A New Star Chapter 42

Sadly, such things could never be. I had to get ready for the party, a week hence, and that included getting new clothes, which I had always found rather ridiculous. I gave the tailor a headache, as well, as I would much prefer a suit with pants versus a dress, as fighting in a dress was always a tedious experience. I was, of course overruled on my decision, with almost every person that could be considered an interested party insisting I wear a dress. Beyond that fight, I was already very tall and athletic, which also gave the tailor fits in trying to make a dress look good on me while still cutting it in an appropriate manner for a child. Eventually, I won at least a modest victory, arguing for the dress to only come down to my knees and have sleeves that ended above the elbow. It wasn't perfect, but it wouldn't really hinder my movements at all and was still close enough to child-appropriate attire that nobody would be scandalized by seeing me in it. 

And that was a real concern, as it seemed half the nobility of the known world was going to be attending. I privately laughed at that claim, my own research already have very strongly indicated there were several other, massive continents on this world, all of which were likely to have one or more flourishing civilizations on them. Our isolation due to the great dangers of the oceans, and lack of viable flight technologies, had led to a sort of homebred arrogance that I found both amusing and pitiable. I would, one day in the future, the not-so-distant-future, venture to those lands beyond. After, certainly, I had explored much or all of the Untamed Wilds, as I had already experienced the kinds of amazing secrets still hiding in just the most mild of places therein.  

The house was in full swing in the lead up to the party, not the first that we had hosted since I had been born, but it would be the largest we had hosted on our estate by far. My parents normally hosted events in the capital, when they did so at all, and having the estate made full use of was something that was a bit unusual. Every room had to be cleaned, every knickknack polished and positioned just so. The servants were rather well losing their minds, especially the youngers ones who hadn't experienced a full function at the estate before. There were often one or two teenagers or youths of such age that were working in the kitchens or with the maids to handle laundry and cleaning and the first big function of their service was often quite memorable.  

Despite that the big occasion being for me, technically, I was consulted on nothing, which was not at all surprising. What should not have been surprising to others was that I spent the whole time leading up to the party working in my lab and training. The tailor bothered me occasionally, but learned to knock on the lab door and wait when he interrupted a delicate brewing process and the cauldron had a bunch of half-done potion slop out over him. I apparently burned rather badly; the man had a tier one body that he had never bothered to level and his affinities were both bad and low-level. For all that, he was an excellent tailor that ran a well-renowned and highly rated shop in Umberton that many people throughout the country put orders into for clothes of all kinds.  

The dress he had made me had a mesh piece just at the top of the back with an outline of a dragon in the dark silver cloth the dress was made from. There was also a lace seam at the end of each sleeve; I'm not really sure what exactly it was called, as fashion had not at all been my strong suit and still wasn't, but the dress itself was rather nice, and of a fine silk-like material that came from some kind of dungeon, according to the tailor. All I knew was that it was quite comfortable and it looked rather nice, even if it was really made for a child, despite using enough cloth for an adults dress. I was rather tall.  

Eventually, the weekend arrived, and it was going to be a three-day affair. Friday was for the guests arrival and a reception, Saturday was for the heart of the party and a formal dinner followed by a formal dance, and Sunday was for a large formal gathering that would include several show matches between participants. I was not, at all, in any way, shape, or form looking forward to the weekend, but I was the star of the show, or supposedly so. Friday turned out to be much less annoying than I had assumed, as many people arrived at the estate but most were greeted by servants, by the captain commander, or by my parents, with me having to be present for very little of it. There was a section of about two hours that I had to batten down in the lobby and greet people alongside the count, but he was fortunately a magnet for everyone that showed up, most knowing who he was. That let me off with having to do little more than nod and say a quick hello to people, which was more than fine with me. The only annoying thing was when the Count would get caught up in a conversation and more and more people would join in to get some time with him, clogging the lobby and irritating me with their ingratiating attitudes.  

Saturday was both more interesting and more tedious, if that were even possible, with the day consisting of a series of meetings while many of the lesser guests, including the children, were largely left to their own devices. I had known that this party was less about me and more about my parents hosting a gathering and polishing the contacts, keeping the network alive and in touch, but it was also vastly irritating to be used as a prop. If they wanted to have a damn meet and greet, then have the damn meet and greet and let me out of it. I had so much work to do I was up to my eyeballs in it and that was just the very near term; I had to make a trip to the capital at some point, I had to work with Pietr on some shipping issues, and I had several other places I either should or must go in short order.  

I was ruminating on these thoughts, not able to retreat to my lab (the Count had blocked my three attempts so far and I wasn't quite powerful enough to bull past him…yet), when several others approached me. The leader of the little band was a young man, probably three years older than me, though he wasn't any taller and certainly not any stronger. He had a bit of strong jaw forming already, though he was not even at the start of puberty really, and dark red hair with brown eyes that shifted more to an amber color. He wore and impressively tailored and suitably expensive suit, but it looked like he was exceptionally uncomfortable in it, which I found odd. Such clothing would not only fit perfectly, they would be comfortable to the extreme; this was clearly the son of a couple who were very rich and could afford the best of the best. I had a sneaking suspicion he was looking uncomfortable because he was a little shit, given the sneer on his face as he stepped up to me. 

"So, you're the ugly brute of a girl that this party's for," he said crossly, and rather crassly, right to my face. It took a whole sentence to confirm he was a little shit, a near-record performance. 

"I guess you were never taught manners, but someone as stupid as you would likely need them beaten into you…weekly," I replied lazily. 

That was not the rejoinder he was expecting, at least if his face going bright red and his body starting to tremble a bit was any indication. "Do you have any idea who I am?!" he hissed in a voice that he probably thought was vicious and authoritative. He sounded like a little shit. 

"You sound like a little shit," I said, failing to keep the inside thoughts inside, but also failing to care. 

"You bitch!" he hissed, or tried to, but it came out more a screech, and his voice cracked. I guess his puberty was starting right this moment. Wonderful. 

"Look who's talking," I replied, which was not my proudest moment, insulting such a small-minded child, but he was asking for it. 

"I demand satisfaction!" he snapped, also more of a screech than the strong declaration he was likely hoping for.  

"And I demand a million gold coins. It's nice to have dreams," I replied sarcastically, sipping on a slightly bittersweet fruit drink. The fruit was grown a thousand miles away and the juice shipped across the Settled Lands in refrigerated train cars. Truly, a marvel of engineering. 

"You admit your cowardice?!" the boy exclaimed, not at all keeping his voice down. 

"I admit my exasperation," I replied. 

Before we could get any further, the Count showed up as if summoned by a spell and interjected. I suspected he had been set the task of watching me like a hawk this weekend and I further suspected it was because there was a lot of concern not for me, but for what I would do instead. Like kill a screeching little noble shit that had no idea what he was about or what he was getting into. 

"She insulted myself and my house and refused to give satisfaction," Screechy screeched at the Count. Everybody else missed it, but I could distinctly see his eyebrow twitch, though he kept an iron discipline over his face and body language otherwise, wearing the blandest smile and responding in a conciliatory voice. Little did the little shit know that the guy he was screeching at could wipe the floor with everybody in the estate, combined, without even breaking a sweat. Well, with the exception of the Silver Lady, who had left for two months but had returned for the party, and possibly myself, though I would have to push myself into doing something I did not want to do for quite a long time to really give him a run for his money. 

"Is this true?" the Count asked me, likely hoping I would ameliorate the situation a bit.  

"Sure is," I said, quite clearly dashing the Count's hopes, if the crestfallen expression he gave me, positioned at an angle where nobody else could see, was anything to go by. "I mean, I very clearly insulted him; I'm a lot fuzzier on the insulting his house, and the satisfaction thing is really pushing it over the line, but I did call him a little shit, so…" 

Again, I noticed the very slight movement that was an abortive attempt by the Count to face palm, though maybe he would have tried to grab me by the scruff. We'd played that game before and the Count had spent a couple months regrowing his eyebrows and a large part of the hair on the top of his head for his trouble. He sighed and deflated just a bit, turning back to the young man after my statements and focusing on him. 

"What is your name, young sir?" the Count asked. 

"I am Rodrick Johann Frederick Richmont Adelain III," he stated proudly, thrusting his chin high in the air and puffing up his chest. Even with the count not facing me, I could practically feel his eyebrows twitch and his left eyelid spasm, but he didn't directly facepalm like I did. 

"Well, young Rodrick, do you really seek satisfaction from the young lady?" the Count, doing a remarkable job ignoring the snort like an angry dog ripping apart a drapery that I unleashed behind him. 

"I demand satisfaction and I will put a noble stake on it," Rodrick exclaimed proudly. I saw the Count make an even bigger motion that he still managed to quash to facepalm while many people that had gathered around us gasped. Demanding satisfaction was one thing, a time honored tradition among nobility in the Settled Lands to increase or lower a person's prestige and social status, as well as possible injure them for a time to put them out of commission. That was all more than acceptable and happened all the time and was standard, though it was highly frowned upon to outright forbidden to challenge somebody of too much lower of a level. 

The real thing that had everybody gasping wasn't this little turd demanding a younger, though clearly taller child, duel him for his impinged honor. No, when he put a noble stake on it, that meant he wanted to wager something that would be damaging to the loser or, more specifically, the loser's family. Something like giving up a valuable business, even if temporarily, or making a declaration that a person in the family had no honor, which was a majorly important thing for the petty nobles that liked to play these games. Personally, I thought it was all bullshit and I suspected the truly strong did as well; I'd like to see some little shit with no power, one who's strongest family member was probably an L-ranker, demand the Silver Lady do anything other than not kill him. Well, I wouldn't gut him like a fish, but the little snotbag was cruising for a serious bruising and I was more than happy to oblige.  

"Sure, let's do it," I said before the Count could continue.  

"Alexandra!" he reprimanded, though his voice was resigned. 

"What? It's not like this is going to be a challenge. I won't even get my dress dirty," I retorted with another, lighter, snort.  

"Very well then," the Count sighed, clapping his hands to get the attention of the room, though we already had basically all of it. "We shall be moving to the training yards in the back where there are dueling fields! We have a duel between the young Adelain heir and eighth child of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess. All are welcome to come and observe." 

I saw Rodrick looking at me with such a smug look on his face that I decided I wasn't going to play around with him. When we went out back to the training field, I was going to take him down in what was likely a record time for the last century. He just turned on his heel and marched out of the room, acting like he was king of the world with his little entourage of child idiot savants around him; heavy emphasis on the idiot, extremely light emphasis on the savant part. 

"Well, now you really have gone and done it," the Count said, though I could tell there was no heat in it. 

"Don't worry, I've dealt with little shits like him plenty," I replied, patting the Count on the shoulder as I walked by. "I won't make it too painful, and I'll leave him alive. You've got nothing to fear." 

"I am not at all reassured," he muttered behind me as we left the room. 

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