The Goddess Granted Me the [Hatching] Skill and Somehow I Became the Strongest Tamer, Commanding Mythical and Divine Beasts - 153

Chapter 153: Silverford Count Family

“Oh, isn’t that Melissa?”

The one who approached us and spoke was Melissa.

She wore a pale green dress. A necklace hung around her neck, and it suited her very well.

She was always pretty when we hung out, but seeing her in a dress at a place like this made her feel like a whole different person.

“Isn’t it bad manners to cut into someone’s conversation?”

Angie raised her voice in criticism, and the people around us nodded in agreement. Sometimes people are having important talks, so Olivia the princess had drilled it into me over and over that interrupting was against etiquette.

“No, I wanted to chat with as many people as possible, so it’s no problem at all.”

But if the person being interrupted gives permission, that’s a different story.

Since I was the one drawing all the attention at this party, there was no way the nobles around us would push back.

Maybe she realized that, because Angie figured more criticism would backfire and cleared her throat instead.

“So, what business does the Silverford Count family have?”

Angie deliberately called her by her family name.

Everyone at this party was from count families and below. That meant she and her family had the most sway here.

Even if I’d given permission, not many houses could just butt in on a count family like that.

“I was thinking of explaining it to Angie.”

But Melissa didn’t seem to care about any of that; she answered Angie with a cheerful smile.

“You’re saying Melissa, who scored lower than me in etiquette class, is going to teach me? That’s a funny thing to say.”

She put a hand to her mouth and let out a little laugh. A few of the noble daughters surrounding us laughed along, as if going with the flow.

Celia, who wasn’t used to noble parties anyway, must have felt anxious from this mean-spirited treatment. Her eyes grew misty as she looked at Melissa.

Melissa stepped up beside Celia, who looked so worried, and took her hand.

“It’s okay.”

She encouraged her in a voice Celia could hear, then turned to face Angie.

“You wanted to know who this girl is, right? She’s my friend Celia.”

She looked around at everyone and announced Celia’s name to the group.

“Oh my, that’s a surprise. I thought you were protecting her back at the debut too, but to think you were actually friends with a commoner—she must have such a generous heart.”

Angie put on an exaggerated show of shock and threw some sarcasm at Melissa.

Half the people around laughed at Melissa for hanging out with a commoner, two in ten shot cold looks at Celia, and the last three in ten gave Angie chilly stares.

I burned each of their expressions into my memory.

“Yeah, that’s right, but do you know? Klaus used to be a commoner too.”

While that was going on, Melissa brought up my background as well.

“How rude to Lord Klaus! He passed the exam faster than anyone to become a national adventurer, and in less than a year he joined our noble ranks—he’s an outstanding person! It’s insulting to lump him in with just any commoner!”

Angie leaned in close, acting like she totally got me, and flashed a smile. I just looked at her with cold eyes.

“I had no idea you were so taken with Klaus.”

I agreed completely. Our first meeting left a bad impression, and the second time she threw words of disgust at me like “Using monsters like that.” It didn’t feel good at all to get praise from someone like her.

“You’ve got this much info on Klaus, but you didn’t know that?”

Melissa covered her mouth with her hand and laughed.

“What are you talking about?”

Angie’s irritation grew at Melissa’s loaded words.

“Celia is Klaus’s little sister.”

“What⁉︎”

Angie and Victor let out surprised voices at the same time.

“No way…? His noble registry shouldn’t list any sister.”

“She’s my dad’s sister’s daughter, so she’ll become an adopted child.”

Only my name was on the noble registry, and even tracing the family records only went back to my parents’ names. Even as an adopted child, Celia was on my parents’ household register, so a quick check wouldn’t turn her up.

Nobles who only looked at the paperwork would fall right into this trap.

“My little sister has a talent for magic, and she’s top of her class at school. There’s no reason to look down on her just because she’s a commoner.”

With Melissa’s help, I could finally speak up here too. I’d reached my limit holding back while they insulted my precious little sister.

“It seems you’re still a bit immature when it comes to dealing with other nobles, aren’t you?”

Victor’s friendly attitude from before had vanished; now he looked at me with eyes full of hostility.

“It looks like it was too soon for you to talk with a count family. We’ll take our leave now. Come on, Angie.”

“F-Father!”

Seeing the tide had turned against them, the two of them dragged Angie away and left the party venue. Once they were gone,

“Melissa, thanks.”

“Thank you, Melissa.”

Celia and I both thanked her.

But she turned her face away with a huff,

“It’s not like I did it for you two or anything.”

And answered in an embarrassed tone.