The Simulacrum

~Chapter 149~ Part 3

In a blink of an eye, it was Sunday evening already. Though again, that might be overstating things a little. I had a whole lot of things to do to make time fly by, such as helping everyone choose their outfits for the banquet, and I promised to let Tajana visit the Fauns, which also ate up half an afternoon, and so on. There were also other miscellaneous bits and bobs to take care of, as always, but none of that was terribly important.

"So? What's the plan?" Judy inquired at my side, making me pause.

I was pretty sure we had already discussed the outline before, so she should've already known. Maybe it was for the benefit of Elly, who wasn't there the last time we talked?

Speaking of her, my draconic girlfriend was wearing the same kind of fiery red evening dress she did the last time we attended a big Draconian gala event, her face extra-bright and her hair extra-drilly. In contrast, Judy opted for a more discreet sky-blue gown and a matching hair bow from her steadily growing collection. They looked pretty as always, but not flashy, which was just perfect, considering we weren't supposed to be the stars of the party.

But back to her inquiry. First thing first, I pulled the princess a little closer to make sure she was in on the conversation.

"The plan," I whispered so that the others behind us wouldn't overhear it. "The plan is to observe the scene and see how much the events will adhere to tropes without direct Narrative influence. There's no need to stress too much over it though; I'll be on the lookout, so you can just enjoy the party."

"In that case, I'll look for familiar faces," Elly whispered back, followed by a slightly disappointed, "It's too bad Vivien went home last week."

If my memory served right, that was her old friend. The one who asked for my autograph in the past. While Critias became the cradle of the Draconic Federation, and lots of Draconian families bought estates here, they weren't, strictly speaking, living on the island. Since they couldn't stay away from their homes for months at a time just to hang around here, it made sense that some of them would've left already.

But speaking of estates, this time the party wasn't held at the Dracis's, but at a smaller (yet just as lavish) mansion owned by the Lotans near the edge of Archytas, another port town on the southern shore of Critias. Furthermore, since the weather was pretty nice, the event was held outdoors. When we arrived, I could see a big swimming pool in the back of the estate, so I wondered if this technically counted as a 'pool party', but I quickly shook the idle thought out of my mind and adopted a more dignified expression just as we were about to enter the venue.

"Sir Leonard Blackcloak Dunning, Third Seat of the Draconic Council, Grand Master of Ordo Draconis, Second True Archon of Elysium, and family!"

I couldn't help but squint my eyes at the young crier at the door announcing our arrival. I never liked to be reminded of all the titles I've been saddled with, but at least he only shouted out the most relevant ones. On one hand, I was happy that the silly Chimera-slayer moniker was finally buried under the rest, but on the other, I didn't know how to feel about 'Blackcloak' somehow becoming my unofficial middle name.

As for the 'family' part…

"H-Hauu… I didn't expect there would be so many people watching."

Penny's complaints were directed to my other sister, but before Snowy could react, Dame Morgana chided her with a soft, "Penelope, dear. Please mind your manners when we're in public."

"Y-Yes."

She hastily straightened her back and my sisters followed after us. So did the two senior Knights, all dressed appropriately for the occasion. This was the first official appearance of the Dunning household in the social circles of the Draconic Federation, and it turned a couple of heads. At least until the next big announcement.

"Lady Angeline Deus Dionne, First True Archon of Elysium, and her Justicar!" the greeter cried out, and glancing over my shoulder, I could see a nervously waving Angie and a stone-faced Josh enter the venue behind us. They were in their white, asymmetric Deus garbs, and I had to admit, they looked pretty fine standing next to each other.

We waited for them to catch up to us, a downtime which I used to glance around. I joked about the pool party before, but the banquet really was held around the swimming pool. Of course, nobody was taking a dip in the middle of a banquet, so it only served as a backdrop. The courtyard was spacious and surrounded by perfectly rectangular hedges that just started to sprout leaves, enclosing a flat area covered with impeccable lawn, well-maintained footpaths, and the occasional neatly sculpted evergreen shrub. The place was currently dotted with fancy tables set with even fancier tablecloths and trays full of finger foods and drinks, while the live classical music in the background created a dignified atmosphere.

I didn't count, but by my estimate, there were over a hundred people at the scene. Most of them were Draconians from various families, but based on the different outfits, I could also see a couple of Assembly representatives here and there. And that was not counting the serving staff dressed in old-school butler and maid outfits while catering to the guests. Draconians really liked that kind of thing.

I could see a lot of familiar faces, mostly people I tangentially knew due to Draconic Federation work, but none of the main actors of today's play were in sight yet. Meanwhile, my group naturally congregated around me, so I looked them over and gave a few short instructions.

"Everyone, go and mingle a bit. Keep your wits about you, and stay out of trouble." After a beat, I turned to face Angie. "That one was aimed at you."

"I get it, I get it. Geez…" she grumbled, but a moment later she perked up and tugged on Josh's arm. "Look! They've got a smorgasbord! Let's check it out!"

"… Am I the only one who's having a déja vu here?" the guy mumbled under his nose, but nobody had a chance to respond before he was pulled away by his enthusiastic girlfriend.

Just like that, the childhood friend couple broke away from our cluster, soon followed by Arnwald and Morgana when they found some familiar faces in the crowd. Penny and Snowy awkwardly followed behind them, ultimately leaving me with my girlfriends.

"Do we mingle too?" came the straightforward question from Elly.

"If you'd like to. Be on the lookout for Naoren, Rinne, and Yseult."

"I can do the first two, but I'd like to remind you that I had never met this Yseult woman before," Judy pointed out.

"She's tall and pretty and likes to wear sparkly evening gowns," Elly responded before I could, and she received a deadpan look screaming 'Do you know how little that narrows it down?' for her trouble.

"Blonde, looks to be in her late twenties, used to have one of those fluffy beehive hairdos from the sixties."

"Oh. I think I have seen her before then, but I'm not sure I could recognize her in the crowd," she admitted. Apparently, even eidetic memory had its limits.

"Don't stress over it," Elly encouraged her by patting her shoulder. "If I see her, I'll point her out for you."

"If you find her, monitor her from a distance," I spoke absent-mindedly while my eyes scanned the courtyard. "Our role today is to be passive observers and to maybe provide backup in case things take a turn for the strange."

"Hm."

Judy looked doubtful for a moment, so I stopped looking around and faced her.

"Yes, Dormouse? Is there a problem?"

"I'm trying to figure out if what you just said counts as jinxing or not."

"Actually," Elly cut in with a thoughtful frown on her brows. "Isn't pointing out that someone is tempting fate the thing that makes it a jinx?"

"That's… a novel idea."

I let the two of them continue that discussion on their own and focused my attention on the banquet. Since this wasn't a fully Draconian party, I hoped things wouldn't get too rowdy, but just to be sure, I told everyone to move in pairs and try to stay out of the scuffles of others.

"You dare!?"

Like that one, where two male guests suddenly started throwing their fists, probably over some perceived insult or another. It said something about Draconian attitudes that the crowd only made some space for them and continued their small talk as if there was nothing out of the ordinary going on. Heck, even the live cello performance coming from the small stage set up at the corner of the courtyard continued on uninterrupted, giving a rather clashing soundtrack to the unfolding fisticuffs.

Anyhow, I took my own advice, and since this had nothing to do with me or my companions, I gave that whole situation a wide berth. I expected that this would be the most action-packed highlight of today's party and for good riddance. After the madness of the past couple of months, this was nice.

But… the fact that nothing pressing was happening also gave me lots of time to introspect. About me, and the Narrative, and the Simulacrum in general. Maybe I've been doing too much of that as of late, but I couldn't help it. I mean, it wasn't like I was doing all that ruminating on purpose, it was just a response to all of the new meta-information and the resulting existential instability and whatnot. At least, that's how I rationalized it.

Psychology was hard, so let's act like the average responsible adult and repress the hell out of my troubling thoughts by focusing on the present. So, what was I doing here again? Besides sneakily tasting some wine while nobody was looking, I mean?

"Eh… This isn't for me," I concluded after a few sips and put the glass I've taken from a tray down. Today wasn't the day I would start drinking, it seemed.

More importantly, the evening's goal wasn't just to gawk at the development of Naoren's and Rinne's relationship and its tribulations like some old wives with too much free time on their hands. Sure, our presence here was prompted by my distaste for the contract romance genre and all the misunderstanding and miscommunication tropes that came with it, but it was just that. It motivated me on a personal level, but it wasn't the real reason.

Simply put, I needed context. To this day, even after digesting everything I absorbed by merging with other-me, I wasn't entirely sure about the scope and limits of what Narrative-me was doing all this time. I understood the plot, and I understood some of the means by which Narrative-me was steering it, but not the whole picture.

If I wanted to take over that role from the inside, first I had to figure out what other universal tropes were still in play in the Simulacrum. It was important to know, not just to avoid annoying ones (like tempting fate resulting in predictable consequences), but because with just the right approach, those tropes could also be turned into tools to work for me.

But why stop there? What about going even bigger, and trying to change the genre altogether? I was always worried that killing someone, anyone, even a bastard as aggravating as Percival, would change the tone of the Simulacrum, altering the common tropes and making things darker and more dangerous. If those tropes weren't enforced by Narrative-me, but the Simulacrum's framework itself, then I could do the opposite and enforce safer and less annoying developments by nudging the tone and genre in a different direction. Within limits, of course, as it still had to be about Josh and Angie.

Since I reminded myself of them, I looked around a bit and quickly found the childhood friend couple. They were near one of the tables, surrounded by a whole lot of girls. I could've moved over to check what they were talking about, but a quick Far Glance could do the job just as well, and I soon let out a hum. Angie was surprisingly popular. Either that, or these Draconian girls' parents sent them out to flatter her and make connections while she was still young and approachable.

"And you see, they… I mean, we have these beautiful white spiral towers, and when you're at the top, you can see the entire island!"

"That sounds amazing, Lady Angeline! I wish I could see it with my own eyes!" a girl with short blue hair and dreamy eyes spoke up, putting on hand on her cheek and sighing wistfully.

"Such wonders," another girl, slightly older than her, spoke with a melodic yet calculating voice. "They often say that great leaders create great feats of architecture."

"If that's true," a third, short girl with black hair immediately capitalized on the opportunity and hastily interjected herself into the conversation. "Then Lady Angeline must be a great leader indeed."

"It was Grandpa Deus who had them built, but… thanks for the compliment?"

Angie didn't seem to mind (or notice) the clumsy bootlicking and continued describing the Elysium to the eager ears around her, while Josh remained poker-faced and vigilant even as he was liberally sampling the nearby smorgasbord.

Normally he would've been more enthusiastic about trying new food, so I figured either the assassination attempt had caused him to be more serious in public, or he was just trying really hard to play the role of the 'mysterious white knight protecting his lady' archetype, even if he wasn't fully aware of doing it. Anyhow, they seemed fine, so I checked on the others.

I found Penny and Snowy standing near the cellist on the temporary stage, though they weren't listening to the music.

"C-Could it be that you didn't want to come to this party?" Penny whispered in a mortified voice. "Did… did I mess up?"

"No, don't worry about it," my Abyssal sister reassured her. "This is… nice. It's just that I have a lot on my mind, with Percival and everything."

"What does Uncle Percy have to do with anything?" Penny muttered, and then suddenly her eyes opened wide as saucers. "Are you worried that he didn't lose his memories? Is he lying?"

"I don't know, but… It doesn't really matter."

She must've meant that it didn't change the 'homework' I gave her, but Penny immediately misunderstood it.

"R-Right… Even if he didn't have amnesia, Brother wouldn't have let us meet him if he was a bad guy, so it must be fine. Yeah, there must be some kind of misunderstanding. Or something we don't understand. Or maybe…"

Snowy continued to silently listen to Penny's worries, at least until the music changed, and the two of them decided to try dancing instead of moping around. Good call, by the way. If they didn't, I would've had to go over to shake them out of their melancholy myself.

Moving on, I Far Glanced at Arnwald, and I found him and Morgana surrounded by a group of adults, sitting by the pool and sipping cocktails delivered by the serving staff.

"I never knew you two were already married!" a middle-aged lady spoke up with a pleased smile, and the man next to her (probably her husband) hummed along while patting his belly.

"Sir Arnwald, you sneaky devil! I thought you were so cold to all your admirers in the office because you were married to your job, but to find you kept such a secret from us all this time! Just wait until the rest of the folks in the club learn about this!"

Club? Was Arnwald part of some social club? I felt like I was missing some context, but I couldn't linger on that for much before my attention was grabbed by Morgana's reaction.

"Dear? What is this about admirers?"

"Just… Just a silly misunderstanding, I assure you."

"Oh my!" Left of where the two were sitting, a slightly tipsy elderly woman whom I have occasionally seen during the meetings of the Dracon Council let out a chuckle. She took a lazy sip from her martini glass and said, "I think we can make an educated guess about who's wearing the pants in your relationship."

"Our relationship is… not as simple as it seems on the surface," Arnwald tried to object, but Morgana reached out and took his hand.

"Dear, don't let yourself be teased like that."

"… Yes. You're right, Morgana. I shouldn't let my pride get the best of me."

"Exactly," she smiled and held his hand even firmer before she continued in a deceptively sweet tone. "So, can we talk about those admirers of yours in detail?"

Her question caused the group to erupt into laughter, and with a shake of my head, I cut my Far Sight and returned to my body. Surprisingly enough, our senior Knights were remarkably popular among the middle class of Draconian society; the couples surrounding them belonged to the 'subordinate families' working under the big clans like the Feilongs, the Dracis, or the Albions. They were the ones running the administration and day-to-day business of the Draconic Federation, so it made sense that, as my usual stand-in, Arnwald had gotten to know them. The fact they were all having a light-hearted conversation despite being mortal enemies just half a year ago spoke volumes of the adaptability of everyone involved.

But speaking of classes, if these people were the equivalent of middle-class white-collar workers of the Draconic Federation, then my girlfriends were currently surrounded by the upper crust of Draconian society; the heads and heirs of big families still roleplaying as aristocracy. They also seemed to be having a good time gossiping among themselves, and I was just about to Far Glance their way in turn when I finally realized something.

Why was I the only one left alone?

Everyone else was mingling fine, while I was on my lonesome, drifting from one end of the courtyard to the other while occasionally picking up a snack or drink from the tables. When I passed them by, people would greet me, or at the very least nod, but nobody approached me to talk. Not that I minded, but still… was I discriminated against?

Or maybe they were just wary of me. After all, I was the leader of the Celestials (both on paper and in reality, as much as I hated to admit it), so maybe they felt uncomfortable in my presence. No, wait. Then why was everyone fine with Angie and Josh?

Suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious, I was contemplating whether I should go over to the girls and ask if I made some weird social faux pas without realizing it, but just as I was about to move, the announcer at the door drew my attention.

"Sir Naoren Feilong, Head of Clan Feilong, Second Seat of the Draconic Council, and his escort!"

Over at the gates leading to the courtyard, I saw Naoren enter with Rinne awkwardly fidgeting by his side. They were both dressed in a mixture of Western formal wear with some East Asian flairs and embroidery, and the way they were walking arm in arm raised a few surprised brows among the onlookers. As expected, really. Now, only the last piece of the puzzle was missing, and…

"Hmpf!"

The unexpected harrumph coming from my left made me automatically turn in that direction, and my gaze landed on its source. A pale young woman (though with Draconian physiology, exact ages were hard to guess), her platinum blonde hair reaching down to the small of her back and looking none too pleased by what she was seeing. She wore an ocean-blue dress that hugged her figure, its folds and frills designed to look like wave crests and with small tear-shaped gemstones speckled onto its surface. She also had long, white evening gloves and a fur-trimmed collar, and overall, she managed to stand out of the already lavishly dressed crowd.

Yep, that was definitely Yseult Albion all right. How the hell did I miss her until now when she was looking like that? It wasn't like I was under Narrative Influence to ignore her until the right moment. Or was I? Did I subconsciously overlook her so that her appearance would be more dramatic?

"Man… being the Narrative is hard."

While I was only mumbling that under my breath, she still noticed me and turned a pair of turquoise eyes towards my direction.

"Hm? Did you say something?"

Her voice was cordial, but a little cold, and she even took out a folded-up hand fan from somewhere and lightly tapped it against her palm. Yup, that's just what a 'villainess' would do in a vaguely Victorian-era romance story all right, meaning my hunch was probably on the money. Heck, I was pretty sure that the only reason she was missing the oujo drills was because it would've overlapped with Elly's aesthetics, and the Simulacrum didn't like that. But more importantly, if my guesses based on genre conventions were right so far, it meant…

"Oh, don't mind me," I told her with a self-deprecating smile and took a step back. "I'm just here to watch the show unfold. Carry on."