(Diao Chan POV)

Having lived a big part of my life amongst the nobles back at the country of Dong, I could see all the little hidden secrets and motivations of each person within these halls easily.

You can tell a lot about a person's opinion of someone else by how they move, say and even look at the person in question. Not to mention the type of gifts they bring along for you, that is the easiest indicator of their attitude.

For example, that merchant family that just went up was reputed to be one of the top five most influential Houses. The gift they brought along for the princess was a piece of white jade probably worth about a few hundred gold.

Valuable to be sure, but the Family themselves dealt in these things and they had picked one that wasn't actually much different from the usual stock they had anyway. It was a subtle indication by the Family that the princess was nothing special to them, but the gift is still valuable enough not to cause offence.

Master's gift on the other hand was an absolutely perfect political move. On one hand, it showed his sincerity and undeniable support for the Royal Family. On the other hand, it effectively denied all the other Families from gaining any advantage in this little gifting contest.

With just one move he effectively reduced everyone else's plans to dust, even indirectly helping our own plans. Such is Master's genius!

Mmm… Like how he knew exactly how to handle those ropes… And that whip… And also the collar!

Ahhhnnn~~ Just thinking about how Master would punish me for being such a bad girl was enough to make me shiver! I do wish Master would do what he did that night again!

Ahem…

Putting that aside for now, Elaria and Dill played their parts perfectly.

This would slingshot the Vera Family's political power within this city and get us even more influence. All of the Families would be vying for this new power and we can even make use of this to help a few… Shall we say... 'Unrelated commoners' rise up to power.

We don't need people who can't see Master's greatness walking around.

It was at least another half an hour before the gift charade was over, with no one else able to top our gift, as was expected.

Now, it was time for the princess to mingle amongst the guests with her two brothers accompanying her. On paper it was to get to know the citizens and to allow us to know her better, but we all know that when it comes to nobles it was never that simple.

This would be the chance for the princess to know who stood on the Royal Family's side and who doesn't. If she was smart enough, she would even be able to tell those who stood on both sides and those who are spies of either camps just from a simple interaction.

And if she was an absolute genius, this would be the prime time for her to bring over opposing Houses to the Royal Family's side.

I shall not say how many tens of times I had to go through this process back in the Dong country's court, it gets extremely repetitive after a few times.

I was focused on watching the princess's interaction when I felt a tug on my dress.

Looking down, I realised it was little Cai Hong trying to get my attention.

"Big sis?" She muttered, sucking on her finger. "Is pwincess going to be Cai Hong's sister too?"

I smiled and patted her head, "Master hasn't said anything about her yet. Does Cai Hong want another big sister?"

She thought for a while, "Umm… She smells nice."

Hmm, we've learned quite early on that when Cai Hong deems that somebody 'smells bad', they most likely have bad intentions either towards us or Master. But if Cai Hong claims that someone 'smells nice', then they are quite likely to be trustworthy.

That's why we didn't do much to Brendan.

Since Lian Li told us what happened within their little carriage ride, it wasn't all that surprising though.

"Well, we'll just have to wait until Master comes back, ok?"

"Mnn! Cai Hong will be good! Then Papa will give Cai Hong pats!"

Hehehe~ I want to be bad and Master will give me 'pats' too~

Ahem… Moving on.

Oh? Looks like the princess has arrived.

"Good day, thank you all for coming," She greeted us with a smile.

Each of us offered our congratulations to her as per custom just for the sake of pleasantries.

She managed to keep up a natural smile until she noticed that Master was missing.

"Is Master Lin not here?"

Lian Li shook her head, "Master had gone to relieve himself and has yet to come back."

The princess seemed to have gotten the wrong idea from how her cheeks flushed up a little.

"I see… That's a… That's a shame. Would you all like to join me later for a drink? I would like to know my senior sisters better."

The Crown Prince stepped forward before we could respond, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Sister, please refrain from being so overly familiar with people you just met. You can't just invite strangers like that."

The princess raised an eyebrow, "Oh? But they will be my senior sisters soon right? That means none of them are strangers to me."

The second Prince adjusted his glasses with a palm, "Sister, you are always too trusting. It helps to be a little bit more careful at times."

She rolled her eyes at him "I can handle myself well enough brother. Why don't you go back to your books instead of worrying so much?"

He sighed in response, "I would if I could. Father forbid me to read while we were here and I'm bored out of my mind. Can we just continue this and end it soon?"

The princess ignored him and gave us an empathetic smile, "My offer still stands, I will see you after the ceremony is over if you like to take up my offer on it."

Lian Li nodded, "We shall consider it."

Satisfied with the answer, the princess turned to minger with the other guest, though the Crown Prince chose to stay behind.

"Has… Has my third brother done anything to offend any of you or your Master?" He asked a little hesitantly.

All of us glanced at one another, obviously confused by his sudden question.

"I don't think any of us has met the Third Prince before today, your highness," I replied on behalf of everyone. "Although, if you would permit me to speak freely, he seems to have been quite rude to our Master."

He sighed, "I know… He's always been rather self-absorbed… But… If he has caused any offense to your Master before this, I apologize on his behalf."

Huh, it's almost as if he didn't know his brother was dead. But Master did explicitly say the Crown Prince was there too so I guess his acting must be quite admirable. As expected of the heir of the throne I suppose.

At least he seems to take his role seriously, unlike another prince that I used to know.

"I shall not bother you all anymore. Do take care of my little sister for me, I'm sure she is thrilled to learn under Master Lin of all people."

Without waiting for an answer, the Crown Prince turned and walked off, returning to his sister's side.

I am now absolutely confused, how he is acting definitely doesn't fit what Master has told us. Is there something else going on?

I guess we would need to take up on the princess's offer to find out.

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