Renév had always thought that such charisma was an essential virtue for an emperor.

Just like the current Icar.

After Icar’s speech, which was about implanting his unilateral opinions in the minds of the nobles, ended, the nobles gathered in the meeting room began to comfortably engage in conversations regardless of their origins and upbringing.

Moreover, creating such an atmosphere was also Icar’s directive.

In the alliance system Icar spoke of, it was necessary to slightly reduce the single-minded nationalism that each country had maintained.
Even though their nations were different, the atmosphere in the hall was quite cordial, gathering nobles of similar age with similar interests.

It was a quite long period, but Icar made sure not to give the seated ones a chance to get bored.

Renév already knew that Icar had various remarkable abilities, but seeing him speak so well in front of a large audience was a new aspect.

“Um… Lord Sovern, what do you do on your days off?”

At the question about his hobbies, Patrick subtly turned his gaze toward Renév.

Since the end of the meeting, a few young ladies had been incessantly chatting beside Patrick.

At first, Patrick responded adequately, but soon, with an expression that clearly indicated he was fed up, he didn’t leave Renév’s side.

‘Is this a younger brother or an older brother…’

Renév had such thoughts when she looked away.

Icar approached and spoke to Patrick.

“Sovern. It’s been a while.”

Unlike in the Siren Territory, Icar didn’t treat Patrick with formality.

It was natural.

While Patrick was the son of the Siren Lord, the guardian of the western part of Paradisium, and the successor to that lineage, in front of the emperor, he was just an ordinary noble.

“Patrick of Siren. I greet His Imperial Majesty.”

Patrick also saluted Icar casually.

The young ladies who had been circling around Patrick with admiration stopped breathing for a moment, slightly opening their mouths.

Their gazes seemed like they were dreaming.

‘Handsome here! Handsome there… Is this truly heaven?’

It looked as if they were thinking something like that.

My thought was whimsical.

Suppressing the laughter about to burst, Renév bit her tender lip. Just then, Icar gestured as if telling the young ladies to step back.

The young ladies, who bowed to Icar, didn’t go far and stood, watching the two.

“Your Majesty, thank you for your hard work. And you were impressive today.”

Renév briefly conveyed her impressions.

Icar’s red eyes widened, as if he couldn’t have imagined such praise.

Then, soon, his gaze softened.

The sharpness that seemed like he wouldn’t shed a drop of blood even if pierced by a needle until a moment ago turned into a gentle smile, and his sharp eyes rounded.

“Hehe.”

Meanwhile, Patrick, who was standing there, loudly cleared his throat.

A faint blush appeared on Icar’s forehead.

However, Icar didn’t forget the fact that the person in front of him was his brother-in-law.

“By dressing up like this, you look like a noble’s son.”

After the New Year’s event, young nobles from Venistan and Reyna returned to their respective countries after staying in Basker for a while.

And they showcased the costumes trending in Basker in their home countries.

The reactions were immediate.

The nobles of Reyna wanted to import a large quantity of Bequina fabric, which was produced in small quantities in Venistan.
This was also true for the nobles of Venistan.

An example of this was the significant increase in the import of Eremaephyte primarily mined in Reyna.

This influence gradually spread to neighboring countries, and Venistan and Reyna both reaped the benefits.

That wasn’t all.

The attire from Basker that Renév wore also spread in popularity.

“Recently, I see quite a few young ladies wearing dresses with that design.”

Entering the salon, Eshika observed the hairstyles, dresses, and accessories of the young ladies.

Trends tended to change easily.

Without paying attention and keeping an eye on them, one could end up alone, wearing outdated dresses and subject to ridicule.

Therefore, Eshika lit up her eyes and observed what was trending lately.

‘By the way, it looks somewhat similar to the attire in Basker… Am I mistaken?’

With such thoughts, Eshika lifted her tea cup.

A soft whisper reached her ears.

“I really like the design of the young ladies’ dresses. Could you kindly tell me which dressing room it is?”

It seemed not only Eshika had such thoughts.

There were cases where individuals boasted about dresses bought from famous dressing rooms, but publicly revealing the dressing room one primarily used was akin to exposing one’s weaknesses.

For this reason, asking which dressing room one used could be somewhat impolite.

However, the young lady who received the question didn’t avoid answering.

“Oh… This is a dress I made, imitating the design of a popular dress in Basker.”

Just a moment ago, the young ladies who were chatting stopped and pricked up their ears.

“Basker?”

“Yes. My cousin was invited to the Basker New Year’s event not long ago.”

“If the young lady’s cousin is from there, then the Marquis Hart’s?”

“That’s right.”

While pretending not to be interested, Eshika listened to the young ladies’ conversation, keeping her eyes on them.

“This form of design seems to be popular these days in the social circles of Reyna and Venistan.”

“Ah… I see.”

Eshika, with her face partly covered by the fan, thought.

‘In the original work, there was never a time when Basker’s attire became popular. Is this also the influence of the if side story?’

Since coming from Basker to Paradisium, things had been going relatively smoothly, and she had momentarily forgotten about the influence of the unknown if side story.