NOVEL NEXT Chapter 15: The Banquet
Chapter 15: The Banquet
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“We, of the Magic Order, shall purge any and all deceit, mockery, hypocrisy and animosity from our institutes. Within these walls, good shall triumph evil, and justice shall triumph injustice. We are the bringers of truth, and together, alongside King Alexander Maroth Avalon, shall purify the Avalon Kingdom from the sins of it’s inhabitants.”
Grandmaster Lorenzo, Head of the Magic Order
Year 1003
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--POV: Mark Von Augsburg—
--Place: Unknown / Time:19:13—
Clarissa Chamberlayne, a woman talented in both fire and wind magic, coming from a prestigious family with both wealth and power, Chamberlayne is rumoured to have at least a quarter of Avalon’s wealth in their territory, she also possesses beauty that can only be rivalled by the first princess, it is no exaggeration to call her the ideal wife in every aspect.
She could fight Ryuta on equal grounds despite having no extensive training or higher education in any university, her achievements are numerous indeed. It would do well for my future if I were to be engaged to such a personage.
My father, the duke, would be very pleased if such an engagement were to occur. It would be the start of a new friendship between the Augsburgs and the Chamberlaynes. An everlasting one, with prosperity and improved trade guaranteed, as well as, my position as the eldest son and heir to the Augsburg household solidified.
However, such a great future has a requirement, namely, getting engaged to Clarissa. And in order to do this, I decided to attend a banquet that was meant for the freshmen, not someone like me who has already been in Volitaire for a year.
I’m no freshman, but I’ve been able to get into this banquet as an associate of her highness, Lilith. The first princess seems to have some suspicions on my attendance, but let it go so I’d owe her a favour.
Even though I could ask my father to simply arrange an engagement with Theodore Chamberlayne, I inted to win over Clarissa’s heart first, as my mother always said; Without love, a marriage is guaranteed to fail.
With this in mind, I travel in a carriage to the palace, where the banquet is set to take place at 7:30 exactly, I should arrive in less than 10 minutes, showing everyone there my punctuality.
Hopefully, I can contain my excitement till then.
--Place: Royal hall of Adion / Time:19:31—
“It’s been quite some time since I last saw you, Mark” Lilith greets me with her signature smile “So, you here for Miss Chamberlayne?” Wha-
“The confusion on your face is priceless” She can’t stop herself from smirking, is my peril amusing?
“Very funny” She is been teasing me like this ever since we were little “Is she here yet?”
“How impatient, no she isn’t here yet” Thank god, if she saw this bullying that is happening to me, I wonder what she’d say? Honestly, sometimes I think she would do better as a thug than a princess.
“You just thought of something rude, didn’t you?” Can she read my mind? “I’ve known you since we were four, plus, your thoughts and emotions are all over your face”
I just realized this, but where is Ryuta? Lilith doesn’t seem to want to talk about it, so I won’t bring it up.
Now that I think about it, is there anything she doesn’t know about me? She may even know the colour of my underwear, and just the thought of that is terrifying.
*CLICK* *CLACK*
The distinct noise of high heels sounds throughout the hall, dragging my attention to it’s origin, only to find….
the most dazzling thing I’ve everseen.
“Haaaa” I’m going to need to take in many deep breaths tonight to control myself at this rate, as Clarissa enters the hall wearing a sleeveless blood-red dress that is as red as her irises, the dress has a slit below the left hip, showing creamy white legs that go all the way done to red high heels, only adding to the appeal.
*SLAP*
Lilith slaps my back strongly (how strong is she?) “Go get her, stud” along with some words….of what I can only assume is encouragement, I just realized that she is pretty enthusiastic about this. With a sore back and a red face, I make my way to greet the star of tonight’s show.
I push my way through the hall to meet her “Nice to meet you, Lady Chamberlayne” I sport the best smile I can muster, this is my time to shine, after all.
She responds with a breath-taking smile that makes my heart melt….s-such a smile is not fair “It is my pleasure, Lord Augsburg” She knows me? P-perhaps she did her research on potential lovers?
“Would you like to take a seat?” I point her to the table I reserved beforehand, I need to set the pace here, if I act awkward now, the night will be ruined.
“Of course” And with that, we make our way to our table. I can feel the glares of nearly every male here, I can’t falter now.
“Some wine?” Drinks is next, of course. I have researched everything about balls and banquets just for tonight. After getting a “Sure, that would be lovely”, from Clarissa, I call over a waiter to bring us the best champagne there is.
A couple of drinks later, and now is a good time to ask for a dance, I’m familiar with the classic music that’s playing. “Would you mind dancing with me?” I really hope she doesn’t back out now, we didn’t have a lot to talk about at the table, I need to alleviate this weird atmosphere.
“Not at all” I stretch my right hand, that she takes as she stands from the chair. Followed by me leading her to the dance floor, where other men and women are dancing on.
I put my left hand around her slender waist, with my right hand holding her left, we start dancing. One, two, one, two, I learned this since I was a toddler, why am I getting so nervous now?
“Are you alright, Lord Augsburg?” Probably sensing my unease, Clarissa asks with a face full of worry, fuck I need to get my shit together.
“Everything’s fine” Put on a cool front for her, wouldn’t want her to think she is dancing with a child, now would I?
Burying my emotions, I manage to get through the rest of the song, with dancing that is the best described cumbersome. I feel that this isn’t going well, at all.
“Would you mind if we take a rest?” Is she saying that because she is tired, or out of my pity for my dancing skills? Since she has brought it up, can’t refuse.
“Of course” We make our way back to the table, before I start ordering some tea and deserts, it would do good to show my casual spending, wealth is respected after all.
“Chamberlayne’s territory must be beautiful, I have to come see it sometime” I give a subtle hint that I may come to her family’s territory, while complementing it.
“We would be honoured to have you as our guest” She replies with a small smile, before gently sipping on the rest of her tea.
I do not know why she emphasized the word guest, but I pay it to no heed as I try to continue engaging in some small talk.
20 minutes later, and it is nearly nine. After exchanging goodbyes, and me promising to show her around Volitaire University, we go separate ways.
“Haaah” A pent-up sigh escapes my lips as I make my way through an empty huge corridor of the palace. Lilith asked me to visit her after the banquet, however she didn’t tell me why.
*TIP* *TAP*
I see a man a couple of metres away walking towards me, with shoulder-length black hair and cold blue eyes, while wearing butler clothes, the man greets me. “Goodnight, Lord Augsburg” I respond with a likewise, wondering where I have seen him before. As I walk past him, however, I feel a weird presence, one that makes my skin crawl, one that feels….
inhuman.
With the only ones here being me and the man, I turn my head to look at him. Only to find him standing there, looking right back at me with those eyes. “Is something wrong, your lordship?” Why were you standing there watching my back? Is what I’d like to ask if I had the balls to.
Even though the presence is gone, something is off, I can feel it. “N-nothing” Tch- I’m stuttering to a servant? Whatever I felt have been a hallucination, with such thoughts, I turn back and make my way to Lilith’s quarters.
That’s right, I must have been hallucinating.