Winnie thought about the opening events before the main storyline began. He remembered there was another notable event before the opening of the Kareliman Academy, and that was the birthday celebration of Princess Mirecia Peono of the Kingdom of Camellia.
As the only heir to the king, the first successor to the throne of the Kingdom of Camellia, Mirecia’s birthday celebration was certainly a grand affair. She was the king’s only jewel.
The entire nobility of the Kingdom of Camellia was eager to attend. Nobles were scrambling to get an invitation. However, the number of invitations was limited, and only those who received one could attend.
For the nobility, the banquet was a vital social event. The minor nobles would bring their heirs to introduce them to the heirs of other families, signaling that this was their future elder brother. The great nobles, on the other hand, would bring their heirs to greet the younger heirs.
Furthermore, the scale of the banquet indicated its worth. The participants were high-ranking nobles and even royalty, so it was the top-tier banquet. The opportunity to attend such an event was rare.
Nobles made most of their collaborations and arranged marriages during such events. Though the chances were small, what if the heir of a great noble family and their child happened to hit it off?
Even if they didn’t hit it off, it didn’t matter. If the two families had many areas to cooperate in, a marriage alliance could still be arranged. Many noble heirs’ marriages were decided by their family heads. If one enjoyed the glory and wealth of the family, they also had to shoulder the corresponding responsibilities.
Whether it was a duke’s daughter or a princess born to the royal family, no one could avoid this. On this matter, everyone was a pawn, ready at any time to sacrifice personal feelings for the sake of the family.
As the princess of the Kingdom of Camellia, Mirecia was very fortunate. She didn’t have to give up her freedom of love for family interests because King Camellia was a pure-hearted war god. Since the queen’s death, he hadn’t remarried, which showed that the king cherished his family. Especially after the death of his beloved wife, he poured all his love into his daughter, respecting her choices and never forcing her to sacrifice personal desires for family gain.
In terms of both private and public morals, this king was an uncompromising moral model. He was also firm in his beliefs and supported the fallen Aeciphysis family whenever he could. Although he didn’t approve of the biased actions Winnie had taken while pursuing Mirecia, he still kept things separate.
With this thought, Winnie let out a light sigh.
As for those families who had no intention of forming marriage alliances, they were also eager to participate in the banquet. They aimed to befriend the high-ranking nobles and royalty, leaving a good impression and resolving any misunderstandings with their peers.
It was always better to clarify things than to let others assume and misinterpret.
Given all this, the royal birthday banquet was one that nobles almost fought to attend.
But what did this have to do with Winnie?
Perhaps the king would symbolically send him an invitation in the name of the goddess, but he wouldn’t go.
What was the point of going there? Sure, there’d be free food, but if he went, he’d probably get a full serving of disdain before even tasting the meal.
He didn’t want to go through that, having to endure a heap of scorn along with a rare feast.
Winnie didn’t care about others’ opinions, but he hated trouble and couldn’t be bothered to outwit those pompous nobles who looked down on others.
Instead of dealing with that, wasn’t it more meaningful to fiddle with the system and see if there were any new ways to play with it?
After tinkering with it for the whole morning, Winnie discovered that since his bloodline had awakened, not only had a skill tree function been added, but there was also a shop system that refreshed periodically.
The items displayed in the shop were varied and strange, with prices ranging from single digits to prices followed by an unknown number of zeros. Some looked pretty decent, while others were terribly unattractive.
However, Winnie was broke, with only a single-digit virtue, so he couldn’t afford either the cheap or expensive items.
It seemed that to take care of broke people like him, the shop updated a free item with each refresh, but which item would show up was purely a matter of luck.
Curious about the items for sale in the shop, Winnie focused on the only thing he could afford: the free item.
A black collar with a heart-shaped decoration in the center.
"Well, this shop is kind of spicy...selling...kinky products?"
But this size, it definitely didn’t look like it was meant for people.
Winnie clicked on the item’s description out of curiosity.
"Pet Collar: When activated, the wearer will unconditionally obey the wearer’s commands for an hour. Suitable for spirits and below (Note: Only usable on small pets)."
Divine gold.
After reading it, Winnie had a black line running across his face. Ignoring the words in parentheses, the item seemed somewhat useful, but if you added those words, it was absolutely useless.
It was only usable on pets—what good was it? Should he go out and catch a stray dog for some kinky fun?
He could understand the occasional strange item in the shop, but not every weird thing was completely useless, right?
Also, why mention the applicable cultivation realm? What kind of pet would have a spirit-level cultivation? A muscle-bound bunny?
At least it was free; if it was free, why not take it? But even if he did take it, he couldn’t think of any use for it. He could hardly afford to feed himself, let alone a pet.
And it only lasted for an hour?
Hmm, maybe he could put it on a monkey and have it perform street tricks?
He clicked to purchase it, and a black collar, the size of which only a small dog could wear, appeared in his palm.
Winnie examined it closely. The collar had faint magical runes on it. Such obedience-enchanting items were often very complex in design. He couldn’t help but wonder where the system got these items from.
He casually stuffed it into his pocket and estimated the date. If he remembered correctly, in the original story, Aeciphysis would encounter the demon tribe in the forest about half a month before the academy started.
Hmm, in a few days, he could set out, lie in wait in that forest, and catch whatever he could.
The bell outside the courtyard rang, signaling someone’s arrival.
When Winnie opened the door and went downstairs, he found that the courtyard was empty, and the person who had arrived seemed to have already left.
Looking at the wind flag still shaking on the mailbox, Winnie thought for a moment. He walked over and opened the old mailbox, and sure enough, there was an invitation inside.
Winnie didn’t even need to open it to know it was an invitation to Mirecia’s birthday banquet.
Though it was a birthday celebration, Mirecia was probably the least happy about it. After all...