Chapter 48 - 48 The Scheming Party Venue
On the day of the party hosted by Aurora, Steve arrived at the venue escorting Christina. Here too, as a recipient of the Dragon Wing Medal, Steve was invited separately from Brian.
Although it was evening, Steve and Christina had taken a nap beforehand to ensure they wouldn't be overcome by drowsiness midway through.
Steve spoke to Christina, who was by his side.
"Are you nervous?"
"Yes, a little. But I'll be fine."
On this stage today, Christina had also been given a role as a performer. Steve had worried that she might be crushed by the pressure given the sheer amount of money at stake, but Christina had faced the venue with resolve; there was no sign of her panicking or crying about wanting to run away.
She was merely a bit tense, and there was no lie in her words.
Christina knew that Steve hated her failing due to a lie more than he hated her declining a task by telling the truth, so she made no attempt to hide her feelings.
"Ah, my older brother and sister-in-law are over there."
"You're right."
In the direction Christina pointed were Baronet Parker and his wife, Freya. They, too, had been invited as Western nobles.
The official reason for the gathering was a social mixer with new faces among the nobility following the expansion of the Western region. Due to the recent reapportionment of territories, everyone's lands had grown larger, so the original Western nobles didn't show any overt resentment toward the newcomers.
However, because the population had increased so rapidly, the public justification was that Aurora wanted to hold a mixer so everyone could show their faces.
Therefore, it was only natural for Baronet Parker to be there.
"It has been a long time, Lord Parker."
"If it isn't His Excellency the Dragon Wing. I am profoundly honored that you would go out of your way to greet someone like me."
Even if they were brothers-in-law, in a formal setting, Steve's rank—equivalent to a high-ranking noble—was superior. Thus, Baronet Parker showed humility.
"As my brother-in-law, you are the same as blood family. I could not be so rude as to skip a greeting. Besides, my scary older sister is here too."
"Your Excellency, you take your jests too far."
Freya, who had been brought into the conversation, looked at Steve with a gaze as sharp as a hypodermic needle, despite her polite words.
When Steve hurriedly hid behind Christina, Christina let out a giggle.
Then, from behind Christina's back, Steve spoke to Baronet Parker.
"Now, Brother-in-law, as an apology for upsetting your wife, I shall show you something interesting today. Please, let the resentment of these past few months finally be washed away."
"Then I shall look forward to it."
"Please, watch the joint performance of Christina and myself."
Steve was implicitly conveying that today was the finishing touch to corner Delaunay and Baron Thompson. Baronet Parker understood this as well and nodded at the two of them.
"Honestly, what a cruel man, involving such a cute fiancée in this."
Freya gave Steve a little jab, as if in retaliation for earlier.
"In the first place, who was it that dragged us into this?"
"I never told you to go so far as to use Chris-chan."
As Freya and Steve traded barbs, Christina spoke up hesitantly.
"It is because I wish to be of use to Steve-sama."
"How admirable. I'd love to have such a good girl in my own house."
Freya hugged Christina.
Steve lodged a complaint against that.
"Please make do with Sherry-neesama."
"No thank you. Sherry does nothing but eat and sleep, doesn't she?"
"I won't deny that."
At the exchange between Freya and Steve, Christina and Baronet Parker couldn't help but burst out laughing.
At that timing, Aurora and Leo made their appearance.
Once Aurora's declaration of the party's opening was finished, the participants rushed to her side to offer their greetings.
There was a set order for greetings based on the hierarchy of titles, but Steve had been placed last this time as a special case.
Steve, who originally had no interest in such rankings, had readily chosen to be last during his prior meeting with Aurora.
During these greetings, nobles who wanted to sell themselves to Aurora in any way possible would line up flowery words and present gifts, so it took quite a while. While the new nobles were desperate to promote themselves, the original Western nobles were equally desperate to protect their current status so as not to be overtaken.
Aurora was quite pleased with them, as they were like pet dogs wagging their tails. Here, there were no nobles attempting to form their own factions like Viscount Karsh had.
As for the nobles, having seen the end of Viscount Karsh, they made no move to oppose Aurora or create a separate faction in the West.
Among those nobles making their pitches, Baron Thompson alone had a different topic.
"Your Excellency, lately there has been someone using your name to drive up the stock of a certain trading company. Are you aware of this?"
"I didn't know. I wonder what sort of fool would do such a thing?"
"I have only heard of it through rumors, but supposedly there is talk that Your Excellency will newly treat a firm called the Oclair Trading Company as a purveyor to your house. If you are interested, I shall investigate the source of the rumors."
When Baron Thompson said that, Aurora's eyes grew sharp.
Conversely, Baron Thompson was satisfied that he had obtained a verbal commitment from Aurora in public.
"Lord Thompson, I look forward to that report. Depending on the content, I shall consider many things. And I shall give a severe punishment to the one spreading such rumors."
"Understood."
Baron Thompson was nearly jumping with joy. After all, he could report Valier and receive a reward from Aurora, and the stock price of the Oclair Trading Company would plummet.
Aurora looked at such a Baron Thompson with a gaze of pity.
"How foolish," Aurora leaked out in a small voice, to which Harry, her guard standing beside her, chimed in with, "Quite so."
The greetings proceeded further, and finally, it was Steve's turn at the end.
Steve stepped forward before Aurora, accompanied by Christina.
"I hope you are feeling well, Your Excellency."
"Welcome. It's embarrassing to be called 'Excellency' by Lord Archibalt, who has been decorated with the Dragon Wing Medal."
"I am merely bewildered to be called a Dragon Wing for a single achievement. I am still far behind Your Excellency's accomplishments thus far."
That was the end of the formal greetings. And from here, they got to the main point.
"Actually, I have brought a gift for Your Excellency to celebrate the repelling of the Kingdom of Forest."
"Oh, how lovely. I wonder what it is?"
"Before Your Excellency's beauty, even this brilliance might seem dull, but I have brought a statue of a dragon made from a new alloy."
"Compared to your cute fiancée next to you, I'm nothing special."
Aurora said so, but she didn't think for a moment that she was losing to Christina.
Christina also flattered Aurora, and once Aurora was in a good mood, Steve turned around.
When Steve gave a signal, a box was carried before Aurora.
When it was unpacked, a dragon statue made of stainless steel appeared from within.
"Oh, this is the same as the one I saw at Marquess Earhart's wedding."
"Yes. Currently, there are only three in the kingdom. Only the House of Earl Macintosh, the House of Marquess Earhart, and the House of Margrave Sowell possess them."
"Oh, how delightful. I shall have the honor of being the third."
Among the nobility, the stainless steel dragon statues owned by Earl Macintosh and Cyril, the third son of the Earhart family, were already famous. Many of the nobles here had attended Cyril and Aila's wedding and had experience seeing the real thing.
With that talked-about stainless steel dragon statue appearing here now, the conversation inevitably shifted toward it.
Here, Christina also joined the conversation.
"My father also treasures this statue and boasts of it every time he has a guest."
"I'm sure he does. It's not something one can obtain just by wanting it."
As Aurora said that, she sent an eye contact to Steve.
The Western nobles had no opportunity to see the statue owned by the Macintosh family in the North. However, they could easily imagine Earl Macintosh boasting about it.
It was only natural for the nobles to think they would definitely like to get their hands on that statue themselves.
"Actually, I'm thinking of making it so that one can obtain it if they wish."
"Oh, what do you mean?"
When Aurora asked Steve, the nobles all strained their ears at once.
They were intensely curious about how they could obtain that statue for themselves.
"With the expansion of our family's territory, the costs for management have increased. Therefore, to obtain funds for territorial management, I intend to sell these statues."
"Then the value will drop, won't it?"
"That may be true in the future, but for now, they are created using a technique called lost-wax, and it takes a considerable amount of time to make them. I intend to limit it to about three per year."
Steve held up three fingers.
Receiving that, Aurora nodded.
"But if that's the case, organizing the orders will be a hassle, won't it?"
"Yes. Therefore, I intend to have the orders taken through a firm called the Oclair Trading Company. I will let the Oclair Trading Company decide the order of the queue. If I worry about handling orders, the essential management of the territory will be neglected."
"'When the thicket wishes to flourish, the autumn wind ruins it.' One wouldn't want their legs pulled by those clinging to them."
"I wouldn't go so far as to call many nobles the 'autumn wind,' but your point is exactly correct."
There, Aurora feigned a sudden realization.
"Ah, come to think of it, I heard talk of the Oclair Trading Company from someone earlier. If it comes to the sales commission for these statues, it must generate quite a profit. Perhaps I should buy shares in the Oclair Trading Company as well."
"That would likely be a good idea. There will surely be a substantial dividend at the next settlement."
"In that case, perhaps I should mention that to my father as well."
Aurora buying shares in the Oclair Trading Company alone would have a massive promotional effect, but if Earl Macintosh, a great noble of the North, were to join in, one could easily imagine the stock price hitting the ceiling.
It was a nice assist from Christina.
The nobles who overheard this conversation were thinking of placing orders with their brokers to buy Oclair Trading Company shares as soon as the party ended, even if it was the middle of the night.
Except for one person, Baron Thompson.
Baron Thompson hurriedly rushed to Aurora's side.
"Your Excellency, is what you just said true? Did you not say just a moment ago that you had no intention of making the Oclair Trading Company a new purveyor?"
"Yes. But I didn't say I wouldn't buy the shares. Is there some inconvenience? More importantly, I think it's a breach of manners for a mere Baron like yourself to interrupt a conversation with His Excellency the Dragon Wing."
For a Baron who wasn't even a relative to butt into a conversation between a Margrave and a medal holder equivalent to a Margrave was a violation of etiquette. Being told that, Baron Thompson had no choice but to back down.
Biting his lower lip hard enough to tear it, Baron Thompson looked down.
In the depths of Aurora's eyes as she looked down upon the Baron, there was a feeling of joy, but the Baron, unable to look Aurora in the face properly, did not notice it.
Until just a moment ago, he had been rejoicing at having obtained a verbal commitment from Aurora, but now a reason for the stock price to soar had suddenly appeared, and he was working his brain at full capacity regarding his future response.
The party venue became filled with talk of the Oclair Trading Company.
The surrounding talk of how one could profit by buying Oclair Trading Company shares was unbearable to Baron Thompson. He desperately suppressed the urge to scream that the more buy orders they placed, the more he would lose.
Afterward, Aurora proceeded to show everyone the statue gifted by Steve, but Baron Thompson did not participate and hurriedly slipped out of the party venue.
His destination was, of course, Delaunay's place.
However, because it was nighttime, Delaunay was not at the trading company. Not only that, there were no employees, and the doors were closed.
Baron Thompson did not know Delaunay's home address and had no choice but to wait for the start of business tomorrow.
He vented that anger on those who were with him.
"You lot, go find Delaunay's house!"
"But Your Excellency, we do not know how to go about it. It would be best to wait for tomorrow."
"Can I wait until then?! Think for yourselves what to do! Anyone who cannot think is fired!!!"
The troubled retainers realized that staying here any longer would only invite more of Baron Thompson's wrath, so they all scattered into the night of Sowell Land, claiming they were going to search for Delaunay's house.
Steve grasped every detail of this through the spiders he had attached to Baron Thompson.
He secretly whispered it into Aurora's ear.
"I see, things are getting fun. Well then, I must give a severe punishment to the one who spread the rumors, just as I said."
Aurora said so with a smile.