19 The Foundation Banquet

!!TRIGGER WARNING: Mention of su*cide.

Banquets are often an extravagant affair for many nobles. In the eyes of commoners, they view it as nothing more than rich food, beautiful decorations, and beautiful clothes. After all, most commoners could not afford to even host or even attend a banquet. The only commoners who can are often those who were invited by a noble (which means they must have a strong relationship with) or the servants. A lot of commoners often romanticized this event as some of them hoped to marry a noble and have them set their life free from the struggles they face. However, most commoners rarely became wives or husbands of nobles.

For nobles, banquets are battlegrounds both socially, politically, and reputationally. This is the place where they show off while trying to vend modesty. They network for trade or secrets, they scheme, they try to overdo one another and they even try to humiliate each other. After all, what happens in banquets like these will spread like wildfire in the noble society. For some, they joy and fun in bullying others, some prefer to gossip and there is one prince in here who just wants to leave. Victor hated parties. Well, this noble, backstabbing, kind. It's possible this was mostly because of his bad experiences in his first life. Even when he lived as Jeffrey on Earth, he was still not keen on parties. He'd rather prefer a gathering of only family members sitting together in an intimate setting.

The foundation banquet is very beautiful. Held in one of the most extravagant places in the palace - the ballroom. The ballroom is huge and even has two stories. You can find the banquet tables that hold the food, chairs, and circular tables for the guests dressed in white and gold table cloth, the dance floor in the middle, music is held by a small band, and at the front, you can find the emperor and the rest of the royals sitting at a long rectangular table with a golden tablecloth. There is another table behind them and it is even elevated but that is where the emperor's wives are sitting (though not all of them - just the empress, the consorts, and the concubines who have rank or bore princes). The middle seat, is again, empty where the empress should be and the left and right seats sat the noble who should be a holy consort. The holy consort is also absent as that woman cares more about the church than any royal functions. Although her son, the first prince, Alexander von Claes, is sitting next to Lysander. Both Lysander and Victor sat with the emperor on both sides since they are both the official princes.

Alexander has soft long brown hair and golden eyes. He wore the priesthood garb normally worn by noble priests in the church. But he still does not look out of place at this extravagant party. He is a very good man who has no interest in the throne and the political schemes of the empire. In the novel, he and Lysander have a deal. That is Alexander can give him information about the church activities that he believes are contrary to the values of their religion which allowed Lysander to bust many of its exploits. This gave him a popular image in the eyes of commoners while at the same time infuriating the church. For his safety, Alexander and Lysander have to be cordial with each other whenever they meet even in private locations. You never know who is listening.

This banquet was among the changes in the novel. It was never mentioned in the novel. Victor has never attended this banquet in his first life either and he was curious to see all of his siblings. According to Rufus and Aiden, he has 17 brothers and 25 sisters which in Victor's opinion is insane! Although this is not unusual since his ancestor before him had 300 children and he recalls history on Earth about East Asian emperors having thousands of concubines and hundreds of children themselves.

He did have 20 more siblings who died young due to illness (some are suspicious) or when they were born. Like Earth, in this world, childbirth is still very dangerous for both women and children especially as most women in this world marry too young. Victor has the suspicion that many of these women faced stress during pregnancy due to outdated or insane beliefs on what they should do before, during, and after pregnancy (something that also happened on Earth as well). That's because women in the harem face heavy scrutiny during pregnancy to ensure the survival of the child and if they miscarry, they often face the backlash for "not taking care of themselves during pregnancy". Victor has grown up close with his sisters in his second life and knows that this is not true. Most of the time, miscarriage is not within any woman's control.

It is also not unusual for people to marry at the age of 16 in Claes or even younger. Even though Victor is betrothed at a very young age (which is common among nobles), he was lucky to not have been married early as many of his brothers. His mother made sure to establish his brother's position by ensuring he gets a wife worthy of the future emperor. His brother Alexander, due to being the son of the holy consort, connected to the church, and trained to be the future pope is not married - yet. In the novel, he never did marry or have children to the dismay of the public as he was the most powerful light magic user in the empire and many wanted him to pass down the magic to his children. But Victor believed that maybe his brother didn't want the same pressure he grew up with to be passed down to his children, or he is dedicated to his work in the church, or he could be a sex-averse asexual, who knows. The novel never really expanded on that. This is ironic as Alexander was the only surviving prince after Lysander was crowned emperor.

Victor saw his sister-in-law (Lysander's wife) sitting at the tables the closest to them. All the princes' wives and children sit close to the emperor's tables although later after the food, the children (and the young princes and princesses below the age of 13) will be sent to mingle in a separate room along with their servants. He did feel a little sorry for Lysander's wife. The woman is beautiful, has beautiful brown skin, and sitting beside her is his niece, who also looks adorable. Her cheeks are so cute he wants to pinch them. In the first life, Victor wouldn't have cared but in his Earth life, Jeffrey adores children.

Victor never really got the time to get to know them in his first life and his sister-in-law suffered from depression. According to the novel, she faced a lot of scrutiny from her mother-in-law (the empress) as she demands her to be perfect. She is after all the wife of the future emperor. Plus, the strong pressure to produce male heirs was also another. This was the sad part because, in the novel, she only birthed all girls. The one son she bore died at birth. Even his older brother was disappointed. Males were the most preferred in such a patriarchal society after all. Though the new and more progressive Victor would have slapped his brother on the face for thinking like that. He wasn't sure if the rules are the same on Earth because as he recalls, the ones who decide the gender of the baby are not the women but the men.

The sixth prince is sitting next to Alexander, and then after that are the 8th, 10th, 14th, and 15th princes. Most of the younger princes has their mothers sitting behind them as they were still relatively young. The 8th prince, Aurelius, is 19 years old and has long wavy red hair and golden eyes. He has freckles on his face. He looked like a teenager compared to his other siblings of the same age (it is not unusual in the royal family for siblings to be born in the same year). His mother is a concubine from a Marquis family from the southern states. The 10th prince is Magnus, who is 15 years old, his mother is from a count family in the western states. His hair is black but possesses the green eyes of his mother and he has darker skin almost chocolate brown. He is very muscular and large for his age. He is known for his talent with the sword. The 14th prince is nine years old. He has dark brown hair and golden eyes. He is the sixth prince's younger brother from the same mother (Margaret Elrose) Romeo, and he also has a sister who is his twin. Victor also felt sorry for the young boy for having the 6th prince as an older brother. In the novel, he died in a carriage accident which Victor thinks was a setup. The 15th prince is Stephan who is also nine years old and has neon green hair (which shocked Victor when he saw him and reminded him of a punk band), and golden eyes. His mother is a noble from a ducal family from the eastern states.

On Victor's side are the 4th, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th, and 12th princes. The 4th and 5th princes are fraternal twins. Their mother died young and was a Marquis daughter. They are of the same age as Victor, 20 years old (although Victor will be 21 this winter). Their names are Linus and Lucius respectively and both men have long ice blonde straight hair. If they have pointy ears, they would look like the Elven people known for their beauty and love for nature. Linus has golden eyes but Lucius has blue eyes. Lucius is also the only prince in the line who sat in a wheelchair. Being disabled in Claes is rare unless you were born with it as healing magic would not work compared to an accident or an injury. But Lucius' disability was caused by poison imbued with a curse that also resulted in his poor health as a child, and no magic or potion was able to heal it. Their mother died from the same poison.

Their family was also an active faction aiming to put one of them on the throne though the pressure is high for Linus. This is because of Lucius' disability. They see him as a waste and a burden to his brother's rise to power. This is mostly because Linus refused to leave his brother and also focus on his safety and comfort which many people would think is a waste of effort and resources. Victor admits that he is jealous of their good relationship. Sadly, wheelchairs in Claes are not convenient. This is because they were mostly built to travel outside while they are mostly carried by their servants inside. Lucius has to lug together a very large wheelchair around which is not very convenient it almost looks like a small carriage and has to rely on someone to push him around.

A servant even has to carry him to his current seating which in Victor's opinion, probably was not a very happy experience and might even make the man feel embarrassed with himself. Like Victor, Lucius' wife is also a bio. This usually means that the nobles or his mother's family saw him as a burden and not worthy to push for the throne so they didn't want to waste any of their daughters on him. While Victor was done in a scheme, Lucius was because of his disability. His wife sat a few chairs away from the other wives who are ignoring him. He is a very cute man (not like his Julian of course), with light short brown hair and purple eyes. Victor doesn't know much about them. They were both murdered by Belrick's people in the novel and his brother's death also resulted in Linus going insane and ending his life.

The seventh prince, Melrick is happily and innocently eating his food. Victor still can't believe this man is a womanizer. The man was fascinated with the things Victor brought from the family vault although Victor didn't explain to him what they were. For some reason, Melrick was satisfied with it. He doesn't seem to be someone who wants to take the throne especially since Melrick's mother comes from a faction who also wanted him to be on the throne.

The 9th prince is eighteen-year-old Leonardo. His mother is from the ducal family in the southern states. He has dark brown hair, olive skin, and golden eyes. The 11th prince is 14-year-old Jergen. He has cerulean-colored hair almost like the ocean during the summer and has golden eyes. His mother is from the northern states - where Victor's new territory is also located. The last is the 12th prince, Titus, who is 13 years old. He has orange hair and green eyes and his mother is another tribute from another country who wanted to ally with the empire (concubines who are tributes are very common in Claes).

Only two brothers are not present, the 13th and 16th princes. No chairs were provided at their table at all. Normally the chairs are provided even if the person is absent. But why? Rufus and Aiden didn't mention anything that the two princes died, are ill and so on that could warrant a chair not to be provided. The only reason Lucius was given a chair is that Linus will not tolerate it and see it as an insult if they don't provide one, even though some will argue that Prince Lucius doesn't deserve to be there. The 17th prince was obvious since he is still a few months old and normally not yet allowed to attend such parties. His mother is also not allowed to attend as women who just gave birth have to keep themselves away from people and focus on healing and nurturing the child for the first few weeks. In the novel, the 17th prince was also among those murdered since he, like Victor, has black hair and golden eyes. Victor hoped they are okay because judging from their ages, they are still basically children.

Victor just frowned at his food and his drink.

"Do you not find the food appealing, third prince?" Prince Linus asked noticing the untouched goblet and the food on the golden plate in front of Victor (utensils and plates are made of metal in Claes especially the royal family which is not silverware but goldware because metals last longer than wooden plates and goblets and they don't easily break like clay wares but metalware are very expensive at the same time).

Victor just gave him a small smile. "Please, call me Victor, or third brother, or just brother, if you may. And no, the food is just too rich for my stomach. I am not used to it."

Everyone at the table including the emperor looked at the third prince with pity. The man spent years on the battlefield. They assumed that the prince was so used to hard foods that are often eaten in the army that he felt left out eating the rich food at the banquet. However, this is not true. Victor did not like the food offered at all. He admits that his life on Earth spoiled him and also the food in Claes, scares him.

Meat is popular for nobles but they are not always cooked well. They are either boiled, stewed, and roasted but not very well cooked or even seasoned properly. Victor was afraid that they could cause him to get sick. Due to the rise and popularity of sugar from the southern states, almost every desert is covered in sugar – a bit too much in Victor's opinion. The bread tastes like detergent and vegetables do not seem appetizing. The only thing that could be considered to be clean here is the alcohol but Victor is still doubtful. To the eyes of Claes, these types of food are what they call "good food". For Victor who lived through the modern times on Earth, this type of food will kill you so he was very reluctant to even eat them. It is a miracle people are still alive at this point.

Victor, however, was annoyed that he didn't eat food before the banquet. This way he won't feel hungry. Also, he felt a little guilty about wasting food because he won't eat it. He wished he could join the army and their celebration. He, General Aster, Jason, and Rufus were the only ones who are not present at the base. They left the responsibility to Silas to watch out for the men while they celebrate. It would have been more fun than eating here. He feels stuffy.

Victor looked around the other nobles. They always try to glance at him and he noticed several women turning red at the sight of them. Dear god, he hoped they won't try to jump on him or something. That is not unusual. This happened when women try to pretend to slip and expect you to catch them. What Victor didn't realize is that many of the women find him very handsome. Even though Victor is betrothed, women can still fight for his affection since this is a culture where men can have multiple wives. But Victor is a changed man and prefers to have one wife throughout his life. And that wife is Julian.

It also didn't help that among the people here, Victor is wearing black and blue clothing and tunics while the rest of the nobles are in white, yellow, red, and orange outfits. Although he isn't alone because General Aster, Rufus, and Jason decided to follow his lead and wear darker and cooler colors. So they still stand out in this circus.

Aside from factions mingling with each other, the nobles are divided into five major regions. The central states are where the capital is, the Eastern states are the most mountainous area but they are also the ones with the most mines. Because they also border other countries, they have a lot of security and armies guarding their territories. The southern states are hailed most for their agriculture. Most of the food including grain and other products come from southern states and the southern borders at the central states so they are the closest and easier to access out of all the region to the capital.

The northern states are the colder regions. Most of them provide lumber and other products but the food is difficult, especially for the ones living further north. They also tend to be the poorest out of all the regions. And lastly the Western state, also known as the island states. This is because the capital is right next to the sea and island nations have to travel by sea to get to the capital. The Western states are more tropical and most of the seafood comes from them. The archduke has territories from the southern and central states and so is his brother, Lysander. This is not unusual to have more than one territory that expands in more than one region.

You can tell the differences between the region each noble belongs to from their clothing, their skin color, and their accents. Most of the central nobles are the ones Victor normally meets and they tend to be the richest. The southern states have darker skin that leans towards brown shades and their territories are warmer and fertile. The west has a much darker skin color, due to island living and the north has a much deeper accent when they speak. If Victor were to describe it, they can range from German, and Norwegian, to Russian accents if they were from Earth. Because of how large Claes is, it is not unusual to have this many nobles. However, transportation has always been a challenge as roads are not exactly available everywhere and the farther your territory is, the longer you will arrive in the capital.

"I'm sure your stomach will get used to it in the long term, prince - I mean, third brother," Linus said. "But you still need to eat something."

"Thank you for your concern, but my stomach is just not feeling well," Victor said, turning to the emperor. "Might I be excused for the moment?"

"Ah yes. But come back soon, some people would like to meet you." The emperor pointed his goblet to a group of people at the back. When Victor looks up and recognized them. The Monet family, Julian's family, and his future in-laws.

The Monet family all have blue hair and green eyes of varying shades. Julius Monet is the eldest and current heir to the barony and son of the official wife. He stood there with his snooty look eyeing the other nobles like they were lower than them which is weird knowing that they are the lowest-ranked nobles in the empire (Baron). However, they are among the richest. But Victor already knows they are struggling financially due to mismanagement of their funds and lack of business acumen that they did not inherit from the previous Baron. The current Baron, Jerel Monet is a tall man with a mustache, and with him is his official wife, Corvina wearing a red gown with a large skirt. She has her red hair up. Beside her is the daughter, Juliet Monet with his light blue hair and light green eyes. She looks like a fairy in her white dress. Granted the children of the Baron family do look beautiful but in the eyes of Victor, they were vindictive assholes who he wants to drown after all the things they pulled towards him and Julian.

"I see." Victor's tone was cold and everyone at the table noticed it before he left. The emperor wasn't surprised. Those people have black shadows lurking on them. He did feel guilty as he was the one who signed the betrothed contract for his son. As for Belrick, the sixth prince, he was the most surprised.

He was aware that this betrothment was arranged by his mother. They have intentionally publicized that Juliet Monet was the person who is betrothed to the third prince and his mother has made arrangements for them to meet today. Everyone in the empire knows that. The person who is truly betrothed to the third prince is the bio son of the Monet family who was born from a servant. They wanted to make it look like the young woman was the fiancé but then apologize that the name was a mistake and that the contract which is a blood contract and cannot be broken is the bio son. They wanted to push the third prince's status away from the throne as much as possible to the point that they have to humiliate him for it. Yet, why is the third prince acting like he was already insulted? Did he see this coming?

Belrick has been anxious for the past few weeks. The emperor suddenly became missing in his life, his mother has been making one mistake after another, his grandfather and uncle are now furious, and for some reason, he has been making devastating failures like what happened at the end of the war Prince Victor participated in. Everything has been going wrong and if this keeps up, his path to the throne will become even more further. Prince Victor's downfall should have been easy but why is this man keep getting in his way? He has a lot of competition to deal with from the first prince to the ninth prince and they were all barriers to him and he has to eliminate as many as possible to increase his chances.

*****

Victor went to one of the toilet rooms in the palace. He didn't want to do his business here. There is a lack of plumbing and sanitation here after all. The toilet room is just a chair with a hole in it where one's business goes down a pit. But he has his dimensional space that has access to food and a modern toilet. He just used the room so that no one would notice him disappearing. When he got out, a shadow was waiting behind one of the statues next to the door.

"Did you get it?" Victor asked in a hushed voice.

"Yes, your highness." A quiet voice said behind the shadows and gave him a scroll. Victor took it and opened it. He smirked when he saw the contents.

"Good job. What can you tell me?"

The shadow person whispered behind his ear but Victor's eyes just turned dark and both his fist and jaw clenched with anger.

After the shadow person's report. Victor sends him away and the prince marches towards the ballroom with a cold and furious look on his face.