(This chapter has been edited again, if you find any mistakes you can point that out in the comments.)
Episode 52: A
Glittering World
The royal tea ceremony
was filled with the most beautiful furnishings Lynn had ever seen.
The table were set with a pure white cloth and
silver tableware, and there were magic stones everywhere that emitted seven
different colors of light.
The magic stones flickered slowly, intensifying and
diminishing their brilliance, darkening and lightening their colors,
alternately accentuating each other's light and adjusting the saturation so
that no one color stood out too much.
In addition, there were fairies flying and standing
all over the room, spilling glittering drops of light.
Fairies are generally attracted to places with
strong magic, but Lynn had never seen a place filled with so much magic, or so
many fairies, anywhere else.
The fairies all seemed to be comfortable and were
doing their own activities.
There was no need for
lamps, lights, or sun stones in this room.
It was hard to find a place in this room that didn't
shine without such things.
The light from the magic stones and fairies
reflected off the silver tableware and the white tablecloths, creating a
twinkling, intricately colored glow that illuminated the sumptuous food and
drinks on the table.
These decorations, however, were only a side note.
What struck Lynn the most in this room was the
attire of the people attending the party.
Every single person was wearing something shiny.
Rings, earrings, necklaces, and bangles.
All of them have a special glow due to the power of
light magic, which beautifully adorns the appearance of the wearer.
Some were wearing mysterious clothing.
The silhouette was no
different from normal clothing, but the pattern was constantly changing.
The pattern was constantly changing, and it was also
glowing vaguely.
Perhaps she had cast a spell on the pattern of her
clothes to make them change.
For a moment, when the magic power weakened, Lynn could
see something like a magic circle floating on the clothes of the woman who
passed in front of her.
In any case, the people in the hall were as
beautifully dressed as the decorations in the room, giving them a strong
presence.
The only ones who were not wearing any shiny magical
equipment were Lynn and Yuwen.
Lynn let out a dry laugh.
He had wondered if he should wear more expensive
clothes, but then he realized that such worries were ridiculous.
It didn't make much difference to the people in this
room whether he spent a little more or less.
Even Yuwen's clothes, which she had worn in the
first class of the academy, looked plain and unrefined in this room.
As Lynn and Yuwen were
being overwhelmed by the atmosphere of the room, a whisper came from the slight
darkness on the side.
“Hello. Isn't it Master
Lynn?”
“What? Yes,
I am.”
"I am a servant in
the royal household of Wyngarde, and Lady Illywia has sent me to inform you of
this tea party.”
"Huh?”
Lynn replied with some confusion, but the servant
didn't care and began to speak.
It is customary at this
royal tea party for the guests to go first to the host, in this case to greet
Lady Illywia. Please stand in the line leading to the host's table over there.
If you are thirsty, please feel free to take a drink from the side table. You
will then be assigned a seat by Lady Illywia, so please follow the
instructions.
When Lynn looked at the tip of the finger that
extended out of the darkness, he saw that there was a line of people heading
towards what appeared to be the upper seat.
It seemed that Illywia was at the end of the line.
People were already eating drinks and snacks,
chatting and laughing as they waited for their turn to greet Illywia.
“Okay.”
“Have a good day.”
“Um, what's your name?”
“I am one of the humble
servants of the Kingdom of Wyngarde, and I am not worthy of a name.”
Lynn tried to see the face of the person who had
called out to him, but the darkness prevented him from seeing clearly.
The tone of his voice suggested old age, but it was
unclear whether he was male or female.
You must be careful to
avoid the darkness. You're not wearing anything shiny, so you're in danger of
colliding with us if you stay in the dark.
Lynn noticed that there were places in the room that
were intentionally darkened to prevent light from reaching them.
As he looked into the darkness, he saw that the serving
staff was working inconspicuously as if they were black, arranging and changing
the heavy dishes, glasses and meals that the fairies could not carry.
"I wish you all a
bright and shining path.”
With that, the owner of the voice disappears into
the darkness.
Lynn felt inexplicably uncomfortable as he waited
for his turn to greet Illywia.
The stares of the other invited guests were painful.
They all gave Lynn and Yuwen a look of confusion and
contempt after staring at them.
It was clear that they were not welcome at least.
One by one, the people who had greeted Illywia left
the line. Finally, it was Lynn's turn.
Lynn was nervous about seeing Illywia for the first
time in a long time.
He wondered if it was really okay for him to be there.
Would she treat him the same way as before?
"Hello, Lynn.
Thank you for coming.”
Illywia smiled elegantly at him.
The smile was the same as when they had explored the
demon forest together before.
Lynn was relieved for the moment.
However, he was nervous again when he saw what she
was wearing.
Her attire was one of the most luxurious of the
magical garments that adorned this venue.
Illywia's dress was made of a chic black fabric that
reflected and exercised the glow of the stars in the night sky.
The stars glittered in reds, blues, and yellows,
giving off a strong presence of cosmic grandeur and infinite fragility, but
without detracting from her natural beauty.
He wondered how much skill, effort, and knowledge of
magic it must have took to create such a beautiful garment.
She was sitting comfortably on a three-seater sofa
with gorgeous carvings and vivid embroidery.
The table in front of
me was piled high with gift boxes and artwork that must have been sent by
tonight's guests, and those that didn't fit on the table were placed on the
floor.
The table was piled high with gift boxes and
artifacts from tonight's guests.
Lynn glanced over at Yuwen.
As expected, she was downcast and embarrassed.
Lynn understood exactly how she felt.
Illywia's beauty was the kind of thing you wanted to
look at from a distance if you could.
But now that she was up close and personal, she
couldn't help but be aware of her lowly status.
“Thank you for the
invitation.”
Lynn gave the standard greeting.
“I was hoping to see
you again.”
Illywia smiled and said so to Lynn.
Lynn gave a vague smile.
To be honest, he had failed to gauge her true
intentions.
Lynn had learned from his many experiences since
coming to this tower that there were two sides to everything people said.
Especially when it comes to what people of noble
status say.......
How much of what she said could he take seriously?
Why did she invite the likes of him?
“I was disappointed to
hear that you would no longer be invited to Magrillheim, but then I remembered
that you said you wanted to attend the nobleman's tea party, so I thought I
would invite you.”
“I didn't expect that
you would actually invite me.”
“You must be surprised. I've
put a lot of thought into surprising you.”
She put her hand over her mouth and smiled elegantly.
It seems that she is still as mischievous as ever.
“I didn't know you had
such a nasty disease, Lynn.”
Illywia chuckled as if she could see through
everything.
Lynn lowered his head in embarrassment.
“Whenever I do this,
I'm going to call you ...... uh, ...... Yuwen, right? I'll
make sure to call her as well.”
Illywia smiled at Yuwen as well.
Even though Yuwen had been
assured that she would be called upon again in the future, she only made a
modest bow and kept a low profile.
She was completely deflated by the atmosphere.
It was understandable.
Instead of enjoying the tea party so far, she was
only reminded that she was the wrong person for the occasion.
She was a vain person.
In fact, she was so embarrassed that she wanted to
leave right now.
"Lynn, you and
Yuwen seem to be quite shy, don't you?”
"eh? Yes, that’s
right.”
Knowing the normal appearance, Lynn only replied
vaguely.
"Lynn. Come and
sit here. You too.”
Ilywia invited Lynn and Yuwen to sit on the couch
opposite her own.
The crowd of invited guests was buzzing.
All of the people who had come to greet Illywia
before had stood and exchanged a word or two and then been dismissed.
The fact that he was sitting beside her was clearly
a special treat.
"Can I help you?”
Illywia asked, seeing that Lynn was confused.
“I'm sorry. I don't
know if it's okay. Is it okay for us to sit here?”
“It's fine. It's fine,
I've given my permission. Who is going to object?”
I'm sure there is no one here who would disagree
with her, because the highest person in the room is Illywia.
But......
(Even if Illywia-san is
nice, the envy and jealousy of those around her will come back to haunt me.......)
People were already starting to look at Lynn with
envy and jealousy. Lynn also sensed it in the eyes of the people.
However, he was afraid to turn down Illywia's offer.
Lynn did as Illywia asked, even though he was
concerned about the people around her.
Next time: Episode 53 "Tea and Wine”
