Antes noticed this and blocked Luna as if to show off. His hatred for him must have been greater, but he could feel his disgusting obsession from the way he was only glaring at Luna every time.

“Marquis de Terne Vincent.”

Then, it was the turn of Marquis Vincent’s family. The Marquis looked at Antes for a moment, but Antes avoided his gaze, indicating he wouldn’t greet him.

Being in the same place was sufficient, so the Marquis neatly dismissed him and together with his wife and Rosemary greeted the Emperor.

The Emperor, admiring the golden music box prepared by the Marquis, for some reason, spoke differently than he had formally to the Duke.

“Come to think of it, I met the Marquis’s eldest son a while ago.”

“…Are you referring to Antes?”

“Yes. He showed me quite a valuable item. It was tempting enough that I wanted to make a deal on the spot.”

Even recalling it seemed to satisfy the Emperor, who smiled for a moment.

“Thanks to him, I made a good deal. Contrary to expectations, he was a pleasant and articulate young man. He knew how to do business.”

“…”

Unexpected praise for Antes left the Marquis and Marchioness flabbergasted. Unexpected blame was heard frequently, but praise was a first.

What kind of life had he led for the past ten years? Or was Antes really a problem child from the beginning?

A fundamental question crossed their minds.

“I hope Marquis Vincent will also work for the Empire in the future. The heir has a good reputation, so I have high expectations.”

“We will do our best to meet your expectations.”

The Emperor even had expectations for Rosemary, even without mentioning Fersen. The order might have been reversed, but anyone could see that the Emperor held the Vincent House in higher regard.

What kind of deal had that insane psychopath made to receive such praise?

Everyone began to speculate, holding their breath. Among them, some were casting fleeting glances at Antes.

Fuming with rage at not getting a single mention, the Duke glared at Fersen who was still harboring hostility towards Antes and Luna.

Seeing his pitiful behavior, Luna sighed. Then, she asked Antes, who was blocking her way.

“So, this deal, is it about my gold?”

“Yes, he liked it a lot.”

“But he should only praise my gold, isn’t it weird to praise Antes too? What did you do to get such praise?”

“What’s it to you?”

At that, Antes frowned in response. It was a rebuttal, implying that it was quite good.

“Young lord has a very bad personality, to the extent that he probably doesn’t have a single friend, right?”

“…”

That again. By this point, Antes was starting to regret the words he had spewed.

It was like getting hit by Rosemary and Luna, and he couldn’t even deny it.

“It’s true that I have no friends, but it’s not because of my personality.”

As he began to explain, Luna’s expression turned sympathetic, as if it was pitiful to see him making such an excuse.

It only made things more embarrassing so he just shut his mouth. The more he spoke, the deeper he seemed to sink.

In the meantime, Rosemary, who returned to her seat, grabbed his sleeve. Her face was full of questions.

“What on earth happened? Did you make a deal with the imperial family?”

Although it wasn’t obvious, the Marquis and Marchioness too, pricked up their ears.

“It’s none of your business.”

In response, he showed a cold reaction that he wouldn’t even show to others. What’s the big deal acting so cold over something that’s not even a secret.

Luna sighed and answered instead.

“It’s about gold.”

“Maybe the Lady’s gold…?”

“Yes, it seems that they have decided to deliver my gold.”

Upon hearing the answer, Rosemary’s brow furrowed deeply.

“What? So, it’s not because you did well that you were praised, but because the royalty likes the gold?”

The meaning behind the words had changed. This made him uncomfortable.

“Do you think everything that is good sells?”

“Really good things sell even if left alone.”

“It doesn’t sell.”

“It sells.”

“It doesn’t sell.”

“It sells!”

Here they go again. This childish fight. Maybe it’s because they were siblings who separated too young, they were still having the same old arguments.

It wasn’t a physical fight, so watching them felt rather pitiful, when suddenly, a soft laughter was heard.

Turning their heads, they saw the Marquis and Marchioness. Despite being in a place to honor the royals, they were trying hard not to show it, but they were laughing at Antes and Rosemary’s childish behavior.

‘…It looks like quite a nice family.’

They didn’t seem like a family of villains.

The Marquis and Marchioness had a hard time with him, but they were a normal and harmonious family in their own way.

“Marquis of Granada.”

While she was lost in thought, the name of the Marquis of Granada’s family was called. Although it was a place to honor the royals, Seira’s figure wasn’t visible.

“I was planning to spill some wine if we met.”

In response Rosemary, who had stopped fighting, muttered quietly. Antes too was looking at the Marquis’s family with his arms crossed.

Both looked quite gloomy, but the thought that it was because of her didn’t make Luna feel any better.

“Viscount Cairn Kreost.”

After that, for a while, the greetings of the nobles continued. Perhaps because they owned large territories, there were quite a lot of them.

Of course, not every low-ranking family could honor the Emperor. Families like the Baron of Peils, with nothing notable, were merely spectators from beginning to end.

Being called and honoring the Emperor itself was a power.

So, it started to get boring. Scenes of others exchanging gifts and conversing were utterly tedious.

Therefore, while trying hard to stay awake and counting the ceiling decorations, an unexpected name woke Luna up.

“Lady Luna from Barony Peils.”

What? Upon hearing her own name which had no reason to be called, Luna froze, looking up at the ceiling.

It was the first time that the name of someone with no title or anything was called.

“Oh my… Lady Luna, you should go out!”

Rosemary shook Luna’s shoulder. The Marquis and Marchioness also hurried Luna.

With that, the bewildered Luna unknowingly took a few steps forward.

Naturally, all eyes in the banquet hall were on her. The majority were wondering why she was called.

‘What on earth is going on…’

Luna too had the same question.

A face-to-face with the Emperor. It wasn’t something she particularly wished for, but nonetheless, it was a glorious occasion. Something to write down in a journal and boast about to descendants.

She swallowed her dry throat nervously, then slowly stepped forward. Knowing hundreds of eyes were on her, she tried her best to walk elegantly and beautifully.

“I put your name in just in case, but I didn’t expect to meet like this.”

Upon arriving in front of the Emperor, he was very pleased and welcomed Luna warmly.

She wondered if there had been some mistake, but it seemed not.

“…It’s an honor to meet you, Your Majesty.”

After finishing her polite greeting, Luna mentioned what was on her mind at the moment.

“I didn’t expect to be able to present to Your Majesty, so I wasn’t able to prepare a gift.”

It was indeed the gift. Everyone else had prepared gifts, but Luna had not.

At this, the Emperor seemed amused as he responded:

“No, didn’t you already promise to give me a great gift?”

She hadn’t. She was seriously contemplating who he had mistaken her for, when the Emperor provided an answer.

“I heard that the gold you possess is very beautiful. I wanted to thank you for trading with the imperial family.”

“…Thank you.”

She was selling gold for money, not giving it for free. So she wondered why he would thank her.

“As soon as you discovered the gold mine, I heard that you said it must be supplied to the imperial family. The gold suits the imperial family, so it is right to supply it to them.”

However, from his following words, Luna realized why the Emperor had taken a liking to her.

‘You sold my name.’

She realized that for selling the gold, Antes had made up flattering lies.

“I pray that blessings continue to fall on your gold mine. So that I too can continue to see beautiful gold.”

“Thank you for your kind words.”

After replying like that, Luna politely bowed again, just like when she first greeted, and was about to return to her seat.

She made brief eye contact with the Crown Prince, who was near the Emperor, which was different from the tedious adult ceremony party; he looked quite intrigued as he gave a brief smile towards Luna.