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Volume 3 Chapter 3 Part 4

At the same time, she started think if there was anything that she could do.

(Maybe I should collect more information?)

She could start by individually talking to the contracted Mages of every Lord who has come to the Lord’s Conference and exchange information with them. And if it was possible, then maybe she could even persuade some of the Lords by explaining the situation to them properly?

(This is also going to be a battle, just a different one from what we are used to.)

Siluca has told herself as such.

After that, Vilar went around the hall to greet the other Lords of the fantasia Union and vigorously engaged in various chats with them, and once he was done with a ll that, he went to the depts of the hall where he met with Alexis Ducet, the current leader of the Fantasia Union who was already surrounded by a large number of Lords. When they saw Vilar approaching, the other Lords hurriedly opened the way for him.

「Lord Vilar! 」

But before he could reach him, the young man with curly blonde hair walked to Vilar himself.

「Thank you for coming all the way here to attend the Lord’s Conference. 」

Saying that, he firmly grasped Villar’s hands.

「No no, even if it meant crossing the entire continent, I would not mind it if it meant a chance to meet with you, Lord Alexis. 」

Villar replied with a smile. Villar then introduced the newcomers: Lassic, the King of Selvis, and Alfred, the new King of Clovis, to Alexis.

「Welcome to the Fantasia Union, Lord Lassic, Lord Alfred. Any Lord who loves peace and freedom will always be welcomed in our midst with open arms. 」

Alexis shook hands with each Lord and exchanged some brief pleasantries with them. And then, his gaze suddenly turned to Siluca.

「You are… 」

A look of surprise appeared on his neat face, and then he bowed to her with a refined gesture.

「Thank you very much for rescuing us from that dangerous situation back at the Grand Cathedral. If you did not show up to stop us, both me and Marine would have fallen prey to the Demon Lord along with our fathers. 」

Perhaps remembering 「The Tragedy of the Grand Cathedral, Alexis’ entire body shuddered, causing a pleasant fragrance of his perfume to waft through the air.

「There is no need for you to be thanking me, Your Lordship. I am sorry that I was unable to save the two Archdukes. 」

Siluca hurriedly returned the greeting.

From the edge of her vision, she could see Laura giving her a jealous look. She did not have her usual relaxed demeanor about her, and has been restless from the moment she entered the hall, so she really must have been waiting to meet with Alexis.

「Then, you must be Lord Theo, I presume? 」

Alexis looked at Theo who was next to Siluca and asked him. Siluca was surprised that the leader of the Fantasia Union knew about Theo at all. Have rumors about them already spread all the way to Halusia?

Siluca felt embarrassed at the possibility. However, thanks to those rumors, they were able to conquer the port city in Falvis without having to fight a single soldier.

「It is an honor to meet you, Lord Alexis. 」

Theo greeted Alexis awkwardly. He seemed to be quite nervus as well.

「Ah! I knew it! 」

Alexis smiled brightly and grabbed Theo’s hands like he did Vilar’s earlier.

「I wanted to have a leisurely talk with you for the longest time. Unfortunately, we cannot do it right now, but we should definitely arranged for it someday in the near future. 」

Alexis brought his face closer to Theo and whispered to him.

「That would be more than I deserve, my Lord. 」

Theo replied while still feeling surprised and overwhelmed at the same time.

(I guess he said it just out of social courtesy, but…)

Siluca murmurs in her mind while being confused herself, because there is no reason for a leader of the entire Fantasia Union to be interested in a lowly subordinate Lord like Theo.

(Or is it perhaps that he knows that we were the ones who made it difficult to reconcile with the Factory Alliance, and this is his method of denouncing us in front of every member of the Union?)

The possibility of that being the case made Siluca feel immense amounts of anxiety.

「Oh, um… Your Lordship. I know it might be too presumptuous of me to ask this of you, but later, if you are not going to be too busy that is, would you… would you be willing to have a dance with me? 」

As if she could not stand it anymore, Laura stepped forward and asked Alexis to dance with her later. Her face was so red that Siluca thought she had a fever, and his eyes were moist and darting from one place to another.

「It would be my pleasure. 」

Alexis said as he took Laura’s hand and kissed it. When that happened, the usually arrogant new Head Mage looked as if she was about to melt on the spot, or start floating in the air.

(Laura-senpai is surprisingly cute when she is acting so maidenly…)

But as cute as that reaction of hers was, it was by no means un unreasonable one.

Ever since she met him in the Grand Cathedral, Siluca was well aware that Alexis’ beauty made him stand out from among the rest of the crowd, which made sense of the fact that he was often called「The Sun of Halusia」. His demeanor is purely elegance personified, and even when he speaks normally, it sounds las if he was singing. It was so unrealistic that Siluca and other people from Alexis’ social circle were often wondering if that is his natural voice, or perhaps something that he is projecting from one of the many other worlds.

After chatting with Alexis for a while, Villar said goodbye to him for now and moved to the other part of the hall. Of course, Theo and Siluca also followed in his footsteps as he looked around the hall as if he was searching for something.

「Theo, Siluca. 」

And when he seemingly found it, he looked back at the two of them with a smile.

「what is it, Lord Vilar? 」

Theo answered and lined up in front of Villar together with Siluca.

「I think I have found someone whom I need to introduce to you two. 」
Villar said with a happy voice.

「And who might that be? 」

Theo asked while tilting his head to the side.

「Follow me and you will find out. 」

Vilar said, as he started walking briskly towards a certain Lord.

He was a short man with a stout physique. His face was stern and angular, but he had a soft look on it. His eyes were thread-thin and he looked as if he was extremely sleepy.

「If it is not Lord Vilar, the Earl of Artuk. 」

Noticing Villar approaching, he rushed over towards him as well.

「I believe we have not seen each other since the last Lord’s Conference, Lord Pederico Rossini, Viscount of Sistina. 」

Villar raised one of his hands in response.

At that moment, Siluca’s whole body stiffened. When he turned his gaze to Theo, his expression completely changed. He usually has a vague and elusive impression, but now he was desperately trying to suppress the emotions that were overflowing from within. He directs a piercing gaze at the tyrannical Viscount of Sistina.
「Lord Theo… 」

Siluca wrapped her arm around Theo’s elbow. Taken aback by this action, Theo stared back at Siluca, and then he nodded at her with an awkward smile. However, since it did not look like Siluca intended to let go of his arm, he had no choice to bow to the Viscount, who was facing Villar, in that position.

The viscount only gave him a passing glance and did not even greet him properly. It was as if he was not interested in Vilar’s subordinate Lord and his contracted Mage at all.

Villars then exchanged formal greetings with the Viscount, and when the conversation was about to be cut off, he slowly put his hand on Theo’s shoulder.

「This subordinate Lord of mine is a Knight from Sistina. 」

「Hou? 」

Pederico narrowed his eyes for a moment, then turned to face Theo and shook his hand.

「My name is Theo Cornero. 」

Theo calmly introduced himself.

「Cornero? 」

Pederico’s complexion changed visibly.

「Is that your true family name, or…? 」

「No, I am a commoner. When I became a Lord, I took this family name in order to honor my hometown. 」