Michael arose from his bed as Sheina delicately entered his room. She had both of her hands outstretched, showing a white letter marked sealed by a red and gold wax symbol of some kind of feline animal.
"A soldier came by on the break of dawn to deliver this message to you."
Michael took the letter from her hands. "Did they say anything else about it?" he asked her.
"They said it was an invitation."
He used a knife to rip the envelope's upper lip to reveal the letter inside.
He unfurled the paper and let ChatJK4 analyze its contents, specifically its wording and grammar. According to Yuna, those kinds of details were important in politics as it could determine a hidden message within the letter.
[Duke Stelmane is cordially inviting you on his grand castle tonight at nightfall for a formal dance ball. There are a bunch of other names written on here, which seems to be the invitees on the ball itself,] ChatJK4 summarized.
Michael inspected the names within the letter among a myriad of strangers he didn't know.
[These names are familiar] ChatJK4 remarked. [According to the information reported by the Shadow Orcs yesterday night, most of these names are people that own and manage the biggest companies and businesses in Angora City.]
So the Duke invited business owners and a couple of other high ranking royals as well, I'm assuming. Is there some kind of occasion?
[The letter did not specify the reason for the dance ball. But using an educated guess, it can be assumed that it is merely a way for these people to mingle and socialize with each other. These kinds of events were frequent in the medieval times of your previous life.]
When he watched historical dramas and fantasy, he always saw women in large ball gowns and men in golden-laced suits dancing with each other while a live band played on the side. This seemed to be one of those.
I can't dance. You'll help me right?
[It is unlikely for people to ask an eleven year old boy to dance with them. But if you'd like to dance by yourself, then I shall gladly help you.]
…you're getting quite snarky, he said to ChatJK4 but it just ignored him.
Seeing as he already planned on visiting the Duke anyway, he decided to accept the invite.
"Thanks for waking me, Sheina. Can you tell our Rebornian tailors to make me an appropriate suit to wear?"
The white-scaled Dragonborn smiled and nodded. "Of course, Lord Michael. I shall make sure that they create something that will truly embody your grandness."
Michael reminded her not to go overboard, but she seemed to have not heard him at all. She was already out of his room by the time she finished her task.
Hmm… I should probably ask Yuna for advice. She's the one who's good with politics.
He knocked on her door, and not even a second later, Agnes opened it and gestured for Michael to come inside.
"You're in a good mood," he said to the Ogre battle maid.
"Yes," Agnes said proudly. "One of your citizens…Grieve, has allowed me to partake in their training sessions. I have found that despite his lanky structure, his moves come with great power."
After Michael awakened the Red Mankeys into HobMankeys similar to the others back in the Parched Lands, they had been hard at work practicing under Grieve to sharpen their innate talent.
And of course, since Grieve was a 9-star general from his previous life, Agnes would learn a lot from him even though she was already a 7-star fighter herself.
"If you will excuse me, I am late for training." And with that, Agnes left Michael and Yuna alone in her room.
"Is there something you need?" Yuna asked as she arranged her papers.
"The Duke invited me to a ball…"
He then explained to her everything he found in the letter before eventually asking her to give him some advice.
"Hmm…why don't I just join you?" she asked.
Michael hadn't thought of that, but in hindsight, it would make perfect sense. As a diplomat, she would be able to help him negotiate during his eventual meeting with the Duke!
"That's great," he said to her. "We'll go together tonight."
…
…
…
Meanwhile, Jimmy, the main correspondent of the Reborn company, had just finished inscribing the last few words in his paper.
The ink was still wet, but he couldn't help his excitement and ended up reading it from start to finish.
As he did, pride welled up in his chest. He could hardly believe that he was staring at his very first publication, one that would immediately put his name in the front page of the newspaper.
He immediately rushed out of the Reborn Headquarters, brushing past eager customers in the department store as he got out.
A few minutes later, he arrived at the newspaper company, where he immediately submitted the paper to the Chief Editor of the entire company itself. He was the one that decided everything, down to the very last word written in the paper.
The man seemed to be very busy as his entire desk was stacked with mountains of papers from other journalists.
"What is it? You do know that I don't handle newbies like you, right?"
Jimmy didn't care and walked over to his desk.
"Please read this, chief. Then, you will see that the Reborn company will soar through the skies."
Intrigued, the editor took out the cigarette in his mouth and eventually accepted the paper from Jimmy's hands.
Since the Reborn company was such a hot topic in the city these days due to their new department store and their performance in the tomb and in the arena, the editor decided to give it a chance.
The man's eyes were disinterested at first as he glanced at the top of the page.
But as his eyes swept over the remaining text below, his face slowly changed into one of interest, then shock, and then finally awe.
He must have re-read the entire thing three times over, but the shock still hasn't left his face.
"Are you sure this is accurate?" the editor asked Jimmy with a serious look.
"I swear I saw it with my own eyes." Jimmy put his hand over his chest.
The editor then walked out of his office, paper in hand.
"Listen up, everybody!" he shouted to the whole newspaper department floor. "Change of plans. We are going to publish this as our next headline."
Everyone looked at him incredulously. It was already late in the day, yet their editor was asking them to suddenly change things without even any warnings.
"What are you waiting for?! Go! Go! Go!" the editor shouted. "We will publish this piece tonight. And tonight, history will change."
…
…
…
Soon, night came and the entirety of Angora City darkened, with only a few lights glimmering off of torches and candles.
Michael looked in the mirror and saw himself clad in a white suit clad with gold embellishments all around. He looked like he was part of a marching band.
He quickly got rid of all the gold, making it a simple yet elegant white suit.
Now, he was ready to go to the ball.