CH 13

The salon was a Western European culture in the modern era and refers to an exchange meeting held by a nobleman in his or her residence.

But In this world, the salon was primarily a place where nobles who were close to their estates would greet and pay obeisance, or even swear allegiance to nobles of higher rank.

Well, even if we swear allegiance, it’s not a grandiose thing, and roughly speaking, I have no intention of arguing, for me, it's as simple as exchanging the greeting.

Not long ago, I was ignorant of this kind of nobles or social knowledge, and the only reason I knew about it in detail was because of what happened yesterday.

‘...So that is why you have to participate there~’

It was all explained in detail by Victor to me so many times because he was the type of person who would repeat what he said many times, once when he got drunk.

Throughout the drinking session, I had no choice but to memorize the answers to the questions I had asked as a snack, even if I didn’t want to memorize them.

‘But even when that bastard has work tomorrow, and said to me that let’s drink in moderation, was the first to get drunk.’

When he drank two cups for the first time, I thought he would control it himself, but this was not the case, he just drink again and again, like there was no tomorrow.

I sighed when I saw Victor, who had not yet woken up in the morning.

To be honest, I didn’t mind going to Jessica’s Salon or anything like that, but since it was a promise I made to my mother, I wanted to keep it as much as possible.

“Hey, wake up.”

I said so, waving Victor’s body, and drooling him on the floor, but Victor turned his back and slept.

“Ugh… 5 more minutes…”

“…”

"..."

"You forced me to do this!!"

Inwardly, I fired a shot at Victor’s neck, and he jumped up as if he had been electrocuted and stroked his own neck.

“Aaaaa…”

“What? Did you have any nightmares?”

“Yes, I think I just dreamed of having my head cut off…”

It seems that he mistakenly thought it was a dream of death flying by.

“Anyway, if you want to go to the salon or something, you have to get rid of this smell of alcohol.”

“Ah! Sorry, excuse me first.”

After saying that, Victor quickly got up and went back to his room.

–Sniff.

I drank alcohol together yesterday as well and I smell a lot of alcohol too, so let's get rid of the smell first.

With that in mind, I went to the bathroom to wash myself, but I was sad because I wondered what I was doing right now if I was in my home.

‘ha… It's freezing cold.’

If I had been at home, by now I would have been basking in the warm sun in the garden.

'What the heck it is? Why do I have to attend a Salon of Count's daughter Jessica?'

'Come to think of it, I’ve been trying so hard to avoid it, but these days, the amount of time I spend on my swordsmanship is getting shorter and shorter.'

Yesterday alone, except at the old man’s house, I was not able to use or practice my swordsmanship.

'I’d like to set aside at least eight hours of time to meditate and practice….'

‘It’s just a little bit of patience.’

Classes in the Knights Department consist of breaking through the dungeons, other classes of the Academy, and self-discipline, except for a few left studies.

With just a few more days, the time will come when I will be able to walk freely.

Just like a flower that has endured a harsh winter and grows new buds, now was the time for me to endure and grow!

I finished taking a shower in the bathroom, thinking that I would get through this time.

And when I left the room wearing the tailcoat my mother had prepared, whether it was a coincidence or waiting, I ran into Victor wearing a tailcoat like me.

“Have you all changed? If yes, Let's go quickly.”

“Why? Are we a little late?”

“It’s not like that, but low-class nobles like us look bad if we go late. So we have to go as soon as possible.”

'I’m not a company intern who goes to work earlier than his boss…'

'I just hope the day will come when people will realize that all lives are the same in the world.'

“Then it will take more time to find the carriage, so get on my horse. It will be faster.”

The academy also had a student stable for students who brought horses or carriages, but the fee varies depending on the level of the facility.

The quality of the facility where Silence was staying was moderate, and the fee was about 3 gold coins.

After I pulled out Silence, who was resting comfortably in the stable, I picked up Victor and took the reins.

“Hey! Let’s go as fast as we can.”

We spurred on Silence and followed Victor’s instructions, and we soon arrived at the villa where Jessica was staying.

“Here…”

Jessica’s villa was much more luxurious than the hometown of our estate, even though it was a villa where she stayed only during her stay at the academy.

Many people gathered one by one in the garden of such a luxurious villa.

It was clear at a glance that all of them were nobles because most of them had at least one attendant to accept the tribute in the name of a gift.

“It seems it is not too late. When will the delivery come?”

“He said I would send it to us by noon at the latest, so it will come soon. Then we can go in.”

Even if it’s not something I can eat, I definitely want to see what that 10 katana worth of dessert looks like.

After a brief background check in front of the guards guarding the gate, we entered the villa without any problems.

Of course, I forgot to mention that the patissier will come with the cookies I ordered around noon.

“If I say hello to Jessica, can I go home right away?”

“Shh! You can’t call her that way here! You must use Young-ae or something like this!”

'Geez!, whoever hears it will think that we were dealing with any princess, not Count daughter.'

'Is this the woe of the lower aristocracy?'

Victor, who pretended to cover my mouth with his hand, whispered in a low voice.

“And you can’t go back right away. In that case, they might think that this is because you don’t like this exchange meeting.”

“It’s not funny….So, in the meantime, how about, I just linger around here like a decoration?”

“No, we have to expand our connections with nobles similar to us here. It’s an exchange meeting that’s called that...”

“Yes!! I understand...”

It seemed like I was going to have to spend a lot of time here.

With a sigh, when I entered the mansion, waiters with drinks on trays were standing nearby, just like at a party in a Western movie.

“Hey, you don’t drink.”

“…Hmmm, people can make mistakes once in a while, isn’t it?”

"No, you can't."

Even as Victor said that I couldn’t take my eyes off the glass the waiter was carrying.

“Victor, when are we going to say hello to Young-ae? I want to finish what I have to do.”

“Greetings are in order of title. We… Ah, you have already succeeded, so your turn will come first from me, but you have to wait a little longer since the junior baron is the last.”

“Is that… But where is the Young-ae? I can’t see her, is she on the second floor?”

“We will see her. When it’s our turn, the attendants will take care of calling you, so let’s rest in peace until then.”

Even if I want to be comfortable, my heart was not at ease with the gaze that seemed to be judging the other person so blatantly.

Everyone gathered here, regardless of who they were, was judging the other with a squint.

There were very few eyes on me, but I was still conscious anyway, so I just leaned against the wall and listened to the quiet conversation.

“It’s been a long time since I saw Young-ae. It was Jessica Young-ae's birthday party last time.”

“Yes, I remember. Even back then, you had prepared the most wonderful gift, isn’t it? So what about today?”

“Sure! A necklace made of Grossular garnets, suitable for Young-ae, I’m sure she will be delighted.”

Necklace… My mother and Victor both said that she liked desserts as gifts, but that guy said that he had prepared a necklace.

It seemed that I would understand the reason without even having to ask Victor this time.

It’s a guess, but it must have been that a person of lower rank, for example, a semi-baron brought a better gift than the baron. It will look bad for the baron, so they made it like this.

For example, there will be some kind of tacit agreement in advance for the semi-baron to the dessert, for the baron to use jewelry such as a necklace.

‘For a moment… So, how do I feel about gifting a 10-pack of katana as a gift?’

'No, as long as one doesn’t skimp on the dessert, one won’t notice how much the dessert is.'

I didn’t really care, and I spent some time sipping the alcohol the waiter brought.

And a few hours later, Victor, who was talking to another nobleman, came up to me and said to me.

“Now it is our turn. Let’s go to the second floor together.”

After putting the glasses back on the tray and going up to the second floor, we were finally able to meet Jessica Young-ae within a few hours of arriving at the villa.

‘Uh? uh?’

I got to the second floor and saw Jessica sitting in a comfortable chair surrounded by maids.

Seeing Jessica sitting with a fan in one hand and her legs uncrossed, I stiffened, but Victor was different.

Although his body was stiff as if he was nervous, Victor slowly lowered his head in an attitude as if nothing was wrong.

“...”

“…Uh?”

While saying hello, Victor looked at Jessica and patted my stiff side on the side.

“Sorry. It seems that this friend of mine was mesmerized by Young-ae's beauty for a while.”

“It’s okay. Rather, this kind of reaction is the best compliment he can give, isn’t it?”

“Hahaha…! That said, this friend will be very grateful!”

Saying that Jessica unfolded the fan to cover her face, but it was obvious that she was laughing at me from behind the fan with the subtle movements of her facial muscles.

Jessica was definitely a woman that if 100 people saw, everyone would say she was beautiful, but that wasn’t the only reason why I was hardened.

A little above her face, that was the real reason I was stiff.

‘Damn it, isn’t that a bun head? But isn't it too big?’

The head bun on her head, it was not something one would see in real life, but something one would only see in a cartoon.

A large head bun, split in two, was long enough to reach near the waist when standing up, even in the public eye.

‘No, the author’s crazy bastard, is she has been walking around for a year with that kind of hair, he didn’t just describe it like this?’

Even a blind person will turn around without knowing it when a girl with such a large bun head passes by.

“I will greet you again, I have come to say hello to you as I 'Victor de Bow' entered the academy.”

“Oh, You are the eldest son of the Bow family. Jessica van vongrind. I hope to go along well.”

“Hahaha…! How could you say such a thing to a guy like me? Ian… Come on, you too…!”

“Yes? uh… .”

At Victor’s urging, I put aside the thoughts of the novel for a moment and took a step forward, and stood in front of Jessica.

“Ian Batow, and...”

As I just said my name roughly and I was about to say hello at the end, but when I see that bun head again, I just stopped.

'Is this commonly referred to as bun-head reality shock?'

“And what? Don’t be nervous and just talk to me.”

“Then…”

As Jessica spoke, I felt at ease and frankly told the thoughts that had been on my mind.

“… Are you setting that hair every morning? And don’t the bun hairs get tangled or twisted when you sleep?”

“… … What!!? Yes?”

“Ugh…!!”

I felt Victor's hot gaze filled with resentment toward me, even if he didn’t turn his head directly.

"But what did you do?"