Siegfried stretched out his arms, allowing Farnan to wrap his wrists, palms, and knuckles tightly with cloth strips.
"As you said, Your Highness." Siegfried gently clenched his teeth: "It's just a performance."
...
[Time rewinds to fifteen minutes earlier]
"Earl Harlan?" Duke Tarlac, proudly holding a trophy animal ear, walked past by Siegfried, and seemed to casually ask: "Aren't you participating?"
The Castile Lords always looked down on the "new nobility," not to mention Siegfried who came from a humble background, the son of a poor Knight.
Siegfried acted as if he heard nothing, ignoring Duke Tarlac. He held his wine glass, but his gaze involuntarily drifted to the royal viewing platform.
