Seitil calmed himself.
'The banquet is just beginning, and there are many opportunities to humiliate him.'
Just then, the band's music changed.
Loud and cheerful.
The centerpiece of the banquet, the dancing, had begun.
'No lady would dance with him.'
Seitil scoffed.
He's a little handsome, but that's all.
No lady of honor would want to dance with him.
He'll be left alone, unable to partner with anyone, and forced to drink his fill.
The moment he was going to call for joy.
Seitil's eyes widened.
More perfect than anyone else on the floor.
He recognized the beautiful dancers.
It was Raymond and Christine.
***
'Um, should I dance?'
Raymond pondered.
His goal was to promote medicine, not dance.
'But I'm not sure I shouldn't dance at all.'
In social conventions, it was a great disgrace to be unable to dance with anyone at a banquet.
You become officially bullied in your social circle.
You get laughed at behind your back.
So if you didn't have a partner, you had to dance with your sibling.
'Uhm. What are Rao and Christine doing?'
Rao was chatting with his fellow academy members, and Christine was alone.
"...?"
Raymond scratched his head.
'Why is she alone?'
She was the first princess of a grand duke.
He thought she'd be mingling with everyone.
'Is she taking a break?'
That didn't seem to be it either.
He watched her for a moment, but she didn't move from her corner.
Finally, Raymond realized what was going on.
'... she's being ostracized from her social circle.'
He remembered the rumors about her.
'A good princess who serves the common people.'
While she had great support among the commoners, there were also rumors of the opposite.
'A disgrace to the ducal family.'
The nobles cast pitying glances at Christine as she struggled to leave her noble position and got dirty blood on her hands.
They stared at her with sneering eyes, not daring to approach her.
Especially Christine's own sister.
The second princess set the tone for the bullying.
"..."
Christine stood still in the corner of the ballroom, her face expressionless.
Raymond clenched his fists at the sight of her, a far cry from her usual confident self.
"Master?"
Christine's eyes widened as Raymond approached.
"What's wrong? Has someone been mean to you? Just tell me, and I'll fix it."
Christine was actually worried about him.
She beat her chest with a fist and struck a trust-me pose.
"No, there was nothing like that."
"Then what's with the look on your face, are you worried about a patient again?"
"... No, I'm not, I'm here to ask you a favor."
At Christine's questioning look, Raymond feigned a hand.
"... What is this?"
"It's a dance request."
"That's...?"
Christine looked dumbfounded.
She was so pretty that her dumbfounded expression was so cute that Raymond couldn't help but laugh.
"Why me?"
"Um."
No particular reason.
It was just a spur-of-the-moment request, and he sheepishly offered another reason.
"To promote the clinic."
"... Promote what?"
"I mean, why don't we do the concerted dance to let the smug nobles know about the greatness of the Penin Clinic?"
"..."
Christine shut her mouth for a moment.
She looked at him like he was full of shit.
"A-ahem. That's...."
"Cough, cough. Okay. You're looking out for me, right?"
Raymond smiled sheepishly.
She took his hand in hers.
"Let's do a good job of promoting the clinic with some fancy dancing. I'll lead the way, so don't step on my toes!"
She sounded as cheerful as ever, and Raymond smiled wryly.
***
They got on the floor and started dancing, and the nobles saw them,
".. Doesn't he dance well?"
"Really?"
"That's not just dancing well..."
There were several other couples dancing, but they just looked like background one, background two, three, four, and five.
Only the two of them stood out in the crowd.
"Maybe we've been thinking about Baronet Penin all wrong."
"That's right, we just ignored him."
Raymond's perception had changed once again, and after a brief but impressive dance, he found himself face-to-face with an unexpected figure. It was Princess Sophia!
"Greetings to the Princess."
Raymond greeted her politely and then looked at her with a puzzled expression.
There was no response.
She stared at him, arms crossed, eyes narrowed.
"What is it? If you don't have anything to say, go away."
He could see the irritation on her face.
He tried to sidestep her, but she raised her voice.
"What, you're just going to leave me in front of people?"
"I-I'm sorry."
'If you have something to say, say it!'
Raymond exclaimed to himself, and then a thought occurred to him.
'Is she waiting for me to ask her to dance?'
It was certainly a possibility.
After all, he was on a charm offensive right now!
'I-I'm scared to dance with Princess Sophia.'
Raymond cringed inwardly, but he couldn't help it.
He was guilty of being too charming.
"Will you grant me the honor of dancing with me, Princess?"
That moment.
Princess Sophia's face changed dramatically.
It was as if she had chewed on a piece of ginger.
She frowned as if she had heard something she couldn't believe!
"Did you just ask me to dance with you?"
"... Sorry, I'm sorry."
'Then why did you come to me!'
Raymond racked his brains.
Just then, Princess Sophia sighed softly.
"I'm here to tell you something, and I need you to leave the ballroom right now."
"... Pardon?"
Princess Sophia narrowed her eyes.
"I'm warning you, our asshole brother is targeting you, and if you stay in the ballroom any longer, you'll be in big trouble."
***
Raymond made a hard face. 'Asshole brother.'
It meant Seitil.
'Seitil is after me? Then why are you telling me this?'
As if sensing his question, Princess Sophia spoke in a cold voice.
"It's none of your business, but I'm telling you because I think it would be annoying if the healer who cured me was humiliated in front of everyone, so don't take this the wrong way."
"Oh... Yes."
"Anyway, don't be stupid, be smart."
She turned on her heel and walked away as if he'd been warned.
'What am I going to do?'
Raymond put on a serious face.
It was clear that Seitil was up to no good if Sophia had to come and warn him in person.
'Should I avoid him?'
The thought crossed his mind, but he quickly shook his head.
'No, this is a great PR opportunity, and if I don't take advantage of it today, I don't know when it will come around again!'
The mood was good.
His impeccable manners and Christine's dance had gotten a few people to see him again, and if he could capitalize on the momentum, he could have a PR bonanza.
The time had come.
It was time to go for it!
'After all, it's a banquet hall, he can't be trying to kill me.'
At best, he'd have to dishonor him.
A dishonor, yes.
It was just another day for the 'dirty bastard.'
'I can't go any lower than this!'
Determined, Raymond mingled with the aristocracy and tried to promote medicine.
It wasn't difficult.
Once he struck up a conversation, the topic naturally flowed.
There were many nobles who were curious about medicine.
Seitil, meanwhile, was,
'... damn it.'
He was grumbling inwardly.
Unlike Raymond, he was doing poorly at the banquet.
None of the ladies were accepting his dance requests.
"Lady, would you like a dance?"
"I... I have a bad leg."
"Lady, one dance..."
"My mom told me not to dance today, so..."
"Lady..."
"I have a disease that will kill me if I dance..."
"... Sophia, I'm sorry, but I need a dance..."
"Are you crazy?"
Seitil himself didn't realize it, but he was the number one disliked man among the ladies.
Drunk, ignorant, bad-tempered, violent, overbearing - there was nothing to like about him.
Moreover, the latest trend in social circles was for gentle, intelligent men.
Like Raymond.
'I can't believe Baronet Penin was like that.'
'Not at all like the rumors. He doesn't look like a bastard at all.'
The young ladies' gazes turned dreamy as they looked at Raymond.
Today Raymond looked like a prince on a white horse, straight out of a fairy tale.
It was hard not to like him instinctively.
'Judging by his recent accomplishments, he's quite capable.'
'If only he weren't a bastard.'
Seitil gritted his teeth again at the atmosphere in the ballroom.
'I haven't even begun my real plan yet. We'll see, Raymond.'
He had a plan to humiliate Raymond in the worst way possible, and it was time to bring it out.
Seitil stepped up to the dais at the front of the ballroom.
The booming music died down, and all eyes were on him.
"Ahem, ahem. I am Seitil, fourth prince of the House of Huston, and I would like to thank all the guests for coming to this eve."
The people scratched their heads as they listened.
'Is it already time for the commemorative speech?'
'Who will deliver the commemorative speech this time?'
The commemorative speech!
It was an annual tradition.
Considering the nature of the eve, where mainly young nobles gather, a prominent young noble from the Houston Kingdom was selected to give a commemorative speech.
'Who was chosen this time?'
That's when people wondered. Seitil smiled genuinely and announced an unexpected name.
"Baronet Penin, please come forward."
"...!"
"You are the young nobleman who has most recently raised the name of the Kingdom of Houston, and I will entrust you with the honor of delivering the commemorative speech."
A gasp spread through the banquet hall.
To entrust such an honor to the illegitimate Baronet Penin?
It was outrageous.
"Nonsense."
"Of course, Baronet Penin has done a lot of good lately, but this..."
Seitil chuckled to himself as he listened to the murmurs of disapproval.
Needless to say, Seitil hadn't given Raymond a speech to flatter him.
Rather, he planned to humiliate Raymond in the worst possible way!
'There's no way he's going to be able to deliver such an important speech, especially with no preparation.'
With no advance warning, he would have to improvise.
Especially with so many eyes on him.