She Is Not a Witch

69: After the Banquet



On the return carriage, Lacey leaned against the armrest of the carriage sofa, supporting her cheek with her hand. She felt a bit tired, not physically, but mentally exhausted. It was like playing an intense and thrilling 5-hour online match with someone. Now, she didn’t want to think about anything, just wanting to go back and have a good sleep.

 

Closing her eyes, she rested for a while, regaining some energy before slowly recalling the scenes from earlier. This Edley particularly irked her.

 

In her previous life, her country had a long-standing drinking culture. Even though she wasn’t much of a drinker, she knew that psychologically, this was a kind of obedience test. When I toast you, you must drink it all to show compliance. Although this world didn’t have the same custom, Edley’s behavior earlier was essentially a test.

 

As soon as he entered, he took the initiative, his seemingly joking words greatly stirring the emotions of the young ladies. Then he quickly backed down, saying he was just joking. This up and down motion excited the girls’ emotions like a roller coaster, quickly focusing their attention on him.

 

His banter with Fenrai, though seemingly noisy, quickly broke the unfamiliarity of their first meeting, naturally revealing his emotions and personality, lowering the guard of both parties in their first encounter.

 

Then came a sincere conversation, revealing his close relationship with Angus when he was alive, providing motivation for his subsequent offer of help, making it seem less abrupt. Moreover, for someone who initially appeared to be a playboy to suddenly become so serious created a contrast, giving the impression of a reformed rake’s sincerity, which was more likely to move people.

 

After Lacey expressed her thanks, he toasted her, following the simple idea of reciprocating kindness between people. When someone opposite you agrees to help you with something important and toasts you, you should, by all rights, drink the wine in your cup in return. This is an unconscious, spontaneous behavior; not drinking would seem obviously deliberate, indicating great caution, while drinking only part would show you’re being careful and not fully trusting.

 

Lacey understood the intention behind this, so she drank it all, pretending she had no reservations and believed in Young Master Edley’s promise.

 

Slowly recalling the various events at the banquet, Lacey couldn’t help but sigh. Edley was truly a master of social situations. With his emotional intelligence, there was no need for him to be so at odds with Fenrai; this was very likely intentional on his part. If he had put in his full effort, Lacey suspected the innocent Fenrai would have fallen for him within three days.

 

As for Melu, although she spoke quite a bit at the banquet, it was mostly common pleasantries. From beginning to end, she never really took a stance.

 

Fenrai was quite naive, Edley had some designs on Lacey or rather Carithes, Melu was like a fog, and Finnerton was focused on his new wine, concentrating on making money and uninterested in other matters. This was Lacey’s summary after the banquet.

 

⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱

 

While Lacey was slowly recollecting in the carriage, Edley had returned to his study at home.

 

“So, how was Lady Lacey of Carithes? Beautiful?” A young man slightly taller than Edley brought over a cup of sobering soup. He was Wick, the adopted son of the Tisphone family, considered half a brother to Edley.

 

“Wick, let me tell you, you’ll really regret not going. Lady Lacey is the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen in my life.”

 

“Oh? More beautiful than the Angel Saint of the Holy Domain?” Wick smiled and sat down opposite Edley.

 

“Indeed. I really want to marry her,” Edley made no effort to hide the desire in his eyes.

 

“You’re not serious, are you? We’ve already planned to unite with Anemis, and Fenrai is quite good too.”

 

“You don’t understand. Fenrai is indeed a beauty of this world, but Lady Lacey… I fear if I miss this chance, it might be thousands of years before someone so beautiful is born again in this world.”

 

“Enough, Edley. You really can’t joke about this. We’ve arranged everything. The union with Anemis is set in stone. Now is not the time to go back on our word.”

 

“I know. Carithes must be defeated or subjugated. Only then can we lead Hopland, and the organization’s plans can proceed smoothly.”

 

“Yes, Edley. We Tisphone have already invested too much to turn back now. I hope you won’t be blinded by beauty,” Wick looked at Edley seriously.

 

“You don’t need to remind me. I understand,” Edley leaned back on the sofa, rubbing between his eyebrows.

 

“But I will apply to the organization to obtain ownership of that girl after our victory,” he said slowly, yet with a certain determination in his voice.

 

After a moment of silence, Edley asked again.

 

“How is the Helis family recently?”

 

“They’ve been keeping a low profile lately, no big moves.”

 

“Is that so? I always feel like they might have discovered something, just not saying anything.”

 

“Even if they’ve found some traces, what can they do? As long as they can’t produce concrete evidence for now, they can’t do anything to us. In a while, everything will be settled, and they won’t be able to move even if they want to. The wheels of time will eventually crush everything. Whether the Helis family will even exist in the future is uncertain.”

 

Wick spoke in a low voice, his eyes in the candlelight seeming to hold some kind of fanatical ideal.

 

⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱

 

Two days after returning home, news of the northern battlefield in Western Wind spread throughout Vegar, causing widespread panic.

 

Western Wind was the central hub of the Snow Flower Seven Countries. If internal strife broke out, many land trade routes would be cut off, making sea routes the safe choice unaffected by the turmoil. Suddenly, the Carithes family received several times their usual orders, along with many sea transport commissions.

 

Coincidentally at this time, the three major fleets of the Carithes Merchant Association—”Swordfish,” “Trade Wind,” and “White Bird”—had all been recalled to the Tranquil Moon Strait outside Hopland. Huge white sails, large and small, from over a hundred ships were neatly anchored on the sea, rising and falling with the waves.

 

For a time, the Carithes family’s influence in Hopland reached its peak. All kinds of invitations followed, and other major merchant associations from other parts of Vegar sent various greetings and gifts from afar, hoping to establish good relations.

 

As peace was disrupted, safe sea routes became a necessary choice. The demand for both merchant ships and warships increased daily, making Carithes the focus of attention for various families.

 

Just as Loranhil was worrying about how to handle so many orders, commissions, and invitations, the country of Ruluna also sent a team of alchemists to Hopland to liaise with Carithes. Their purpose was to discuss an important cooperation project: the design and construction of iron warships.


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