Unlike his brother, he showed no interest in the entire situation.

Prince Norton had been staring straight ahead, where the dignitaries of the Shatonil Kingdom were seated.

“Very well. Prince Kalbain seems to have been moved by the performance as well, so I am also looking forward to it.”

Lionel raised his hand, gesturing approval toward Emperor Adrian.

Upon this, Emperor Adrian signaled to his attendants who were waiting by the banquet hall door.

In response, his attendants quickly opened the door to the banquet hall.

Four beautiful imperial consorts entered the hall, paired off in twos.

What is this…?

I was surprised multiple times by the entrance of the imperial consorts.

Firstly, it was their attire.

While their necks, chests, and arms were perfectly covered, only their waists were left bare.

Although there was sheer fabric attached to the chest part of the clothing that covered the waistline, even that was split in the middle, creating a curtain-like effect with the thin fabric fluttering as the consorts walked.

The bottoms were wide silk pants. The side lines were slit up to the mid-thigh, providing good mobility but revealing quite a lot.

Secondly, what surprised me was the weapons the imperial consorts held in their hands.
They each had different weapons.

Contrary to the surprised me, Lionel’s expression was indifferent, making it difficult to gauge his mood.

I shifted my gaze to start observing the expressions of the people gathered in the banquet hall.

The consorts of the Laphion Empire, four in number, and the dignitaries from the Northern Continent seated on the right, much like me, had faces filled with surprise at the attire of the Tevelo Empire consorts.

In contrast, the dignitaries from the Southern Continent showed no surprise at the consorts’ attire.

However, they were more interested in the weapons the consorts were carrying.

I glared at Emperor Adrian.

What on earth made him let his consorts wield weapons and stand them in the middle of the banquet hall?

“Well then, let’s begin.”

Emperor Adrian prompted applause from the dignitaries.

The intensity of the applause from the dignitaries of the Northern Continent was quite different from that of the Southern Continent dignitaries.

While the dignitaries from the Northern Continent seemed bewildered, those from the Southern Continent showed signs of enjoying the festival.
Like audience members awaiting an opera performance, they looked excited.

Of the four consorts, only the two standing at the forefront remained in the center of the banquet hall.

Emperor Adrian introduced the two consorts one by one.

“On the left is Selina, the consort who has been by my side the longest in the peaceful Wony Palace. And on the right is Elan, who entered Wony Palace not long ago but has already begun to earn my favor.”

The palace called ‘Wony’ is where the consorts of the Tevelo Empire gather.

So, the current performance was about the consort who has lived the longest in ‘Wony’ Palace and the one who recently entered, engaging in a martial arts duel.

Why on earth would Eungalchi, with whatever mindset, make his cherished consorts fight in front of an audience from all nations?

Moreover, he did it with an extremely cheerful expression.

Even though the Southern Continent is much more open than the Northern Continent, I couldn’t understand the consorts engaging in martial arts duels in the banquet hall.

The only thing I could comprehend to some extent was their provocative attire.

I couldn’t take my eyes off the faces of the two consorts preparing for the duel.

They had expressions that naturally accepted this absurd moment.

Selina, who had lived the longest in ‘Wony,’ exuded experience corresponding to those years, while Elan was a newly grown consort who had shed her girlishness.

Both of them emitted vitality in their gaze.

“How is the winner of the martial arts determined?” Lionel asked Emperor Adrian.

“The person who first inflicts a flaw on their opponent and makes them kneel wins.”

At Adrian’s ambiguous explanation, I involuntarily retorted nervously.

“A flaw? A flaw, you say?”

“Exactly, Your Majesty. The severity of the flaw is left to the discretion of the victor.”

“Could it be, you mean they could even kill each other?”

“Of course. That is entirely the choice of the victor. Whether to inflict only a minor injury on the opponent, blow away some part of the body, or cut off their airway altogether.”

Emperor Adrian explained it with a very casual tone.

Was this supposed to be a performance?

This was insane. This was madness.