As the final day of the festival dawned, I was in the basement snoozing. Knowing what was to come, hours of getting ready to attend a ball where people acted polite while more often than not plotting something, I decided it was better to sleep in and be well rested for the travesty that was to come.

When I finally got up it was with the third bell, 10 AM. I had eight hours before the ball started, since it began at the seventh bell, 6 PM. I had to be at the Guild to meet my partner for the event, the Guildmaster, shortly after the sixth bell, since attendees were supposed to all be there before the event started. Being ‘fashionably late’ was very much NOT a thing here, instead being extremely rude to the host. Which is especially frowned upon when the host is the king.

Because of this, it is normal to arrive early, sometimes hours early so there is less chance of things going wrong and making one arrive after the king has given his welcoming speech. Being the Guildmaster, my date to the ball had a ton of stuff he had to do today, even with having an important event to attend this evening.

When I finally crawled out of bed, I went to check with my site manager. With the festival winding down, over half of the people who’d been staying in my backyard were gone already. They couldn’t be away from their homes too long, so many stayed for a few days then left, replaced by others, but fewer in number as the days passed.

This meant that my income dropped, but it was a drop in the swimming pool compared to what I already had. I’d just let people stay since I didn’t feel like making people have to find another place to stay, and likely get price gouged for it. Frankly, I’d be happy when the festival was over and they were all gone and I had my full privacy back.

Still, since they were here, my temporary minion collected the fees and passed them to me dutifully every morning. I’d actually been surprised he’d stayed as long as he had, until he told me that he was making more income from his cut of the fees than he usually did as a merchant. Though that was because he was the lowest tier merchant, a peddler, so that was to be expected. Most of their earnings went to maintenance and restocking, so it wasn’t the most profitable, though they still made enough to live more comfortably than many other commoners.

He’d be leaving the day after tomorrow, giving the crowds a day to clear out before taking his family home and resuming his work. By then, the campers in my backyard should be also be gone. And if they decided to try and stay… well they’d better not. They’d regret it.

After collecting my money, I returned to my room and made some breakfast. It was more of a brunch, but since it was my first meal of the day, that made it breakfast.

After that I got comfortable and read for a while. I had time before I had to start getting ready. Even with magic, if I wanted to look my best for the ball, it’d take a couple hours to get ready. I wasn’t the best at makeup, especially for these situations, so I was slow at it and sometimes had to remove it and start over. If I wasn’t using makeup, or doing a fancy hairdo, it’d take me like half an hour to get ready, and that’s mainly due to the complexity of formal wear.

So I read, at least until about one, then I got ready.

Cleaning myself was quick and easy with magic, though I did have to use the bath for my hair, since I could clean it magically, but needed to use the conditioner manually. At least I didn’t have to worry about shaving anything. My shapeshifting allowed me to just will myself into whatever shape I wanted. With practice, I’d been able to make it so no hair popped up outside the desired areas of my body, which was usually just my head, though I did sometimes get a bit hairy when I felt the need to wear a male body.

As expected, the makeup and hair took a while, nearly two hours to get right, though once that was done, I was all set. I had spells that allowed me to affix them how they were so they didn’t get ruined. I smiled, remembering one novel I’d read where they had something similar and the spells were so powerful that the makeup and hair was said to be able to survive dragonfire, even if the individual it was applied to was turned to ash, and it’s just fall to the ground, retaining the appearance of a face until the spell wore off.

All made up and fancy looking, I made my way to the Adventurer’s Guild. I was a little early, but that’s much better than being late. I had plenty of stuff to do while I waited.

As I walked from my home to the guild, I got some funny looks, which was unsurprising. Most people made up like me would have a carriage to ride in. I mean, I did have one I’d enchanted to drive itself, but it was a prototype, and didn’t maneuver very well, making it dangerous to use in crowded locations. It was also extremely inefficient, costing more to merely roll around than flying while invisible did. I could make something much better, but I’d have to start from scratch, since every part would need to be enchanted, and it wasn’t really worth it to me right now.

The looks intensified as I entered the Guild and asked the receptionist to inform the GM I was here whenever he was ready to go. This made the place quite noisy as no one here recognized me. I looked very different from my usual self like this, so even those who knew me, if there were any present, would have a hard time doing so.

The reason I was waiting here was that the GM had originally planned on picking me up from wherever I was staying, but I didn’t feel like telling anyone I had a home yet, so I’d told him I’d meet him here. Given his station, he could probably easily discover where I lived, but he’d be invading my privacy by doing so. Privacy was something adventurers took very seriously. Enough so that one whose privacy had been invaded could petition the guild for a recompense from the person, even able to request a duel to the death for serious enough infractions.

If someone discovered I had a home in the city, rather than merely renting a room, I wouldn’t really care too much, unless it started getting spread around. Then I’d do something about it.

While I was waiting for my ride to the ball, some people tried to hit on me, but I turned them away. I wasn’t interested in dating, and already had plans, albeit mostly unwilling, so there was no way I’d just leave with any of these people. The more persistent ones may have been put in illusions that made them see something they didn’t like… for example a flerken jump on my lap and then try to eat them… and ended up running away.

After the third time someone ran away from me screaming, nobody else bothered me, at least not in that manner. I did have a short conversation with the chief receptionist who asked me to not terrify the shit out of people. The last one had soiled himself, which was quite disgusting, so I promised to do my best. I don’t know what the guy had been eating, but it’d stunk up the place something awful until it was dealt with. Thank the gods none of it hit the floor.

It was half past four when the GM finished his work and came downstairs. He wasn’t alone, having a beautiful woman on his arm, his wife. Somehow he’d landed a gorgeous wife, even with the bandit-like face he had. I’d seen worse, but he had a bunch of scars on his face, so I thought he’d be one of those sad bachelor GMs like in the books I’d read.

We were introduced, then left the Guild, taking the prepared carriage to the palace where the ball would be taking place.

The location wasn’t connected to the main palace, having it’s own building and gardens surrounded by walls so one couldn’t ‘accidentally’ wander into forbidden areas. The place was massive, with the ballroom capable of holding thousands of people comfortably, with equally large kitchens and an army of chefs and servers to handle to food being offered to the attendees. There was even a portion of the building with small conversation rooms that could be used for private chats, with enchantments to ensure the conversation remained private.

The gardens were large, with a section that had tall hedges and alcoves to provide another location with some privacy, though not much compared to the conversation rooms. The pathways were marked, indicating the way back to the hall should one get lost, further removing any excuses one might use to perform shenanigans.

The ride to the ball was short, yet long. The distance wasn’t too far, but the streets were crowded with pedestrians as well as other carriages heading the same direction we were. It was like rush hour, but worse, since the carriage didn’t have very good, if any, suspension so there was a good amount of bouncing around due to the cobblestones of the streets we drove over at our slow pace. Still, we arrived well before the ball was officially started.

The Guildmaster first helped his wife out, as well he should, and then held a hand out to help me. I didn’t need it, but took it nonetheless, since it was what etiquette dictated. There are some things in the books I was forced to study that I will refuse to follow, but harmless ones like being helped out of the carriage by someone are fine.

As we walked from the carriage to the entrance, I could see a good number of people giving the man beside me the stink eye. Unsurprising considering he had not one, but two beautiful women on his arms. I’d considered walking on my own, since the GM wasn’t actually my escort, but had decided to get a bit of revenge and make it look like he had brought two instead of just his wife. She didn’t mind, enjoying the irritated look on his face when I’d taken up his other arm. We’d talked, under a spell to prevent him from hearing us, and she’d agreed to help me once she realized I wasn’t a threat to her. While she was beautiful, she was a bit older and had at first thought that I was seeking to become the guy’s second wife or something. Eww. Gods no!

So we walked in, with the player between us. There was a bit of a bump when entering the building, since I had to show my invitation, but only a few people knew that I had my own and wasn’t actually here with the guy who was escorting me. The doorman also tried announcing me with my nickname, but I shut that down right quick. Very few people would recognize my name, nor care about me, but far more would be interested in me, and irritate me, if I was announced with that atrocity attached to my name.

I’d tried to get the guild to drop it, or change it, but they’d already made the damn thing official. I was stuck with it unless I did something big enough to make them change their minds. It was just as well the first guild didn’t put ‘Ice Prince’ as my official nickname. It’d have made my life very awkward for when I was in female form. At least ‘Space Destroyer’ was genderless.

After getting through the door, I beheld the splendor of the hall. Not only was the place large, it was well decorated without being ostentatious. There were gold ornaments, but not to an excessive degree. It was mostly used for the candle holders and chandeliers, though there were a few other places that had gold, like the thrones on a raised platform at the end of the hall. Again, not overly ostentatious, the thrones were tastefully decorated with bits of precious metals and gems in pictures on the primarily wooden furniture. The gold was only on the largest two, the ones for king and queen, while the others used silver. Each had a crest, likely the personal one for the royal who would sit there.

There were five smaller thrones surrounding the pair of large thrones, meaning there were five princes and princesses, though I didn’t know the current lineup of the family beyond that. I hadn’t really been interested, and the books I’d had forced on me hadn’t mentioned it. They’d just had how to behave.

As there was still plenty of time till the festivities began, people were milling around, talking with each other while sipping beverages the servers were offering. As I knew nobody here, I just acted like I was arm candy for the GM, leaving him to explain, repeatedly, that I was merely an adventurer who’d been invited because I’d found a dungeon, not his second wife.

It rather amused me how he protested when people came up to him in shock asking how he’d scored another beauty, when his face would usually scare them off, and make children cry. Of course I had to be careful he didn’t try to get even and share my nickname. I’d given him a rather stern warning that doing so would be greatly punished. I’d passed his wife the instrument of said punishment earlier, so even if he behaved now, but pissed her off later, he’d still wind up having it forced on him later. She knew what it did, but he didn’t, and she would take great joy in using it on him, which left the GM sweating in terror at the looks on our faces as I’d given him my warning.

As the bells tolled the seventh time the doors at the end of the hall opened and the doormen announced the royal family’s entrance. The king had his queen on his arm while the crown prince followed with the first princess, and the second prince had his other two sisters with him. All of them but the king were seated. He remained standing and gave a speech to officially open the ball.

The speech wasn’t too long, only five minutes or so, talking about the greatness of the kingdom and how it was and would remain prosperous, yada, yada. Then he bade the ball to begin and took his seat. Until then, there’d been no music, no dancing, and no food.

With his pronouncement, the servers brought in trays of food to lay upon the tables lining one side of the hall, the one away from the gardens, where the kitchens were located. The variety of food was great, with many dishes being served that had expensive ingredients as a showcase of the kingdom’s wealth, power, and reach. Some of the items had required a lot of work to acquire since they were so rare they were usually kept to the royalty of the nation they were found in.

Musicians, who’d been patiently waiting, having tuned up their instruments earlier began to play, while the many people who’d been waiting for the music made their way to the area of the floor designated for dancing. As this was a formal ball, there were specific dances for the different types of music being played. I didn’t know any of the local ones, so I had no intention of dancing this evening.

While many dined and danced, others made their way to present themselves to the royal family and offer gifts for this special occasion. That is the direction we headed, along with many others. A line was formed, with the higher ranked individuals going first. One did not want to insult those who held a higher title than themselves. It caused problems.

Fortunately, the line moved relatively fast, and the Guildmaster title was on par with a Count, so it only took us thirty minutes or so to kneel before the thrones, after the actual Counts had done so.

“Adventurer’s Guildmaster Fredericks greets the King. I am accompanied by my wife, Sandra, and Telarynn, the adventurer who discovered the most recent dungeon.”

“Welcome to you. Please rise.”

We did so. As we did, I see the second princess who’d been gazing at the crowd in boredom while snacking on some finger foods a maid had brought her had turned her gaze our way. There was a moment of questioning in her eyes, but that went away as her eyes widened when I winked at her and displayed the gift I held in my hands for the royal family.

Fredericks and his wife presented the Royal Family a beautiful yet functional gauntlet on behalf of the Guild. The thing was made of mithril, with some gems embedded. The gems were the core as well as the batteries to store energy for the enchantment that allowed the thing to produce a shield on the bearers arm.

After he was done, I stepped forward.

“While not as grand as some gifts, I present representations of mythical beasts known in my homeland. They were made with the finest cloth and stuffed with the wool of rare beasts known for their soft fleece, and great aggression for those who’d try to take it from them.”

Yes, I gave them plushies. I’d cheated on these ones, using the materials I had on hand, but used Creation magic to produce them. Some of them were cool ones, like the Charizard, while others were cute like the mew. It was the mew that had made second princess Isabella’s eyes go wide. After all it was similar to the one I’d given her before. A bit better made, but obviously the same creature.

A butler took the items from me and was going to place them with the other items they’d received, but the little girl motioned him closer and took a pair of the plushies from his arms, the mew, which she gave to her little sister, who looked about eight and gave a gap toothed smile and hugged the little thing, and the ninetales. The oldest sister grabbed the pichu.

I could see the young prince, probably only eleven wanting to grab one, but he held himself back so he could appear to be too manly to want to play with a plushie. I was guessing he’d claim the charizard, solgaleo, or kyogre later on, but I could be wrong. There was one more ‘cute’ one, a galarian ponyta, that he might be interested in.

“Thank you for your gifts. It seems my daughters are very happy with them.” He gave me a bit of a knowing look, having seemingly recognized the mew plushie that his youngest daughter now had. “And thank you for your discovery. You have done the kingdom a great service. So much that a reward must be offered, but we shall discuss that later. Please enjoy the ball.”

I curtsied and followed the GM away. Once we had gone a ways away, I was pulled to an area that was empty of people. It wasn’t the GM, but his wife that did this, though I could see he had questions himself.

“Those were so cute! You said they were mythical beasts? Do you have any more of those? Can I have one?”

“Yes, they are. They are written about extensively, though none has seen a real one. As I made those, I have many of them, though I don’t have any duplicates just now. I’d made those specifically for this event. I can make you one if you want?”

“Yes! Can I have one of the dragons?”

“A charizard? Sure. I’ll drop it off at the guild for him to bring home when it’s done.”

She hugged and thanked me, then dragged me off to get something to eat. Her husband obviously wanted to ask questions as well, but dared not come between us and food. I had a feeling I’d end up answering some questions later, possibly getting called to the pricip… Guildmaster’s office to do so.

Sandra had attended these things before, and recognized much of the food, telling me what to avoid. While some of the ingredients were expensive, that didn’t mean they were always tasty. This was a show of wealth, and using pricey stuff to make the food didn’t mean everyone would enjoy them. Sure some people would, otherwise it wouldn’t be known as a food, but most would avoid those dishes. I tried a couple of the less popular options, and while they were edible, I had to agree they weren’t that enjoyable.

After snacking for a time, since neither of us had eaten anything since much earlier in the day, Sandra pulled her husband off to dance, leaving me to fly solo for a while. It was during this time that a butler came to escort me to one of the conversation rooms, the royal one. Glancing at the thrones showed me that most of the kids had gotten antsy and abandoned their parents, leaving only the crown prince to endure it with them.

Following the man, I was led up some stairs and down a hallway to a room that was well guarded. Among the guards was one I recognized who I smiled at, though she didn’t recognize me. Lisa. She hadn’t been out in the ballroom when I’d been introduced and given my gift. Since she couldn’t place me, she merely gave a nod of her head as I went into the room she was guarding.

Within were the four younger royal children, as well as a guard for each of them. Two of the guards were Jane and Morgan. Now if only Rachel were here…

As I entered I curtsied.

“Ella! Or Telarynn? Is that your full name? Also, is it a common one? We met someone else with that name...”

Her older sister, the first princess, who was around fifteen or sixteen by the looks of it, laid her hand on Isabella’s shoulder, stopping her from jumping up from the couch she’d been seated on.

“Calm down. She can’t answer you if you don’t let her. Please, have a seat. My name is Abigail. You already know Isabella. This is my younger brother Gabriel, and our youngest sister Celia.”

I took a seat and was offered a cup of tea by one of the maids.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Telarynn, though I usually go by nicknames like Ella or Rynn. The latter is what the Adventurer’s Guild knows me as. You seem to be enjoying my gifts.”

Each of them was holding onto one of the plushies, even the prince. He seems to have chosen the solgaleo, though he blushed a little when I mentioned them.

“Yes, thank you so much. When Isabella came back from her adventure and showed off the one you’d given her little Celia was quite jealous, though that seems to have been resolved now that she has one of her own.”

The little girl was hugging the thing tightly, a huge grin on her face, though she was still acting a little shy and leaning up against Abigail without speaking.

“I’m glad to hear it. And also to hear that you’d gotten home safely Princess Isabella.”

“You don’t have to be formal with me, at least not when we’re in private. What are their names?”

“Well you already know the mew. The one you have is ninetales, for obvious reasons. That one is pichu. While the young prince has solgaleo. Of the other three, the dragon is charizard, the horse is galarian ponyta, and the whale is kyogre.”

Isabella repeats the names as I say them, trying to memorize them. Ha, if only she knew there were around a thousand of them, though I don’t know the ones from the ninth game set, Scarlet and Violet. Probably never would.

We sat there and chatted for a while, though not too long. The kids were expected to interact with the people at the ball, so it wasn’t too long before we had to return to the party. They were also sad that they had to leave their new toys behind, though they didn’t actually complain about it, except for Celia, but she was six.

I walked with them back to the hall, but then separated just before we entered. I’d already been informed that I would be visiting them again in the near future.

After waiting a minute, I reentered the hall. I’d delayed so people would be less likely to pester me about how I was and why I’d been with the royal children. It mostly worked, with only a few people noticing that I’d been summoned shortly after they’d left the hall, and returned shortly after they returned.

To the few who asked me about it, I politely refused to answer any question I didn’t want to, mentioning that they’d been interested in the gifts I’d given and where they came from. As for where they came from, I had an answer ready. They came from the land of Arceus, but I refused to tell them anything about where that was.

When I escaped, I made my way across the room, looking for my escort and his wife. Sadly I was unable to locate them before I was waylaid again.

“Pardon me, miss, but may I share this dance with you?”

I looked at the man who spoke. He was tall, with the stature of a warrior, though likely not a true veteran, as he seemed to be barely out of his teens. Still, he was pleasing to the eye. Unfortunately for him…

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know the dances of this kingdom.”

“This one isn’t too complicated. If you don’t mind, I can try to teach you?”

“Do you dislike your toes so much that you’re willing to sacrifice them to dance with me?”

He laughed.

“It’s worth the risk, plus even if you step on my toes, you’re unlikely to harm them much by accident. You look to be far to light on your feet for that.”

I looked up at his smiling face and decided that since I was here I may as well give it a shot. If he pissed me off, I could always do something about that.

“Well, if you’re willing to take the risk, then lets dance. I’m Rynn, by the way.”

He took the hand I held out and led me to the dance floor where he positioned our arms the correct way and started leading me in the dance.

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance Lady Rynn. I am Arthur Seldwin.”

We started off slowly, with whispered instruction on how to move. Between that and observing the nearby couples I was able to dance reasonably well. If you count only stepping on his feet twice and occasionally misstepping, though remaining on the rhythm, to be reasonable for a newb. He didn’t seem to mind.

I was better the second dance, but after it, he led me off the floor as a new tune began. One that was much faster.

“Best not to dance this one unless you know what you’re doing.”

He was right. Unlike the last, this dance was very active, with people moving all over the place, as well as switching partners multiple times. Definitely not a dance for beginners. So we talked as we watched.

“As I thought, you’re very light on your feet, and have the movements of a fighter.”

“Thank you. You seem to be quite sure of your movements as well. I could tell you were well trained. Are you a knight?”

“Nope, while I could have been, I decided it was too rigid for me. Father was quite put out when I joined the Adventurer’s Guild. I’m guessing you belong to it as well?”

“Yep. It’s why I’m here actually. I lucked onto an undiscovered dungeon, so I was forc… invited to attend this event since I was in the city.”

He grinned at my correction.

“I was also reluctant to attend, though now I’m glad I did.”

He smiled as he said this, and while I wasn’t too well versed in it, I could recognize flirting when it happened. Sometimes… occasionally. OK, I’m crap at recognizing it, but I got this one, alright? Get off my back!

“Hmm. It hasn’t been all bad.”

We continued to talk for a while, and danced with each other when a song was played that was easy enough for a beginner to dance to, as long as I had an expert partner to lead.

I learned that he was a noble from another country, one he’d left so he wouldn’t become embroiled in a succession dispute. He was a twin, but while he’d been the firstborn, his brother had a better head for management, so he’d foisted the responsibility of being the successor on his brother and joined the guild. Unfortunately, there’d been some who’d tried to ‘help’ him to become the heir to the family when his father took ill. He’d tried to ignore them, but the snakes kept pestering him, wanting a pawn to take control of his house, a ducal family that was wealthy from being in charge of a large company.

So he’d left.

Not immediately, but he’d avoided the capital until just before his father died, when he returned to say his farewells and attend the funeral, then he disappeared, leaving the country.

He’d traveled the lands, keeping in touch with his family through the guild, whose silence was assured by magical oaths. When he happened to be in this country when the festival rolled around, his distant cousin, the king of his homeland, had asked him to attend as his representative when circumstances had prevented him from making it on time.

We had a good time. While there was more flirting, it was just in fun. We hit it off, but it was more as friends than either of us seeking a relationship, especially a one night stand. I didn’t do those… except that one time. I’d rather not think about that. It’s why I don’t have one night stands anymore.

Unfortunately, we were separated when a pair of knights came my way. I’d been pretty inconspicuous, but it seems that one of the higher ups in the military had realized who I was and sent messengers to summon me.

Ugh. I knew this was likely to happen, but that didn’t make it any less irritating. I tried to find my backup, but the GM was nowhere in sight, so I sighed, mentally, and followed one of the knights while the other trailed behind me, penning me in.

Again I entered the hallways leading to the meeting rooms, but was led to a different one. The last one was for Royalty and their invited guests only.

A female knight checked me for weapons, not that they’d be able to actually disarm me, considering they were all in my inventory, not on my person, before I was allowed into the room. I hadn’t been checked before appearing before the Royal Children, but I was here. Whoever I was about to meet must be ultra paranoid. Or Isabella was just not careful enough. Both?

Upon entering the room I gave a curtsy to the trio of seated individuals.

The first was an old man, in his sixties at least, though his age didn’t diminish his aura. He was quite strong, with his aura proclaiming him to be no less than a master warrior, and more than likely a grandmaster. He was dressed in a military dress uniform, with a large collection of various badges and medals hanging from his jacket.

The second was a younger man, most likely the first one’s second in command. He was a decade or two younger, having only slight lines marring his handsome face, only a dash of grey in his otherwise obsidian colored hair. His eyes were sharp, assessing every motion I made. Like the old man, this man was also in military dress uniform, but while he had a large collection of shiny stuff on his jacket, it was half that of the old guy.

The final person was an old… mature looking woman with silver hair. I swear her eyes narrowed when I was observing her. She was dressed in mage robes, fancy ones that would have cost a fortune to have made. Not just for the elegance of them, but for what they were made from and enchanted with. They positively radiated power, though it didn’t eclipse the aura of the wearer.

“So, this child is the Space Destroyer?”

The way the younger man said child did not make me happy, a fact I had no problem responding to his insult. Of course, I did so politely, with a smile on my face.

“I would request that you refrain from disparaging comments. One more and I shall leave. Also, I despise that nickname, and so would ask that you not use it.”

He didn’t take me seriously, which worked out for me, since I didn’t really want to be here to begin with.

“Do you know who you’re talking to? I am the General in charge of the Royal Guards. I will refer to you as I desire, child. And you will remain here until we allow you to leave.”

Again with the insulting tone…

I scoffed at his posturing, something that only worked when one cared about another’s status, then turned, trying to open the door.

It was locked.

“As I said, you leave when we…”

*Click*

The door unlocked with a quick nudge of earth magic into the lock, concealed from detection, since using magic in the palace without permission was a big no-no. There were detector spells in place to catch those who broke the rules. Such things were easy for me to avoid, though there was an increased cost, since doing so required some bending of the rules of magic. Using magic to conceal the use of magic while under a magic detection ward was tricky business. Another lovely spell that’d been lost to the ages that I’d picked up from the ancient library I looted.

“Wha… Hey! Get back here! Guards, stop her!”

The asshole general just made a bad decision. His order to the knights outside the room made them step from their stations to impede my movement.

The polite smile I’d been wearing fell from my face. I let them block my path while turning my head to the occupants of the room.

“Be very careful of what you decide to do next. I came here to be polite, though I know you have already been informed of my lack of interest in joining your kingdom’s military. I am also at this event at the request of the crown, and have not broken a single law. If you decide to attempt to illegally detain me, I shall respond with force.”

The general, the only one of the trio I knew the rank of as they hadn’t bothered to introduce themselves before the asshole started disparaging me for my apparent age, stood up and was headed my way, face flushed red with fury and a hand on his sword’s hilt, but another voice spoke up.

“Guards, back to your posts. Walter, sit back down. Miss, I apologize for my subordinate’s words and actions. Would you please come back and take a seat?”

I glanced at him, while also observing the actions of Walter, the general. He went back too easily. As expected, this was some kind of test. Well too bad. I despise tests being given to me without my being informed and choosing to take them.

“If you hadn’t decided to put on this little play, we could have had a pleasant discussion, but you betrayed the trust I put in you by joining you here. So I shall keep my word. I said I’d leave, and so I shall.”

Turning my head forwards, I walked out the door and back down the hall to the ballroom.

I was done with this place. While I hadn’t wanted to come, I’d started enjoying myself, and now it was spoiled. It was time to go home.

Looking around, it took me a few minutes to locate my guide and his wife. They were still enjoying themselves, but at least they weren’t on the dance floor, so I was able to approach them, though with some difficulty, as they were conversing with a group of people.

Well, Fredericks was. Sandra wasn’t so I was able to pull her to the side as her husband traded gossip with the men who appeared to be merchants. Likely ones that buy a lot of monster parts through the guild.

“Rynn, dear, what’s wrong? You look upset.”

“Some Military big wigs decided that locking me in a room and being assholes about it was a great way to spoil my evening. So I’m done. I’m going home. Didn’t want to just disappear and leave you wondering. So bye.”

I turned to go, but she grabbed me.

“Wait just a moment, Rynn. Fred! Come here a moment.”

Her voice when talking to me was soft, but it snapped like a whip when she called out her husband. Begging the pardon of those he was talking to, he joined us.

“Yes? What’s going on?”

“Rynn’s evening was being spoiled by the some old fools, and she was trying to run off.”

Narrowing his eyes, he looked my way.

“Details.”

Knowing an order, and that my chances of escaping had diminished drastically, I obeyed, explaining what had happened and who had been involved.

“Those idiots, trying to poach from the guild, and in such an inane manner.” He shook his head. “The old man was the Minister of Defense, Duke Samuel, the one in charge of the entirety of the military. The woman was the Royal Court’s Head Mage Marcia Rickards. Both of them are very level headed. Even Walter, who’s a Marquis in addition to being a general, wouldn’t usually act like you described, so it was definitely a test of some sort, though it was in poor taste to do it at an event like this.

Let me know if anything comes of it and I’ll see what I can do.

Other than that, you should really stay and enjoy yourself. Don’t let those idiots ruin your first royal ball.”

Looking him squarely in the eye, I gave a small smile, though it was more smirk than smile.

“Who said this was my first royal ball? I’ve been to several, though not in this country or on this continent. They’re all the same. Dancing, gossiping, and politicking. I can’t do any of those, since I don’t know the dances, don’t know anyone to casually gossip with, and neither have nor want anything to do with politics. Also, I already enjoyed all the food I wanted to, so there’s nothing of interest left to me here.”

The pair looked at me in confusion. Well, they didn’t know me very well. Guess Raiden didn’t pass on too much information about me, which was just as well. It made this scene more amusing.

“Well, I’m out. See you later!”

With that, I left behind the couple, who were brought back to their senses a moment later by people who’d been waiting for some time with the old man. Sandra was torn between following me and helping her husband, but since I seemed determined to leave, chose the later.

I headed towards the doors, navigating to avoid the groups of people milling about the ballroom. It took me a few minutes, since the GM had been pretty far from the door.

I have no doubt some people were giving me strange looks for leaving so soon, since it’d only been a couple hours since the party started, but I ignored them.

One of the doorman asked if I was leaving, and on confirming it, called over a runner to summon my carriage before I could stop him.

“Ah, I don’t have my own carriage, and my ride’s not ready to leave yet, so I’m walking.”

They looked aghast at this.

“But…”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure you’re concerned about a young woman being alone in the streets, but I’m an adventurer. If someone pesters me, I can defend myself.”

They seemed reluctant, but couldn’t really stop me, so I headed off, walking down the path and towards the gates. The guards along the way seemed to be thinking along the same lines as the doormen, but seeing as I wasn’t making any suspicious moves, they didn’t move to stop me, just watching to make sure I didn’t stray.

Once I’d exited and gotten a few streets away, I found a secluded space and put up some protections for swapping clothes. There was no way I was going to make my way home wearing that dress or those shoes. Here in the noble district there were few people, but once I got further away, it would definitely attract the wrong kind of attention. During the day, it’d been fine, but at night, and after drinking, there’d be a lot more idiots.

Once more clothed comfortably, I dropped the barrier and headed away.

I may have gotten diverted by the festival and not gotten home until the wee hours of the night, but at least my night got a lot better. Stuffy noble parties are boring, it’s much better to party with the common folk.