I Became a Barbarian's Bride - Chapter 92
“I am Liri, the hostess of today’s party. Although it may seem humble to someone as esteemed as Tun, I hope you enjoy your time here.”
With a bright smile, Liri gestured toward the central table inside.
Was it just her imagination, or did those words seem to have a subtle bite to them?
Nisha pondered for a moment, her face reflecting her uncertainty, before she nodded slowly and instinctively put on her usual polite smile.
‘Wasn’t she said to be the granddaughter of one of Xieman’s elders?’
Before coming here, Kagan had suggested that it would be good to at least know a little about those she would meet. He mentioned that Liri was an unusual case within Xieman.
“Thank you for your hospitality.”
The reason Nisha decided to attend this gathering was simple—she wanted to get a feel for what the high society in Xieman was like.
Truthfully, it didn’t seem like Xieman had much of a high society.
They had banquets, but they felt more like celebrations to eat, drink, and be merry.
Even now, instead of having tea, the tables were covered with snacks and alcohol.
‘Do the people of Xieman find it impossible to live without alcohol?’
When she thought about it, every banquet she had attended in Xieman had been drenched in alcohol.
She certainly hadn’t expected the invitation she thought was for a tea time to actually be an invitation to an alcohol fest.
The scent of alcohol already filled the air.
Not that she couldn’t drink or disliked it—since clean water was often hard to come by, she would usually drink low-proof wine with her meals, but…
‘…Whiskey?’
Drinking whiskey straight from the crate in broad daylight—what kind of noble ladies would do that?
“By the way, have you heard? About Kamah and Rhenia finally going through with it.”
“…?”
The moment Nisha sat down, the conversation took a turn so outrageous that her face stiffened slightly.
“Oh, yes, I heard. Kamah broke up with her in the restaurant just recently, but I have no idea how he has the nerve to show his face again.”
“And what about Rhenia accepting him back?”
“Poor Alis, wasting two years on that guy.”
“I heard that Alis’s father, the Chief of Seva, was furious and swore he’d kill that bastard. Didn’t he?”
“Oh, that? Alis told her father to just let it go and forget about him, so he calmed down.”
Nisha blinked, holding a glass filled with the strongest-smelling whiskey she’d ever encountered.
She wasn’t sure whether she had just walked into a tea party for ladies or some sort of crude, gossip-filled gathering for men.
‘They’re really just exposing everything…’
She inwardly shook her head in disbelief.
And then it happened.
“Speaking of which, Katun, have you had your ‘big night’ with Kagan yet? How was it?”
“…What?”
“Were things…big there too?”
At the wide-eyed ladies’ eager questioning, Nisha’s polite smile cracked just a little.
“We’re also curious about his technique.”
“That’s right! Kagan has always kept his distance from women. The only ones close to him were Princess Rose and Chief Arha.”
As they stared at her with sparkling eyes, eager for more, Nisha found herself at a loss for words.
It didn’t seem like they were joking, but if they were serious, that was an even bigger problem.
‘First night…?’
She couldn’t recall. She had passed out in the middle of it.
But saying, “I passed out, so I don’t know!” would be too embarrassing.
No, the whole conversation was just ridiculous.
As her temple throbbed, she instinctively pressed it with her fingers.
“Everyone, stop~ The Katun grew up in a foreign land, so our kind of conversation might sound vulgar to her. Apologies if we’re not up to your level~.”
“It’s only natural that different environments bring different thoughts, customs, and perspectives. It’s fine.”
Nisha calmly replied, her face noticeably more composed despite the obvious mockery.
After everything she’d endured, this kind of ambiguous insult was neither surprising nor amusing to her.
In fact, she’d rather deal with such blatant malice than someone pretending to be kind. At least with malice, she knew how to handle it.
She had faced enough of it to have learned at least twenty different ways to respond.
“I haven’t been here long, so I’m still adapting. But thanks to you, I’m learning something new.”
Nisha said with a smile, causing Liri to hesitate.
For some reason, Liri stared at Nisha with a slightly displeased expression but shrugged her shoulders.
“Did you know? Before the oracle was announced, the position of Tun was originally reserved for Young Chief Arha.”
