Betty followed the staff member all the way to the seventh-floor rooftop.
Before heading out today, she and her mother had spent quite a while doing makeup. The light makeup she wore highlighted the fresh innocence of a 15-year-old girl perfectly.
Wearing a pale yellow, frilly noble's gown, Betty stepped into the seventh-floor hall—and immediately caught the attention of a few noble young men at the entrance.
Some recognized her as the daughter of Viscount Karl, greeting her with smiles, and Betty politely returned each one.
The ditzy image she showed in front of her parents was replaced by a calm, well-mannered, and cultured demeanor—surprisingly, without any sense of contradiction.
"Betty!"
A noble young lady noticed her and waved her over excitedly.
Seeing her friend's familiar face dispelled the unease Betty had felt about the unfamiliar environment. Lifting her skirts, she quickly walked over to join her social circle.
"I thought you said you weren't coming today? What changed?" a noble girl beside her asked curiously.
"I handled my business faster than expected, so I decided to come check things out," Betty replied with an effortless lie and a smile.
In truth, she'd only come because she begged her parents to foot the bill. She couldn't possibly admit that—what a loss of face that would be!
In noble society, socializing was often wrapped in layers of little lies, and Betty, despite being only fifteen, had long grown used to it.
As for why she dared to come up on her own now, naturally, it was because she had her father's verbal approval. That meant any expenses incurred could be billed straight to House Karl's account.
"What are you guys talking about?" Betty asked casually as she subtly slipped a card deck up her sleeve.
The deck had been a gift from the hotpot restaurant. If anyone noticed it, her lie might get exposed—so she had to be careful.
"We were talking about this." One noble girl pointed at the scattered cards on the table and giggled, "A fun little game."
"What's this?" Betty feigned curiosity. But when she spotted the empty package box off to the side, she already knew—it was the same Element Card Set she had hidden in her sleeve.
"Princess Mia calls them 'Element Cards.' They've been pretty popular lately, especially among the ladies."
Betty put on a curious expression and asked a few more questions, smoothly blending into the group's conversation.
Since the Karl family had dined relatively early, it was only just approaching noon now.
Most of the young nobles had arrived at the seventh floor long before lunch—not merely to eat hotpot.
More than anything, they had come to show support for Princess Mia, and of course, to daydream about gaining her favor.
After playing a few rounds of the noble edition Element Cards, Betty began to feel the unique charm of the game.
In her spare moments, she glanced around and found that many of the nobles were playing it.
Some of the more competitive ones already had coin pouches and banknotes from the Gold Reserve Bank laid out on the tables. When things got intense, they even dramatically shouted the names of the spells printed on the cards.
In particular, the younger noble boys—aged thirteen or fourteen—were especially taken with the game and had already fallen head over heels for it.
Around noon, Princess Mia entered the hall from outside, dressed in an elegant white gown. Her light golden hair was swept up in an intricate style that made her appear far more mature.
She was followed by two lines of staff members.
As soon as they entered, they paired up and stationed themselves at each table, ready to serve.
Mia smiled warmly as she nodded in greeting to each noble she passed.
Everyone in the hall immediately rose to their feet. They didn't sit back down until Mia had taken her seat at the main table in the front.
"Princess Mia is so beautiful," Betty murmured in admiration and envy. "She has such grace and elegance… gentle yet composed. I wonder which lucky guy will end up with her."
If Ron André had heard that, he probably would've had a giant question mark pop up over his head.
But in the noble circle, this sentiment was widely agreed upon.
The host stepped onto the stage to thank the guests for attending. They shared a few tidbits about the hotpot BBQ restaurant and handed out VIP cards to liven up the mood—then invited Princess Mia to say a few words.
Mia stepped onto the stage with calm confidence. Facing a crowd of over a hundred people, she showed no sign of nervousness and instead smiled gently.
"Thank you all for coming today.
"At the end of October, I traveled to the City of Chaos to attend the Harvest Goddess Church's ceremonial festival.
"There, I discovered two amazing foods: hotpot and barbecue. I was instantly captivated by them.
"After learning more, I decided to bring them back to the Imperial Capital, hoping to share these wonderful flavors with even more people.
"When I returned, I invited my father to try it with me. He praised the experience highly, which made me incredibly happy. I felt I had made the right decision.
"Today marks the opening of our hotpot BBQ restaurant. Once again, thank you all for being here. I hope you enjoy your meal."
As applause filled the hall, Mia returned to her seat.
Staff members wheeled in carts loaded with all kinds of food.
Soon, everyone was feasting joyfully, completely swept away by the flavors of hotpot and barbecue.
Even Betty, who had been stuffed just a short while ago, couldn't resist picking up her chopsticks again.
After the meal, Princess Mia and her guests didn't rush to leave.
Everyone chatted leisurely with drinks in hand, while Mia gracefully moved from group to group, handling the socializing with ease and charm.
She didn't forget to promote the Element Cards, either—she even personally joined in a few games with some of the noble boys, and when she lost, she praised her opponents with a warm smile.
The young nobles were practically floating from joy—some looked ready to drop to one knee on the spot.
The Element Cards left a strong impression on everyone present.
By around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, the guests began to leave one after another.
Mia, exhausted, followed Eileen back to the private restroom on the top floor. The dignified and composed princess's act vanished instantly as she let out a loud "Aaaahhhh!" and buried her head into Eileen's chest.
"Eileeeeen~ I'm so tired~ Hug meeee~"
Eileen's chest heaved slightly as she gave a helpless, mildly annoyed look. "Stop that… Ah! Don't squish so hard! You'll ruin it!"
"Ehehe~ Eileen, you're so soft~ So comfy~"
"Tch… don't make me fight back. Let go, or I will."
"Nooo! Hahaha, that tickles~."
"Alright, alright, didn't you say we still have to go check the shop's situation? This is not break time."
"I knowww~."