When I first arrived at this banquet, I couldn't even imagine that everything would turn out like this.
I was expecting a very quiet evening: show up, pay my respects to the emperor, drink a couple of glasses of wine, exchange a few polite smiles, and quietly leave before anyone noticed me.
My plans definitely did not include becoming the center of attention, let alone participating in some strange scene with me and... Roger Dickens at the center.
Yes, I understood perfectly well that he would be here. After all, tonight's event was organized in honor of the empire's victory, to which he had contributed greatly. A war hero, a young commander, a symbol of a new era for the empire — naturally, his presence would be the main event of the ball.
I was sure that Roger would be so surrounded by praise, people eager to talk to him, women dreaming of attracting his attention, that he would simply have no time for my modest existence.
That's what I thought.
