Chapter 172: Engagement?
The capital of Livolden, as the capital city of a major economic and trading country, is so prosperous that it cannot be compared with a small town fiefdom like Lucao of the Carlos family.
Even because of Luca's trial, this was Aisha's second time in the capital.
But because she had no mood to travel the first time, this time Aisha was finally attracted by the various new and strange sights in the royal capital.
Alice covered her mouth and smiled, "Don't act like a country bumpkin coming to the city, Aisha."
Aisha answered very honestly: "I have to admit that compared to the capital, Lukao is just a rural area."
"Even in the countryside, it's still the fief of our Carlos family." Alice knocked on Aisha's head, "Stupid sister, you only see the prosperity of the capital, but you don't see the land price of the capital."
"Land price?"
"In a small town, as long as you have hands and feet and are willing to work hard, anyone can own their own house. But it's different in the capital. Many people work hard all their lives in the capital, but can't even afford a toilet."
"Σ(゜ロ゜;) This is such a heavy topic, please stop reading it, sister!"
"But for travel, the capital is a good choice. The party is scheduled for the evening, and it's only noon now. Put your luggage away and find a place to kill time."
For gatherings among the kingdom's nobles, royal Caesar specially arranged a residence in a luxurious mansion next to the royal palace.
From dukes to barons, even a small family like the Carlos family can enjoy VIP treatment in terms of residence, which is rare in normal times.
In one afternoon, I enjoyed some 'luxury' consumption in the bustling commercial street of the royal capital.
Wearing the new clothes that Alice bought for herself, with a combination of gray, white and aqua blue, and black stockings covering half of her thighs, the beautiful girl Aisha looked brand new.
For an innocent child, happiness is so simple. Aisha seems to have completely forgotten all the previous troubles.
"Sister, you are so generous today. The clothes in the capital are so expensive."
"Haha, Aisha today is my sister's knight. Isn't it natural to make your knight more beautiful and handsome? Besides, at a dinner party for nobles to exchange ideas, you can't dress too casually."
"No wonder, that's why Sister Alice dresses so elegantly." Aixia suddenly realized.
Aisha didn't consider the occasion and the clothing at all, and just went out in casual clothes. This was too naive, and she was indeed too immature compared to Alice.
"It's almost time to go into the palace."
After checking the magic crystal watch on her wrist and confirming the time, Alice grabbed Aisha's wrist.
The dinner in the palace was ostensibly to comfort the nobles for their fatigue during the journey and to relax them in preparation for tomorrow's work report.
But anyone with a discerning eye can see that the war for status without the smoke of gunpowder has begun tonight.
And this arrangement was also intentional by the royal Caesar.
Otherwise, would a slightly normal dinner be held around the largest dueling arena in the palace?
Surrounding the luxurious duel arena, a variety of delicious food and wine are piled up like mountains, arranged in a self-service format, in a variety of ways yet in an orderly manner.
This arrangement was designed to allow everyone at the party to see the duel in the duel arena clearly at the same time.
To use a simpler and easier to understand metaphor, it is a noble and luxurious version of the ancient Roman Colosseum.
“There are many more people than I thought.”
When Aixia arrived at the banquet, she was shocked by the crowded venue.
In her impression, a dinner party among nobles should be quiet and elegant, with rhythmic classical music playing in the background. Several people would gather in groups, introduce themselves to each other, and enjoy delicious food.
But this flow of people has nothing to do with the elegant dinner party that Aisha imagined.
Perhaps most of the dinner parties among nobles were just like what Aisha remembered. But she overlooked the fact that this dinner party in the capital was for all the nobles in the kingdom.
As one of the three major countries in the Elf Continent, Levolden has at least a hundred nobles, including barons, viscounts, earls, and marquises.
In addition, such an important palace dinner party could not be attended by the head of the family alone, which would be impolite. Therefore, there were hundreds of people at the dinner party.
"It would be better if it were more lively." Aixia changed her mind and said, "If there are more people, I can blend in with the crowd and enjoy the palace cuisine to my heart's content!"
However, Ai Xiatian's real little wish seemed to be shattered in an instant after Alice showed the invitation letter to the guard at the door.
"Welcome, the eldest and second daughters of the Carlos family."
Reading out the family name and invited members aloud is a routine matter that makes the nobles look more presentable.
But when everyone present heard the name "Carlos", the atmosphere in the entire venue suddenly became much quieter, and everyone's eyes turned towards the door.
For nothing else.
Aisha Yuna Carlos, in the age challenge match of the Fu Sheng Academy Festival, defeated the second-year eldest son of Duke Set by defeating the stronger one.
Although the result of that duel is not suitable for public discussion tonight, anyone who was present at the time will never forget that perfect counterattack by the weak over the strong.
The second daughter of the Carlos family, and the last duelist of the Carlos family, possesses almost immeasurable dueling strength, and is only a freshman at Fu Sheng Academy, so she has a promising future.
Most of the nobles, who were snobbish, should have noticed this at this time and started looking for opportunities to get close to the Carlos Family.
But the result was that no one dared to actually step forward.
Of course, there is another reason for this delicate situation.
Aisha Carlos first defeated Kevin Set, and then counterattacked Kema Set in full view of everyone.
He beat up the two young masters of the Set family, and this feud created a grudge between him and the Grand Duke.
I heard that Lei Gangset also left angrily in the middle of the school festival at that time and never came back.
It can be seen how dissatisfied the Grand Duke was with the outcome of the duel.
If we rashly try to get close to the Carlos family now, will it cause dissatisfaction from the Duke and bring disaster upon ourselves?
Those cunning noble family heads would definitely not take the risk of losing the rice instead of trying to steal the chicken.
Of course, there were people who dared to come up and say hello to Carlos.
"Xiao Ai, Xiao Ai, Xiao Ai! This way!"
The red-haired girl, Yilin Austin, squeezed her head out from the crowd and ran over with a smile on her face.
"So you, Xiao Ai, are coming to the capital this year too. It was my elder brother who suddenly got interested and dragged me here yesterday."
The Austin family is not as short of duelists as the Carlos family. Yilin's eldest brother Yilong and second brother Yiqiao are both graduates of Fusheng Academy and are duelists with formal identities.
Therefore, Yilin is the youngest daughter in the family who does not need to take any responsibilities at all and just needs to be spoiled by everyone.
Following in his sister's footsteps, Yilong, who represented the Austin family to attend the banquet, ignored the strange looks from the people around him. He was not afraid of the Duke's anger and was communicating with Alice, the representative of the Carlos family.
"It's you who's coming to the party this year, Alice."
"Sure enough, Uncle Austin also asked you, Yilong, to represent the family. After all, our fathers are the type who like to save trouble."
Unlike being polite and dignified as she was with other people, Alice was obviously in a more relaxed and casual state when communicating with Yilong.
After all, like Yilin and Aisha, Yilong and Alice are childhood sweethearts who have been playing together since they were young.
Because they are of similar age, Yilong has just reached adulthood this year and can represent the identity of the family.
"Look, Xiao Ai, these two have such a good relationship." Wingman Yi Lin joked, "I'm so envious. If you were also a boy, Xiao Ai, we wouldn't be childhood friends but childhood sweethearts. And then Xiao Ai, you could marry me and take me home, what a wonderful thing~"
"Rin!" Yilong shouted with a red face.
"Shy! So shy!"
Yilin knew very well what kind of feelings her elder brother had for Alice.
As the youngest sister, it is of course my duty to provide assists.
But things are a bit difficult with Aisha.
In daily life, from the gentle smile that always appears on her face, it is impossible to tell that Alice would have any obvious emotional fluctuations.
And every time Aisha secretly asked questions related to relationships, Alice would cleverly avoid them.
So even her younger sister Aisha doesn't know what type her sister likes.
Although Alice has never specifically expressed her emotional needs, there are many people who like Alice.
Gentle, well-educated, and with a beautiful appearance that is similar to but different from Aisha, more mature. In fact, even Aisha's only shortcoming does not exist in Alice.
With such a perfect daughter, after Alice came of age this year, Baron Carlos has received many marriage proposals from major families.
But no matter how big the other family was, the result every time was that Alice rejected the person who came to propose marriage without even raising an eyebrow.
"Alice, oh, isn't this my favorite Miss Alice!"
After the Austin brothers and sisters continued, a frivolous male voice came from the crowd.
Then, a yellow-haired man whose appearance and behavior were as frivolous as his voice walked out of the crowd and directly held Alice's hand.
"My beautiful fiancée, I miss you so much."
"Fiancée? How come I didn't know about this?"
Aisha was shocked. It was the first time Aisha heard that Alice was engaged to someone.
You Ling: "Calm down, Aisha. I don't think it's what you think."
It's obvious that this guy is taking advantage.
From the way Alice looked at him like trash and the way she pulled her hand away immediately, it was clear that in Alice's heart, this guy's status was probably the same as that of a leech.
The only problem is that, looking at the badge on the chest of this frivolous man, he seems to be a marquis, which is second only to a duke.
Due to the huge gap in status, Alice did not express her dissatisfaction at the first time.
Chapter 173: The Girl and the True Knight 3K
"Please respect yourself, Mr. Willy Barrett."
Seeing that the frivolous yellow-haired man was about to grab her hand that she had pulled out, Alice had no choice but to remind him.
"I remember that my father did not agree to our engagement. So please do not use the title of fiancée anymore."
After Alice came of age, among the families that came to propose marriage to the Carlos family, the Barrett family, which held the title of Marquis, was definitely the one with the highest status.
Therefore, Alice also remembered very clearly that she and her father, Baron Carlos, had clearly rejected the Barrett family's marriage proposal.
However, the family with the highest status is undoubtedly the most arrogant, the most difficult to deal with... or the most rogue type.
Even though Alice rejected him personally, Willy Barrett, the only son of Marquis Barrett, still kept pestering Alice and even directly regarded himself as her fiancé.
Although this made Alice physically feel sick, it was not completely without benefits...
Well, the good thing is that ever since Willy Barrett began to present himself as the fiancé, no one dared to risk competing with the Marquis's only son and propose to the Carlos family.
It's nine points bad and one point good.
"Oh no, Miss Alice, you are the goddess in my heart. Apart from me, is there anyone else who can be worthy of such a noble and dignified goddess? Even if my father-in-law disagrees, I will not let go."
"You may be mistaken, Mr. Willy. It's not that my father disagrees, but I think we are not suitable for each other."
Facing a man like Willy, Alice decided that beating around the bush was useless.
"No, no, no, it's you, Miss Alice, who misunderstood."
Willy Barrett confidently lifted his golden hair from his forehead, put one hand on his waist, and grinned.
"When I said I won't let you go, I meant it literally. Whether it's Baron Carlos or Miss Alice's own wishes, it has nothing to do with me. I said you are my fiancée, and there is no way you can escape from me. This is what it means to never let go."
"You! Don't go too far!"
As Alice's childhood sweetheart and someone who has a crush on her, Erlong would not sit idly by when he saw Alice being threatened like this.
"Oh, where are you from? How dare you stop me?"
His eyes suddenly changed. Willy's attitude towards Erlong was completely different from his attitude towards Alice. After all, in his eyes, everyone present, except the two sons of Duke Sett, was trash.
"Eron!"
Alice signaled with her eyes, asking Yilong not to get involved in this matter, otherwise it would easily spread the trouble to the Austin family.
"Oh, it's quite lively here."
Finally, a middle-aged man with a big belly came out from the crowd of onlookers.
"Father!"
Marquis Barrett, Willy's father. His face is full of fat, which makes people doubt whether the golden-haired Willy, who looks pretty good, is his biological son.
It is probably because of the good genes inherited from the mother. After all, a family like the Marquis, which is second only to the Duke, always chooses the most beautiful wife when marrying.
Just like what Willy Barrett is doing now.
