear that most, if not all the information they had about him was completely wrong.
The prince in front of him still seemed relatively naive, but it was different, what stood in front of him was a noble beast who was slowly growing out of his shell.
Thinking so, he imperceptibly lowered his posture a few degrees more and spoke, "I beg your forgiveness. This is in no way our intentions, the duke and the heir are currently giving their all to prepare a party worthy of his Highness."
"I see, heh, so the men are preparing the party while the women are idling. Well, call the duchess then, I refuse to step foot in here without an appropriate reception. Or, is the duchess also too busy?"
The mocking tone in his voice was clear for all, making the bystander who stood afar chuckle a little.
This world was one where the gender difference wasn't as important as in his original world. In this current world, women were in no way disadvantaged in handling mana when facing men.
The reality was that all the goddesses were, well...goddesses, and all the churches were also controlled by women. Finally, the two strongest beings knew, Echidna and Ambrosia were also women.
From all that, Sol was somewhat surprised about how this world wasn't more matriarchal.
What baffled him, even more, was that even though women weren't weaker than men, or most of time, even stronger, traditions from his original words such as men on the battlefield and women at home also existed here.
This was yet another contradiction of his world, though it worked in his favor now.
The butler shivered a little and said, "Surely you are jesting your highness, the lady felt a little faint this morning, but it will be no problem to call for her if your highness insists."
His words were implying that Sol was forcing someone who was sick to come to receive him just to please his own vanity.
But Sol simply gave a simple smile, "Do so."
A small uproar passed in the crowd, some were quite surprised at the prince's action. But Sol didn't care. In the first place, even though he didn't want to seem like a tyrant, he didn't want to appear like a good and benevolent king like his father either.
After all, while 'good and benevolent king' sounded good, it was just a nice way to say pushover.
The butler, understanding that continuing wouldn't be good, simply gave a signal to one of the maids who gave a bow and rushed into the house.
During all this, the two daughters stayed entirely silent. After all, even though in a way they had Gorfard blood, they had absolutely no right to become heiress. What's more, from the weak fluctuation of mana coming from them, it was clear how talentless they were. As such, they neither had the status nor the power to talk to Sol if he didn't address them first.
The fact that a butler had more authority than them was quite ironically pitiful in Sol's eyes, but this also renowned his own understanding of this world.
This world wasn't some idealistic utopia.
----
The wait for the duchess wasn't long.
The maid came back with a glamourous middle-aged woman who held a small polite smile and had a pale complexion.
Sol had to secretly admit that while she was inferior to his own women, she had a mature appearance that they lacked. After all, thanks to their power, most of his women looked younger than they were, with Medea taking the cake.
Chuckling at this thought, he briefly nodded as the duchess gave a small curtsey. After all, she was a duchess and Sol was yet to be king, as such, giving a full bow wasn't necessary for her.
"I welcome your highness and beg your pardon for the situation."
"You are pardoned."
The duchess smile cramped a little at how blunt he was, but she relaxed so quickly that only someone with heightened sense like Sol could have perceived it.
"Well then, your highness, if you would follow me? The party still didn't start and I will bring you to the waiting room."
He simply nodded and followed her. The order of entry in a party was extremely important.
Of course, the first one to appear should be the host himself, but after this, the later one was, the higher his rank.
If Sol joined the main venue of the party now, no other nobles would dare to step foot after him, since it would be an insult to the crown.
The Gorfard family had deep power, but it didn't reach the level where the nobles would willingly act in such a stupid way just to please him.
As he slowly entered the mansion, Sol felt a great premonition.
This night would be something he would never forget.
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Differently from his three previous visits, the outside of the Gorfard mansion was quite crowded. After all, the Duke Gorfard was one of, if not the most, influential noble after the royal family.
On one part, this was because the Gorfard family were in-laws with the royal family through Lilith but this was also because Loki Gorfard was a very good politician.
As such, the invitation they sent received widespread replies. This was compounded by the fact that the noble knew that the mysterious prince would attend this party, giving the impression that the relationship between the two camps was slowly mending.
Of course, the sharp-minded nobles understood that the current undercurrent was quite heavy and abstained from participating. As such, only the low-level nobles and the nobles affiliated with the Gorfard family were attending.
The moment Sol stepped down from the carriage, all the regard immediately focused on him. Any other man would have felt a little cowed before such intensity. The Sol from a few months ago would have surely felt a little somewhat intimidated.
But at this moment, as he walked down the red carpet, Sol didn't even do so much as flinch nor even spare a regard to the people around him.
Men were shaped by their experiences and the lessons they received from them and Sol had learned many lessons. He was also sure that he would learn many more.
If he was cowed by some little weak nobles here, then all this time would have simply been a waste.
----
The moment he reached the door, he was respectfully greeted by the head butler. A gentle-looking old man, accompanied by two well-dressed young women and two maids.
But, the moment Sol faced this man, he immediately felt extremely uncomfortable. As if he was facing something filthy and disgusting.
Even though this feeling passed in flash and was quite fleeting, Sol was sure that it wasn't an illusion, and this made him ponder.
It was the first time he saw this man and he had absolutely no reason to feel such an intense dislike for someone like this.
This could only mean that something supernatural was at play.
'Either his race is something I cannot support or there is something else.'
From his recent discussion with Camelia, he was quite sure about what this feeling means, proving that many dangerous events will happen soon.
Even though thousands of thoughts were running in his head, Sol's face betrayed nothing. He even showed a faint smile and slightly nodded his head.
Those few days of visiting the nobles had been more rewarding in experience than years of studying.
The butler was accompanied by two young women who were rather beautiful. Since he made some research about Gorfard, he knew that those two were concubine daughters born between some of the maids and Loki himself.
Seeing them, the warmth in his eyes immediately chilled.
Sol was someone who didn't particularly care about rules because of his modern upbringing. Still, this didn't stop him from understanding that what was happening now was the Duke slighting him.
After all, even though the Prince came to visit them, neither the Duke nor his heir came to welcome him.
If this was all, it could still be pardoned, but they had to send a woman of extremely low birth to salute him with a servant. In a way, this was sending a message,
'You are the prince, but so what?'
Even though Sol didn't care about social convention, this didn't mean that others thought the same as him. If he let this pass, it would be a grave insult.
So how should he respond? Thinking so, he looked at the butler with a playful light in his eyes and asked,
"Is the Gorfard family trying to humiliate me?"
This question was asked very lightly as if the answer didn't matter, as if the prince was simply looking at a bunch of clowns prancing and jumping around.
This, more than anything, unsettled the butler.
He had been ready for many kinds of response from the prince. Mainly anger or silent acceptance, not this seemingly indifference and amusement.
After years of serving the previous Gorfard Family, he had thought that knew well those creatures called nobles, more precisely young nobles.
In his opinion, all young nobles were selfish spoiled naive brats. Some of them despite this naivety were quite good morally wise, while some others like his own young master were evil little shit.
From the information he had gathered about Sol, he wasn't particularly any better than any other young master, just less evil. Though, after the fight in the arena, it was clear that most, if not all the information they had about him was completely wrong.
The prince in front of him still seemed relatively naive, but it was different, what stood in front of him was a noble beast who was slowly growing out of his shell.
Thinking so, he imperceptibly lowered his posture a few degrees more and spoke, "I beg your forgiveness. This is in no way our intentions, the duke and the heir are currently giving their all to prepare a party worthy of his Highness."
"I see, heh, so the men are preparing the party while the women are idling. Well, call the duchess then, I refuse to step foot in here without an appropriate reception. Or, is the duchess also too busy?"
The mocking tone in his voice was clear for all, making the bystander who stood afar chuckle a little.
This world was one where the gender difference wasn't as important as in his original world. In this current world, women were in no way disadvantaged in handling mana when facing men.
The reality was that all the goddesses were, well...goddesses, and all the churches were also controlled by women. Finally, the two strongest beings knew, Echidna and Ambrosia were also women.
From all that, Sol was somewhat surprised about how this world wasn't more matriarchal.
What baffled him, even more, was that even though women weren't weaker than men, or most of time, even stronger, traditions from his original words such as men on the battlefield and women at home also existed here.
This was yet another contradiction of his world, though it worked in his favor now.
The butler shivered a little and said, "Surely you are jesting your highness, the lady felt a little faint this morning, but it will be no problem to call for her if your highness insists."
His words were implying that Sol was forcing someone who was sick to come to receive him just to please his own vanity.
But Sol simply gave a simple smile, "Do so."
A small uproar passed in the crowd, some were quite surprised at the prince's action. But Sol didn't care. In the first place, even though he didn't want to seem like a tyrant, he didn't want to appear like a good and benevolent king like his father either.
After all, while 'good and benevolent king' sounded good, it was just a nice way to say pushover.
The butler, understanding that continuing wouldn't be good, simply gave a signal to one of the maids who gave a bow and rushed into the house.
During all this, the two daughters stayed entirely silent. After all, even though in a way they had Gorfard blood, they had absolutely no right to become heiress. What's more, from the weak fluctuation of mana coming from them, it was clear how talentless they were. As such, they neither had the status nor the power to talk to Sol if he didn't address them first.
The fact that a butler had more authority than them was quite ironically pitiful in Sol's eyes, but this also renowned his own understanding of this world.
This world wasn't some idealistic utopia.
----
The wait for the duchess wasn't long.
The maid came back with a glamourous middle-aged woman who held a small polite smile and had a pale complexion.
Sol had to secretly admit that while she was inferior to his own women, she had a mature appearance that they lacked. After all, thanks to their power, most of his women looked younger than they were, with Medea taking the cake.
Chuckling at this thought, he briefly nodded as the duchess gave a small curtsey. After all, she was a duchess and Sol was yet to be king, as such, giving a full bow wasn't necessary for her.
"I welcome your highness and beg your pardon for the situation."
"You are pardoned."
The duchess smile cramped a little at how blunt he was, but she relaxed so quickly that only someone with heightened sense like Sol could have perceived it.
"Well then, your highness, if you would follow me? The party still didn't start and I will bring you to the waiting room."
He simply nodded and followed her. The order of entry in a party was extremely important.
Of course, the first one to appear should be the host himself, but after this, the later one was, the higher his rank.
If Sol joined the main venue of the party now, no other nobles would dare to step foot after him, since it would be an insult to the crown.
The Gorfard family had deep power, but it didn't reach the level where the nobles would willingly act in such a stupid way just to please him.
As he slowly entered the mansion, Sol felt a great premonition.
This night would be something he would never forget.
Differently from his three previous visits, the outside of the Gorfard mansion was quite crowded. After all, the Duke Gorfard was one of, if not the most, influential noble after the royal family.On one part, this was because the Gorfard family were in-laws with the royal family through Lilith but this was also because Loki Gorfard was a very good politician.As such, the invitation they sent received widespread replies. This was compounded by the fact that the noble knew that the mysterious prince would attend this party, giving the impression that the relationship between the two camps was slowly mending.Of course, the sharp-minded nobles understood that the current undercurrent was quite heavy and abstained from participating. As such, only the low-level nobles and the nobles affiliated with the Gorfard family were attending.The moment Sol stepped down from the carriage, all the regard immediately focused on him. Any other man would have felt a little cowed before such intensity. The Sol from a few months ago would have surely felt a little somewhat intimidated.But at this moment, as he walked down the red carpet, Sol didn't even do so much as flinch nor even spare a regard to the people around him.Men were shaped by their experiences and the lessons they received from them and Sol had learned many lessons. He was also sure that he would learn many more.If he was cowed by some little weak nobles here, then all this time would have simply been a waste.----The moment he reached the door, he was respectfully greeted by the head butler. A gentle-looking old man, accompanied by two well-dressed young women and two maids.But, the moment Sol faced this man, he immediately felt extremely uncomfortable. As if he was facing something filthy and disgusting.Even though this feeling passed in flash and was quite fleeting, Sol was sure that it wasn't an illusion, and this made him ponder.It was the first time he saw this man and he had absolutely no reason to feel such an intense dislike for someone like this.This could only mean that something supernatural was at play.'Either his race is something I cannot support or there is something else.'From his recent discussion with Camelia, he was quite sure about what this feeling means, proving that many dangerous events will happen soon.Even though thousands of thoughts were running in his head, Sol's face betrayed nothing. He even showed a faint smile and slightly nodded his head.Those few days of visiting the nobles had been more rewarding in experience than years of studying.The butler was accompanied by two young women who were rather beautiful. Since he made some research about Gorfard, he knew that those two were concubine daughters born between some of the maids and Loki himself.Seeing them, the warmth in his eyes immediately chilled.Sol was someone who didn't particularly care about rules because of his modern upbringing. Still, this didn't stop him from understanding that what was happening now was the Duke slighting him.After all, even though the Prince came to visit them, neither the Duke nor his heir came to welcome him.If this was all, it could still be pardoned, but they had to send a woman of extremely low birth to salute him with a servant. In a way, this was sending a message,'You are the prince, but so what?'Even though Sol didn't care about social convention, this didn't mean that others thought the same as him. If he let this pass, it would be a grave insult.So how should he respond? Thinking so, he looked at the butler with a playful light in his eyes and asked, "Is the Gorfard family trying to humiliate me?"This question was asked very lightly as if the answer didn't matter, as if the prince was simply looking at a bunch of clowns prancing and jumping around.This, more than anything, unsettled the butler.He had been ready for many kinds of response from the prince. Mainly anger or silent acceptance, not this seemingly indifference and amusement.After years of serving the previous Gorfard Family, he had thought that knew well those creatures called nobles, more precisely young nobles.In his opinion, all young nobles were selfish spoiled naive brats. Some of them despite this naivety were quite good morally wise, while some others like his own young master were evil little shit.From the information he had gathered about Sol, he wasn't particularly any better than any other young master, just less evil. Though, after the fight in the arena, it was clear that most, if not all the information they had about him was completely wrong.The prince in front of him still seemed relatively naive, but it was different, what stood in front of him was a noble beast who was slowly growing out of his shell.Thinking so, he imperceptibly lowered his posture a few degrees more and spoke, "I beg your forgiveness. This is in no way our intentions, the duke and the heir are currently giving their all to prepare a party worthy of his Highness.""I see, heh, so the men are preparing the party while the women are idling. Well, call the duchess then, I refuse to step foot in here without an appropriate reception. Or, is the duchess also too busy?"The mocking tone in his voice was clear for all, making the bystander who stood afar chuckle a little.This world was one where the gender difference wasn't as important as in his original world. In this current world, women were in no way disadvantaged in handling mana when facing men.The reality was that all the goddesses were, well...goddesses, and all the churches were also controlled by women. Finally, the two strongest beings knew, Echidna and Ambrosia were also women.From all that, Sol was somewhat surprised about how this world wasn't more matriarchal.What baffled him, even more, was that even though women weren't weaker than men, or most of time, even stronger, traditions from his original words such as men on the battlefield and women at home also existed here.This was yet another contradiction of his world, though it worked in his favor now.The butler shivered a little and said, "Surely you are jesting your highness, the lady felt a little faint this morning, but it will be no problem to call for her if your highness insists."His words were implying that Sol was forcing someone who was sick to come to receive him just to please his own vanity.But Sol simply gave a simple smile, "Do so."A small uproar passed in the crowd, some were quite surprised at the prince's action. But Sol didn't care. In the first place, even though he didn't want to seem like a tyrant, he didn't want to appear like a good and benevolent king like his father either.After all, while 'good and benevolent king' sounded good, it was just a nice way to say pushover.The butler, understanding that continuing wouldn't be good, simply gave a signal to one of the maids who gave a bow and rushed into the house.During all this, the two daughters stayed entirely silent. After all, even though in a way they had Gorfard blood, they had absolutely no right to become heiress. What's more, from the weak fluctuation of mana coming from them, it was clear how talentless they were. As such, they neither had the status nor the power to talk to Sol if he didn't address them first.The fact that a butler had more authority than them was quite ironically pitiful in Sol's eyes, but this also renowned his own understanding of this world.This world wasn't some idealistic utopia.----The wait for the duchess wasn't long.The maid came back with a glamourous middle-aged woman who held a small polite smile and had a pale complexion.Sol had to secretly admit that while she was inferior to his own women, she had a mature appearance that they lacked. After all, thanks to their power, most of his women looked younger than they were, with Medea taking the cake.Chuckling at this thought, he briefly nodded as the duchess gave a small curtsey. After all, she was a duchess and Sol was yet to be king, as such, giving a full bow wasn't necessary for her."I welcome your highness and beg your pardon for the situation.""You are pardoned."The duchess smile cramped a little at how blunt he was, but she relaxed so quickly that only someone with heightened sense like Sol could have perceived it."Well then, your highness, if you would follow me? The party still didn't start and I will bring you to the waiting room."He simply nodded and followed her. The order of entry in a party was extremely important.Of course, the first one to appear should be the host himself, but after this, the later one was, the higher his rank.If Sol joined the main venue of the party now, no other nobles would dare to step foot after him, since it would be an insult to the crown.The Gorfard family had deep power, but it didn't reach the level where the nobles would willingly act in such a stupid way just to please him.As he slowly entered the mansion, Sol felt a great premonition.This night would be something he would never forget.
