KALOPSIA

12. Royal Banquet

"A royal banquet?" Hyunsung asked.

"You mean like those really fancy, noble-like banquets in fantasies?" Jihye asked.

"Yes." Cale replied calmly. "I'll be leaving for a while because I'll be attending the royal banquet."

They were joyfully having dinner until Cale broke the news out on the table.

"Waaaahh! I wanna go to a royal banquet! Imagine all the food!" Jihye's mouth was watering, although there was already delicious food in front of her.

Joonghyuk asked, "how long will you be gone for?" His face was weirdly serious for some reason.

"Three to four days. They usually last for about five days without interference but we're allowed to leave sooner in cases of "emergencies" happening."

"Five days!" Jihye exclaimed in shock. "You're going to be gone for five days?! That's crazy!"

"Jihye, it might seem like a lot but it's probably not for them. Especially for a royal banquet." Sangah tried calming the girl.

"But- but what about master?!" Jihye worried frantically, all shown in her facial expression.

'What about him?' Cale questioned.

Joonghyuk was oddly silent after asking the question.

Cale turned to Joonghyuk, only to be greeted with the most gloomy-looking person he'd ever seen. 'What's wrong with him this time...?'

"Can't we come as well?" Jihye asked, wearing the eyes of a sad puppy while pouting cutely, trying to win with the power of a pitiful and cute disciple.

Unfortunately for her, Cale was trained in this course. Greeted by the face of his children from morning to night.

"No." Cale responded coldly. "Plus, commoners aren't allowed in royal banquets unless given special permission by the royal family."

Jihye wasn't going down without using every solution at her disposal. "Aren't you sworn brothers with the emperor? Then can't you ask him to allow us inside?" Jihye asked, desperately.

"Jihye, you shouldn't bother people. The emperor must already be very busy with his own work." Sangah scolded her like a mother.

"What?! Don't you also want to go to a royal banquet?!"

"Jihye!"

"I'm also curious." Sooyoung said. "It must be where all the influential and powerful people gather." She grinned.

"What's a royal banquet?" Gilyoung asked.

Dokja smiled, "it's a grand banquet hosted by the royal family."

"Yeah! Don't you wanna go?!" Jihye asked.

"I'll go anywhere Dokja goes." Gilyoung said.

"Me too!" Yoosung joined in.

"Anyways, don't you want to go too, master?"

Jihye was ignored.

"..."

"It might be a good idea." Heewon thought. "It could help clearing the scenario. Since it's where influential people gather, we could win their favor if we can attend."

"I knew you'd have my back, Heewon!" Jihye thanked her.

Heewon just chuckled nervously in response. Then she looked at Cale, "I'm sorry if we're asking for a lot, but can you help us this time as well?"

"Alright." He said after thinking it over inside his head. 'It's a return of a favor for giving me money.'

"Thank you, Cale." Heewon smiled.

Then a sudden thought came to Jihye, "don't they usually attend in pairs?" She asked.

"In pairs...?" Sangah questioned, unsure what that meant.

"Like with a partner! The nobility novels I used to read always mentioned that! It's like a shame if they didn't show up with a partner." Jihye explained.

"..." Cale was speechless, 'since when was that a thing?'

"Isn't that right, Cale?!" Jihye asked him.

"No, not necessarily." Cale responded. "I always went to the banquets alone."

"Whaaaatt?! You, alone?!" Jihye was shocked, how can such a beautiful person go to a banquet alone?! He should've gotten a lot of invitations though! "Hey, why don't you go with master this time then?" Jihye sneakily suggested.