Julius smiled at him and turned to others. “Of course! I was so happy that I forgot myself, please forgive my rudeness. This is Countess Alshine who is making her belated debut into this social circle. Please say hello and make her feel like one of us!

With Julius’ approval, those who were hesitant to approach me now made their way towards us. The first person to speak to me was the scholarly man who had spoken to Julius.

“It’s nice to meet you here, Mr. Archmage. I really wanted to talk to you.”

“I thought we saw each other very often at these gatherings.”

“You disappeared every time after saying hello, so we didn’t really… talk.” Kaichen looked at him, then shook his head and looked at me.

He watched the people now approaching us, he stepped closer to me. “I apologize Bart, but I think I will not be able to talk to you at length today, too.”

“Are you uncomfortable talking to me?”

“Not really. I just don’t have the time right now.” With that said, Kaichen completely turned away from Bart.

Julius aide, Bart, grimaced. He looked at Julius furiously. He muttered, “I didn’t even get to say anything more.”

Julius smiled and shrugged as if telling Bart that it can’t be helped. I knew that having to greet nobles was very troublesome, especially for Kaichen. But Julius had done his best to help me, so I wanted to help him too. I needed to help Julius succeed in taking over the Empire as an emperor. Only then would the novel come to an end, and I could spend some time in peace and quiet.

“Teacher, I am fine. You don’t need to reject everyone else. It’s something I have to deal with, anyway.” I smiled softly. Of course, I didn’t mean it. I was more comfortable when he was by my side, but I couldn’t be so selfish.

“That doesn’t mean you have to handle it alone.”

I smiled and nodded at the words he uttered indifferently. It certainly helped me feel more at ease. I had Kaichen by my side. And Julius, the Crown prince, was helping me. I had nothing to fear. I did see Julius sneering at us as though he was watching something amusing.

Since I got the main character of the novel and his friend as my helpers, I suddenly thought that this was the perfect life a possessor could have. And I was going to confess to one of them, at that.

“Hoho! So, I’m seeing Countess Alshine for the first time. I have only ever heard of you in rumors.”

“You’re more beautiful than what I was told.”

“I can’t believe I failed to recognize such a beautiful person! I’m just sad that I’ve wasted my precious time not knowing how beautiful you are.”

The next to approach us was a gray-haired man and two young, dashing men. I bowed respectfully and greeted them.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Dalia Alshine. Please forgive me for not recognizing you as it has only been a week since I have been in Heulin.”

The old man waved his hand and smiled. “Isn’t Acrab where the pinnacle of the empire’s technology is gathered? If it’s the countess, the lord of that place, I’m sure you’ll soon adjust to Heulin. Oops, I haven’t introduced myself. Where are my manners? I’m Drenis Manuvell.”

He was an old man with striking features. His eyes were bright blue and razor sharp. If not for the gray hair and wrinkles, he didn’t look like he was old.

“These are my sons, Daiman and Duran.”

The men greeted me softly.

“It’s Daiman.”

“I’m Duran.”

Daiman and Duran were very similar. The former had light green hair and the latter dark green. While Daiman was good-natured and looked strong like his father and Duran looked mischievous with soft lips. Well, indeed. They are sons of Drenis Manuvell.

Drenis Manuvell was Julius’s closest and most powerful ally. Naturally, his sons, Daiman and Duran, were also very close to Julius. They were good-looking and great swordsmen. So many young aristocrats were jealous of them.

Still, Kaichen is more… I stopped myself. I realized that whenever I saw other men, I had this habit of comparing them to Kaichen. I clicked my tongue.

“So, you are the fortunate sons of Duke Manuvell. It is an honor to meet you.” I smiled.

They were aristocrats so they knew how to charm people. They were like two copies of Julius himself.

“It’s an honor to meet you, too. And Mr. Archmage as well. It has been a while,” said Daiman.

“Yes. It is such an honor to see you here,” said Duran.

The two greeted Kaichen, who was standing quietly beside me like a statue. Duke Drenis was talking to Julius a little further away from us. So, they came here to get close to Kaichen. All the people of the Kalhai Empire, as well as Julius, admired and respected Kaichen.

They all saw him as a formidable figure who could not be touched. So, it must really have come as a shock to know that he had taken me in as his disciple. Perhaps it gave them some hope that if they try hard enough, they could reach Kaichen, after all. Maybe with such an expectation, they wanted to make contact with him.

However, Kaichen was a person who never showed interest in anybody. Although most people knew Kaichen was in Acrab for a while, no one went there looking for him. That would have been reckless. Kaichen hated when people did that. But today, he had officially made an appearance at the banquet. It was my social debut, and the Crown Prince’s birthday. This was the perfect opportunity. And everyone in the banquet knew it. Their gaze was fixed on Kaichen.