The banquet ended without incident, but Ryo had no memory of how he’d gotten back to the guesthouse. Naturally, Abel had brought him back.
After a bath, Ryo finally came to his senses.
“Abel!” he called out. “You’ll never guess what happened! I had the shock of my life!”
“Yeah, I figured as much. No matter what I asked, you just kept on mumbling nonsense.”
After the pair finished bathing, they headed to the dining room, where they found most of the delegation’s civil servants staring intently at something.
“I wonder what’s going on,” Ryo said.
“Maybe they’re planning negotiations or something?” Abel said casually.
It was none of their business. Their schedule for the remaining days was already set, and he knew how hectic it was.
“Ryo!” one of the civil servants called out.
Immediately, all eyes honed in on the water magician.
“Uh.” Ryo hesitated. “That’s...me?”
“The messenger over there brought a letter for you,” the civil servant said, gesturing toward a man who looked like a butler standing nearby. He bowed politely, strolled over to where the civil servants were gathered, and collected the envelope that’d snared the delegation’s attention.
Then he brought it to Ryo.
“Lord Ryo,” he said, “my mistress, Duchess Alba, cordially extends this invitation to you.”
The civil servants began to murmur among themselves again, but Ryo seemed decidedly confused.
“Duchess Alba?” he muttered.
Did he even know anyone by that name? No matter how hard he racked his brain, nobody came up.
“Yes,” the messenger replied. “Lady Agnes would like to treat you to ramen.”
“Oh, Lady Agnes! My apologies. I’m ashamed to admit that I was unaware that Lady Agnes and Duchess Alba were one and the same. I humbly accept your invitation. Please give her my regards.”
Ryo took the envelope from him. He didn’t know the date and time, but it was an invitation he couldn’t refuse. This was ramen, after all! Naturally, he hadn’t eaten it once since coming to Phi. In fact, he’d never even laid eyes on the dish here or heard even a whisper of its existence. Besides, an invitation from a duchess meant he had to shuffle his plans around, so it was best to accept.
“Thank you very much,” the messenger replied. “I’ll inform Her Grace.”
With another respectful bow, he walked gracefully out of the dining room.
Immediately, the civil servants clustered around Ryo and bombarded him with questions.
“Ryo, how did you become acquainted with the House of Alba?”
“How long have you known each other?”
“The Alba family is one of the most powerful in Twilight. Their wealth far exceeds not only the archduke’s but the entire central government...”
“She’s said to be a very beautiful woman, but rumor also says she’s at least ninety years old...”
“A beautiful witch,” Ryo murmured.
“By witch, do you mean a female magician? You know quite a lot, don’t you, Ryo? Yes, indeed, the duchess is a powerful magician.”
“If I recall correctly, her attribute is water... Just like yours, Ryo. Ah, I get it now! That’s why!”
Ryo didn’t understand, of course, but the civil servants assumed that he and the duchess had formed a connection due to their shared elemental affinity. They certainly could’ve never imagined that they’d actually met because Ryo was stuffing his face at a banquet.
But one person there knew the truth...
“He marooned me as the sole guest of honor while he went off to enjoy the food by himself,” Abel grumbled. “The jerk...”
Of course, his griping fell on deaf ears.