What was the extravagance of a great aristocrat?
In a word, it was a lot of people.
At night, on the main road outside the castle, there was a line of people holding torches on both sides, stretching for several miles. On the surface, it was to illuminate the path for the guests. After all, some people liked to put on airs and arrive at the last moment, usually when the sun had already set. The real intention was, of course, to show off the financial resources of the Grand Duke's family and to support his granddaughter's debut on social occasions.
The small square, which was originally used for military training, was usually the parking lot for the duke's guards. However, in order to welcome the guests, the big guys were moved to other places, including the Grand Duke's custom-made carriage. Now, all kinds of carriages were parked here, just like the proverb – a gathering of dignitaries.
On the castle's iconic iron-gray outer wall, there were large flags hanging. The most conspicuous and largest flag was, of course, the Carville Family's emblem flag. Then there was the flag of Grand Duke Carville's secondary title and the Grand Duke's territory. A sea of flags decorated the front of the castle in a riot of colors.
Under the guidance of the attendants, they entered the castle's grand banquet hall. The arrangements here were different from what a certain someone had imagined.
Unlike the plays a certain someone had seen on Earth and the aristocratic gatherings he had attended in the Mysterious Land, the aristocratic banquets of the Guevana Empire were separate for men and women. Perhaps at the opening and important ceremonies, they would appear on the same occasion, but basically, men would play with men, and women would play with women. Both sides would act separately.
In occasions where men and women attended together, the empire's women would wear a veil, a floor-length dress, and long sleeves that could hide their hands. Basically, it was the principle to not show any skin.
Of course, for foreign guests and non-empire women, the Guevana Empire would not force them to conform to their customs. But it was still important not to be overly exposed. In the empire, there was only one kind of person who would wear nude clothing in public and in front of men – prostitutes. Therefore, if women didn't want to cause misunderstandings, they had to respect the local customs in the Guevana Empire.
Because the social occasions were separate for men and women, the aristocrats of the Guevana Empire would not hold any kind of ball. Instead, they would hold concerts. Under the pleasant music, the aristocrats gossiped or talked about things that could shake the entire situation in the Mysterious Land. As for the musicians and attendants, they were of course differentiated by gender and did not interact with each other.
The reason for such a strict distinction was that other than the unique customs of the Guevana Empire, they would also remove their disguises and veils in a purely female setting. Compared to the aristocrats of other places, banquets where men and women mixed together were even better.
If there is such a lustful man, don't think that by 'accidentally' barging into such an occasion, he will be able to enjoy all the beauties. Then, no matter if he used the excuse of urinating or pretending to be drunk, he would be able to escape unscathed.
Basically, if such a thing happened, looking at how many women were present, the man who intruded was equivalent to making enemies with the families behind all the women.
If that person was a commoner, he would have killed him without hesitation. If they were nobles, they would be stripped of their inheritance rights or forced to pass the title of nobility to other people in their family and then forced to retire. These were all things that had happened before. There were even wars between the nobles because of this.
Therefore, even the Emperor did not dare to barge into purely female social events. In the history of the Guevana Empire, there were cases where the Emperor's heir had done this, and then his inheritance rights were revoked and he was exiled to the borders. This was because if the Emperor at that time had not compromised, the Guevana Empire would have collapsed due to various rebellions.
It was also because of this custom of separating men and women that the nobles of the Guevana Empire would not deliberately introduce family members of the opposite sex. Unless it was a child's coming-of-age ceremony, of course, they would make an appearance. However, in front of the male guests, the female family members would still wear veils and other clothing that could cover them up tightly.
And of course, the person who arranged the ceremony would have to comply with the customs of the Empire. Being a maverick was never a good habit, and a certain person did not want to be caught and drowned in a pig cage because of something that went against local customs. Therefore, although there were many suggestions, they still discussed with the old Duke's attendants and came up with a ceremony that they could accept.
The first change was the arrangement of the music. Under the strong request of Marchioness Barran, all the musicians belonging to the Duke's family learned new music from Halloumi. Of course, pop music was not suitable for such an occasion, but the classical music in a certain person's memory was very suitable for the atmosphere of this noble banquet, and it was not out of place to use it as background music.
Fortunately, a certain person had experienced many … upgrades in the Maze? Changes? In any case, her memory was so good that it was not like a normal person's. When she was learning, she was used to listening to classical music to relieve stress, and it could be said that she had listened to all the famous music.
Of course, with just these memories, a certain person could only hum. In the end, Halloumi spent a lot of time writing down the hum of a certain person into music scores, and recreated the classical music of Earth in the Maze.
The biggest difference between this music and the original music of the Maze was that it was played in different parts. Different musical instruments had different scores and played different kinds of music. Then, they were combined to form a melodious piece.
The original music of the Maze was played by many instruments, most of which were the same instruments, or at least similar in nature, to play the same music. It was more like a place without loudspeakers, and this method was used to amplify the sound so that everyone could hear the music.
Under these circumstances, Halloumi was able to find some musicians who only knew how to put on an act, but did not actually know how to play instruments. Or their skills were not so good that they were worthy of being hired by a Duke's family. They were only able to get into the Grand Duke's family to make a living through some unknown connections. Of course, these people were fired. Because of this, the girl even received an unknown threat.
But the blonde girl had seen the world and experienced life and death. How could she be worried about the revenge of a noble family like this? She directly sent the threatening letter to Marchioness Barland's deacon, and naturally, someone else would do it for her.
It could only be said that the other party had made a mistake. They had mistakenly thought that this doll-like girl was just a wandering musician who had been picked up by the Grand Duke himself or other deacons.
If she really had such an identity, then entering the Grand Duke's family would definitely be a social climb. This was because female wandering musicians usually sold themselves and worked part-time to earn a meager amount of travel expenses. In the eyes of the servants of the Grand Duke's family, such people were also lowly.
But Halloumi did not mention her identity as a magic apprentice or a high-level member of the Turtledove Alliance. They had followed their teacher through life and death for so long, and Fen had taught them by word and example, so their nerves had long been trained to be incomparably strong. Ordinary conspiracies, as long as they were not life-threatening, would usually be ignored.
Moreover, for the blonde girl, preparing for Marchioness Barland's apprenticeship ceremony was already busy enough. How could she have time to care about such trivial matters?
It was obviously not very practical for a group of people who could play musical instruments to suddenly be able to play symphonic level music. So Halloumi adjusted the score so that everyone could still use the original instruments they were good at, just playing different parts. She also asked the Grand Duke for a few good buglers from the army to add to the wind section and form a small orchestra.
More importantly, she led the Grand Duke's craftsmen to build a piano. Their teacher had always left the blueprints, and had not actually built an instrument. On Earth, there was a saying that a piano was equal to a symphony orchestra. So, when Halloumi played the piano herself, with other people's orchestral music, it was rubbish in the ears of a certain person, but in the ears of the natives of the mysterious land, it was amazing.
It was also difficult for the girl to learn how to play the piano in such a short time. Although, in the ears of a certain person, the music was still very raw. However, the nobles of the Guevana Empire, who thought that they had the best musical taste in the entire mysterious land, all stopped to listen attentively to the piano concerto that the blonde girl and the others practiced.
Halloumi's opening opened a new banquet for the nobles of the empire. Under the guidance of the waiters, the male and female guests went in different directions. The male guests were the simplest, and were directly brought to the grand banquet hall.
The way they ate was no longer a long table, where the host had to arrange the seats according to their status and racked their brains over it. Instead, it was a walking buffet, and of course, there were seats for the meal. In addition to being convenient for walking and chatting, it also helped people with ulterior motives to walk together without leaving a trace and secretly discuss their plans.
The female guests were a little more troublesome. They would first enter a small room used to tidy up their appearance. Under the service of their personal maids, they would remove their veils and heavy robes, revealing the gorgeous clothes and jewelry underneath. Then, they would officially enter the banquet hall for women.
Once the restraints were removed, the beauty of the women of the Guevana Empire was comparable to that of the female nobles of other countries. The noble fabrics, the close-fitting tailoring, the exquisite lace and various decorations, and the vibrant colors, every woman was like a peacock with its tail open, attracting and competing with each other.
After the men and women were separated, the musicians also went to different banquet venues to perform according to their gender. However, Halloumi did not continue to perform like a performer. The related methods of using the instruments and new music scores were of course taught to the musicians employed by the Grand Duke. This group of people who played music as a profession only lacked proficiency.
Although they were not very proficient, the freshness of the combined music was enough to cover up the inconspicuous flaws. More importantly, the food provided in the buffet format was even more delicious than the nobles could imagine. They did not care about the flaws in the music.
At first glance, they could not tell what the materials were. Because they were all carved into flowers, made into balls, or mixed with other ingredients to form different shapes. They had to wait until they took a bite before they could taste it. In other words, not only was the appearance pleasing to the eye, but the taste was also unforgettable.
It could be said that just from the opening music and the food at the banquet, Grand Duke Carvey had indeed gained the upper hand. It made all the participating nobles realize that the strength of this great noble was still the same, and even stronger than before.
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