"It's done!"
"Ah... I see."
Hearing the woman doing his makeup cry out happily, Rei gave a short reply.
It was called makeup, but it wasn't anything particularly extravagant—just a light application of cosmetics to his face.
...Why a simple application took over an hour, Rei honestly couldn't understand. He couldn't, but since this was presumably a professional's work, he kept his complaints to himself.
"Look, see for yourself. It turned out wonderfully, didn't it?"
Saying that, the woman showed Rei the mirror.
A mirror was an extraordinarily expensive item, but this was the mansion of Duke Kerebel, who led the Noble's Faction—one of the Three Great Factions in the Kingdom of Mireana.
Naturally, mirrors that would normally be far too expensive to purchase were readily available here.
Rei looked at his own face reflected in such a mirror, but...
"Hmm... did something change?"
"It did!"
At Rei's words, the woman reflexively shouted.
Normally, she wouldn't dare shout like that at an Alias Holder.
The fact that she could was probably because she felt her painstaking work was being mocked.
Strictly speaking, Rei wasn't mocking her—he had merely muttered as if he couldn't tell the difference.
In fact, even looking at his own face in the mirror, he didn't think it looked much different from an hour ago.
Seeing Rei's expression, the woman looked melancholic.
"Well, I can understand why you'd say that. Your skin is actually quite beautiful, so there wouldn't have been any particular problem even without makeup. ...But, look. If you shine a little light on it like this, can't you tell?"
Told that, Rei moved near the window and looked at his face in the mirror under the light. It looked slightly—truly only slightly, but somehow different from when he had seen it in the mirror earlier.
Rei's face was originally feminine-looking, and rather than fierce, it was better described as handsome.
It was only a subtle difference in nuance, but that was how Rei thought of his own face.
But now, looking at his face illuminated by the light in the mirror, he somehow looked more masculine than usual.
It wasn't visibly obvious, but there was no mistaking that it appeared that way.
Of course, there was also the thought that perhaps even from Rei's perspective, it was within the margin of error.
After all, the person who had applied the makeup was saying so...
(They say illness starts in the mind... no, does that not quite apply here?)
Thinking such thoughts, he decided for now to simply accept that his face had become more masculine than usual, and turned his gaze to Miranda, who had been assigned as his attendant.
"So, what do we do now? The makeup is done, at least."
There was a slightly—truly only slightly—satisfied tone in his voice that Rei himself hadn't noticed, though the others in the room naturally had.
The reason they didn't say anything to Rei was partly out of kindness, but also because as professionals, they knew that makeup could change one's mental state.
"Let's see. Changing into your party outfit is... I think still a bit early, so how about learning the etiquette for the party—actually, that doesn't seem to be to your liking."
She must have noticed Rei's expression subtly sour at the word "etiquette." Miranda considered what to do but ultimately gave up on teaching him etiquette.
Even if he studied it, it would only be a crash course. The thought that it was better for Rei to behave naturally as an adventurer rather than forcing him into such things was also one of the reasons.
Originally, Miranda wouldn't have needed to think this much about Rei.
Even so, she had been designated as his attendant, and Miranda, who ended up spending a fair amount of time with him, had developed some degree of affection for him.
...The fact that she felt grateful for the large sum of money she had received from the mock battle was also undeniably true.
However, what Miranda felt for Rei was strictly friendship, not anything romantic.
(Leodanis should understand that too.)
Miranda recalled Leodanis, who grew jealous of her interactions with Rei, but the thought quickly passed.
She judged that right now, thinking about Rei's needs took priority.
"Then, shall I tell you about what kind of people will be attending today's party?"
"Ah... is that something I really should know? I'd prefer to avoid that sort of thing if possible."
"I understand you'd rather not, Rei-san, but today's party will be attended not only by Noble Faction Nobles... but also by some nobles from the Neutral Faction and the King's Faction."
"Is that so?"
Those words seemed to surprise Rei, and he shot her a look that asked if she was serious.
Since it was a party hosted by Liberte, who led the Noble's Faction, Rei had assumed that everyone attending would naturally be Noble Faction Nobles.
"Yes. However, it seems they're mostly there to observe what kind of activities the Noble's Faction is engaged in, so I don't think they'll be moving about particularly actively during the party."
"People from the Neutral Faction are coming too. In that case, the King's Faction aside, I should at least show my face and greet the Neutral Faction nobles."
"That's right. The Noble's Faction and the Neutral Faction have been building friendly relations lately."
Looking meaningfully at Rei, Miranda said this.
She said nothing outright, but her gaze clearly conveyed that Rei was the one who had created that friendly atmosphere.
Faced with such a look, Rei couldn't help but nod in agreement.
He thought that since the Noble's Faction and the Neutral Faction were getting along well, he didn't want to steer things in a strange direction through his own judgment.
That said, within the Noble's Faction, there were those who thought it would be good to get along with the Neutral Faction, and conversely, there were also those who absolutely refused to ally with them.
The same was true within the Neutral Faction, and as for the King's Faction, they would hardly be able to tolerate rival factions being on friendly terms with each other.
...Of course, since today's party was ultimately for the Noble's Faction, the King's Faction probably wouldn't be able to make any overt moves.
"Understood. For now, there's nothing to do until the party starts. I'll follow your instructions."
From Rei's perspective, there was nothing he needed to do at the moment.
Having had his makeup done and his hair arranged, running around in such a state—let alone doing combat training—was absolutely out of the question.
So he judged that learning about the nobles would be a good opportunity and accepted Miranda's suggestion.
Of course, it wouldn't be inaccurate to say he simply compromised because studying manners and such would be a hassle.
"Hehe, I would have liked to watch the two of you interact a bit longer, but unfortunately, that doesn't seem possible."
The woman who had done Rei's makeup murmured that, looking toward the door.
There stood a man Rei didn't recognize, but what the man had come to this room to do was obvious without thinking, provided one understood what kind of room it was.
And since the woman who had done Rei's makeup was a professional, she naturally couldn't devote herself solely to Rei in this situation.
Well, there were many others who needed makeup as well, but the fact that she didn't cut corners showed just how much of a professional she was.
Rei and Miranda, judging that there was no longer any need for them to stay now that the makeup was done, left the room as well.
...On the way out, the man who had just entered showed surprise at passing by Rei, but neither Rei nor Miranda paid it any particular mind.
(I'd like to drop by the kitchen, but they're probably busy making the party food right now.)
He wouldn't have minded asking about the progress on the Ramen, but today was one of the busiest days of the year.
Georgima and his subordinates were surely busy cooking right about now.
(Elena and Ara are naturally busy too, I'm sure.)
As the Princess General and the Daughter of Duke Kerebel, Elena needed to prepare for the party and meet with guests who had arrived early for greetings.
As the Escort Knight Order Commander, Ara needed to remain at Elena's side.
Both were busy and certainly couldn't afford to entertain Rei.
Well, to be precise, if Rei went to see them, they would definitely attend to him, but that would undoubtedly be a burden on Elena and Ara.
In that case, Rei didn't want to go out of his way to get in their way.
(Come to think of it, the reason I'm not busy like this is because I'm not a member of Duke Kerebel's House—I'm just a guest. Well, even if they told me to entertain nobles or decorate for the party, I wouldn't be able to do it anyway.)
While walking through the corridor with such thoughts, he passed by several people who appeared to be nobles.
The moment those nobles saw Rei, their eyes widened considerably.
Though Rei felt slightly puzzled by their behavior, he didn't actually know them by name.
(No, wait... have I seen them somewhere before?)
He didn't know their names clearly, but feeling like he had seen their faces somewhere, Rei quickly recalled.
They were the nobles who had been in the noble seating area during the mock battle.
But why would they be this surprised to see him... no, more precisely, why would they show expressions of terror upon seeing him? Rei couldn't understand it.
...That was only natural. Rei had no direct relationship with these nobles whatsoever.
The nobles who met Rei's gaze hastily fled the scene.
"What was that about?"
"Who knows?"
At Rei's words, Miranda also tilted her head with a puzzled look.
Rei had no way of knowing, but the nobles just now were the ones who had seen Set at the mock battle and had been scheming about whether they could somehow secure Set for themselves.
However, before those nobles could take any action, Count Ceresse had acted first, and as a result, he had been expelled from the Noble's Faction.
Because they understood this, the nobles had hurriedly departed from Rei's presence.
Count Ceresse's expulsion had delivered that great a shock to those who had been contemplating similarly underhanded schemes.
If Count Ceresse hadn't moved and they had moved instead.
In that case, it would have undoubtedly been themselves who were expelled from the Noble's Faction—or so they couldn't help but think.
If they were expelled from the Noble's Faction, only ruin awaited them.
Between themselves, as members of the Noble's Faction, and a mere adventurer who had been welcomed as a guest—even if he was an Alias Holder—which would Duke Kerebel prioritize?
These nobles had unconditionally believed he would prioritize them, but having seen Count Ceresse, who held higher status and greater power than them, discarded so easily, there was absolutely no guarantee that they wouldn't be cut off by Duke Kerebel.
No, rather, being of lower rank within the Noble's Faction than Count Ceresse, they naturally concluded that they would certainly be discarded.
...In reality, Count Ceresse was expelled because the negative influence he had on the Noble's Faction was significant, and the Set incident was taken as a good opportunity to remove him.
Without knowing those circumstances, Rei and Miranda could only watch the hastily departing nobles with indescribable expressions.
"Perhaps they had something to feel guilty about regarding you, Rei-san?"
Even without knowing the reason, Miranda could at least surmise that much from the way the nobles had looked at Rei.
She had, after all, served Duke Kerebel's House for a fair amount of time.
As such, reading what emotions nobles harbored was not particularly difficult for her.
"Something to feel guilty about, huh... I can think of quite a few things."
The Black Wolf incident, the Set incident. Beyond those, he understood that there were many who were displeased by his close relationship with Elena.
Also, it wouldn't be strange for Rei to have earned resentment for reasons he himself didn't even understand.
At Rei's attitude, Miranda directed a gaze at him that carried a slightly—no, quite strong—sense of exasperation.
From Miranda's perspective, she couldn't imagine that Rei would deliberately do things to make nobles suspect him of underhanded dealings. ...Though Miranda herself was technically a member of the nobility as well.
"Well then, shall we go? Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be anything in particular happening right now."
Nodding at Miranda's words, Rei started walking again, having stopped to talk.