This was a beautiful display of hydromancy, Elric thought. He never imagined maguscraft being applicable in such a manner! While this spell wasn’t particularly impressive in terms of power, it was absolutely mind boggling to see the level of control the emperor had. Elric was no hydromancer, but he could say with confidence that Hecaris III somehow managed to turn one of the most basic aspects of hydromancy into an artform!

Simply put, Elric came to a new understanding about maguscraft. A spell wasn’t limited to just power for its value; it had beauty to factor in as well. How one used magic to achieve a goal, whether that be for war or for art, was something else to ruminate on. Elric wasn’t even sure if Emperor Hecaris III was fully aware of the implications behind this display.

The emperor picked up with both hands the arrangement meaning ‘wild’. Carrying it over to Somiret and the minister’s sister, the emperor carefully tucked a rose to the latter’s chest. “For lady Milinda. Your beauty puts this rose to shame.”

Elric’s eyes narrowed slightly, was this Milinda person Hecaris III’s lover then? If that was the case then it was time to kiss that matchmaking plan between her and Hughesin goodbye. 

Then again, the icy glare she shot the emperor didn’t seem to indicate such a relationship.

The emperor quickly took an arrangement and presented it to Elric. The emperor studied the brooch with the duke’s crest on his garments for a moment; the emotions on his face was impossible to read. 

“This must be the lovely niece of Ser Kebrilio.” He smiled, “And as fair and lovely as I was told. Nay, she is far more enchanting than rumors describe.”

He shot her a wink and laughed merrily, “Perhaps Ser Kebrilio and I should arrange for more trips to the palace? The palace could do with a splash of beauty every once in a while.”

Then he fastened a rose onto Elric’s right shoulder, much to Hughesin’s apprehension. The duke sincerely hoped Hecaris III wasn’t planning on stealing away the one he loved too! There was nothing a duke could do to stop the emperor in such a case, and it certainly wasn’t beyond the emperor to play such tricks. The current emperor was known by many to be quite eccentric at times. His constant pining for the equally peculiar sister of Somiret was something of an oddity considering how Milinda cared little for men. Of all the people that knew her preferences, the emperor was the only male to constantly attempt to woo her. That fact alone was enough to have many aristocrats question him behind his back.

This gesture from the emperor meant differently to Elric, however. He was getting downright tired of the people sitting at the apex of power. Everyone in high society was incessantly poking fun at him as if they had nothing else to do. It wasn’t just the princess’s fault, but Kebrilio and the emperor as well. Was this 

really

 that fun for them or was governing a nation not enough work for them?

Just another thought for Elric to vex about.

Attendants came into the banquet room, bringing two women of beauty into view. The first was Princess Flania—Elric wasn’t too surprised to see her here. He was pretty confident that the emperor planned on giving her one of these four roses, actually. She was, objectively speaking, a beautiful and well-mannered woman and princess. It would make perfect sense for the emperor to present her an arrangement. 

The 

second

 person, however, came to Elric as a heavy shock. 

The beautiful woman back in the 

Forest Nymph

! Or at least, one of the women he dreamt about.

He never thought that a person in his dreams would actually be a real person—and here of all places!

Elric’s confusion did not go unnoticed by the people around him. Both Hughesin and Somiret sobered up from the comedic atmosphere to focus. It was all but confirmed in their minds that Lady Fantasia was a member of the Sovereignian delegates and most likely a person of special knowledge and authority. But was she connected to the Rheidyn Union and their Intelligence Bureau? They found it quite surprising to think that she would recognize an illustrious member of Rheidyn Intelligence and the Grand Duchess of the Sramos Duchy, Siren. Her background was even more illustrious as a disciple of Archmagister Gonzague, an agent of Rheidyn Intelligence.

While Elric could say he had seen the beautiful Siren before, the latter couldn’t say the same. She had no recollection of this person, but it made her quite happy to see such a beautiful woman seem so affected by her appearance. Moreover, the emission of mana from this woman was quite telling. It had an air of mystique to it she was only able to pick up on due to her sensitivity to magic. Given that she had no idea who this person was and why she was so surprised at the sight of herself, Siren was quite curious about finding out who she was.

And likewise to Fantasia earlier, Hughesin and Somiret both took notice of the minute changes on Siren’s face. Certain inflections on a person’s face meant different things, and the two were experts on reading between the lines. It was apparent that Siren had no idea who Fantasia was. Then why did Fantasia react like that? 

This was the exact opposite of the expected outcome. The resourceful intelligence specialist knowing about the airhead beauty rather than the other way around. Hughesin and Somiret would’ve understood it more had that been the case.

The gears in Somiret’s mind grinded furiously against each other to think of a reasonable explanation for this. It took a moment longer than he liked, but came to the conclusion that—being the Soul God’s Chosen, Fantasia was most likely aware of Archmagister Gonzague and Grand Duchess Siren by extension of him. Divine knowledge felt the most reasonable explanation for this conclusion, but Somiret had yet to put his full belief behind that type of explanation. Now was the time to warn Hughesin and let things play out naturally.

The faintest of frowns appeared on Hughesin’s face. The signal from Somiret was received and understood well, but the duke truly cared little for it. This little theory Somiret had about Fantasia being the Chosen of the Soul God 

did

 make some sense to him, but not enough to sway his mind. Today was his last day together with his sweetheart and by the Gods Hughesin wasn’t going to squander it by passively gathering intelligence on her. 

Hughesin’s refusal prompted Somiret to shift his attention to Hecaris III. Though not as proficient in nonverbal communication like them two, the emperor spent enough time around them to pick up on a few things.

Hecaris III straightened himself with a smile as if to say ‘understood’. He turned to face the two new guests at once, speeches at the ready to sing praise of their beauty and a rose to fasten near their chests. So impassioned was he with those speeches that even Elric had to give his utmost respect for his glibness. The man took even the concept of communication into an artform and made his own words feel mellow to the ears like sweet ambrosia.

Somehow, Hecaris III eventually managed to pull Hughesin into the conversation via a series of equal parts commands equal parts hypotheticals and forced him to remain. Elric’s heart skipped a beat at the sight; an opportunity was being given here. 

Freedom was calling.

Elric’s heart skipped a beat at the thought of it. Hughesin’s heart, on the other hand, sank. 

Without anything to be done about it, Emperor Hecaris III and Prime Minister Somiret completely disregarded Hughesin’s mood and managed to lead him away to leave the four beautiful women behind. 

Being left alone with three beautiful women didn’t help to ease Elric of his anxiety. He never thought about approaching the princess before as Fantasia and had no idea how to progress with conversation.

Still desiring to avoid contact with him, Princess Flania excused herself shortly after the emperor and took her leave.