New Life, New Task: I'll Be A Mom Then!!!

Meanwhile, the scene at the center of the hall reached its peak as Eli finally stood beside the elders of the two clans.

"Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, our daughter, Elise Fayre!" Tyce and Eugine unanimously introduced Eli to the stunned people in the hall.

As the debutante, all eyes were already on Eli, waiting for her to speak. Some have the look of anticipation, while others of subtle scrutiny.

But how could Eli, a seasoned corporate woman, be intimidated by such gazes?

She had defended countless business proposals and received hostile criticism from the big bosses of the company in her previous lifetime!

Holding the glass of wine that was gently given by Grandma Brygid, Eli elegantly stepped at the center of the platform and met the gazes of the people her eyes could reach.

She exuded a unique demeanor that neither belongs to a person of low nor high social status.  It was a kind of aura that would make people become slightly intimidated, rethinking how they would be dealing with her at the moment.

With a calm, steady and well modulated voice, she gave a few words as the main person of the night.

"Greetings to our esteemed guests! My heart is full to see you all join this winter banquet and celebrate the blessed year that has come to pass, not only to my family but to our Empire. I am glad to meet you all, and I wish for a pleasant evening to everyone in this Moonlight hall! Cheers!"

"Cheers!" The majority of the guests were impressed on how Eli delivered her greetings and have been giving her a thumbs up in their hearts.

Of course, aside from the thought of approval, they had long started to think of how to get on her good books.

Although she was an adopted daughter, she alone was a renowned inventor who had received recognition from the Emperor.

Apart from that, she had the two legendary families on her back!

This was more than enough for her position to be elevated to be one of the most sought after daughter in law in the capital! The rose of high society!

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The music immediately kicked in as the lights were turned back on to brighten up the mood of the entire hall. The banquet had officially started!

And so was the battle for the League of Doting Brothers and Leon! As if they have long planned their operations, the group of protective men was divided into two teams.

The first team was going around the hall in the guise of socializing. Their target was of course the men who blatantly showed the intent to get close to their dear sister Eli!

The second team was in charge of staying around an imaginary perimeter, ready to intercept any attempts done by lecherous men.

At first the gentlemen didn't notice their plan until the time of the dance had already officially started.

There was not one gentleman outside of the Forgeworn and Farauld family that successfully came near her, not even to exchange some greetings!

All that have ever been near Eli were their parents and some of the young ladies of the noble houses!

But the gentlemen were not allowed! How frustrating was that!

During the dance, the gentlemen could only frustratingly watch as the cousins and brothers of the two families line up towards Eli to ask for a dance!

They could not even steal a chance to get near her!

After a brother finished dancing, there would be another brother from the Forgeworn family who would come near her and converse with her.

Then after the current waltz was played, there would be another one who would volunteer to dance with her!

How meticulous these brothers were!

Although their plan was to keep Eli occupied, they also made sure that Eli would not get tired of dancing as they would always let her rest with one or two waltzes!

The Grandpas and the Papis watch with great satisfaction and amusement from their respective tables. They didn't raise their boys to become timid! They did a job well done in protecting their sister!

The bachelors could only aggrievedly watch from afar with a sour sensation on their throat! They looked at the pulse watches and saw that the banquet had already been run half way, yet there were still many brothers lining up for a dance with Eli!

Just how many brothers are there in the Forgeworn and Farauld family?!!!

They reckoned that if they waited for all these brothers to finish, they would never get a chance to dance with her in this winter banquet!

As such, one of the brave men from the knights under Kazimir, puffed up his chest and courageously walked towards Eli as fast as he could.

He came from a branch family of the Vesala and he believed that his background would be enough for the Forgeworns and Faraulds to give him some face.

"Milady, it was a pleasure to meet you. My name is Howard from the Vesala family." He confidently introduced himself to Eli, ignoring Devondre, who was currently the one that was guarding Eli.

"I have been watching you from afar and I just can't help going near to see your beauty." Howard declared without batting an eyelid.

His voice was so gentle and charming as if whispering some kind of spell that would make a lady's knees go jelly.

Devondre looked at Howard irritatingly.

He was enjoying a highly intellectual discussion with Eli about the most innovative business strategies that he could apply in the Forgeworn Merchant group.

Eli, who has also been equally absorbed with the conversation, still managed to remain calm.

All eyes were on her and she could not afford to show any signs of being weak or a push over, lest the bees come to bully her indiscriminately.

As if he had only noticed Devondre at the moment, Howard showed a shocked reaction and perfunctory apologize, "Oh, Mr. Devondre, it's nice to see you here. I hope you didn't mind me not noticing you immediately, from this position, I really couldn't help!"

Devondre's mood instantly became cold, this annoying random guy in front of him had blatantly mocked his height, being three fourths the height of a normal person.

That was also tantamount to mocking his race - the Dwarven race.

Eli on the other hand had an imperceptible glint on her eyes. She also figured out the meaning of Howard's words.

Her heart became immediately cold. Now that she was officially part of the family, she will never allow anyone to look down to any of her loved ones!

She calmly looked at Devondre and eloquently continued the conversation that has been interrupted by Howard,

"So as I was saying, analyzing the balance between the customer's demand and the supply of the raw materials is essential to making a certain product line profitable and sustainable in the long run…"

Devondre, was initially shocked, but since Eli had initiated, he went with Eli's conversation. Soon, the two went back to their own bubbles and exchanged insights and thoughts that were too foreign to Howard and even to the eavesdroppers.

By this time, Howard immediately realized that he had been ignored. His situation could be clearly seen by all and he could feel the mocking stares from the crowd.

Deeply humiliated and embarrassed, he tried to call Eli out again, now with a dark face, "Lady Eli, I reckon that I have just introduced myself to you. Would you be sensible to acknowledge my presence?"

Eli was waiting for this moment to strike back. Like a feeble and innocent young lady, she looked at Howard with surprise as she replied.

"Oh, this good Sir here. Who do you say you are again? Pardon me, for I am an eccentric inventor and I couldn't help but be absorbed only in highly intellectual conversations."

Her tone had no trace of mocking, instead it was as gentle as a lady would be. However, her words were all painfully sharp.

"From my standpoint, I was not able to notice that you have the desire to join our conversation. Come and sit here…"

"We are currently discussing the statistical and mathematical methods to interpret the sales data and forecast the profit at a five percent confidence rate."

Howard was utterly dumbfounded by Eli's reply. What statistical and mathematical methods? What interpretation? What forecast? Confidence rate, could it be even calculated?

He was so lost that he stood at Devondre and Eli's presence with his jaw dropping with confusion. He never expected that a lady that has been randomly brought up by the two legendary families be so… so unconventional in dealing with the opposite sex.

"Pfft!" Seeing Eli vent his anger at his stead by blatantly mocking Howard's intelligence, Devondre could not hold back his laughter.

How could he not? He clearly saw Howard who came in as proud as a peacock suddenly turned into a lost chicken with just a few words from Eli!

"Yes, pardon us, Sir Howard. Come and sit. Seeing that you are so adamant in joining our conversation, I am sure that you have a bunch of insights for us to hear!" Devondre benevolently 'invited' Howard to join them like a real gentleman.

"I-i… You! Just you wait!" Devondre's laughter made Howard finally realize what happened. These two were mocking his intelligence!

If not for his perseverance training as a knight, he would have long thrown verbal curses at the two.

With no way to retaliate, he could only retreat in shame. But his unwillingness to retreat without fighting back made him say these last few words, "Who wants to engage in a conversation with you! I see who in the hall was intelligent enough to match your intellect, huh, genius Lady Eli?"

"I would be glad to do that!" Howard was not even able to fully retreat when a cold low voice rang behind his back.

The way he heard the voice made Howard's hair stand on end as he very well knew who the owner of the voice was. With his awkward position, he had no choice but to turn and acknowledge the owner of the voice.

"T-this servant greets, his Highness Third Prince.."