I Reincarnated As the Third Son of a Count’s Family, Only To Find a Series of Funerals

29 – The Banquet

The banquet hall was already bustling with people.

The king’s servants were sitting in front of an incredibly long table, and when they saw us, they all stood up.

“You’re here, Your Majesty.”

“Sir Thomas.”

Among them, one person representing the group greeted His Majesty and us. Judging by the way His Majesty called him Thomas, it seemed that he was the chamberlain of King’s court.

“This is Lord Edric, a distinguished guest I personally invited.”

“Oh, Lord Earl. I have heard of your fame.”

“It’s merely an exaggerated reputation.”

“Well, at such a young age, achieving such accomplishments could easily make one arrogant. It’s surprising to see you so humble…”

“hahahaha…”

“Now, the food is getting cold. Let’s sit down quickly.”

The entourage tried to sit on the chairs in front of the table following the king’s command.

I tried to sit anywhere, but Nicesera jabbed my waist with her elbow.

“Ouch! Why… Ah!”

Damn, I clearly learned this from Nicesera, but I momentarily forgot. Silently, I moved to the right side of His Majesty and sat down.

According to the tradition of Yurmania, as an officially invited guest by His Majesty, I had to sit on his right side. I had never been exclusively invited before, so I didn’t know this well.

I almost made a big mistake. This time, Nicesera’s attack was justified.

Fortunately, it seemed like not many people noticed my mistake.

“So the rumors about Sanhaejinmi weren’t exaggerated after all.”

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Roasted lamb and beef. Apple pie, cake mixed with butter and cinnamon powder, various fish dishes looked appetizing enough.

Compared to other royal banquets, it might seem quite simple, but one should remember that this era is still not much more advanced than the medieval period of our past lives.

“Especially the bread coated in sugar is something I can only see on Duke’s birthday. Lucky me.”

As I was savoring the food, a person who seemed to be a high-ranking clergyman stood up and spoke to His Majesty.

“With the meaning of welcoming Edric, the hero of Silverwood who protected the sacred land personally overseen by Charm-Seong Esther from the heretics, may I have the audacity to offer a prayer before the meal, Your Majesty?”

“Archbishop Clement. Do as you wish.”

Ah, right. A prayer before the meal. It couldn’t be omitted.

I assumed the posture, bowing my head and clasping my hands, just like everyone else, as I listened to the pre-meal prayer offered by Archbishop Clement, who I presumed to be a court priest of His Majesty.

I don’t remember if the previous me had any religion, so I’m not sure, but considering I am already a surreal phenomenon in this world, there’s no particular reason for me to not believe in the gods of this world. So I decided to genuinely pray to Charm-Seong.

“Please, let everything go smoothly without any trouble…”

Ding-dong! Rumble…

“Oh dear, I apologize, Your Majesty. My fingers suddenly lost strength…”

“Hmm. The archbishop is already 59 years old… Make sure to replenish your strength by eating plenty of delicious food today.”

“I apologize, Your Highness.”

Archbishop Clement accidentally dropped the wine glass he was holding while praying.

The wine flowing from the glass felt somehow like blood flowing.

He had a bad feeling.

**

“The food warehouse was burned down because of the evil Camusians’ spies?”

“Yes. If we had suffered that much damage, I would have given up and retreated. But to reward the soldiers who bravely defended the castle, despite the concerns of the priests and master, I turned to alcohol. Then the enemies took advantage of the weakened defense and sent spies to burn down the food warehouse in the castle. It was a mistake I made due to the lack of experience leading an army.”

“Hmm… Can we really say it was your fault? It’s natural to reward the soldiers after battle. It was the fault of those uncivilized barbarians who have no concept of honor and dared to plot such a scheme.”

The ominous incident from earlier seemed to have been resolved even more joyfully than expected at the banquet.

“So, what happened in the end?!”

“We tried to save and conserve the food as much as possible, but after about 5 days, the food ran out.”

“What are we going to do…”

“As a result, both the soldiers and the people in the territory suffered from hunger. In a wicked move, the Camusians incited the people by saying that if they handed me over to them, they wouldn’t touch the people in the territory.”

“It was truly a desperate situation… So, did the people in the territory try to hand you over?”

“How could that be possible? The Count is the knight who protects them…”

“In summary, the people in the territory didn’t betray me to the Camusians, but it was indeed very dangerous. When the enemies set fire to the castle’s food warehouse, they planted spies disguised as virtuous people in the castle.”

“Oh my. In that case, those spies must have incited the people in the territory.”

“Your Majesty is right. Actually, some of the people in the territory were almost persuaded by the instigators to start a riot.”

“Wait, this is the first time I’m hearing about this…”

“I deliberately didn’t inform the Duke. If the Duke, who values and cares for me, had known about this, there could have been trouble for the Count. When loyal dogs starve, they eventually bite their master. How could starving people in the territory make a rational judgment at that time? I didn’t want to punish the people in the territory unnecessarily for that incident.”

“Sigh… You really care about the people, Count. Truly, you are the most esteemed noble among all the nobles.”

Archbishop Clement seemed deeply moved by my words, tears welled up in his eyes. It seemed like others were also greatly impressed. Especially Selene, she had her hands clasped to her chest and was gazing at me with sparkling eyes.

“But why has that girl been staring at me since earlier…”

Among the others, there was a girl who had been staring at me since earlier, and it was none other than Gudmilla, who had seemed suspicious from the moment I first saw her.

If someone noticed in the slightly quieter atmosphere, they would think, “Why is that guy being stared at?” I thought to myself, annoyed.

“What are you going to do if you keep staring at me like that.”

Although I felt sh*tty, I didn’t have any reason to care about such a girl, so I decided to just ignore her.

“Fortunately, the Red Rose Mercenary Corps led by Satricia here, was able to keep the riot from spreading too much.”

“Oh, the leader of the mercenary corps. You’ve accomplished something once again.”

“Your Majesty, I bow to thee.”

Patricia hurriedly expressed her gratitude at the unexpected devotion of Your Majesty, setting down her fork as her food grew cold.

Oh, by the way, earlier when I gathered troops, I introduced Patricia to Your Majesty. The response was quite positive then as well.

“Still. If it went on like this, it could have led to the battle between my people and the Kamusians, and the duke’s reinforcements could never arrive in time. I had no choice but to make a decision.”

“What kind of decision, if I may ask..?”

“As per the demands of the Kamusians, I have decided to leave the castle alone.”

“Oh!”

“Oh, Your Grace…”

“No…!”

The Archbishop prayed fervently, drawing a mark on his body in response to my words. You’ve had a really good reaction since earlier.

Even Celenor reacted with astonishment, as if witnessing a moan.

“Why did you make such a choice?”

“I couldn’t bear to kill my precious people, so I wanted to save my people, even if it’s just them. Despite the Kamusians being barbaric towards the heretics, I thought that in the end, they are the descendants of those directly created by the Creator. They thought they would keep their promises. Even so, I informed the territorial soldiers in case something strange happened to me after they captured and killed me, to lock the city gates immediately.”

“It could have been a real disaster. You would not have made such a decision if you knew how wicked and treacherous the savages beyond the eastern border were!”

“The Viscount’s words are right. It’s good to cherish your own people, but you need to cherish yourself a little more.”

“Nevertheless, thanks to that, the territorial soldiers, moved by my determination, were able to catch the instigator who attempted to hand me over to the Kamusians. Turned out, he was a spy sent by the Kamusians.”

“What a relief..!”

“We were fortunate to have captured the instigator, but… we had no food to survive, didn’t we?”

“Yes, Your Highness is correct. So, I also agonized inwardly, but luckily, the territorial soldiers must have been impressed by my bravery and said they would rather die fighting than bow down to the enemies. I had no other option but to take the risky gamble.”

“Ah, it was the much-talked-about Viscount’s charge..!”

“Yes. The enemies were caught off-guard when we suddenly charged them, and they fled in confusion. However, if they regrouped with their elite cavalry, the majority of us, common people, could have been massacred. Luckily, the duke supported us at that moment, which allowed us to come here safely.”

“You are more than worthy of that!”

“You are comparable to the past saints’ achievements!”

“You are a hero, Edric!”

“I believed in you..!”

“hahahaha, thank you for your praise.”

“How can you be so humble! The Silverwood citizens are fortunate to have such a wise and noble lord!”

**

This marked the end of the successful narrative time.

“I thought my jaw would drop from talking too much.”

Still, thanks to this, I left a good impression on the people of the royal family without spending a penny. Can there be a better business than this?

Except for young Princess Celenor and the youngest Prince Michael, who were still quite young, everyone else had enjoyed a few glasses of wine and felt pleasantly tipsy.

By the way, I just drank. No one stopped me with the feeling of “You deserve to drink!” Others knew that in this era, being able to fulfill your given role properly is the standard by which adulthood is judged. Unlike Prince Michael, who is the same age as me and has successfully commanded the military to defend his territory, I have received treatment as an adult.

Hm, the alcohol content is weaker than I thought. Is this just diluted grape juice? Still, it tastes good.

I continued eating meat, pies, and fish until suddenly craving something sweet, I tried to eat a small sugared bread the size of my palm.

“Oh, but it might get sticky if sugar gets on my hands… Should I just pick it up with a fork?”

I’m not sure if I mentioned this before, but traditionally, even when using forks and knives for meals due to religious reasons, you must use your bare hands to pick up bread. Unless it’s a cake that crumbles easily like fine powder. Unfortunately, this bread is not that type.

If I followed the traditional method and ate all the food with my bare hands, I would confidently pick up the sugared bread. But now, using utensils, if sugar gets on my hands, I feel uncomfortable using them. So I’m thinking of just picking it up with a fork. What could go wrong with this?

“Whatever.”

Sigh…

“No one cares after all…”

“Count, how can you dare to stab such a sacred bread with a fork?”

As soon as I tried to pick up the sugared bread with a fork, Godmilla started nagging at me.

“What’s wrong with this guy? Is he waiting for me to make a mistake since earlier?”

It’s giving me chills. No, what did I do wrong to you? Huh?

Seeing Godmilla’s reaction, others also stared at her with expressions as if they couldn’t understand what was happening.

“When using utensils, it feels uncomfortable if hands get sticky. That’s why I did it like this.”

“But Count, even though it’s customary among Chaungism followers to use forks or knives to stab and eat any kind of bread, don’t you think it’s similar to when the Rhuten Empire soldiers dared to stab Chaung’s body to confirm if he was immortal or died when he finally got captured and crucified?”

“Well… Lady, in the Council, there have been negative conclusions regarding whether any bread other than unleavened bread used by Ester when she spoke to her disciples can be considered the Holy Body. And besides, is this matter really worth arguing about now?”

“Archbishop, regardless, don’t people who believe in Chaungism have a negative view and prohibition towards stabbing any bread with forks or knives? Even within that belief, shouldn’t you consider yourself as a Count being admired by the princes and princesses, and take care of these ‘wrong’ dining etiquettes?”

“That, well, yes.”

“As a court tutor, I am very concerned that you might imitate Edric, whom both the princes and princess deeply admire, in his ‘improper’ dining etiquette.”

“Crazy woman…”

She didn’t stop there and immediately turned to Nirsela, expressing her dissatisfaction.

“I’ve heard that esteemed scholar Nirsela from the continent has been teaching you, the Count, as your private tutor.”

“…Yes, that’s correct.”

“Why haven’t you taught the Count such basic dining etiquette? This reflects greatly on the Count’s honor. As his private tutor, you should take care of these matters first.”

“Well, that’s… Thank you for your advice, Lady Godmilla.”

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Seeing Nirsela being humiliated by her, I was about to turn around and ask what she thought she was doing, but Richard, who had been quietly watching, suddenly intervened.

“Godmilla, what rudeness is this towards my guests?”

“I am here to discuss the education of the prince and princess, Your Majesty.” “I understand your passion for the education of my children surpasses anyone else’s, but it is not appropriate to discuss such matters here. You seem quite intoxicated from drinking wine. Go back to your room, wash up, and rest.” “…As you wish, Your Majesty.”

Upon hearing the king’s words, Godmilla stood up and left the banquet hall.

The cheerful atmosphere from earlier disappeared, replaced by a heavy silence.

Richard, as if feeling the heavy air, spoke to me while drying his face.

“Viscount, as you can see, Godmilla is overly sensitive about the education of my children. It was just drunken rambling; it wasn’t meant to truly insult you. I will apologize on their behalf, so please forgive Godmilla’s rudeness.”

“…How could I dare accept Your Majesty’s apology? It was my own negligence that led to this incident, so I don’t particularly mind.”

“You truly are a man with a broad and profound character…”

We tried to salvage the situation by forcing ourselves to eat a few more bites, but ultimately the banquet ended shortly after that.

‘Godmilla. I don’t know why you’re giving me a hard time, but since you started treating me like sh*t, I’ll do the same.’

Fortunately, I was not the only one who wanted to get back at Godmilla.

No, perhaps there were people who held much stronger grudges than me.

They were none other than the princes.