The Necromance of Love and Death: Defeated Early in the Game, I Reincarnated as a Tragic Villainous Noble and Rebel Against the Scenario with My Beloved Using My Modern and Game Knowledge - Chapter 18

“Yesterday, by the grace of His Majesty, I was bestowed the title of Margraviate. I am Clovis Balbastor. I extend my gratitude to all of you for attending the tea party I have arranged today. Let us enjoy this time together.”

My opening address was met with enthusiastic applause.

After what felt like an eternity of exchanging greetings with the guests, the tea party had finally begun. Honestly, I was already exhausted. But as the host, I couldn’t afford to look bored—it would ruin the entire event. I consciously adjusted my expression, making sure to appear composed.

“It has been a while, Lady Constance.”

“Indeed, Lady Corantine. It is an honor to meet you again.”

Beside me, Lady Corantine and Lady Constance were already deep in conversation.

“Lord Clovis, Lady Violette, this is Lady Constance,” Lady Corantine introduced. “Her husband, Viscount Mamère, holds land just east of the Balbastor-Marquess. I expect there will be many occasions for cooperation in the future.”

“Lady Constance, as you can see, I am still young and inexperienced. I may cause trouble at times, but I look forward to your guidance.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you,” Vio added, bowing her head politely alongside me.

Lady Constance let out a soft sigh, her expression warm.

“How endearing. The pleasure is mine, truly.”

I had heard beforehand that Lady Constance had a nurturing personality. No doubt, Lady Corantine had already spoken to her about looking after Vio and me.

“The late Marquess Alfred was incredibly kind to us. Now, it is time for the Mamère family to support the Balbastor house.”

“Thank you, Lady Constance,” I said sincerely.

The true purpose of today’s tea party, it seemed, was to honor the deceased and pledge cooperation for the new era ahead.

“I never knew Father had such a reputation.”

“Oh, he did,” one noblewoman said with a knowing smile. “Lord Alfred was quite the infamous playboy in the capital—”

“That is, until he married Lady Lucrece. After that, he became a devoted husband.”

“Everyone praised Lady Lucrece’s remarkable influence on him.”

Because of today’s gathering, I learned so much about my parents—things I had never known before.

Thinking of them still brought sadness, but more than that, I wanted to know them better. And so, I went around, asking more people about my father and mother, eager to hear their stories.

“Thank you for today. And for the lovely parting gift as well.”

“Think nothing of it. I look forward to our next meeting.”

And so, my very first tea party came to a close after about two hours.

I was utterly exhausted.

Apparently, though, two hours was considered short for a tea party. Despite the common perception that tea parties were leisurely social gatherings for women, they required quite a bit of stamina.

Meanwhile, beside me, Vio looked absolutely delighted, as if fatigue didn’t exist. It seemed she had been thrilled by all the guests calling her “adorable” and saying how “perfect we look together.”

Well, I was happy about it too, though.

◇

“Hah!”

With the tea party finally over, we were free for the afternoon. Vio and I spent our time practicing swordsmanship in our room.

Well, “swordsmanship practice” was a bit of an overstatement. What we were actually doing was threading a stick through wooden boards—an exercise Enzo had taught us. According to him, this was the foundation of everything, so we had to keep practicing.

Vio and I did this whenever we had free time.

“Take that! And that! Hah!”

I had finally gotten the hang of passing the stick through the boards without hitting them, but Vio had already moved on to practicing with a real sword. I needed to catch up.

Once our free time ended, it was back to reviewing the tea party with Lady Corantine.

Our goal was to recall as many guests as possible while their names and faces were still fresh in our minds. The sooner we solidified those memories, the better.

As a noble, remembering names and faces was an essential skill.

The Balbastor Margraviate led the northern noble faction. If the head of the faction remembered someone’s name, it was seen as an honor. On the other hand, failing to remember could easily cause resentment.

A faction consisted of many nobles, but memorizing only those within our faction wasn’t enough. We had to know the names and faces of nobles outside the faction as well.

Many of today’s guests had been from outside our faction.

Even among unaffiliated nobles, some were friendly with our house while others were not. We also had to be aware of the relationships between different noble houses—who got along, who didn’t, and why. That part was even trickier.

The ideal goal was to know every noble in the kingdom by name and face, understand their relationships, their roles, and even their accomplishments. But that was practically impossible.

That’s why the common strategy was to start with the most prominent nobles among one’s allies.

If unsure, one could always ask a trusted noble for guidance.

“Here’s a question. Who was sitting to my right?” Lady Corantine asked.

“Lady Constance,” I answered immediately.

“Correct. Now, which noble house does Lady Constance belong to? Vio?”

“Umm… the Mamère… Baron family?”

“Incorrect.”

“Oh, I was close…”