The melodious sound of a symphony echoed through the golden hall.
Surrounding her were none other than the plump, elegant, and refined nobles, clinking their glasses in toast.
“Lord Oz~”
“Young Master Oz…”
At this moment, Oz, dressed in a jet-black formal suit, standing straight and tall with a gentle expression, was dealing with the throng of noble ladies from the Royal Capital who swarmed around him.
By his side stood a young man with a somewhat pale complexion, wearing men’s formal attire, yet whose features were extraordinarily androgynous—so much so that he was even more beautiful than many of the noble ladies present.
This young man was Oz’s full-blooded younger brother, Ileya’s third brother.
Shire Bateos.
Compared to Oz’s height of over 1.8 meters, his well-proportioned build, and his sharply defined, handsome features.
Shire appeared… considerably cuter.
His hair seemed to be inherited from his father, but it was also influenced by his mother’s white hair, resulting in a soft, pale gold hue…
With a height of 1.6 meters, a somewhat loose-fitting formal suit, and a face that was far too beautiful for a man…
“Um… Miss, if you would please—”
“Get lost!!” Shire bared his teeth and barked at the noble young masters of the Royal Capital who came to strike up conversations, his flat chest heaving with anger.
“I said it… I said I didn’t want to come here! Damn it!”
As he muttered to himself, his scarlet eyes turned to his elder brother, and the resentment within them was almost tangible, instantly looming over Oz’s head.
“Hm?” Oz paused for a moment, then raised an eyebrow at his younger brother.
Sigh~ This kid just stays cooped up in his room and never comes out. He’s gradually losing the ability to interact with others…
Sure enough, getting him out to mingle with people was the right call.
The two exchanged glances—one looking down from above, the other up from below—but neither noticed…
At the center of the venue, First Prince Karon was leading a young man with a faint blue, short haircut and a face full of composed smiles… strolling toward them.
And seeing a crowd of noble ladies, and even princesses of the royal family, including his own little sister, all circling around Oz, the gloom in Karon’s eyes deepened further.
This guy… I’m the First Prince! I’m the host of this banquet, one of the protagonists of this event!!
Why… why are these women all hovering around him?!
Of course, all of this was just him screaming inwardly.
On the surface, Karon appeared quite refined and gentlemanly in such public settings, carrying himself with a strong royal demeanor.
Completely different from his aggressive attitude in private.
“Ah? First Prince, Your Highness.”
“Your Highness, greetings.”
“Brother~ greetings~”
So, when Karon approached, no one thought he was there to cause trouble.
The noble ladies gathered around Oz even parted ways to make a path for the First Prince.
Karon nodded in acknowledgment to each of the noble girls’ greetings.
Then he gave a slight nod to Oz, and without waiting for a response, turned his gaze to the blue-haired young man beside him.
“Frixus, allow me to introduce you. This is the number one of our young generation, the man known as the Lone Moon of the Eastern Capital—Oz Bateos~”
He then turned his gentle gaze toward Oz.
“Oz~ this… is the number one of the Holy See’s young generation, the one hailed as the Holy Son—Frixus.”
The Holy Son?
The young genius called a prodigy within the Holy See, who, having stepped into Transcendence just two years ago, was already a fourth-rank Transcendent, and was even rumored to have received the blessing of the Supreme God?
Oz raised an eyebrow slightly. He naturally understood why Karon had deliberately brought this so-called “number one of the Holy See’s young generation” before him for an introduction.
Praise to destroy—nothing more than trying to stir up trouble for himself, even guiding this Holy Son to rub against him.
As for the purpose…
Perhaps the First Prince just doesn’t like me. That’s all.
“Sigh…” Oz let out a faint sigh at the thought.
Then, in the next instant, he wore a cheerful expression and looked at Frixus.
“So you are the Holy Son, then? Truly, seeing is believing~”
Oz smiled and extended his hand, but the very next second…
Slap!!
It was slapped away by Frixus, who wore a gentle smile!
Hush… In an instant, silence fell over the surroundings.
“Apologies. Weaklings like you… aren’t worthy of shaking my hand.”
“Huh? Who the hell do you think you are?! You dare speak to my big brother like that!”
Before Oz could say anything, Shire, standing beside him, couldn’t hold back, pointing an ivory finger at Frixus with a bristling expression!
“Yeah! How rude!”
“Tsk tsk… Is this the upbringing of the Holy See?”
And with Shire’s outburst, the surrounding noble ladies began their “whispers” loud enough for everyone to hear.
And Frixus, now the subject of such discussion, still wore his composed smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes—clearly not as calm as he appeared.
This… Sigh~
Oz sighed helplessly.
He should have anticipated this sooner…
The people of the Holy See aren’t nobles—they come from all walks of life.
As long as one’s faith in the Supreme God is devout enough, anyone can join the Holy See.
Among them, those believers granted various abilities by the Supreme God can even become high-ranking members.
And these people… or rather, this number one of the Holy See’s young generation, the Holy Son Frixus, though a proper smile was always plastered on his face, was clearly someone without proper education and severely lacking in emotional intelligence.
Provoked slightly by the First Prince Karon, he immediately developed hostility toward him.
This… was his debut banquet, so to speak.
Hosted by the First Prince, it was indeed quite the honor. But doing something like just now at such a banquet…
Not only was it disrespectful to me, the Little Marquis.
It was also disrespectful to the First Prince.
While this wouldn’t cause him any substantial harm, it would send his first impression and everything people would later say about him… plummeting to rock bottom.
And in the end, would such an arrogant fool ever realize his own problem?
Naturally, he’d pin the entire black pot of his “bad reputation” squarely on my head, dragging a whole load of hatred onto me.
This… was the pit Karon had dug for me tonight.
It’s just that… before I could even jump in, my foolish little brother went and dove headfirst.
“Who the hell do I think I am?” Frixus coldly stared at the small, fair-skinned youth beside him.
His palm slowly rose…
Everyone instantly felt that the surroundings had become noticeably brighter than before… That seemed to be some sort of Transcendent…
Slap!!
But the next second… his wrist was forcibly pressed down mid-air by another hand.
Then came Oz’s gentle voice.
“Kids say the darndest things. Don’t mind him, Holy Son.”
“Hm…?!”
Frixus’s eyes widened slightly as he used all his strength to try and pull his arm back from the other’s grip.
But… the hand Oz had around his wrist didn’t budge in the slightest.
Like a pair of iron pliers welded into the air.
This guy… his strength is terrifyingly steady…
But such a cheap trick won’t make me—
“Frixus! What are you doing!?”
“Oz, Shire, what’s going on?”
In an instant, two voices sounded almost simultaneously.
On the left was the Red-Clothed Cardinal, Kohls Blot, dressed in a green clergy robe.
On the right was the Crownless King of the East, Grosset Bateos, dressed in a black formal suit.
“Father! This guy said—”
Hush… Shire was about to speak when his elder brother placed a hand on his shoulder and took over the conversation.
“It’s nothing, Father, Cardinal. We were just having a bit of a heated exchange between young people.”
“Is that so? Hahaha, well… you are the future of the Kingdom and the Holy See, so of course you should interact more!” Kohls glanced at his own Holy Son, who was still fuming after having his wrist released.
Clearly, he had noticed something.
But this Red-Clothed Cardinal, called an old fox by Ileya, obviously had no intention of blowing things out of proportion.
He simply nodded with a kind smile.
“The Holy See truly produces remarkable talents.” Marquis Grosset also nodded slowly.
However, this man’s acting wasn’t particularly good—not only was his expression stiff, but the look he gave Frixus… was as if he were about to draw a knife on the man the moment they stepped outside.
“Hehe, well said~” First Prince Karon chimed in as well, playing the peacemaker.
As for what was going through his mind at that moment, perhaps only he himself knew.
In any case, the matter came to a close as an exchange between young people.
“Big brother, why do you have to be afraid of that so-called Holy Son…”
Back at their residence, Shire crossed his arms, his expression quite displeased.
“You~” Oz helplessly poked his younger brother’s forehead.
“I keep telling you to learn some cunning and scheming, and you keep saying it’s useless… Now, faced with this kind of situation, you’re as blind as a bat. Sigh~”
“Huh? Isn’t that enough with you around… It’s not like I’m the one inheriting the title~”
Shire pouted, and before Oz could continue his lecture, he clutched his forehead and ran off…
Leaving only the eldest young master, looking at his younger brother’s back with an expression of utter disappointment.
A helpless sigh.
……
Meanwhile, inside the Marquis Castle, in Ileya’s room.
The Young Lady had just returned from “righteous deeds” outside, wearily massaging her own shoulders.
Dealing with those spoiled brats of the Crystal Capital really was tiring.
Those fellows truly had nothing better to do all day than wander the streets with their noses in the air.
And while Ileya called it righteous deeds, in reality, she’d catch one and give him a beating…
Of course~ she was very measured with her hits~
Baffled but not brain-damaged—everyone who got a beating said it was great!
However, Ileya didn’t just beat them up. After every friendly exchange, the Young Lady would extend her “olive branch.”
She’d suggest to these fellows that instead of being a bunch of wandering good-for-nothings, wasted as useless prodigals…
Why not come work at her “Hive”?
After getting beaten up, hearing this, all those spoiled young masters and ladies had their eyes light up.
It wasn’t that the “Hive” was so admirable.
Two reasons.
The shallow reason was that after joining the Hive… maybe they wouldn’t get beaten up every time they acted even slightly arrogant.
The deeper reason was that once they joined the Hive… they’d be connected to the Young Lady… In that case, their families would absolutely support them fully, and their standing within their own families might even rise…
And Ileya did this, of course, not to cause trouble for Jenny’s side by stuffing dead weight in.
She did it to subtly win over these lower and middle-ranking nobles, pulling them aboard the Marquis Castle’s big ship as the building was about to collapse.
If the common folk were the foundation, then these nobles were the supporting pillars and beams of the structure.
It was the thousands upon thousands of minor nobles who lifted the royal family and high-ranking nobles to the pinnacle of the pyramid.
So, appropriate courting was naturally quite necessary.