Chapter 85: Father, Mother (First Part)

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The first floor of Shanter Castle, banquet hall.

According to the lady, the entire hall covers a total area of more than 9,600 square meters, larger than a football field.

The interior of the hall is a collision of black and aqua blue art. Almost all the furnishings and decorations are primarily black, black round tables, black backed chairs, black stone brick walls, and even the huge luxurious chandelier hanging overhead, along with the dozens of small pendant lights beside it, are all black.

Fourteen thick black marble columns with exquisite patterns stand in orderly fashion on both sides of the hall, carved with intricate moon-cutting and cloud-carving designs.

If it were purely black, it would be too oppressive to look at, so the lady used refreshing gradient aqua blue as accents. For example, the tablecloths, seat cushions and backrests, and the delicate porcelain items like knives, forks, and plates, the hollow carvings on them sparkle like starlight under the reflection of the lights, like candle flames and silver flowers.

It was now approaching noon, and the hall was already packed with people. Nearly 100 round tables were fully occupied, and there weren’t even enough seats. The lady had the butler temporarily move over several long tables and countless chairs from the council chamber to barely have enough seating.

People gathered in groups of three to five, holding wine glasses and chatting happily. Amid the clinking of glasses, maids pushed carts, placing various delicacies and fine dishes on the tables.

On the stage at the front of the hall, a supposedly very famous band from the south played and danced, performing jazz-flavored melodies with eight instruments in harmony, their lingering sounds echoing throughout the hall.

Opposite the stage, at the largest dining table in the entire hall, I sat upright to the left of Count Lafayette, maintaining a ladylike reserved smile on my face that hadn’t stopped once, I’d been smiling until the corners of my mouth were slightly numb.

Looking at the dazzling array of delicious food on the table and smelling their enticing aromas wafting into my nose, I swallowed and felt my appetite stirring.

“Thank you, thank you all for coming today!” The Duke raised his wine glass, his eyes crinkling with joy as he smoothed his chest, joking, “I feel truly honored! My heart has been hanging in suspense for a while now, but with all of you here, it can finally settle down.”

“Not at all, not at all! Today I brought my whole family specifically to mooch a meal here, we should be the ones thanking you!”

“Haha, the palace must be missing more than half its usual crowd today, probably cold and empty… it’s much livelier here!”

“Our Duke Scalliger’s influence is truly extraordinary! Hahaha—” The short, fat man I’d seen earlier also raised his glass with a laugh, his gaze sweeping around the hall. “Look at this, we can barely fit everyone in. What does that tell you?”

As soon as the fat man finished speaking, an elderly man immediately chimed in.

“It shows that most people are quite wise, always making the right choices at crucial moments, don’t you think?”

“Exactly!”

“Well said.”

“The empire has too many smart people, especially old fellows like us, haha!”

The Duke raised his hand and pressed downward, signaling everyone to quiet down.

He pointed to the wine glass in his hand: “The temperature of this hundred-year snow wine can hardly compare to everyone’s enthusiasm. Today is a very special day for Shanter Castle…”

The Duke’s gaze looked at each person at the table one by one.

Sitting there were the short, fat man, Annie Erin from Erenburg, Bishop Hobbs from the Holy Church, and of course Carlos was there too. He was currently picking at his fingers with boredom, his white suit wrinkled from his slouched posture in the chair.

This kind of event was probably what he disliked most, wasn’t it?

Most of the others were faces I didn’t recognize, but at this moment they all focused their attention on the Duke, their eyes showing eager light.

“New year, new situation. I won’t say anything superfluous, let’s drink the wine in our cups, and from now on you’ll all be eternal friends of Shanter Castle!”

“Cheers!”

I quickly raised my glass in acknowledgment, intending to take just a small sip, but from the corner of my eye I saw that everyone at the table had actually drained their glasses in one gulp.

This seemed somewhat different from the Western wine parties I knew about. Perhaps because we were in a region of perpetual winter, the Valen Empire’s drinking culture had quite a bit of my homeland’s flavor, and snow wine wasn’t grape wine either, so when toasting with others, you had to drain your cup in one go, especially in formal occasions like this.

So I also tilted back my head and drank all the wine in my glass in one breath.

At that moment I heard the lady cry out: “Peipei, don’t!”

The next moment, a sharp, pungent, intense taste exploded in my mouth and shot up to my head. I suddenly remembered that I seemed to… probably… maybe no longer had the drinking prowess of my younger days.

I lifted my head and smacked my lips twice.

I saw the lady, the Duke, Count Lafayette, Parsifal, Annie, and even Carlos all looking at me with shock.

So I grinned at them and blinked my eyes.

“Uh… Peipei, have you become such a heavy drinker now?”

Annie asked this with a rather confused expression on her face.

“I’ve always been… a good drinker.”

My gaze turned to the plates on the table.

What was in front of me appeared to be a plate of… chicken? Lamb leg? Whatever it was, it was meat.

I was getting a bit hungry.

“Peipei… are you alright?”

Count Lafayette asked with some concern. Looking at his expression, I frowned in displeasure.

Are you looking down on me?

“I’m awesome!”

Saying this, I reached out toward the meat on the plate… reached out… huh? Why can’t I grab it?

“Don’t!” Count Lafayette reacted quickly, hurrying to support my body. “Are you… dizzy?”

“Haha! Miss Peylo, are you drunk?”

“One cup and you’re down? That’s not like Winter City’s style!”

“Well, she is a girl…”

“Haha, how could I forget about this…” The Duke smiled helplessly, then looked up at everyone. “Sorry, sorry, my daughter’s alcohol tolerance is… rather limited. We usually don’t dare let her drink, so please don’t laugh at her.”

“Oh, we wouldn’t! Miss Peylo knew she couldn’t drink but still downed such a large cup, that shows real sincerity. How could we laugh at her!”

“Exactly!”

“Miss Peylo is so cute!”

“Peipei, are you really okay?”

Even Parsifal on my left asked this, making me frown even deeper.

How dare you all treat me with such an attitude?

I’m not targeting anyone specifically, but when it comes to drinking, everyone here is trash.

“Peipei, eat something to absorb the alcohol.”

Count Lafayette brought a fork to my mouth with something on it… sniff sniff.

I brought my little nose over and twitched it twice, detecting that it was a piece of meat. “Ah-wu,” I swallowed it in one bite.

“Chew… chew… mm…”

I wanted to speak, but I hadn’t finished chewing what was in my mouth and couldn’t talk clearly. Feeling anxious, I immediately sped up my chewing.

“Maybe you should go rest for a while?”

Count Lafayette suggested. I impatiently shook my head vigorously at him.

I haven’t eaten much yet, you commoners won’t stop me!

“Haha, my silly daughter will probably collapse soon… Should I have someone take her down to rest? Then we can have a proper talk.”

“Mm-mm!!”

Hearing the Duke say this, I quickly glared at him and waved my hands frantically.

“Hahahaha!”

“Miss Peylo says she can still drink a few more cups!”

Laughter erupted around me, making me irritated and flustered. The alcohol hit my head again, everyone’s faces began spinning in my vision, and my consciousness gradually became blurry.

The next moment, I slammed the table hard.

Slap!

This sound startled everyone, and all eyes turned to me in unison.

I stood up abruptly.

Feeling the two tails behind my head swaying uncontrollably, I reached back to grab them.

I stumbled on my feet.

“Chew… chew… gulp. Listen to me… let me say a few words.”

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