"So you"re back, Sylvia?"

The one who said this with a smile on his face was… Vernyx.

He had his attractive face painted with a deep smile of sarcasm and ridicule.

I am not exactly an expert on familial relationships. However, I can just tell, Vernyx doesn"t see Sylvia as anything more than a pebble on the roadside.

I am more interested in their relationship than anything else at the moment, it could be a nice psychological experiment.

There were many men and women with him, probably here to welcome the people from Hades. They all were dressed up quite intensively, as expected I suppose.

"I am back... big brother."

Sylvia said in a voice which was an octave lower than her normal one, her feelings were clearly expressed through her meek voice.

I wonder how they made that grand entrance in the party happen?

To any third party, she would only appear as an obedient little sister, but as someone who knows her, I can tell that she"s not at all comfortable around him.

"I, Crown Prince of The Wise Kingdom "ATHENA", Vernyx Silbinas Athena, welcome you to our nation. It is a bit warm outside, should we move to the reception hall? Let us take this golden opportunity to introduce all of our members before the welcoming banquet begins."

He literally just... ignored Sylvia.

Interesting. Maybe I can turn this situation into a more fun one.

"That would be an honour, Athensan. Crown Prince of The Great Empire "HADES", Julius Hades. Don"t you think it is a bit much? Having a welcoming banquet and all?"

The representative of the group, Julius spoke in a tone which suited him as a Crown Prince.

I expected them to get in a heated discussion, so I just paved my way in.

"Mind if I join you guys?"

I said in an informal manner, considering the company we have right now, this might be the best way.

Listening to this one sentence, Sylvia, who could be seen going into depression as the time went by, gasped in surprise. She frantically looked around, and after about ten seconds, showed me a blooming smile.

"What are you talking about you worthle-"

"Oh my, you went together with them too, Toru? Well… many people are joining us today during the banquet, the brave adventurers who went so far as to escort these important people here are included as well."

Didn"t Vernyx just cut off that rich-looking guy? He"s a savage.

"It"s an honour that you remembered my name, Vernyx-sama. It would be my pleasure to be in the presence of such important and strong people."

Hey, now that"s rude. I haven"t been that hard on you, right?

All the people from Hades and the escorting party were in utter shock at my overly polite and formal wordings.

Sylvia was neutral, but she could be seen hesitating a little.

"Well… I don"t think such clothes will be appropriate, let"s get a maid handle your clothing…"

He turned his head slightly.

"...Aisha, help Toru out with anything he needs, all right?"

A maid wearing the typical western frilly maid dress approached me with a smile on her face.

The maid is about 170 centimeters tall and looks to be in her mid-twenties, she has a very nice body, and with her silky red hair and pretty facial features, she can easily sell for a maid from those anime back home.

"Toru-sama, please follow me."

She said so with a graceful bow, and then proceeded to turn around and walk off in the direction of a building adjacent to the main one.

I was told that they would begin the introduction and stuff in thirty minutes, so I have to be ready before then.

"So… Toru-sama, what would you like to wear?"

The maid named Aisha asked me so while leading me to the changing room for guests. We were walking through a rather isolated corridor, a few butlers and maids could be seen here and there, but this building seemed to be akin to an accommodative facility for important guests.

"I"ll wear whatever you pick, Aisha. Do tell me, hasn"t it only been like five days or something since I told you to infiltrate the Royal Castle?"

Aisha, a very powerful dragon, said so while still walking ahead of me.

"Master, let"s just say that I have my way with words."

"You do… huh. A dragon whose power Nirvana acknowledges is in a maid outfit, leading me to a changing room, while working in the Royal Palace where the leader of this nation lives. Don"t you find this situation weird?"

"I am just following Master"s orders, and honestly speaking, I feel like I was born to follow Master"s orders, so I don"t mind at all."

When they say things like that with such a resolute and serious expression, I just want to dig a hole and bury myself in it.

"Leaving that aside... Where"s Camie? Wasn"t she a.s.signed to the Royal Palace infiltration as well?"

"She"s around. She should be preparing the reception room right about now. Normally, maids need to be trained and evaluated first, but we were just too good, I guess."

Are you really a dragon who once fought Freya on equal footing?

We finally reached a large dressing room, it was filled with clothes for both genders. Each of the pairs were clearly very expensive and well made, I was a little intimidated at first, but that feeling was instantly overwritten by the feeling of gentleness after looking at the profile of Aisha looking at the clothes and me alternatively with glittery eyes.

"Master~ Master~ Now try this one~"

I wonder just how many times I heard the same phrase, but I complied with each one indiscriminately. If I were to state a reason, it would be that she was just too cute.

She kept frolicking from one side of the room to another, I was just a fashion model for her. I just let her satisfy herself because I honestly felt that she needed to be rewarded. She did manage to infiltrate the single most important building the the whole kingdom in just five days.

We finally managed to choose an outfit for me, Aisha had a proud expression on her face.

"Allow me to lead you to the reception room."

I nodded, and in return to that she bowed gracefully and began retracing the path by which we arrived here.

We were sitting in the reception hall after changing our clothes and freshening up.

I was forced to where this exquisite looking frilly dress. I wonder what"s taking Toru so long…

It"s been thirty minutes already, the n.o.bles from our side were complaining as to the reason why we were waiting on a commoner, and a silver-rank adventurer at that. I was about to interject, but my brother blew them off instantly.

I mean… I don"t really mind my brother getting along with Toru. He"s the one I want to marry after all, if my brother likes him, then it"s all for the better in my opinion.

However, the fact that he"s my brother scares me a little.

"Sylvia, you"re making a complicated face right now."

Celice was sitting right beside me, we were sitting on a three-person couch, while the others were occupying various kinds of furniture.

While we were changing, I reunited with her and told her almost everything that occurred on the trip. I intentionally left out the part about everyone being almost killed, and the part about Hades almost waging a war on us. However, I did include the fact that I had like ten of my firsts taken during these five days.

"I am just scared for Toru. I mean… I know that he"s stronger than everyone here combined, but still, my brother is a rather good strategist. If he somehow manages to make use of Toru for his nasty schemes, I believe it will not end up nicely for Toru."

"Umm… let"s back up a bit… "he"s stronger than everyone here combined", you said?"

Well… he single-handedly killed more than forty of the Dragon Order without any sort of magic. In addition, I know that his magic capabilities are monstrous because I personally witnessed more than thirty of his servants in human form, and I know for a fact that only the most powerful of beasts are able to mimic forms of other species like that.

Wait… isn"t that way too strong? Well… Whatever.

"I am exaggerating. I am in love with the guy, gimme a break."

I said so while still in deep thought about Toru"s exact power level.

"You"re pretty nonchalant about this stuff now. I miss the adorable maiden Sylvia."

"She died that night."

"...You are never gonna mention this to anyone, or I"ll kill you."

"Pfft. Fufufufufu Hahahahaha"

I started trembling uncontrollably just by looking at the absurdly amused face Celice had.

"Vernyx-sama, why are we waiting on a worthless and weak commoner? It"s been more than ten minutes. Shouldn"t we hang him to death for making people such as ourselves wait?"

Instantly after that statement by a high-ranking n.o.ble, everyone from our party had a distant look in their eyes, and their expressions clearly saying "You wanna die?".

"You wanna die?"

""""""""""""""""""""Huh? Did someone actually say it?"""""""""""""""""""

I couldn"t believe the ident.i.ty of the person who articulated all our common thoughts.

"What do you mean, Vernyx-sama?"

"It"s exactly what it sounds like. I recommend you wait for him obediently and don"t cross the line while he"s here. If he gets p.i.s.sed off and attacks you, I won"t be able to stop him without going all-out..."

No brother, you won"t be able to stop him, no matter what you do…

"...Oh, speak of the devil."

As soon as he said that, I saw heaven descend upon the mortal plane.

He entered the room while following a maid whom I didn"t know, and looking at him, not just females, but the males were entranced as well.

My brother was wearing a multi-coloured dress with the top reaching his knees, and with purple pants, and considering his super-attractive face, he looked rather alluring. However, about Toru… all I can objectively say is that he is in a different league.

He was dressed in a white dress and a white pant. There were spectacular designs engraved on the on the top with golden strings. His violet-black hair, which were mostly unarranged were pulled back, exposing his make-up filled face to the naked eye. His eyes had a sharp look in them and his posture was that of a gentleman. His movements were so graceful and refined that he wouldn"t lose to trained n.o.ble in any respect. His body was pretty well-built, so the full-sleeved dress didn"t look too big on him, on the contrary, it looked perfect on him, as if Toru was born to wear the clothes of n.o.bility.

The breath of the women in the room turned hot, and the men gulped at the sight of such a commoner. I caught myself staring intensely at him with my cheeks aflame. Looking at him in this form made me fall for him all over again.

"Hey, Sylvia, don"t make that "I fell for him all over again" face."

"I can"t help it. I mean... just look at him..."

"Yeah, you"re right..."