At the corner of the ballroom, the one having a wine glass in his hand and calmly commenting on the people was a handsome black-haired, magenta-eyed teenager.
The teen wore an exquisite tuxedo that fit his body shape properly, showing how well-built he was.
This handsome teen was none other than Neo, Lith's avatar.
Neo infiltrated this event easily by taking out a carriage driver of a Baron who was visiting the castle.
He ensured that the person he chose didn't have a high level of security and also had the invitation from Bernard.
This made killing the carriage driver an easy task when the carriage had stopped for a break.
After Neo was inside the castle gates and the Baron inside the carriage was dropped off, he parked the carriage in its respective place and sneaked his way toward the castle's main entrance.
On his way, Neo changed his clothes and removed his disguise. He looked really handsome in his elegant tuxedo.
To enter the castle, he blended in with another noble family that was visiting. The best part was no one even suspected his identity because of his looks.
The noble family did not suspect Neo as he kept some distance from them. At the same time, the guards also didn't have any doubts because they considered Neo a part of that noble family's entourage.
Believe it or not, Neo looked far better than the personages of the noble families entering the castle. With the way he presented himself and his calm demeanor, people thought he might be someone with a very influential background.
In any case, infiltrating the castle was easy, and it didn't require much effort.
Neo didn't have to make a big scene for such a small thing. He didn't have to kill anyone. All in all, he entered the castle without much drama and made his way to the ballroom.
The ballroom had a high ceiling, and many chandeliers dangled from it, making the ambiance bright and warm.
The nobles had become busy already, and the whole event was started unofficially.
Neo, standing in a corner, holding a wine glass, was analyzing people to see who was fit to form a connection and who wasn't.
From what his teacher had said to him, he shouldn't try to make a connection with the nobles who roam from one place to another and constantly try to talk with everyone.
Instead, he should go for the ones staying in one place and not mingling with the other nobles.
Neo soon found one such group of people he could talk with. But before he could go to them, two ladies and a man with them made their way toward him.
As the three reached Neo, the man, standing in between the two ladies, said to Neo:
"Ho, Ho, what a fine-looking young man you are. Young man, which family do you belong to?"
The man appeared to be middle-aged but had black hair and a beard with streaks of white visible in them.
Neo nodded lightly and replied, "Greetings."
He was calm, and with the way he made a reply, he was expressing to the other party that he wanted to be left alone and didn't want to be bothered.
Neo had learned the art of conversations from his second teacher.
Ruben wasn't the best when it came to conversations. He was more of a rogue who could teach Neo how to get the ladies, beat the husbands of the ladies, eat people, and so on and so forth.
Neo was like a newborn when he first met Ruben. Anything Ruben taught, he absorbed the teachings like a sponge. There was a high chance Neo had an attitude and personality like Ruben, but it didn't happen in the end.
It was for one reason, and that was…
Noman.
Noman used to visit Ruben from time to time, and when he saw Neo, he was curious to see who he was that Ruben was training. Finding out it was his Prince's avatar, Noman felt it wouldn't be good if Neo adopted the personality of Ruben.
Thus, Noman started teaching him normal, everyday things like conversing, making friends, talking to someone you want a favor from, and so on.
Noman, Ruben, and Neo were in a different dimension when training where time was faster than in the normal world.
Lith wanted Neo to be trained within a year, but it wasn't possible. Hence, Ruben took Neo to another dimension.
Getting the teachings from Ruben and Noman both, Neo learned a lot. Eventually, he deviated and didn't develop an attitude like his official teacher, Ruben. Thus, his conversing skills were pretty good.
The middle-aged man gave an awkward smile after he saw how reserved and uninterested Neo was in making his acquaintance. He couldn't help but wonder, 'Is this youngster from some top family? So what I thought was correct?'
The man thought Neo might be from some top family before, so he was trying to strike up a conversation with him.
People that looked as young as Neo would definitely not be standing idly in one place. They would try and talk to the young ladies of other families and do their best to form connections.
The man laughed lightly at Neo's response and said, "Young man, you shouldn't stand idly like that. You should talk to the young ladies. Look, over there is the young lady from the House of Jia. I am sure you know how influential her house is."
Before Neo could respond to the man's words, one of the two ladies, standing beside the man, chimed in and said shaking her head,
"I don't think the Jia family's girl would suit this young man here."
The other lady beside the man nodded her head. "In my opinion, this sire should go for the young lady from the House of Ye. She's right over there."
The lady from the House of Jia was a petite girl with brown hair and brown eyes wearing yellow attire that accentuated her beauty.
And the lady from the House of Ye was a black-haired, blue-eyed girl with good curves wearing a white and blue colored hanfu.
Both seemed to be of the same age as Neo and were stunning beauties.
"Yes, the Ye family's girl seems good for this fine man here." The lady beside the man said.
"Indeed. Mister, don't listen to the opinion of our husband. He's old and doesn't know what teenagers of your age like." The other lady said.
Standing between the two, the man laughed and said to Neo, "My wives are right. But remember, if you get the young lady from the House of Jia, you'll have some good stuff later."
He then winked at Neo, as if Neo could understand the underlying meaning behind the man's words.
The two ladies knitted their brows and hit the man with their elbows. They then made an annoyed smile and said to Neo simultaneously,
"Absolutely not!"
Neo blinked in confusion. He honestly had no idea what was happening.
He lightly coughed, trying to attract the attention of the three people, and asked, "Thank you for your recommendations. I'll look into them. Before we part ways, can I know the names of the good sir and madams here?"
"Ho! Ho! Ho! Amidst our talks, we forgot to introduce ourselves! How rude of us, Ho! Ho! Ho!" The man laughed.
Two ladies beside him covered their faces and lightly giggled as well.
The man extended his hand forwards and said, "I am Tang Jiao."
Neo shook hands with him and answered, "Neo."
The man backed off after introducing himself, and the lady beside him came forward. She extended her hand slowly, unlike the man, and after Neo held it, said softly,
"Tang Mei Li."
She had a slightly seductive tone which went unnoticed by Jiao but caught the attention of Neo.
She was hinting something to Neo with her voice, and as if that wasn't enough, she made a small wink at him as he shook hands with her.
Neo, retaining the calmness within him, knew what she was trying to do.
To respond to her, he lightly pressed her thumb with his own so the man beside wouldn't notice it.
The lady raised an eyebrow in surprise and, taking her hand away, covered her face and giggled.
Her giggles didn't catch the man's attention once again, as this was a habit of the noble ladies when they were talking to the young and playing around with them.
The other lady then put her hand forwards and, as Neo took it, said calmly, "Tang Niwa."
Neo shook it and introduced himself.
The introduction was done, but the lady didn't take her hand away. She continued to talk to Neo and said,
"Neo, if it doesn't work out with the Ye family's girl, I'll come for you and give you some more recommendations. Go talk to her before the ball ends."
Neo nodded. He looked Niwa in her eyes and replied, "Thank you for your help and kind words."
Niwa let go of Neo's hand and backed away after he was done.
She and Mei Li waved goodbye to Neo and walked away with Jiao.
As Neo looked at them, he couldn't help but think,
'Teacher was so right about the older human ladies….'
.....
A/N: The next two chapters contain Neo, Mei Li, and Niwa's explicit scenes. You can skip them if you want. It was a bit important for plot purposes and would probably be the only time such explicit scenes are present.
Let me know your opinion on it, whether you want more such type of things or are just satisfied with Lith's stuff.
Of course, Neo would be getting screentime in future, but I'll probably only mention smut stuff in passing, related to him.