After Orin, several more [Nobles] came to dance with Alice. Most of them were male [Nobles] around her age, which made Alice a little uncertain whether any of them were trying to ‘get to know’ a future Immortal in a more intimate way than she was comfortable with. Alice wasn’t particularly interested in romance, so she had always been rather oblivious to it, both on Earth and on Luliv.

However, there were a few girls as well, and even an old lady came up to dance with her around seven dances in. All of them were happy to chat with Alice, asking her questions about her past, her abilities, her interests, and her hobbies. Alice deflected the more sensitive questions, but otherwise did her best to chat amiably with each dance partner. Eventually, Alice was relieved to realize that she had been overthinking things. In Illvaria, Alice was starting to get the distinct impression that ‘dancing’ was more of an excuse to lightly chat with the other party in a one on one setting with some musical accompaniment. It was a bit different from how {Dancing} was treated back on Earth, but was easy enough to adjust to, once Alice started picking up the cultural difference.

Of course, Alice was also a little annoyed that her {Etiquette} [Teacher] hadn’t mentioned the cultural differences between how dancing was treated here and how dancing was treated on Earth. This annoyance disappeared once Alice realized that her [Teacher] had absolutely no way of realizing how people regarded {Dancing} on Earth. After all, her {Etiquette} teacher had probably never heard of Earth.

Ethan might have been able to walk her through the cultural differences between her homeland and Illvaria, but it wasn’t a topic that had ever come up during a discussion between the two. After all, Alice didn’t really like {Dancing} much, and Ethan had also seemed rather indifferent to it. Thus, both of them seemed to have simply never discussed the cultural connotations of {Dancing}.

Alice ended up {Dancing} with several people and raising her {Dancing} skill to level 6, before she decided to check on the [Princess] again. Even if she didn’t make any lifetime friends, she had already showed that she was amenable to making friends with [Nobles] and made a few acquaintances. At the very least, they would probably be happy to share news and trade goods with Alice in the future, especially if she became an Immortal. Which was all that Alice was really hoping to get out of this tea party: a network she could tap into to get news and materials for experiments in the future.

When she returned to the tea-party table, she was pleased to see that the second [Princess] was now free to talk with her. Ethan and his mother were talking with a few other [Nobles] to the side. They were protected from eavesdropping by some sort of Perk, but Alice recognized the [Nobles] who were chatting. They were the ones who had been talking about building another magic academy. Apparently, Ethan and Ethan’s mother also had some sort of stake in the construction of a magic academy, and so they had been happy to join the discussion.

The second [Princess] gave Alice a friendly nod as Alice took her seat at the table again. “Lady Alice, I’m glad that you found time to return and have a conversation with me. I’ve heard much about you, especially from Ethan’s words. Have you enjoyed the music and {Dancing}?”

Alice hesitated, before simply nodding. Even if Alice did wish that there had been less {Dancing} at the tea party, it hadn’t been as bad as she had feared.

The second [Princess] smiled more deeply.

“I’m quite honored to see two and a half Immortals at my tea party,” said the second Princess, this time chuckling. “Even if you haven’t reached Immortality yet, if I’m to believe Ethan’s words, your ascension to Immortality is practically guaranteed. Three Immortals attending my tea party is… quite incredible,” said the second [Princess].

Alice realized the second [Princess] was trying hard to flatter her. Alice resisted the urge to frown. She wasn’t… used to people flattering her. It felt very odd. Alice also saw several chunks of rainbow mana appear near the second [Princess]’s eyes, and then saw several more chunks of rainbow mana appear around Alice’s own body.

She guessed that the second [Princess]’s Perks were probably meant to feed her lots of information about Alice. Perhaps they were like Cecilia’s [Merchant] Perks, except more socially focused. While Cecilia’s [Merchant] Perks gave her information about things like what a customer wanted to buy and how much money they were willing to pay, a [Princess] probably needed to detect how other people felt about her social and political positions, and things like that.

Alice hesitated for a moment, then used {The Science of Mana Deprivation} to cut off the Perks before they could interact with her. Even if she was fairly certain the [Princess] didn’t mean to harm her, Alice still felt that it was best to keep her cards as close to her chest as she could in social settings. Alice also felt that appearing more mysterious was probably good for her image as an Immortal in training. As far as she was aware, blocking Perks was basically unheard of. Since she was already known as a promising potential Immortal, it would be normal for her to have a few unique abilities. And she also didn’t know exactly what the [Princess]’s Perks were supposed to do. Even if Alice was pretty sure the System wouldn’t let anyone access mind-control, since the error messages she had seen recently outright stated they were banned, she still didn’t want unknown Perks interacting with her if she could avoid it.

The second [Princess]’s eyes widened slightly as Alice prevented her Perks from working, although Alice didn’t see any other cracks in the woman’s composure. However, considering how composed the [Princess] had been during the rest of the tea party, Alice could tell that she had startled her.

A few moments later, the second [Princess] recovered her composure. When she looked at Alice, there was a much greater level of interest than before. If previously, she had looked at Alice as if she was a somewhat interesting trade partner, now it almost looked like the [Princess] wanted to swallow Alice whole. The look that the second [Princess] was giving Alice made her a little uncomfortable.

“Ethan described you as a rather interesting disciple. I had thought that he was exaggerating. I see that he was, if anything, understating things.” The second [Princess]’s eyes glittered with interest. “Hmm… Ethan did state that you might eventually fix mana baptisms too, didn’t he? After he realized how silly it would be to keep claiming you’re combat-focused, anyway. I do wonder how you could… hmm…” The second [Princess] trailed off into thought as she stared at Alice, and her eyes lit up. “Oh, things will certainly be interesting in the future. If it isn’t too rude of me to ask, Lady Alice, may I ask you what level your primary class is? I don’t expect any further details, of course, but I simply find you fascinating.”

Alice thought about it for a moment, before deciding that it wasn’t a bad idea to answer the question honestly. There were probably other learning and levelling resources that the Illvarian crown had that she could make use of in the future, if she showed enough potential. She also doubted anyone in Illvaria would take hostile action against her, unless they were sure they wouldn’t get caught. The social network and political power of Immortals seemed firmly entrenched in Illvarian culture, and so outright opposing Alice was unlikely as long as she was under Ethan’s protection and didn’t get in the way of anyone else’s ambitions. With that in mind, showing that she had more value was more beneficial than problematic for her.

“I’m level 75 in my primary class,” said Alice. “I just reached that point a week or two ago.”

“Already? How old are you?” asked the second [Princess], seeming surprised by Alice’s statement.

“Physically, I’m sixteen,” said Alice. “Chronologically, I’ll turn seventeen in around four months, I think? I’ve lost track of months a bit, but my birthday is a bit after winter ends, and we’re just creeping up on winter now. I have no idea how close I am to physically turning seventeen, though. I’ve levelled up a lot in the past year.”

“Your chronological and physical age are the same?” asked the [Princess]. “I had assumed that you would have at least levelled up reasonably quickly, even before becoming a Mage.”

“I’ve found that my levelling speed has increased quite drastically since I became a Mage,” said Alice dryly. “Magic aligns well with my passions, and I find that being interested in what I do does wonders for my levelling speed.”

The [Princess] seemed to consider Alice’s words for a moment, before she nodded. “Indeed, that makes sense. Reaching Immortality requires a certain level of Achievements and a great deal of time and effort to reach the levels required. If one doesn’t derive joy from their actions, it would be much harder to invest that time and energy into the subject. Fair enough,” said the second [Princess]. “In a sense, that’s actually more impressive: you managed to reach level 75 in a Class within only a year or so of getting a mana baptism. I assume your primary class is magic related?”

Alice hesitated, and then opted not to say anything. There was a difference between showing that she had promise and showing people the best ways to deal with her if they had malicious intentions towards her. Discussing her Class composition crossed that line.

The second [Princess] nodded thoughtfully. “My apologies, that was probably too much to ask. Ethan’s last round of disciples was before I was born, so my curiosity got the better of me. I shouldn’t have asked.”

The second [Princess] paused for a moment, before taking a sip of tea, and a bite of mini-cake. Then, she frowned. “How is your research with mana baptisms going? I’ve heard that there have been hundreds, or perhaps even thousands, of attempts to help people survive mana baptisms in the past. [Organic Mages] have tried practically everything imaginable, from removing the mana in the environment from patients once their body seems overstressed, to using various mixtures of organic mana and healing mana to assist the body during the transformation, to strictly controlling the kinds of mana used during a mana baptism. None of them have succeeded. What’s different about your research? Are you producing any results?”

Alice was starting to feel a little edgy around the second [Princess]. She was pushing for details in a way none of the other people she had talked with during the dance had. Most of the other guests she had interacted with had been pretty happy to pull back in the conversation whenever Alice hinted that she was uncomfortable: they had been curious and friendly, but not pushy. The second [Princess] was definitely leaning a little bit more into the pushy side of things.

“Hmm… I’ve been investigating a lot about how a natural mana baptism works. I’ve discovered a lot of things that I don’t believe others were aware of, which are crucial to the process of undergoing a mana baptism. While some of the things I’ve found while observing mana baptisms have likely been known to others in the past, I intend to interact with them in more… meaningful ways. I also have some ideas about trying to prepare people in advance for mana baptisms, thus reducing the strain on the body. Although that idea is a little more sketchy,” said Alice, after thinking for a moment. Naturally, the most important aspect of Alice’s research into mana baptisms was figuring out what the System was doing and then improving it, but she couldn’t mention that part to the [Princess]. She still felt that exposing a hint that her research was going well and was likely to produce results was beneficial to her. However, she wanted to keep most of the details vague.

 “Is that so? Hmm…” The second [Princess] thought for a while longer, before she turned to Alice. “Out of curiosity, Alice, what do you think of me?”

“Hmm?” Alice blanked out at the second [Princess]’s question. “What do you mean? I don’t understand your question.”

“What is your impression of me as a [Princess]? Especially in comparison to my siblings?” Asked the second [Princess].

Alice finally figured out what the second [Princess] was hinting at.

The second [Princess] was asking for Alice’s evaluation of where the second [Princess] stood in comparison to her siblings. Once she had the context, she realized the second [Princess] was… probably asking about Alice’s thoughts on supporting a bid for the throne. Or at least something of the sort. Alice wasn’t adept at political maneuvering, but once the second [Princess] mentioned her siblings, she figured out what the second [Princess] was hinting at.

Which left Alice feeling a little dumbfounded.

She could recite a few useful facts about everyone’s territory, and maybe a few details of their personal life, but if she were asked to write down everything she knew about a [Noble] or member of the royal family, she wouldn’t have been able to write more than a page or two for each person. There was only so much information she could cram into her head in a limited amount of time, even with {Sleep Reading} and perfect memory.

Being asked who she supported as the next ruler was… refreshing. And odd. Especially since the king was somewhere in his late forties, at least chronologically. He was probably physically younger, since his level wasn’t outstanding, but it wasn’t mediocre, either. It seemed a bit early to start squabbling over the throne. And Alice didn’t have a very strong opinion of who should be the next ruler of Illvaria, either. She considered herself largely a bystander right now.

Alice decided that being honest was probably for the best right now.

“I’ll admit, I’m not very interested in politics,” said Alice. “I don’t know much about you or your siblings beyond what my {Etiquette} teacher taught me. Based on the fact that you organized this tea party, I gather that you’re in favor of expanding the recolonization effort, which is about all I know. And in all honesty, I’m quite driven towards pursuing my interests. I don’t spend much time away from my research.”

“I see,” said the second [Princess], giving Alice a guarded, thoughtful look. Then, the second [Princess] sighed. “I suppose that makes sense, Lady Alice. My apologies. Perhaps I was too forward in asking for your opinion.”

Alice opted to nod.

A few moments later, Ethan slid into the chair near Alice. Alice glanced to the side, and saw that the discussion Ethan and his mother had been having with the other Illvarian [Nobles] had ended, and Ethan’s mother was now happily spinning around on the dance floor by herself. She was incredibly graceful, and Alice was pretty sure she could see a few [Dancer] Perks activating in the woman’s arms and abdominal muscles. A few moments later, Ethan’s mother was joined by another [Noblewoman], and the two happily began twirling around.

“Second [Princess],” said Ethan, giving the [Princess] a respectful nod and redirecting Alice’s attention back towards the conversation.

“Honored Immortal,” said the second [Princess]. “I was just discussing things with your apprentice.”

“Things?” asked Ethan, giving Alice a curious look.

“The second [Princess] was asking me about my thoughts on her,” said Alice.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed slightly, and he shook his head. “Second [Princess], I intend for my disciple to dip her toe into politics, so to speak, at this party. However, her primary focus is currently on reaching Immortality. I ask that you not bring this up with her until she is an Immortal. I don’t want her to get distracted too much. Learning to navigate politics is valuable because she will eventually need this skill, but it’s not her priority.”

The second [Princess] simply nodded, seeming a little absent-minded as she agreed.

“What about you, Honored Immortal? What do you think of me, in comparison to my siblings?”

“I think the [King] is quite young, and it’s too early to think about this,” said Ethan. “He’s wearing some armor made by Doll, and while it’s getting a bit old, it’s still an excellent piece of work. The [King] is around level 60, if I’m not mistaken, and he still has quite a long life ahead of him. And he’s protected enough that assassinating him would be quite difficult.”

The second [Princess] looked almost like a kid who had been caught eating cookies out of a cookie jar, and the expression felt so bizarrely out of place to Alice that she nearly laughed. Suddenly, the conversation she had with the [Princess] seemed less uncomfortable than before.

Ethan and the second [Princess] started talking about the recolonization effort, and Alice made some effort to occasionally interject into the conversation from time to time. She saw other [Nobles] look at her and give her friendly nods from time to time, which made Alice relax a little bit. Her job today was to make herself known, show that she was someone to be remembered in her own right, and show that she was well-regarded by Ethan. She was pretty sure she had accomplished all of those things. Considering how disinterested Alice was in politics, she felt that her debut in [Noble] society had gone quite well.

As Alice thought about the results of the night, Ethan and the second [Princess] finished their discussion.

Afterwards, the second [Princess] smiled, and stood up, before a few Perks activated, and carried her voice to the other [Guests].

“I thank all of you for coming tonight. I do appreciate the efforts all of you have made in coming here and chatting about the recolonization effort with me. I also hope that you’ve gained useful connections and made good connections with the other people here tonight. You are free to stay as long as you like and enjoy the tea, dances, and music, but I will be retiring for the rest of the night,” said the second [Princess], bringing an end to the ‘official’ part of the tea party.

Alice eyed Ethan, who simply scanned the other guests one final time, before he shrugged.

“I think it’s about time for us to go as well,” said Ethan. “You still wanted to see the Artifact, right? Let’s do that, and then head back to the manor.”

Alice nodded. It was time for the part of the day she had been looking forward to the most.

acaswell

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