IRM Chapter 69

The carriage racing through the royal city streets wasn’t as spacious as the one in the desert, but it was luxurious enough to comfortably seat five or six people.

Ji Chi was pulled onto the carriage by the young master in a daze. Sitting on the silky red velvet seats, he discovered he wasn’t the only guest in the cabin.

Directly across from him, Saintess Coralie withdrew her gaze from the window and let it fall on Ji Chi. Her blood-red eyes showed not the slightest hint of surprise as she quirked the corner of her mouth at him in greeting.

Sitting beside Saintess Coralie was someone they hadn’t seen in a while—the succubus Lilith. Ever since the Demon King’s castle had stabilized, Lilith was no longer satisfied staying in the Dark Night Forest full of familiar faces. She had made the prosperous Saint Trilley royal city her hunting ground. Here, she could protect her little master while indulging herself in searching for charming little toys.

Thinking of this, Lilith couldn’t help but toss the curls by her cheek. Her body emanated a luxurious, rich rose fragrance that smelled as though one were standing in the Demon King’s castle rose garden.

When Lilith looked up and saw the two young boys across from her, she immediately recalled the humiliating defeat at the Demon King’s castle ball.

She tugged at the corner of her mouth, her slender fingers picking up a crystal goblet from the table. She sipped the clear tea inside, then furrowed her brow and complained in a coquettish voice with pointed meaning. “Ah~ I absolutely hate this kind of delicate and green tea. It doesn’t bring any sense of blooming pleasure at all~”

She didn’t dare provoke Ji Chi, so she was secretly taking jabs at Brandon here, mocking him as a pampered little innocent who didn’t understand anything, trying to regain some face through verbal sparring.

The young master truly didn’t understand anything. He looked at Lilith in confusion, thinking she genuinely disliked this type of tea, and turned back to instruct the butler to change the tea.

The old butler had seen many people and immediately caught the mockery contained within. His smiling face inexplicably revealed a chill. “My apologies, beautiful miss, but this cup of clear tea is prepared by the Earl’s manor for guests to wash their hands with. You might prefer to taste this cup of century-old Flowing Gold Rock Bud Tea instead.”

At these words, several people looked at the old butler in confusion, then in tacit understanding simultaneously set down the tea they’d raised to their lips. Pretending not to notice the open and covert conflicts in the cabin, they began discussing the purpose of the king’s summons with serious expressions.

Seeing that Ji Chi was still out of it, the young master explained to him, “Tonight the palace is hosting a grand banquet to celebrate the Second Prince’s successful advancement to senior warrior. It seems the king invited quite a few guests along the way.”

As he spoke, a trace of puzzlement appeared on his face. “I just find it a bit strange. What the Stuart royal family welcomes least are dark creatures and commoners. I can’t figure out why the king would suddenly summon you.”

The young master was straightforward with his words. Ji Chi and Saintess Coralie had long grown accustomed to this and didn’t pay much attention to his phrasing. But Lilith was different—the pride in her bones made her somewhat displeased with the general term “dark creatures,” and she clicked her tongue lightly.

No matter how much the old butler disliked Lilith, he worried this might cause a diplomatic incident. He sighed softly, bent down to change their tea, and reminded them. “It’s not that the king doesn’t welcome you—it’s that the Church doesn’t welcome you. The king has always favored capable and talented young people.”

Actually, the meaning was about the same, just covering the royal family with a thin veil of decency.

The young master had a sudden realization. “That’s possible! The Church has been completely silent lately, and the king doesn’t seem to want to bother with them anymore. The palace hasn’t shown any response to this year’s Pilgrimage Assembly either!”

After Brandon blurted this out quickly, he realized that Saintess Coralie had always been the protagonist of past Pilgrimage Assemblies. While this might look glorious to others, it certainly wasn’t something Saintess Coralie was proud of in her heart.

The young master looked at her apologetically.

Saintess Coralie quirked the corner of her mouth. She smiled as she looked out the window. “It’s fine. I’m also curious how those bastards will find a temporary Saintess…”

The young master was startled by Saintess Coralie’s undisguised malice. He swallowed quietly, averted his eyes, and continued. “Then I can guess why the king summoned Ji Chi. It should be because my father spoke to Duke Burton about you wanting to buy a house a couple days ago. It looks like the king agreed?”

Ji Chi didn’t respond. He wasn’t that naive—in a kingdom that valued class hierarchy so much, how could they easily allow a commoner to own land that only nobles “deserved.”

What exactly was the king’s purpose? Ji Chi lowered his eyes, concealing the deep thought within them.

There was still some time before the evening banquet began. The carriage didn’t drive directly into the palace but turned toward the Earl’s manor in the new district. The new district was an area developed in the royal city center only in recent decades. Though not as prosperous as the old district, it was cleaner and tidier, and land prices weren’t much cheaper than near the academy.

Yet this entire area of prime real estate in the new district all belonged to Count Elliott’s family.

The carriage arrived at an estate lush with flowers and plants, quiet and peaceful. The estate buildings were entirely white, with a simple yet elegant exterior that didn’t have too many cumbersome luxurious decorations—completely mismatched with the young master’s usual display of overflowing aristocratic style.

Ji Chi was somewhat puzzled, but the answer was revealed before long.

A woman dressed in a silk gown walked over gracefully, surrounded by attendants. She looked very young, but there was no innocent naivety of a young girl between her brows. She held a hollow lace fan decorated with smooth pearls and sparkling diamonds. Every inch of pleating on her skirt hem was uniform and delicate, with embroidered patterns stitched on thread by thread that showed no flaws even under a magnifying glass.

The first thing the Countess did when she saw Brandon was smooth down his collar that was sticking up just a tiny bit, reproaching him. “How could you be so careless? This is unseemly.”

The butler was shocked, as if severely struck. He hurriedly checked Brandon up, down, left, and right, and only breathed a sigh of relief after finding nothing else wrong besides the collar.

Brandon seemed very familiar with this procedure and let the two people fuss over him while introducing, “Mother, these are Saintess Coralie and Ji Chi. The other is Miss Lilith, a great demon from the Demon King’s castle.”

The Countess smiled with pursed lips as she looked at Saintess Coralie, her voice gentle and soft. “Miss Saintess Coralie, how nice to see you again. Congratulations on becoming who you wanted to be.”

Saintess Coralie curtsied slightly to her in greeting.

When she had just become the Saintess, many noble ladies looked down on her because of her commoner status. It was always this lady who came to her rescue. The Countess was one of the very few people in the Saint Trilley Empire whom she held in favorable regard.

Seeing her little master like this, Lilith also put away the demon’s casualness and pride, showing respect to the Countess.

The Countess nodded to them, and her gaze finally moved to Ji Chi. She studied him for a while and smiled. “What an exquisite Eastern boy! But you need to eat more—you’re still too thin.”

Ji Chi was startled. He hadn’t expected that elders here also liked to say this! But before you give that reminder, could you first look at your son’s small frame? I think he needs to eat more…

Brandon was also confused. “Mother, we’re mages. No matter how much we eat, we won’t gain weight.”

The Countess looked surprised and covered her face with her fan. “Eh? You’re a mage? When I first saw your eyes, I thought you were a warrior.”

Determination, indomitability, persistence, struggle… these were all expressions she was very familiar with.

Ji Chi routinely disparaged the mage’s small frame as he placed one hand on his chest and gave her the standard continental courtesy. “Yes, Countess. My name is Ji Chi, and my profession is mage.”

“Mm-hmm, but I heard you also know potions and summoning? How impressive. If you’re interested, you could learn to be a warrior too. Having hard fists is never a bad thing.” While saying something quite extraordinary, the lady led them into the Earl’s manor.

The interior decoration immediately returned to the young master’s usual standard. Every furnishing, every ray of light was refined and particular, revealing the scent of gold coins everywhere.

The Countess stood before the expensive Dawn Wood spiral staircase, turned around, and instructed, “Take our honored guests to change into banquet attire.”

After giving the order, she smiled and looked back at them. “You’re all Brandon’s friends, so treat this place as your own home. Don’t be reserved. I’m also going to change into a gown. After the Earl returns, we can all go to the palace together.”

After the Countess walked away supported by attendants, Ji Chi couldn’t help but quietly ask the young master, “Hasn’t the Countess already changed into a gown?”

Brandon looked at him as if to say, “What are you talking about?”. “That’s house wear. Who would wear a gown at home? Hahaha.”

Ji Chi & Saintess Coralie & Lilith turned their heads and looked at him silently. We’re the ones lacking knowledge—so that’s what house wear looks like at the Earl’s manor, hahaha.

Ji Chi was already no stranger to changing into formal wear at other people’s homes. He thought the whole process would be the same as at the Demon King’s castle, but he never expected that one day what would defeat him wouldn’t be a god’s attack or Joseph’s nagging, but the Earl’s manor’s fastidiousness.

Ji Chi was held down by about thirty attendants and thoroughly worked over for several hours from the strands of his hair to the tips of his toes. Apart from his genes not being completely overhauled, Ji Chi felt his soul could be pulled out, properly dressed up, and stuffed back in.

But the Earl’s manor’s fastidiousness wasn’t without effect. This time he wore a waist-cinching dress with a snow-white base tone. The black hair and black eyes that the Saint Trilley Empire rejected contrasted with the white silk, making the black even blacker and the white even whiter—more holy and beautiful than a choir boy.

When the Countess came downstairs on the arm of Earl Elliott and saw him, she couldn’t help but look at him several times in amazement. “Oh, this is the first time I’ve discovered that black can be so beautiful. Darling, how about I also dye my hair black?”

The Earl looked at her helplessly. “As you wish.”

The Earl was a very peaceful middle-aged man. His standard mage physique made him look somewhat frail, but it couldn’t conceal the aura belonging to a powerful mage.

He exchanged pleasantries with them ceremoniously for a while, then led them to several even more luxurious carriages at the Earl’s manor entrance.

The carriages galloped under the setting sun, carrying a group of lavishly dressed people through the new and old districts. Amid the footsteps of weary commoners returning home, they arrived at the center of power in the Saint Trilley Empire—Stuart Palace.