Transmigrated as a Ghost

"Mrazivý are you ready yet?" Marcus said as he called out to her behind a partitioning screen.

They were supposed to head over to the venue of their engagement party and do a final check to make sure everything was in order.

However, it had also some how turned into a mock rehearsal where the two of them were going to have to go over the specific parts of the party that required their attention.

To this end they had for some reason been forced to wear their clothes that they would be for the party tomorrow in the name of authenticity, but Marcus was just pretty sure that Frostine who had suggested this was just trying to mess with them.

'She outright refused me when I said we could just wear more casual clothes to this.' Marcus thought, still a bit annoyed about everything that was being blown out of proportions.'

Though as soon as Mrazivý walked out from behind the screen in her dress, and with her hair and makeup done, Marcus forgot all about this.

Naturally she was already quite the stunning beauty to begin with, and her dress, accessories, and the slight bit of makeup brought out her absolute best.

The golden dress she was wearing hugged her figure perfectly, and the earrings and tiara she was wearing brought out the sparkle in her eyes and the luster of her hair.

"So, how do I look?" Mrazivý said a bit bashfully, in contrast to her usual brash behavior.

"I am sorry, I honestly cannot come up with words that can express how beautiful you look." Marcus said in a very cliché manner.

Luckily this had the intended effect and Mrazivý laughed at his answer, and the little bit of tension in her face disappeared.

"Thank you Marcus, you look good as well." Mrazivý said, completing the robes that Marcus was wearing.

Now that they were both ready, they were quickly led to a carriage that bore the seal of the royal family and began heading towards the venue where their engagement party would be held.

Thankfully it was not far away and was within the area around the castle in between the first and second walls where ministers, generals, and non-immediate members of the royal family lived.

The place was sort of like a massive ball room, though it had a huge crystal ceiling that allowed natural light in and at night could light up to make a dazzling display.

It was a truly impressive place and was the standard venue for large parties held by the royal family.

Inside the main hall it could seat over two thousand people and it was expected to be full during this occasion.

Many people were interested in fostering relations with Marcus, the mysterious man who appeared out of nowhere and took down a criminal syndicate to be awarded the title of prince. And Mrazivý herself was also just as if not more appealing for these nobles. As while she may have only been the thirteenth princess, she was the full-blooded sister of the future monarch.

'Damn I have never seen this many tables set up before. Just the silverware and tableware alone most be worth thousands of gold coins. Not to mention all the flowers and other assortment of decorations. Mraz told me that the royal family would be paying for everything, but I hope I do not to get a large bill that drains all the money I earned forging for the last few months.' Marcus thought as he looked at the expensive setup for his and Mrazivý's engagement party.

He had spent the last months up before this party going around with Inten and Roxene collecting materials to forge with, and once that was done, he had spent all of his time making weapons and armor.

'I managed to get all of Andrea and her tribe's weapons finished, and quite a few more, but I am not overflowing with cash right now.' Marcus thought, still fixated on how much all of this must have cost.

"Are you oaky Marcus? You seem a bit tense." Mrazivý said, seeing that Marcus had not moved since they entered the large ornate hall.

"Mrazivý you are sure that the royal family is going to pay for all of this? I am not going to have to foot the bill later on, am I?" Marcus asked with concern.

Even for him this would not be a cheap party to pay for, and he imagined it would take him a while to make it all up.

"Oh, no need to worry. The royal family has funds set aside for parties like this and everything is taken care of. Though I must admit that they went all out for this. I have only heard of parties being held like this for the marriage of the king and queen."

Hearing this did not make Marcus feel any better, and it only made him wish that he could avoid the spectacle to come.

'Honestly, I would much rather fight a bunch of monsters than deal with all of the people that I will have to during this party. At least I can kill the monsters that are hostile to me.' Marcus thought as he struggled to keep the fake smile plastered on his face.

As he and Mrazivý were going to be the center of attention there were going to be numerous people wanting to speak with them, and they had to act interested in everyone when neither of them really cared.

"And to make matters worse the king will not even be here to divert some of their attention." Marcus mumbled under his breath.

The king had been called away by the adventurers guild that was having a sort of emergency summit with all of the nations that were members of their organization.

Along with the king, Boreas was also apparently going along with Gwyneira, so none of them would be attending the engagement party.

At the very least Frostine would be there, and as the future monarch she would demand a large amount of attention herself.

"Now is everything here acceptable to your highnesses?" The noble woman who was in charge of setting everything up asked.

She was one of the vassals of the royal family and was in charge of all major events involving them.

"Yes, everything looks exactly if not more impressive than excepted. You have outdone yourself Lady Elvira." Mrazivý said even though she really did not care how things looked.

"And what of you Prince Marcus?" Elvira asked wanting his opinion as well.

"It is exceptional. I see absolutely no problem." Marcus said trying to make it sound like he was interested.

Unfortunately, Elvira saw through his façade and frowned as she could tell that her was not taking this seriously.

"Well now we need to practice to make sure that you both are absolute perfect in your roles. First, let us head to the doors you will be entering from."

Soon the two of them were going over the necessary procedures for everything they would have to do for the coming party as the center of attention. Starting with their walk to the large stage where they would formally announce their engagement even if everyone already knew about it.

"Prince Marcus, you need to hold yourself up with more dignity. You are a member of the royal family now, and while you may have been a commoner at one point, you need to work hard to rise to your new station." Elvira said with a stern tone.

She was now acting like a drill sergeant towards Marcus and pointing out every little flaw in the way he moved and held himself.

He had to make sure that he acted befitting of royalty at all times.

Of course, he was certain that she was beign this hard on him for his lack of enthusiasm earlier when going through the decorations, but he felt that this was a little harsh.

'I just have to get through this and then Mrazivý and I can fade into the background again until the wedding. Then after that we will not have to worry about much in the way of business like this.' Marcus thought as he was forced to practice walking into the hall for the nineth time.

Hours went by as they practiced the speeches they were to say, where to sit, and what order the food would be brought in along with what cutlery to use on each dish.

At one-point Marcus even got a skill called royal etiquette which he was tempted to blow skill points into just help get this process over with.

'No, I need to save them. I only get so many points and I cannot waste them on something like this.' Marcus thought, lamenting his situation.

At every turn Mrazivý got complemented while he was criticized. And while it was true that she was better at etiquette having been brought up as royalty, it was not to a degree that Marcus felt he needed to be corrected so much.

'Please just forgive me already.' He thought at one point while having the placement of his feet while sitting down adjusted.

Eventually the day did have to come to an end and Marcus was freed from the etiquette instruction that had been beaten into him that were ten times harsher than anything he had been forced to do up to this point.

"What happened to the laxer environment that is normal for Borealia." Marcus said as soon as he was alone in the carriage with Mrazivý.

"Sorry about that. Elvira is a real stickler for things being perfect and keeping up the grace of the royal family. But after tomorrow we will not have to worry about going through this again until the wedding."