I’m Quitting Everyth Chapter 126

Chapter 126. No Banquet is Complete Without a Young Lady (5)

Y&P's first secret weapon, unveiled for the very first ti.

The Ribs Full Spread had received nothing but glowing praise.

So much so that even the charity auction, which had been the evening's main event, was pushed to an afterthought. The crowd that sward around Penelope after dinner made that perfectly clear.

"Lady Penelope, in all my years I have never eaten anything so delicious in my life."

"My, my——they say you've received the Royal Warrant for the culinary category. You've truly mastered this domain."

"That cucumber kimchi stuffed with garlic chives was a remarkable thing too. I normally can't eat cucumber because of the raw sll, but I went back for seconds. Twice!"

"Will we be able to have this again tomorrow? I'd like to eat it every day of the charity event."

"I absolutely must invest. Please, let

invest!"

"What was your na again? Jurgen?"

There were even those who approached Jurgen directly rather than Penelope.

Considering the average rank of those gathered here, and the fact that Jurgen was known to be a Commoner, it was clear just how much the Ribs had captured their interest.

"The guests' response is very positive. It doesn't have to be a one-ti thing——we could serve it at the next al as well."

Vivian expressed her satisfaction too. As the host entrusted with running this event by Marquis Ashford, the guests' enthusiastic reaction was most gratifying.

It might seem like a small thing, but monts like these, accumulated one by one, beca reputation, beca credibility, and soon beca proof of one's standing. Vivian had received an unexpectedly generous favour from Penelope.

"Shall we have a quick word, just the two of us?"

Vivian drew Penelope out onto the terrace and leaned back against the railing.

"Thank you for making this such a fine occasion."

"It was nothing very special. The special one was those Ribs."

Vivian's eyes went hazy. Saliva pooled at one corner of her softened lips.

She had never thought of herself as particularly greedy for food. And yet the beauty of that at——that addictive depth of flavour that clung to the palate, the gentle fragrance of charcoal smoke——

"Anyway, I was quite rude earlier."

"Oh, not at all. If anything it was I who showed an unseemly side."

Earlier——that referred to the Power Struggle they had staged over Jurgen.

Penelope's face coloured.

In the mont, so childish possessive impulse of not wanting sothing taken from her had made her act before thinking, but looking back on it now, it had been rather embarrassing. And also imprudent.

A love story between a Commoner and the second daughter of Rosemore was exactly the kind of scandalous material that would spread like wildfire. And Vivian was the axis of Social Circles, the proprietress of the Northern ladies' salon, The Blue Door.

If she were to let sothing slip carelessly…… It wouldn't be the end of the world, but it would be inconvenient. A headache was the last thing she needed.

"Ahahaha, your face rather shows what you're worried about. But……here."

Vivian spread her arms wide.

"I'm not so lacking in manners as all that. I shan't lay a hand on Lady Penelope's stag."

"No, but actually, I……this is……."

A stag! Penelope broke out in goosebumps at Vivian's vivid turn of phrase.

"Don't be too put out. When things first got started with Lady Penelope, I didn't have especially high expectations."

"I understand. There were certain rumours following

around at the ti. I was lucky."

"Once is luck, but three tis is not. Cola, Chicken……and now Ribs. Penelope, you'll go far higher still."

Perhaps it was the drink. Vivian's manner had grown considerably more unguarded.

"This is a small token of my appreciation for making tonight's dinner so splendid."

"This is?"

Penelope received three keys. One might almost have believed they were pieces of craftwork. The heads were set with gemstones——rather extravagant-looking things, for keys.

"Go past the Tulip Garden and head straight north and you'll find the Annex. It's where we house only our most honoured guests. Please enjoy it comfortably with your companions."

Not every guest invited to the charity event stays at the Ashford Mansion for the full three nights and four days. Even for the very wealthy, building a mansion large enough for that would be wasteful.

And so the host sends invitations to a select, carefully chosen few with a single key enclosed. Primarily to royalty, family, or their most important business partners.

This was what Vivian was saying.

'Penelope, I'd like to form a deeper connection with you.'

"Shall we walk a little more?"

"Gladly."

Though not, of course, in the sa sense as a friend like Serena.

***

At the stroke of midnight, the official charity auction drew to a close. The ti was now two in the morning.

Guests without a room assignnt returned to nearby lodgings or their own residences. Those with rooms, on the other hand, dispersed according to gender——the n to the Card Room on the second floor, the won to the Tea Room inside the Greenhouse. It was as though it went without saying that one would simply continue socialising without even changing out of one's evening clothes.

A private gathering of the chosen few, one might say.

As Jurgen was a man, the Card Room was where he went. Those seated around the tables playing cards, those with cigarettes dangling from their lips playing billiards, those lounging on sofas with drinks in hand.

"My, what an industrious lot……."

Watching the n networking in their various ways, Jurgen clicked his tongue.

He had rarely taken part in social events like this, being buried as he was in the hell of work. To think that all this while, everyone had been diligently cultivating connections in places like this, out of sight.

He had co wondering if there might be sothing worth gaining, but it seed a rather pointless exercise.

That was to be expected, really——Jurgen was ostensibly a Commoner. And those who remained here were nobles of considerable standing.

In the conservative North, in so private a gathering, approaching first would be deed presumptuous.

Not that it bothered him particularly. He had co purely out of curiosity, and if anything he would rather go back and rest in peace.

Just as he stepped out into the corridor.

"Hey, you."

Soone called out——perhaps taking pity on the lone Commoner departing in solitude.

"Were you calling for ?"

He turned to find the man who had been rebuffed by Penelope earlier. Viscount Thornton, was it.

"Were you calling for ? Ha……. Has your tongue been cut in half or sothing?"

Unfortunately, Viscount Thornton did not appear to be extending goodwill. Not his crooked mouth, not his irritation-filled eyes.

"If you have no business with , I'll be going."

"Where do you think you're going? Wait."

He grabbed Jurgen's shoulder roughly.

It was force enough to send an untrained person stumbling ungainly to the floor. Jurgen's torso, needless to say, did not move.

"Why does a gentleman harass an innocent Commoner? That hurts."

"Huh? Looks like you've done a bit of training, have you?"

Viscount Thornton, who had been smiling that snide, serpentine smile, narrowed his eyes.

"Business, you say? I have so. Etiquette lessons. I need to educate the impertinent Commoner who doesn't know his place and keeps hovering around Lady Penelope."

"You've co to the wrong person for that. I have no relationship with Penelope whatsoever."

It was a misunderstanding, so he clarified. Of course, if this man were to have any designs on Penelope, Jurgen would unmask himself if he had to in order to put a stop to it——but that was a separate matter.

"This little shit has been answering back and forth since earlier……. Do you not know what you've done wrong? Well? A Commoner scum daring to escort Lady Penelope without knowing his place?"

"Hmm."

As expected——ugly, pathetic jealousy. One could hardly be more transparent.

"She is not a tree that the likes of you can climb! She is a flower on a cliff's edge!"

"I an……. Today was the first ti we t, wasn't it?"

Jurgen was dumbfounded. Foaming at the mouth over a Commoner because of a little jealousy was one thing.

But this? Wasn't his head a little off?

"Step aside. I have no wish to start a pointless scene. We are both guests invited to the Ashford Mansion, are we not?"

"You little——! How dare, how dare——! A Commoner scum since earlier——!"

Viscount Thornton, frothing with rage, seized him by the collar. It was fine material, so the fabric didn't tear, but it tightened around his throat accordingly.

"She is mine. She is not sothing a lowly wretch like you is fit to stand beside!"

There was definitely sothing wrong with this one, ntally.

"Let go."

"Let go? I should have you on your knees begging for forgiveness, and you dare give

orders?"

Jurgen scanned the surroundings. No witnesses. The soundproofing was evidently thorough as well——no matter how loudly he bellowed, not a single person erged from the Card Room to investigate.

"Three."

"Why you little shi——!"

If there were no witnesses, knocking him flat was all it would take. A noble this thoroughly stuffed with dung wouldn't go around telling anyone he'd been beaten by a Commoner.

"Two."

He wasn't foolish enough to count all the way down to one. Half a beat ahead, Jurgen was already planning to break his balance and slam the back of his head to the floor——with any luck hard enough to aim for amnesia.

He was a Knight of so sort, so he wouldn't die.

Just as he was about to briefly activate the Magic Circuits throughout his body——

"KRAAAGH!"

Suddenly Viscount Thornton's body spun around and flew backward.

A gust of wind followed a beat later, ruffling the hem of Jurgen's clothes. The glass window rattled and shook as though it might shatter.

And from down the corridor.

Click. Clack.

The sound of heels striking the floor with deliberate weight.

"How dare you……! How dare you lay a hand on him?"

It was Penelope, red light blazing in her eyes.

Wind Summoning——a Wind-type magic. It appeared she had controlled it with considerable precision, striking only Thornton's head with it.

"Are you alright?"

Penelope ca sailing in on the wind and checked Jurgen's condition.

"Thanks to you."

The mont she confird he was unhard, she strode with sharp, purposeful steps toward the fallen Viscount Thornton.

"Wh-what is the aning of this!!!"

"What is the aning of what? What do you think you were doing, raising your hand against my colleague?"

Viscount Thornton pressed his hand to his bloodied forehead and rose to his feet. Upon confirming that the person who had struck him was Penelope, he roared.

"You…… insolent bi——!"

"This one's properly unhinged."

Viscount Thornton's eyes went half-wild, his teeth grinding together. His head felt as though it were boiling over with rage he could not contain.

"Just because people around you bow and scrape, you think you can act without seeing anything in front of you! You'd humiliate

over a Commoner?"

"Ha, he really is properly unhinged."

"I am Gilbert Thornton! Gilbert Thornton! Do you think that little hole-in-the-wall of yours will still be standing after this?"

It was not Penelope who answered his fury.

"Ahahaha! This is a bit of a problematic situation, isn't it."

It was Vivian——whom Gilbert's rage-narrowed vision had entirely failed to notice.

"Such rudeness toward my guest, in my mansion, on my invitation…… I'd say that's rather lacking in manners, wouldn't you?"

"No, this is…… that is……."

The mont Vivian stepped forward, Gilbert's shoulders shrank inward.

Gilbert and Vivian were Knights of the sa 6th Rank. But Vivian's reputation was sothing Gilbert had heard plenty about. This woman was a madwoman who had caught a brown bear with her bare fists at the age of six.

Moreover, unlike Penelope, whose standing was still ambiguous, Vivian was the legitimate heir of Ashford. Not soone even the power of the Thornton Viscountcy could afford to cross.

Even so, Vivian surely wouldn't want to make an enemy of the Thornton Viscountcy either.

It was frustrating to let that infuriating wretch walk away, but this was the mont to retreat.

"I…… I was briefly out of line. That wasn't my intention at all. I simply let my emotions get the better of ……."

"Please leave."

"Pardon?"

"I'm asking you to vacate your room."

Vivian smiled pleasantly and issued the order of expulsion.

"Y-you…… you would turn your back on

for just those two? Are you in your right mind?"

"If I weren't in my right mind, do you think I would take the side of a drunkard over a valuable business partner?"

"Wh-what……! No matter how impressive Y&P might be……."

"It seems you have no grasp of the situation."

Vivian stepped forward, and continued in a tone of contempt.

"You attacked Ashford's honoured guest, in Ashford's own mansion. I wonder——how do you think your family's reputation will fare when that fact appears in tomorrow morning's newspapers?"

"Even so——!"

"Leave under your own power. Unless you'd prefer to be beaten half to death and dragged out."

Viscount Thornton gaped, as though unable to believe his ears. Frankly, even Penelope, who had been about to blow up beside her, was startled by how bold a move it was.

Leaving Viscount Thornton standing there in a daze, they made their way toward the Annex.

"Jurgen, I'm so sorry. Are you hurt anywhere?"

"I'm fine."

"……I'm grateful, but——are you sure this is alright?"

The Thornton Viscountcy might not be what it once was, but even so, Vivian's choice had been extraordinary. Enough to make clear just how much sincerity had been behind her earlier words about wishing to stay close to Y&P Trading Company.

"Mmm, that one just now was on the house."

Vivian winked one eye shut with a grin.