The thought struck Yuriko as odd, and probably irrelevant. As she knew, Emma already had a fiance. She didn’t know the man personally, having already left the household by the time of the engagement. She heard that he was the founder of a technology company that was involved in the development of the Network, and he was based in the far western side of the continent, though she wasn’t certain if the region was part of the Republic or an allied nation.

Geography had not been a clear interest with Lilibeth so Yuriko only had a passing acquaintance with it. As far as she could recall, Astoria was a continent split in twain, north and south, but a narrow land bridge that was more mountains than plains. From east to west, Northern Astoria spanned nearly five thousand leagues, and a slightly smaller number, four thousand eight hundred something, north to south. The Republic did span the continent east to west but did not cover the entire western seaboard. North to south, it occupied roughly half of the territory, with an assortment of states, city-states or small nations, to the south. The northern edge of the continent ended into an icy wasteland, but there were still a thousand leagues of near-empty land north of the Republic’s border, that was occupied by a nomadic people as well as a few smaller city-states that banded together in a non-aggression and mutual defence pact.

Hmm, the name of Emma’s fiance escaped her though, but there was also the possibility that Lilibeth never bothered to remember.

When the ballroom doors opened, she filed in with the rest of the guests, into a small antechamber. There was a long table to register, and probably to find her seat.

Yuriko thought, with more than a bit of amusement, that Lilibeth had not been placed with the rest of the family, but as part of the general guests. That suited her just fine since she wasn’t sure if Lilibeth’s family would notice her changes as Emma did. Above her parents, and the actual Ruler of the Lawson-Daublin Conglomerate, was her grandfather, Benjamin Daublin-Lawson. He was at the far end of the ballroom, seated on what looked like a throne, elevated above the stage, and behind the long table where the immediate members of the family would sit.

Yuriko stared at the silver-haired man, recalling that he was nearly seven decades old. It wasn’t much, her Da was around that age, and Mum was older. But unlike the Imperials and every other person who trained in Anima Strengthening, Astorians were…mortal. Grandpa Benjie looked his age, with deep wrinkles and white hair. But he was by no means weak or feeble. His shoulders were broad, his face stern, but his jacket concealed his toned physique. Well, she didn’t know if that was still true, but young Lilibeth witnessed the old man lifting weights in her youth, and the rippling of muscle had fascinated the young girl. Not that Yuriko wasn’t, either. He was clean-shaven, but his silver hair was a lion’s mane framing his face.

There was an invisible pressure exerted by his presence, one that bore down on the crowd. She could feel emotions: excitement at the coming gala, anticipation at the coming entertainment, wants and needs to be fed, dwindling down to nothing under the man’s imperious gaze. He reminded her of Damien, though only a little bit.

Inexplicably, Grandpa Benjie met Yuriko’s gaze, and when she met his electric blue eyes calmly, the slightest narrowing of his eyes could barely be seen. The distance from the hall’s entrance to his seat was a bit more than a hundred and fifty paces, but she had no doubt he took note of her. Now whether he realised that she was his granddaughter, she didn’t know. Yuriko’s face had differed enough from Lilibeth’s that it would take some focus to connect the two. When his gaze shifted away, Yuriko surmised that she had not been recognised, which brought up the question of whether the family even knew she had been invited. Well, if they looked at the guest list, they would know.

Her table number was thirteen and it was set on the second row from the stage, there was a large square in the middle, probably for dancing. She spotted lights, cameras, and speakers dotting the entire space. The table was set for ten, though there were no nameplates, so she picked a comfortable spot where she wouldn’t have to crane her neck, twist around, or turn her chair to see the stage. The table was also close to one of the walls.

For a birthday party, the space was decorated lavishly. There were ice sculptures highlighted by spotlights, glass towers that were filled with fizzy wine, a tower of dessert that looked quite delectable. There was soft music playing in the background, coming from the speakers, but she also saw a piano by the corner, and she expected a musician would attend to it later.

Grandpa Benjie’s oppressive air disappeared and the anticipation was building among the guests. She estimated roughly a thousand attendees, and ninety-nine tables, excluding the family one. She wasn’t sure what to expect, and upon realising that Emma had probably snuck her into the guest list as opposed to being officially invited, she relaxed and shrugged to herself. Whatever came from Lilibeth’s entanglements, Yuriko could put herself at a distance and deal with it with equanimity.

As she expected, most of the evening was uneventful in terms of personal drama. The event opened with a host and hostess sharing a few icebreaker jokes. Yuriko listened half heartedly, as the rest of the guests arrived at her table. One seat was left vacant, and the other eight looked like they came together. She supposed she should have brought an escort, huh? Nothing had been said in her invite so she didn’t want to presume. Casual introductions between her tablemates were cut short by the presentation, though she felt some burning gazes on her back.

She looked around at the rest of the venue, stretched her perception aura for a bit, but retracted it when she felt Grampa Benjie’s pressure spike in intensity for a moment. Huh. Did he feel her touch? She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and quietly activated Chaos Sight, but was greeted with nothing. No indication of Chaos, Animus, or Elemental Aura. She was sure there were more than a few Altered in the crowd, but she couldn’t detect any of them.

Come to think of it, she had not examined Soundwave, Lightfoot, and Weavemaster with any of her observation techniques. She wondered if they didn’t show up in Chaos or Elemental Sight too.

What was the source of the Altered Human’s powers? If she could not see how they drew energy, how did they power their abilities? Her initial disinterest in the Altered rose. They were using a unique method of Anima Strengthening! Her lips curved upwards subconsciously. A new Strengthening technique meant that she might be able to improve her own, or simply better understand the Ancient Way via cross-referencing.

After about half an hour of inane chatter, the hosts finally introduced the birthday girl. The lights dimmed and Emma emerged from the main door, escorted by someone who Yuriko guessed was her fiance. Both of them were smiling quite happily, but when they passed through the aisle from her, she detected nothing but coldness. At least from Emma. Since the fiance had not seen or connected with Yuriko in any way, she couldn’t get a read on his emotions or distinguish them from the background noise.

Her sister delivered a nice thank you speech, then dinner was served. Twelve courses, with each one brought to the table. Yuriko ate calmly and followed Astorian etiquette, which had been drilled so deeply into Lilibeth’s psyche that Yuriko couldn’t even make herself diverge from it.

While they were eating, numerous performances were held in front of the stage. A troupe of dancers, a band that played some of the popular songs she heard on the radio or through the Network. A pair of contortionists doing things that Yuriko could do in her sleep. Well, her true body could. Her incarnation body still needed refinement. Hmm, some of those positions might be fun to try.

The program continued, and after the meal, Emma rose from her seat, gave another thank you speech, all while sporting a perfect smile, her expression exuding warmth. But the eyes…the eyes were colder than ice. Except when their gazes met, then Emma’s blue eyes burned like fire.

After that, the band played melodies for dancing. Several couples went with a pair dance, including Emma and her fiance. After the number, she quickly pulled away and walked over to their grandfather. Afterwards, the music changed to something similar to club music and people started gyrating and grinding into what passed for modern dancing. Yuriko was invited by a couple of boys to the floor, but she declined, not really in the mood. She’d rather leave, actually, and return to her training. While her true body could play with the Ennoia, only her incarnation body could make full use of it; her true body didn’t have Swordlight.

Oh, well, it turned out her true body could easily synthesise Bladeless Swordlight more easily than her incarnation body could simply because the true body’s Animus reserves were practically infinite. It cost about a thousand lumens of Animus mixed and converted while channelling the Ennoia of the Bladeless Sword, to create a singular strand of Swordlight. The incarnation body only had a single strand coiled into a seed within her.

Her true body could make the Swordlight, but could not store it. Her Colligia of Radiance ate it up the moment it went near the core. She couldn’t keep it outside either, as it wanted to be used.

So a thousand lumens. She had a hundred in her natural reserves when she first entered Astoria, but by now she had a maximum two hundred. She had not created external reserves since that would force her Anima to always be flared. The initial strand of Swordlight came to her from her enlightenment. Ah, a problem to be solved, and one only her incarnation body could do anything about.

So, she’d rather go home and ponder about it rather than get interrupted every five minutes by an amorous suitor wanting to feel her up on the dance floor.

Well, the program was done, so theoretically, she could already leave. Not that anyone else was. She sighed in annoyance as she looked around. The Grand Ballroom was the main venue, but she noticed that several side halls were also open. She didn’t know what happened there, but it should be better than an empty table and a dance floor she had no intention of using. At least dinner was good, even if the food looked prettier than it was tasty.

She got up and wandered over to one of the side halls, then paused when her perception caught sight of someone she least expected to be here. Or maybe she should have expected him.

“Michael,” she called out, and he turned to her with surprise, pausing just at the threshold of the door.

“Lilibeth.” Michael Stonereiz, one of the students who belonged to the painting class, greeted, his face lit up with joy.

“A coincidence?” Yuriko asked.

“A likely one.” Michael chuckled. “After all, my family’s business works with yours.”

“Ah. So you recognised my name even then.”

“I suppose,” He chuckled softly. “It did surprise me why you would do something like that for Torries though. At least until I found out about your circumstances from friends. Yet, you’re here?”

“I was just about to leave after sating my curiosity,” Yuriko admitted.

“Don’t be like that. You know your family throws the best parties. Now that the official one’s done, the real party’s just about to start.”

“Hmmm, perhaps.”

“I would be glad to accompany you…” Michael said but was interrupted by a girl who walked up to him and hooked her arm to his.

“Mike, there you are. I asked you to wait for me,” the girl whined, then gave Yuriko a head-to-toe look. Whatever she expected, she found herself wanting. Waves of envy and jealousy poured out of her, nearly making Yuriko flinch.

“Well, since you’re preoccupied, I shall take my leave,” Yuriko said airily. She peeked into the side chamber but couldn’t really see anything but a wall of people.

“I—yes,” Michael stuttered. “Nice to see you.”

“And I, you.”

She turned to leave, ignoring the other girl’s hateful glare. She barely made it to the Grand Ballroom’s main door when she was stopped by a muscular man in a black suit. When she looked at him with a raised eyebrow, he said, “The Patriarch will see you now.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep