Chapter 56

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 56

Chapter Title: The Knights' Banquet

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"We've prepared the grand bathhouse, so knights, please follow the servants."

At Head Steward Allen's request, the knights handed their reins to the servants and rushed to the annex one after another.

'Wanting meat first... Sir Leon was spot on.'

The banquet looked like it would go off without a hitch.

"Thanks to your advance preparations, I can breathe a little easier."

Enoch, who had helped Agatha dismount, curved his eyes in a gentle smile.

"...It was nothing. Just what I was supposed to do."

"I see."

Agatha stared blankly at Enoch before taking his hand and leading him toward the main residence. With her other hand, she beckoned Allen.

"Allen. I'd like you to attend to Enoch. You know what I mean, right?"

"Of course, Madam. I'll see to it."

His face looked troubled, but he dutifully followed to the bathchamber.

"Go wash up."

"Understood."

Allen and the servants trailed after Enoch as he entered.

If she had her way, she'd stand guard right there.

But Agatha hurried toward the banquet hall, followed by her close attendant maid, stewards, servants, and knights.

The feast was just getting started.

"Food preparations?"

"Perfect, Madam. The dishes are ready to be served the moment the knights enter, and we've cracked open the beer kegs, placing them seamlessly between the tables."

"Good. Anything else?"

"The second and third orchestras are on standby for rotations through the night. We've also brought in plenty of acrobats."

"Impeccable. Tell them to play only upbeat tunes."

"Yes, Madam."

At her signal, the kitchen staff filled every table to the brim with dishes.

Soon, the freshly bathed knights poured into the first-floor banquet hall.

In one corner, the orchestra strummed lively melodies.

Acrobats appeared here and there.

At the center of the hall stood a hearth where whole pigs, deer, and all sorts of roasts turned on spits.

"Hahaha! This is incredible!"

"Whoa, black beer straight from the keg!"

Without anyone leading the way, the hundreds of knights dove into the revelry.

Unlike a typical banquet, the knights were the stars here.

No formalities whatsoever. Just eating, drinking, shouting, and weeping.

"Hm..."

This was Agatha's first time witnessing a knights' banquet, and it felt even stranger than the rumors suggested.

She'd thought the tales were exaggerated, but they weren't at all.

A soft chuckle came from First Vice-Captain Leon standing behind her.

"I told you there was no need to worry, Madam."

"You're right."

Enoch arrived when the feast was at its peak.

"So this is where you were."

Even with the lord entering, not a single knight paid it any mind.

By then, Agatha had grown accustomed to the bizarre affair, so she turned first to Head Steward Allen, who had followed her in.

Allen gave a slight nod.

'Good.'

"I thought, as the lady of the house, I should oversee things."

"But it wasn't necessary."

He slid naturally into the seat beside her and struck up a conversation.

"As you can see."

The knights below had claimed the banquet hall, getting drunk together and shaking off the war's aftermath among themselves.

Truly, a place where meat and ale were all they needed.

Enoch, freshly bathed, wore a faintly languid expression.

He downed some wine lightly before grabbing meat like the other knights. Through the open collar of his white shirt, devoid of formality, gleamed a platinum chain.

It was the deep gray moonstone necklace she had picked out for him.

Unconsciously, Agatha fiddled with the violet sapphire bracelet on her wrist—a gift from him.

"Do you like the bracelet?"

"Yeah. It's beautiful."

He tapped the necklace with a grin, as if to say the same.

In the end, Agatha stayed in the banquet hall until Enoch left, then ascended to the fourth floor with him at dawn.

At the central corridor where their rooms diverged, he paused and pressed his lips softly to the back of her hand.

"Can we have breakfast together tomorrow morning?"

"Sure. I'll come down on time."

He kissed her cheek too, smiling as he turned away.

At last, the war was over.

Agatha rose early and, while preparing for breakfast, received a report on postwar cleanup from her first aide, Esel Maso.

"You've locked them all in the underground dungeon?"

"Yes, Madam."

She'd expected some deaths or executions by Enoch himself.

Intending to seek the Emperor's formal approval, he had captured and brought back the heads of all five families intact.

'That must not have been easy.'

He never spoke of his hardships or efforts, but she could plainly imagine the toil.

"We should petition His Majesty for a trial."

"Yes. I'll prepare it."

Governance of the land would revert to Noblesse—to the heir, Agatha.

The wealth amassed by the five families would accrue to Aratus.

With no family head to resolve the matter for Noblesse, but an heir claiming the territory's recovery, it was a foreseeable ruling.

"Madam. Breakfast is ready."

"Alright. I'm coming down."

The petition drafted there was promptly sent to the palace.

Agatha finished dressing and descended to the dining hall.

A figure was already seated at the round table on the long-closed terrace.

The man, leaning deep into his chair, gazed blankly at the garden beyond the railing, his expression impassive.

His eyes colder than usual, lips pressed tight, aura subtly seeping out—all shifted the instant their gazes met.

Like a man slowly regaining his sense of reality.

The tension visibly melted from him as clear affection shone in his eyes.

"Good morning, Agatha."

Agatha, who had frozen in place, nodded.

"Good morning, Enoch."

She sat in the chair he pulled out for her, sharing a meal across from Enoch for the first time in nearly two months.

Only the clink of cutlery sounded, yet a cozy warmth unlike before filled the air.

Enoch set down his wine glass and asked,

"I saw a messenger leaving this morning."

"Yes. My aide told me this morning that you'd imprisoned all the captives in the underground dungeon. I'm thinking of seeking His Majesty's approval for a private execution. What do you think?"

"I think it's the cleanest way. It's what I had in mind too. That aside..."

He gave a faint smile as she blinked curiously.

"You're as steadfast as ever, Agatha. How did you fare while I was away?"

Only the sharp-eared knights heard the appended "I heard you were resting comfortably at the estate."

Agatha beamed proudly and recounted recent events.

"I prepared for the autumn social season. I suspected Neuta was plotting something this season, so I held salons to uncover their ties with other families."

"You must have been busy."

"Oh, His Majesty asked me to help with the palace ball, but I declined. Getting too entangled with the imperial family is risky."

"His Majesty must have summoned you often."

"Now and then? Crown Prince Antoni relayed His Majesty's thoughts, so I slipped away fine. Hm, His Majesty might push to discharge you early for a while."

"...I can't even imagine what was said."

"You don't need to. And, oh."

At Agatha's glance, her attendant maid placed the morning's letters in the table's center.

Among the pile like a small mountain, a handful bore the seals of Aratus branch families.

"I didn't break our promise. I haven't opened any letters or met them once."

She confessed shyly how she'd pressured surrounding territories to isolate them and seized economic control of the kin houses involved via Noblesse trading company.

"Not as much as you, but I did my best."

"..."

Aratus kin would never speak to Enoch again.

More accurately, she'd ensured they had no leeway to, gripping all their funds.

After a long silence, he turned to First Vice-Captain Leon Takran, still performing close guard duty.

Leon quietly averted his gaze.

"Any more?"

"The autumn social season is starting now. With hunting tournaments, the palace ball, and all sorts of events, we'll need outfits. I've gathered fabrics and jewels. I picked designs to your taste, so let's get fitted together, Enoch."

It was perfect timing. If Enoch's return had been delayed, they'd miss the season's start.

She might have ended up at the palace ball alone.

Enoch licked his dry lips.

"...Understood. We should go. Since you went to the trouble."

"Yes. I'll send word to the dressmaker."

As the mood warmed, Steward Allen entered with news.

"My lord. Madam. A messenger from the palace has arrived."