Puck smiled mischievously, standing on Emilia's shoulder, and said, "But he called you Master, so Green-kun is clearly the mastermind."
Emilia was extremely shocked, and then, realizing it was her own socks that were stolen, she looked somewhat ashamed and indignant.
"Green... are you... are you a pervert? That's terrible..."
After speaking, Emilia stormed off quickly, each step forceful, making a series of "da-da-da" sounds.
Her footsteps faded until they vanished. In less than ten seconds, Emilia came back, making "da-da-da" sounds again, snatched her short socks, turned around, and disappeared down the corridor with more "da-da-da" sounds.
The environment immediately became extremely quiet, quiet enough to hear a pin drop.
"Master, I have something else to do. I'll... I'll be going first. Don't wait for me for dinner..."
"Die!"
Green leaped into the air, aiming a Leo Flying Kick directly at the magic mirror's dog head.
"Ah! Help!"
The magic mirror scrambled away, running headlong and crying out as it fled.
"Wuwuwu, I must have had eight lifetimes of bad luck to end up with a hyper-masculine Master like you!"
"You stop right there! I, Green, swear I'm going to carve the character 'Dog' onto your face!"
Green sped up, chasing tightly behind the magic mirror.
"I was wrong, I know I was wrong, Master!"
"You know nothing! You just know you're screwed!"
One person and one mirror traveled through the corridor at an extremely fast speed.
After chasing for about ten minutes, Green started running out of breath. His body, having just recovered, needed rest, and even a little strenuous activity left him exhausted.
Green bent over, hands on his knees, panting heavily. Running now was truly difficult.
"You dog thing, you fly pretty fast, huh? *Hoo~ hoo~*"
The magic mirror hid around the corner, showing half its body, secretly peering at Green.
"Master, you really must take care of your body, otherwise it will be one corpse, two lives."
"Sigh! Why did I bother?"
Green straightened up, suddenly realizing something: this magic mirror seemed to be bound to him.
Then Green raised his right hand and silently chanted "Summon Magic Mirror."
Buzz!
A ripple of magical fluctuation bloomed, and the magic mirror's body indeed began to distort, immediately flashing into Green's hand.
The magic mirror blinked, flattering him, "M-Master, if I said everything that just happened was my cousin's fault, would you believe me?"
Green's rage was about to explode. If he didn't deal with this troublemaker today, his thoughts would not be clear.
"I've tolerated you for too long, magic mirror. Wait while I find a carving knife."
"Master, give me one more chance, the very last chance! Are you interested in that girl from earlier? I have another trick—I can hypnotize her!"
"I've decided, besides the character 'Dog,' I'm adding the character 'B' to you!"
Green felt like fuel had been added to the fire. This magic mirror truly lived up to its role as a villain's tool.
He was usually the one who angered others, yet this magic mirror managed to infuriate him half to death every time.
Just as Green was searching everywhere for a sharp object, Ram and Rem walked over from around the corridor corner.
Before they even met, Ram's voice, full of disdain, arrived first.
"Green, could you please stop running around the Mansion? Ram thought you were running away after committing a crime."
Rem bowed slightly before Green and said, "It is time for lunch, Guest. The head of the household, Roswaal, will meet with you at the dining table."
Green looked at the trembling magic mirror in his hand and said fiercely, "Consider yourself lucky. I'll settle this score with you later."
After speaking, Green put the magic mirror away and followed Rem and Ram toward the dining hall.
The dining hall of Roswaal's Mansion was the most "popular" yet most "restrained" space in the noble estate.
It was located on the first floor of the main building. Upon pushing the door open, the first thing that struck the eye was an extremely long walnut dining table, which took up almost two-thirds of the room's length.
Seated at the head table was none other than Roswaal L. Mejereis, wearing clown makeup.
Emilia was seated in the first principal guest seat to Roswaal's right. Due to the previous incident, she did not look up at Green, but instead drank black tea with Puck, head lowered.
Emilia's chair back was half a palm higher than a regular chair, but it lacked armrests, symbolizing "quasi-master" but not "true master."
Hidden beneath the tablecloth was silver thread embroidery, which branched out into a snowflake pattern right in front of her. As soon as she reached for a cup, the silver thread seemed to lift a crown to her forehead.
"Oh my~ I have been looking forward to meeting you~ Grin Andersen, esteemed sir~"
The banquet began with Roswaal's peculiar intonation.
"I have also admired you for a long time, Roswaal."
Green's eyes grew solemn. From the moment he woke up in the Mejereis Household Mansion, he had anticipated this situation.
After the gut ripper, Elsa, retreated, she must have shared all the intelligence with Roswaal. Although, given the Clown's personality, he wouldn't attack him openly for now, he would surely use secret methods.
Otto was also there, currently seated at the end of the table, holding a knife and fork, eagerly awaiting the food.
"Green, hurry up, hurry up! Count Roswaal is such a great person, we get to have a feast again today!"
"A great person..."
Green was beyond complaining. He probably couldn't escape for the time being, and he needed to quickly figure out a way to get Otto out of the Menzies Territory, otherwise, this idiot would likely die young.
"Please take a seat, Green-kun."
Roswaal raised his hand to signal, seating Green next to Emilia.
*Da-da-da*, the sound of small leather shoes hitting the floor rang out. The proud Lady Betty made her entrance.
"To think that even the Great Spirit, Beatrice, who is rarely seen on a normal day, has come to the banquet~ Have you finally decided to dine with me after so long~"
Roswaal smiled in welcome and signaled Ram to pull Betty's exclusive seat half a body length away, making it convenient for her to sit down.
"You self-absorbed fool. The idiot concentration in this room is about to overflow the windowsill. The only reason Betty came here was simply to accompany elder brother."
Betty's seat was in the first position to Roswaal's left, symmetrical to Emilia's, but the chair was a child-sized high stool, supplemented by two thick books as a "booster cushion."
Puck also flew over to Betty, sharing this leisurely and warm time with her.
"Hmph~ Betty is always so clingy to me. As your elder brother, I'm happy, but I still hope you can grow up a bit."
Seeing that all the guests were seated, Roswaal clapped his hands and instructed the two maids to bring out the dishes.
The originally tense atmosphere gradually began to relax under the influence of the dishes' fragrance.
There were cicada-wing thin slices of Forest Mint Venison, and Golden Potato Cream Soup fragrant with milk wine.
The main course, Deep-Fried Trout in Dragon Oil Crust, was truly appetizing. The rich fragrance of Dragon Breath Fruit Oil immediately dominated the dining table.
The dazzling array of dishes gradually filled the table, and Green could barely take it all in.
He took a deep breath, and the fragrance of the various dishes immediately passed through his lungs on an epic level.
At this point, who cared about conspiracies or dangers? Green pretended to adjust his collar and said seriously, "Since things have come to this, let's eat first."