330 Official Visit
Clad in majestic clothing and the royal mantle of red, Emperor Jeffrey Dixon stepped out of the carriage and firmly stood before us with conviction. After a few weeks of travel from his country, the emperor of Dixon finally arrived in our city as part of his state visit. Followingly, three men exited the same carriage: the prime minister, the guildmaster, and His Imperial Majesty's personal guard. Other than them, there were some other significant figures on this trip, such as an archbishop from Primaria Theocracy. (So many big names are currently in here, huh?) I thought. Soon after, my whole family and our knights and servants immediately dropped to one knee and bowed our heads. Our state had not been deflected from the empire yet, so it was the right move for us to take a knee before our ruler. Even though this city was not geographically in the empire, it was ruled by Mother, a noblewoman of the empire. "There is no need to be too formal with your visitors. Please raise your heads." "As you wish, Your Imperial Majesty," Mother responded to the emperor. As per the emperor's plea, we slowly raised our bodies and stood up straight. Considering we were in front of the emperor himself, we must be careful and selective with our manners and behave properly around our visitors. "Your Imperial Majesty, Emperor Jeffrey Dixon, and I, Marchioness Mylene Raevender, am honorably welcoming you to this city, the capital of the Raevender Marquisate. We are terribly sorry for not being able to give this city a name yet." "I understand, Lady Mylene Raevender." His Imperial Majesty bobbed his head once. "We are just visiting here; therefore, we are not in a position to question the identity of this place. The main city of the formerly Raevender Viscounty does not have a name either until recently, so it isn't new to me at all." Actually, the city we had been living in the whole time did not have a name at all. It was when our territory was promoted to maquisate that we decided to give it the name of Lavender, the city that I would rule in the future. But who would rule Lavender City when my parents were managing this city while I was studying in the empire? Well, our optimal solution for now was to have Mom act as the acting major of Lavender since she could teleport back and forth between both cities so that she could have her nightly routine. "Thank you for your understanding, Your Imperial Majesty."
"No problem. Well then, could you please tell me what the plan is tonight?"
"Very well, Your Imperial Majesty. First, we will be having a banquet for you and your company inside the palace. We are thinking of offering you a room for honorable visitors in the palace during your stay in the city." "That's great, then. We just arrived here after a long trip, so we are looking forward to the banquet. It would be an honor for us to be guided by the Sword Saint and her family." "The honor is ours, Your Imperial Majesty. Please follow us." Mother bobbed her body elegantly before guiding our visitors to the banquet. ◆◇◆◇◆◇
The banquet was held in the grand hall, where the famous hall of mirrors was situated in the real Palace of Versailles. Of course, I could not just completely copy the real thing, so we did not put too many mirrors in there. When we got into the hall, we were greeted by the music the orchestra was harmoniously playing. Leaving the orchestra and the servants alone, there were not that many people in the hall considering how secluded this city was. The Raeven family and Rick, along with his colleagues, were present in the hall as well, since they would be included in later matters. Naturally, it would be business matters. We were about to formal introduce a truly marvelous invention to the emperor and to the world.
In the middle of the hall, a long table with splendid chairs was set horizontally. That would be the main table where my family and the imperial visitors would dine. There were several tables around for others. "I once again welcome you, Your Imperial Majesty." "Thank you for having me, Lady Raevender." The emperor wore a broad smile. "The guest of honor has arrived. Enjoy this evening, everyone. I hope you will as well, Your Imperial Majesty." "Thank you. Let's go, everyone." With that, we approached the table and took our seats. Naturally, Mother and His Imperial Majesty took the ends, as they were the hostess and guest of honor of this banquet, respectively. After we got to our seats, a servant approached the table with a bottle in hand. Mother then stood up and received the bottle of dark amber spirit from the servant before he made his gracious exit. "Ladies and gentlemen," Mother grabbed the attention of everyone. "First of all, I would like to thank the Empire of Dixon, especially His Imperial Majesty himself, for sparing some time to visit our humble city. I am aware that there are reasons for the visit, but tonight, let us set that aside and enjoy this night." After that, everyone clapped their hands and gave Mother a short round of applause. Once it was done, Mother clapped her hands once, and several servants with bottles in hand emerged. They opened the bottles and poured their contents into the glasses of each person on each table. "Hohh! What a sweet-smelling beverage this is!" "Really, it is." The scent given by the spirit was so thick and mellow that the emperor and the archbishop slipped their thoughts verbally. As the servants were filling the guests' glasses, Mother opened the bottle she was holding and poured her glass. "Everyone, before we start this honorable feast, I would like you all to have a taste of this new beverage my son produced. We call this delicacy moonshine. In honor of His Imperial Majesty, the banquet has formally started. Cheers!" "Cheers!!!" When Mother raised her glass of whiskey, everybody raised their own glasses and loudly toasted to start the banquet.
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