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This banquet was so, so boring. The task he set out to do was already accomplished half an hour ago (convincing a minor noble in a key position to join the crown prince’s faction).
Cale looked out of the window. He yearned for his comfy armchair. His favourite spot was doused in warm sunlight on evenings like these. Alver was still busy, of course, as the crown prince he was bound to be. And most of his companions were not allowed to come with him, since bringing your own guard or servants would be an insult against the host. Only Eruhaben, disguised as his distant noble relative, had insisted on following him. And then he’d gone off somewhere and left him here with this weirdo noble from the southeast.
At some point Cale looked over to see Alver and Eruhaben standing next to each other, glancing at his direction again and again. They looked oddly amused.
‘It is good that they are getting along.’
Cale felt it was beneficial for Eruhaben to know a lot of people with a longer lifespan. So, he let them do as they wished, standing off to the side.
‘But why are they looking so amused? They are grinning whenever they look at me.’
Cale had made up his mind. He would just finish his dessert and then leave. Alver could stick it out for a few more hours without backup.
‘What does this person want from me?’, he wondered, for the tenth time in the last few minutes.
All he could gather was that this person too, was very interested in his evening wardrobe. He had long zoned out and eyed the table with desserts. They were really good, but were they I can bear with this banquet for five more minutes longer - good?
“Oh, young Master Silver Shield, were the rumors maybe inaccurate?
Cale kept a stoic face.
“Depends on the rumors. Some of them are true, though. The less flattering, the more likely so.”
He would prefer to keep his reputation as a lout at least somewhat alive.
“Hahaha. Well, I mean the ones about your … private life if I may be so bold. Would you prefer to talk to my sister? The brunette lady next to your companion.”
‘Does she need a new tailor?’
Cale didn’t react at first but instinctively took a step back when the man came one step closer. He got an ominous feeling yet couldn’t place it. Was this an enemy spy?
“This is enough.”
Eruhaben only let a trace of his dragon aura slip through, but it made the viscount stop immediately. His hand froze mid-air. Alver put both hands on his shoulders and gently steered him away from the man.
“Tsk, tsk.”
“Look at the time, it is very late. Don’t you think so, Eruhaben-nim?”
“Time for unlucky people to head home.”
Back at the communal table of the super rock villa, Cale found himself giving a spontaneous debriefing to his companions.
“The people at the banquet were all behaving odd. Like they asked a lot of questions about my clothes and hair. I thought they wanted to know my tailor. Since that might be another venture for the Henituse Duchy. Being a fashion centre should be lucrative. But they didn’t seem interested about that at all?”
Beacrox, behind the counter, let out a stifled cough.
“They just kept on and on about my hair? And they kept asking if I would like to discuss the matter in private, but-”
“Cale-nim, can I ask a question?”
The addressed man tilted his head.
“Obviously?”
Choi Han’s ears looked redder than usual. Since when did his people worry about asking questions? That was bad for working and fighting as a team.
“You can always ask me questions.”
“Uhm. Cale-nim, what type of person do you find beautiful?”
Beacrox made a supressed snorting noise behind the counter. It was confusing. Why would that be a difficult thing to answer?
“Isn’t that obvious?”
Now Choi Han looked confused as well.
“Eruhaben is by far the most beautiful.”
“Pfhhugh- cough- cough-”
“Pfffft—”
In the blink of an eye, the room filled with a concert of strange sounds.
Rosalyn, who had taken a sip of lemonade used magic to remove it from the table now. Beacrox sounded as if he was choking as well. The rest –
“Do you all have a cough? Are you getting sick?”
Cale furrowed his brow. Choi Han was quiet but even redder than before.
‘Is he getting a fever too?’
He looked over to Ron, who smiled even wider than usual.
“Ron, can you heat up the room a bit more? And prepare tea for everyone please, the flu season might be early this year.”
Did he imagine it or did Ron’s smile look a bit stiff? Did he say something wrong? Cale looked over to Eruhaben, who was the only one not being weird. In fact, he looked a bit smug.
“Everyone knows dragons are the most beautiful species, right? It’s natural.”
Eruhaben nodded, an expression like a generous king might show towards a group of peasants on his face.
“Uhm. Cale-nim. Apart from dragons. Who else do you find beautiful.”
Cale looked at Choi Han with a blank face.
‘It is understandable, since he is originally not from this world and had no chance to learn before he came to Rain city. But he met the most beautiful species already. He must not care about thes things. Yet, he should know how they look to recognize them.’
“Choi Han. The second most beautiful are the whale tribe. Like Paseton and Witria. Or Archie and Shikler. Even elves look like squid next to them.”
“Ohoho, young master, shall we invite the siblings over soon?”
“No? Why?”
Cale was certain the butler was making fun of him.
“Choi Han, you worked together with Archie, you must have noticed that he is—”
Cale noticed Choi Han had turned red as a beet and looked down at his hands.
‘Oh. Is it possible?’
Choi Han and Archie had different personalities, but maybe Archie’s wildness and strength appealed to the pure-hearted sword master? Choi Han wasn’t the type to be dazzled by even a whale’s natural good looks. But they were both very strong and far older than most sentient creatures. Cale remembered that it was normal for seventeen-year-olds to feel this way. He hadn’t, but he had always been busy at that time.
‘I don’t think Choi Han had any boyfriend or girlfriend, or a crush when he was in Korea. The novel would have mentioned it. And even here, he had no time here to figure these things out. It might be good for him.’
“Choi Han? Do you want to destroy another palace with Archie?”
“Yes, Choi Han, we can contact the whale tribe immediately.”
Beacrox’ voice sounded especially flat today. Everyone around them coughed again.
“How about less talking nonsense and more preparing dinner?”
Cale found that Choi Han sounded a little bit rude, yet his pink ears and neck gave his feelings away.
‘I really should let Choi Han meet Archie again. But he might be a bit shy about this topic.’
“Archie is very helpful during some missions, and Whitria appreciates it when he can let off some steam-”
“Choi Han and Archie always manage let off steam when they are together.”, said Beacrox.
Cale thought about the last instance when they got to cause havoc to force a peace treaty and nodded. Archie had been calmer than he’d ever seen him, and it had been good for Choi Han too.
“Cale-nim, among the humans … what type of person do you think looks good?”
If Cale’s hearing had been better, he would have heard Ron whispering to Rosalyn while pouring her more tea.
“This Ron has never seen him so red, but he is not giving up, hoho.”
“Hmm, a lot of people are? I don’t really notice. It’s odd, since we’re working with a lot of handsome and attractive people. Crown prince Alver is very handsome, but he is part elf. Does that count?”
The silence and the hidden looks gave Cale a moment to ponder the question again.
Was … Was Choi Han feeling self-conscious around the whale shapeshifter?
“And you look very handsome too.”, he said while patting his shoulder and walking off. The banquet had left him tired, and he would figure out for what it would be best to borrow Archie for a bit.
He didn’t look back into the room, which was for the best, really.
The moment of clarity came, while Cale was in the bathtub, and he immediately wished to drown in the water.
Choi Han had meant pretty in that way. He had said that about an ancient dragon, someone he viewed as a respectable elder who just happened to look like a timeless elf.
And oh no. Choi Han.
He wondered if he could just stall out here, behind closed doors, until the others went to sleep.
It was only afternoon, though.
Eventually, he sighed and got out of the now cold water.
And then he went downstairs, pretended nothing happened at all and kept a stoic face. The others were polite enough not to notice how red his ears were. Beacrox genuenly didn’t notice, given he was fully focussed on his knifework.
“Choi Han, we’re all out of northern sea fish. What a nice opportunity to meet the whale tribe, no?”, he called across the room. And barely dodged the wooden cup aimed straight at his head. It splintered on impact like a matchstick and left a dent in the wall. Sword masters were that strong.
Suddenly the coughing epidemic was back.