Chapter 6: The Debut Ceremony (Age 7) ①
The venue was the grand hall of the castle belonging to the Duke of Tantasio—our territory’s lord.
After being jolted around in a carriage for two hours, I finally arrived, completely exhausted.
It seemed that only nobles were allowed inside the hall, so Anhen, who had accompanied me, sent me off at the entrance with, “May fortune be with you.”
Apparently, parents were supposed to attend, but mine didn’t come.
Anhen had said that when parents were extremely busy, this sometimes happened.
I wondered if there were any other children entering alone like me… and worried a little about standing out, but once inside, there were quite a lot of people gathered, with groups that seemed to be parents chatting and groups of children talking among themselves.
It seemed like I’d be fine.
The lord of Tantasio was a duke.
(If I ranked it using Japanese sensibilities,) he was like a prefectural governor, and beneath him, marquises, counts, viscounts, and barons were like city mayors, town mayors, and village heads.
The royal family governed the central district like a capital, with the king being like a prime minister.
However, the power here was ridiculously strong… and hereditary.
The grand hall was decorated with dazzling ornaments across the walls and ceiling, and it made me feel like I had come to a theme park.
My fatigue disappeared, and I let out a foolish-sounding, “Waaah…”
“There’s someone here with no manners.”
A cute voice seemed to stab into my back.
Huh? Me?
When I turned around, there were three beautiful boys glaring at me.
—Of course, all of them were good-looking…
In fact, I hadn’t seen a single unattractive person in this hall.
It was like a clearance sale of beautiful people.
“You there. Are you someone attending the debut? State your name.”
The one in the middle, a dazzling angelic boy with silky golden hair, thick eyelashes, and golden eyes, asked me.
He was radiant.
If he stood under direct sunlight, my eyes would probably go blind.
“My name is Amadeus Rosso.”
I straightened my posture and answered crisply, and the angel boy snorted.
“Rosso Barony… I am Alfredo Tantasio. Remember that.”
What?!
He was the duke’s heir, the lord’s son of the same age as me!
A duke’s son!!
He must have received far stricter education than I had, being able to recognize noble houses just from surnames.
Impressive…!
And handsome too.
I only knew that the lord’s son would be here among those my age at the debut.
No one had told me anything beyond that.
Lower-ranked nobles tend to govern rural areas, so information is scarce.
“If you don’t mind, may I ask for your names as well?”
I smiled and politely asked the two boys standing beside him, who had been looking at me coldly.
They introduced themselves as the sons of a marquis and a count, both my age and attending the debut.
Alfredo-sama puffed out his chest slightly—he was just a bit shorter than me—and said,
“You are entering noble society through this debut, so be mindful of your conduct. Even if you are from the countryside.”
That arrogant expression suits him so well.
So photogenic…
A blond pretty boy looking down on others… this is irresistible…
I’m not supposed to be into little boys, but at this rate, I might awaken something.
No, no, calm down.
I like clumsy pure-type beauties and seductive older women.
Although there was some insult mixed in there, if I took it positively, he had pointed out my shortcomings early on.
That was something to be grateful for.
The only higher-ranking nobles around me were tutors from viscount families, so advice from someone of higher status was valuable.
“Understood. Thank you for your guidance.”
While thinking, ‘Ahhh… what a feast for the eyes…,’ I responded with a full smile.
The two beside him made slightly awkward expressions, but Alfredo-sama looked a little surprised before smiling with satisfaction.
“Good. Keep it that way, Amadeus.”
“Um… could it be that you’re from the Rosso Barony?”
While I was quietly observing people from a corner, sipping on the free drinks until the gathering time (which had been announced at the entrance), someone hesitantly spoke to me.
It was a chestnut-haired beautiful boy.
Yes, yes, another beautiful boy.
If I got excited every time, I’d get tired, so today I was trying to keep my energy low.
Stay calm, stay calm.
“Yes. Do you know of me?”
“Ah, I thought so. I heard that the Rosso Barony has red hair in every generation… Oh, nice to meet you! I’m Libert Gloria, third son of the Gloria Viscount family!”
Even though he was of higher rank, he had a friendly smile.
He felt like a puppy-type character.
After being hit with that arrogant pretty boy earlier, I was moved by how approachable he was.
Could we become friends…?!
“I’m Amadeus, second son of the Rosso Barony! I’d be happy if we could get along!”
“Likewise!”
Yahooooooo!
My first friend GET!!
My resolve to stay calm completely collapsed, and I got hyped.
But it couldn’t be helped—today was a festival day.
(Well, a ceremony combined with a presentation is basically a festival, right?)
The debut presentations started from those of lower rank, and somehow, I was first this year.
The opening act!
It would be a lie to say I wasn’t nervous, but it might be better than waiting.
I could just get it over with quickly and enjoy watching the others’ sword dances and performances.
A priest-like figure who seemed to be the host stood at the side of the stage, and children holding swords and instruments lined up in front—starting with me holding my instrument, followed by sword, instrument, sword, instrument…
It felt more like a big gymnasium stage than an actual stage.
When we lined up, the priest said, “When I call your name and say ‘please begin,’ you may start.”
It really felt like a recital.
Once we finished lining up at equal intervals, the chatting audience suddenly fell silent.
“Now then, we shall begin the debut ceremony. First, the second son of the Rosso Barony, Amadeus-sama, will perform. Please begin.”
To put it simply, I completed my debut performance with complete confidence.
The quality was good too.
During practice, Rosie and Badol had said, “That’s 150 out of 100 points!” and given me their full approval, and the servants had confidently sent me off, saying it would be fine.
I performed just as I had practiced.
Badol and Rosie had quite a few pieces that were popular among commoners, but the debut performance was only for nobles.
So we decided it would be better to play something that nobles liked, and tried to find sheet music for songs that had been popular among nobles in recent years.
But it was quite difficult to obtain.
Because we were in the countryside.
In this world, paper was still valuable, and thin white wooden boards were often used instead.
Because of that, sheet music was also valuable—and quite expensive.
Anhen had negotiated with my father, and we managed to obtain just one piece.
When I finished playing and raised my face toward the audience with a proud expression, there was… silence.
Huh…?
No applause…?
Was something wrong…?!
Did I mess up the etiquette?
I thought the performance itself was good…
Anxiety suddenly crept in.
Ahhh, this is why going first is a disadvantage!!!
You can’t observe how others do it and go, ‘I see, so that’s the flow…’
I kept a calm expression, but inside, my heart was pounding like crazy.
Ignoring me, the priest, who seemed to snap out of it, spoke up.
“N-Next, the third son of the Gloria Viscount family, Libert-sama, will perform a sword dance. Please begin.”
Libert’s sword dance also finished without issue.
There were no mistakes, and for a child, it was quite well done.
Then came a girl’s performance, followed by a boy’s performance.
And that’s when the problem started.
They were bad.
A count’s daughter and a count’s son performed, but compared to me, they were clearly worse.
Their expressions also looked slightly off.
Were they feeling unwell?
As I watched the proceedings, I didn’t think I had made any mistakes in etiquette, but the audience’s reactions were somewhat restless, different from a normal recital.
It felt like I was being watched more than usual.
Then, as I carefully observed the sword dances, I realized something.
The higher the child’s rank… the more obviously skilled they became.
The final performance before the last was by the marquis’s son who had been beside Alfredo-sama.
He was skilled, but clearly not as good as me.
That is… compared to me.
The grand finale was Alfredo-sama’s sword dance.
His performance was nothing short of magnificent.
And for the first time that day, loud applause echoed through the hall.