Chapter 22. Banquet

Translator: AdCaelum

Editor: meli

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Music filled the spacious hall of the royal palace. The sparkling people who danced in tune were dressed as luxuriously as the large crystal chandeliers that hung from the ceiling. The other guests outside the circle of dancers carried on casual conversations, but every topic was focused on the day’s guest of honor.

“The third prince has finally reached adulthood. The queen’s faction has been waiting for this day to come.”

“Not the crown prince’s faction though.”

“Did you hear about the third prince’s recent behavior…?”

“Those have to be fake rumors.”

“But I actually saw…”

“A joke in poor taste. That prince would never act that way.”

Such whispers mingled in with the resounding music. There were as many guests finding them humorous as there were guests taking them seriously. Opinions blended and speculations were exchanged. Regardless, practically all the nobles present for the birthday banquet for the third prince of the Kingdom of Dias were eagerly awaiting the guest of honor’s arrival.

At that moment, the music in the hall died down and the sound of a horn cut through the tense air, announcing the awaited arrival of the royal family. Everyone’s attention focused on the second-floor door above the hall.

The first to appear was the first prince, Samuel. With his long, silver hair tied neatly in a ponytail, he smiled warmly as his golden eyes surveyed the hall. He was the mirror image of the king in his beauty and masculinity, as he was the only one among the princes who had inherited their father’s silver hair. Many of the aristocratic ladies squealed behind covered mouths at his smile.

Following immediately after was the second prince, Hugo, who elicited another round of squeals. Short red hair like wavering flames and sharp golden eyes looking over the guests. He didn’t smile as he stood beside Samuel.

“It seems like Prince Samuel and Prince Hugo are escorting each other again this year.”

“Yet both are of age to marry… Did you see how the eyes of those single aristocrats changed when they noticed that the princes are still without a partner?”

“Who the hell would want to purposely get involved in the power struggle for the throne?”

“Fine by me. I’ll make sure to introduce my son to Prince Samuel today.”

“Hey, don’t you think Prince Hugo looks so majestic? He’s so manly…”

“Really? I find Prince Samuel much manlier, and that bewitching beauty… I wonder if he would give me one dance…”

The entrance of the first and second princes created small pockets of excitement focused on each prince’s characteristic beauty.

“Next entrance should be the guest of honor.”

“Let’s see if the rumors are true…”

“The first and second princes are escorting each other. I guess it’ll be Marquess Clarke again with the third prince.”

“Doesn’t look like it. Marquess Clarke is right there.”

“Then who…?”

When Asher finally made his appearance, all eyes focused on him as he stepped through the door. Shimmering golden hair, clear dark blue eyes that narrowed slightly as they surveyed the hall, and a soft angelic smile made everyone present in the hall hallucinate white feathers dancing around the third prince. But then a knight appeared and stood beside the prince on top of the staircase.

“It’s not Marquess Clarke?!”

“What’s going on?! Black Knight Ward Braun… Why is he Prince Asher’s escort?”

“Sir Ward… No wonder he turned down my invitation…”

“So that’s what Prince Asher looks like… He’s like an angel…”

“Oh, how lovely Prince Asher is…”

“I wonder what’s going on between the two of them…”

King Augustine and Queen Angela were the last to enter through the door, whereupon everyone present in the hall raised their glasses and listened to Augustine’s speech.

“I thank you all for attending tonight’s banquet celebrating the birth of my son and the third prince, Asher. Now, a word and toast from our dear guest of honor.”

Asher nodded and stepped forward. Asher could feel every single eye immediately focusing on him. “Everyone, thank you for gathering here tonight in my honor. As of this moment, I am an adult and will dedicate myself to this nation. Glory to the kingdom!”

“Glory to the kingdom!” everyone present echoed. After draining their glasses, they applauded.

The music resumed, and the royal family was able to move as they pleased. Samuel descended the stairs only to be immediately surrounded by people. Hugo remained on the second floor and lazily drank his glass.

“Prince Hugo is the same as ever…” Ward commented. “Now then, shall we also descend?”

“Huh? What if we get surrounded by people like Prince Samuel…” Asher said.

“Rather, you must greet everyone like Prince Samuel… Besides, we cannot dance unless we are down there.”

“What? We’re going to dance?”

“Naturally. Besides, if you do not wish to be surrounded, you need only to smile and give appropriate responses to deal with them.”

“That’s not going to work…”

“Please closely observe Prince Samuel. Do you see how the crowd around him is still maintaining a fixed distance from him?” Asher did as he was told and noticed that people were leaving a certain amount of space between them and Samuel. Ward explained, “A poised smile from royalty has its own impact… Many would hesitate to get too close.”

“I see…”

“However, be mindful that there are still a few who dare overstep their boundaries… As long as you maintain that faint smile from before—not that broad one you gave the soldiers—things should be fine.”

“I-I see…”

Ward gently took Asher’s hand and escorted him down the stairs. The handsome, young knight had his hand loosely around the divine angel’s waist. As if witnessing something off the pages of a fairytale, the ladies gasped and the gentlemen paused their conversations to ogle.

“Congratulations, Prince Asher.” Someone addressed Asher as soon as he descended the stairs. He turned to look and saw a lady dressed in a fancy, extravagant dress. Her bright red lips curled into a smile as she eyed every inch of Asher from head to toe. That was when Asher realized that she was the lady who told Angela the rumors about him.

“Duchess Bell, it has been a while. Thank you very much.”

“You have changed quite a bit since the last time I saw you, Prince Asher…”

“As an adult, I must be more mindful of my actions and behavior.”

“Oh, my! How wonderful! Dolianna! Come here.” Called over by Duchess Bell was a young girl with freckles and light brown hair—the same color as Duchess Bell—artfully styled on top of her head. She blushed when she met Asher’s eyes and curtsied awkwardly. “This is my daughter who turned 16 this year. May I be so bold as to request you choose her as your partner for your first dance, Prince Asher?”

“Well…”

Asher glanced over in Angela’s direction. She was extremely upset that Asher had chosen Ward as his escort. When he had informed her of his decision, she was furious and insistently tried to persuade him to swap back to Marquess Clarke. However, when she realized that her son was not going to listen to her, she looked hurt and hadn’t talked to him since. She had likely asked Duchess Bell, a close confidante of hers, to help her regain control of her rebellious son. Normally, people had their first dance with their escort, but Duchess Bell was requesting that Asher dance with her daughter first, which would be seen as an affront to his escort. Asher couldn’t understand why Angela detested Ward that much, but he also couldn’t break his prior agreement with Ward. There seemed to be more happening in the background than he was aware of.

Ward, unable to keep watching the prince struggle for an answer, promptly smiled and said, “Prince Asher, please do not mind me. Feel free to dance with Lady Dolianna…” As he was already holding Asher’s hand, he pulled Asher towards Dolianna. At the same time, he whispered quietly into Asher’s ear, “I recommend you take the partner Queen Angela has chosen for you for your first dance… Once you’re done, please come back to me.”

Asher gave him a small nod, took Dolianna’s hand, and headed to the center. Dolianna’s face went beet red as she was escorted by Asher.

“I apologize for my intrustion, but surely you have many others wishing to dance with you, yes?” Duchess Bell blatantly displayed her disdain as she walked past Ward.

Ward snorted at the duchess’ behavior and watched Asher dance. He wasn’t so dense as to not understand the queen consort’s concern that her precious son was being targetted by a man like himself. Likewise, he could easily imagine how troublesome it would become if the queen consort set her eyes on him for laying a hand on Asher. However, Ward was tenacious; once he set his sights on someone, he would make sure they fell right into his hands. After all, he was confident that he could make even the prudest of virgins, regardless of gender, his. Because the tougher the target, the more interesting of a game it became.

As Ward watched Asher’s beautiful dance, his attention was drawn to the sudden noise around him. A smiling Samuel walked over to him and asked, “Asher is dancing with Lady Dolianna?”

“Prince Samuel, have you finished greeting everyone?”

“Yeah. I thought I should also greet you… Thank you for accompanying my younger brother.”

“Not at all. It was my pleasure.” Ward raised a quizzical eyebrow since he couldn’t understand why Samuel would personally approach him just to thank him for escorting Asher.

“I heard that Asher chose you to escort him.”

“Yes, and I was deeply honored.”

“I thought Marquess Clarke would accompany Asher, so I went with Hugo again as a fellow lonely prince… How regrettable.”

Ward heard the words the smiling Samuel was saying but was baffled by the confusing contents. That phrasing made it seem like he had wanted to be the one to escort Asher.

“I am merely complying with Prince Asher’s wishes…” Ward answered, but something was off. Samuel had never shown any interest whatsoever in Asher.

Ward couldn’t hide his shock and attempted to probe Samuel’s expression, but the first prince’s face retained his usual, beautiful smile as he said, “The next time you wrap your arm around Asher’s waist, I’ll kill you.”

For a moment, Ward couldn’t comprehend what he had just heard. He remained frozen as he stared at Samuel’s smile. Samuel’s expression hadn’t changed at all, making Ward think he must have misheard the threat. After all, they were still surrounded by the passionate gazes of the guests focused on the crown prince. There was no way he would say something like that here.

“How about you answer me?” Samuel inquired.

“…I’m terribly sorry, but I didn’t quite hear you.”

“I said to not touch my younger brother’s waist with your filthy hands. If you do, I’ll kill you.” It wasn’t an auditory hallucination. Ward’s forehead became wet with sweat. He slowly turned away from Samuel to look at Asher in the center of the hall while keeping Samuel in the corner of his eye. Samuel continued, “Beautiful flowers always have pests flying around them. Why do you all suddenly have an interest in my younger brother? Pests should remain as pests and suck the nectar from weeds.”

“Then, Prince Samuel, why have you suddenly become this concerned about Prince Asher? I apologize if I sound disrespectful, but if I recall correctly, you have never interacted with Prince Asher any more than necessary…”

“Why must I answer your question? Speaking to pests like this is infuriating… If you don’t wish to be crushed underfoot, don’t speak more than you are asked.” There was absolutely no change whatsoever on Samuel’s face.

“But…”

“Can pests not understand words either?” Samuel slowly faced Ward. His lips were still curved in a smile, but his gaze on Ward had a terrifyingly cold light. Ward gulped.

Samuel was a prince who trained alongside the knights and gained their deep trust. The crown prince, showing both sagacious and gallant qualities, was also highly popular with the people. It was unthinkable that he would call people pests. As someone who also trained alongside the prince, Ward was both stunned and terrified by the young man in front of him.

It seemed that making Asher his would not be as simple as he had predicted… but this only gave him even more reason to do so.

Ward shuddered. He smirked and looked back at Samuel.

The guests seemed oblivious to the abnormal aura emanating from these two.

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Author’s Note: I know escorting, dance orders, and other manners differ by country. Please don’t think too deeply about this fictional story.

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