Chapter 916 916 Luncheon
”The final stage of causing chaos is to run away, so with that, we will bid you adieu, and return the Countess to her manor in the city, while you all have a chance to look over your homes and businesses.
Thank you all for your cooperation, and I wish you all the best in the future.” Wolfe announced, before herding everyone back into the carriage.
“Why are we running away? They must have questions.” Countess Dewinter asked once she recovered, but the carriage was already underway back toward town.
“That’s precisely why we left. They have countless questions, and there are hundreds of them. We have a luncheon meeting with the concubines of Duke Roth, and whoever else happened to show up to visit while we were away.
We can’t just stand them all up, and answering all the questions would have taken days. So, we left before they could impose on courtesy to get us to stay. They will figure everything out on their own quickly enough, and then they would have felt silly for wasting your time with questions that were so obvious once they had experienced them.
Now, the question is what we do with Nathan. Such an odd name for a daughter, and then there’s the fact that nobody knows her as a daughter, but in this outfit, she undeniably is.” Wolfe replied.
Duke Roth smiled and waved his hand. “That’s not a problem. She can be my relative, Georgia. If we don’t say anything about the relationship, everyone else will be too embarrassed to outright ask. She can just tell the truth about everything else, that she lives at the main manor, that her mother is one of my concubines, everything. They will be baffled, but they won’t push for more answers.”
As they approached the manor, the streets became more crowded with carriages and people on horseback, to the extent that they had to slow to less than a walk as the traffic became congested.
“What do you think the odds are that they’re all headed to my house?” Countess Dewinter asked quietly.
She hadn’t left enough money with the staff to provision for a massive event, only for a luncheon. If there were going to be a thousand Nobles at the Manor, she was going to run out of everything very quickly.
“Alright, it’s almost guaranteed that they’re headed for the manor, so how about we cheat a little and head back the fast way while the carriage is stuck in traffic?” Wolfe suggested.
“Walking won’t be that much faster.” Duke Roth reminded them.
“Oh, you’re in for a treat. Everyone, join me on the sidewalk, since we’re at a stop already.” Wolfe informed the group.
They were confused, but they all stepped out, and Wolfe created a thin metal plate under their feet, then surrounded it with a barrier and lifted them all into the air to fly across town at a leisurely fifty kilometres an hour, which was still enough to freak out the locals.
He landed them at the inside of the front gates, where there was some sort of commotion holding up the line, and dismissed the plate before waving at the onlookers.
“What seems to be the issue? Is there a glitch in my defensive wards?” He asked the gardener, who was now dressed as a household guard, and unsure what to do when the gate was blocked by a carriage that simply could not pass.
“These broken and obsolete wards will not let us in.” An enraged female voice yelled from inside the carriage.
“Madam, these wards were updated by myself to the Saint Rank standard just this morning. You have triggered the Kind Intentions spell with your presence. It will not allow those who wish to do harm to enter the property. I am going to have to ask you to depart and return when your intentions are purer.” Wolfe replied.
There was a shocked silence in the crowd of angry Nobles behind the carriage, and then a group of smirking young noble girls about the Countess’ age strutted past the carriage and took Countess Dewinter into polite hugs.
“You don’t mind the commotion, do you? We arranged for our staff to pack a potluck lunch, as we are showing up unannounced.” The one in a bright pink dress asked.
A pair of young men stepped out of the carriage, and while one of them walked easily through the gates, the other was stopped as if he had walked into a solid wall.
The Nobles behind them began to laugh, and the Countess realized that her gate had just become the most popular party trick in town.
You couldn’t enter with bad intentions, and it didn’t seem to care how well you hid them, it simply wouldn’t let you in.
The young man who was unable to enter stalked back to the carriage, and it turned to trot away down the street, clearing the way for others to pass through.
Wolfe could see a few others discretely turn down side streets as the news passed through the crowd, and the senior Noblewomen, ever eager for the day’s juiciest gossip, departed their carriages after entering, so they could chat with the Countess at the entrance, while conveniently getting to watch up close who couldn’t enter.
“Countess, I will take my leave now, and go assist the staff in getting ready for the excess number of visitors. Fear not, we will make this work. Just have the potluck dishes brought to the side garden, where I can see buffet tables set up. I will do the rest.” He explained.
[More correctly, Stephanie, you’re up. We need a lot of food grown in the next few minutes, and the kitchen staff is going to hate us.]
Stephanie rolled her eyes at him. [I know magical cooking as well. I can prepare a feast with less than this. Just keep feeding me mana, because I’m not burning my own energy for this.]
Wolfe rubbed her head as he headed for the house, preparing to set up for a proper party. A bit of brand new magical furniture would do wonders to help accommodate all these guests, and there was plenty of space between the hedges and in the open areas to set up small round tables where guests could rest in smaller groups.
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