Chapter 170: The Opening Banquet [1]

[Two days after the beach and a night before the Festival officially started]

"Tch," Darius let out for the tenth time today as he pulled on the collar of the formal suit he had on.

"Even if you don’t want to, our mothers will kill us if we take them off," Orion said with a chuckle as he walked beside his younger brother, "just look at father."

Darius looked up the stairs that led down to the banquet hall and noticed his father pulling on the collar of his formal suit, just as he was doing.

On each side of him were two women in formal dress who glared at him every time he pulled on the collar, forcing him to stop.

"This is annoying," Darius muttered before finally letting go of his collar.

Orion just chuckled as they continued walking.

He, on the other hand, properly had on his formal suit and was definitely not complaining, even though he also felt uncomfortable.

One thing that couldn’t be denied, though, was the fact that he looked good in it.

Hell, even Darius looked good in his suit; the problem was that he looked like he was soon going to rip it off.

Which he definitely wouldn’t do, thanks to his mother’s presence.

As they reached the part of the extremely large table that was for them, the two pulled a chair and sat down before finally looking around.

The entire Lionheart estate looked vastly different tonight.

The naturally rugged atmosphere of the mansion had been refined into something worthy of hosting the Convergence Festival.

The servants were quickly moving around, ensuring that nothing was out of place...after all, the rulers of Avera were about to gather for dinner right here.

A single mistake would cost them their heads, so they did their best to avoid losing their heads.

It didn’t take long before Grand Duke Ignis and his wives reached the table and took a seat.

"Your father tells us you’ve managed to awaken the dragon bloodline," Darius’s stepmother, also Orion’s mother, a woman with chocolate colored skin and beautiful silver eyes, said with a smile as they sat down, "congratulations."

"Thank you," Darius answered with a nod.

"I prepared a gift for you," she continued, "unfortunately, it’ll take a while before it gets here, so I’ll hand it to you after the banquet."

"Alright!" Darius let out but quickly caught himself as he realized that his mother was still here, "erm... I mean, thank you."

"You did well, Darius," his mother, a woman with black hair and emerald green eyes.

She truly was proud of him, but words were definitely not her strong point, a fact which the four sitting by her had long realized.

"Thank you, Mom," Darius answered with a smile.

The three sat in silence after that, a rare sight for the Lionheart men, especially Darius and the Grand Duke.

But that silence was broken by the herald who stood by the door that led into the banquet hall.

"HEADMISTRESS EVELINA OF THE IMPERIAL SPIRIT ACADEMY AND HER REPRESENTATIVES, ADRIAN AND CONAN!"

He loudly announced as the door opened, revealing Evelina in a formal dress, behind her were Adrian and Conan, also formally dressed.

Unlike Darius, the two seemed completely used to the suit they had on.

The three walked toward the table, led by servants, and they took their assigned seats.

"It’s a pleasure to meet you once again, Grand Duke Ignis," Evelina greeted before turning to the Duke’s wives and the two Grand Duchesses.

"It’s a pleasure to meet you, too, Lady Evelina," Orion’s mother greeted, "we apologize for not personally welcoming you to the South, but as you know, the festival kept us busy."

Darius’s mother also nodded at her words.

Evelina just smiled and waved her hand, "It’s fine, your sons gave us a pretty satisfactory tour of the South."

"I’m glad," Orion’s mother said with a smile before turning to the two, her eyes resting on Adrian before she asked, "and you must be Darius’s friend from the academy; he told us much about you."

"It’s a pleasure to meet you, Grand Duchess," Adrian said, placing a hand on his chest and giving a polite bow.

"Now now, don’t be so formal," the Grand Duchess said with a smile, "after all, you’re a friend of our son."

With that, the three took their seat and just in time, too, because the herald announced again.

"GRAND DUKE BOREAS ARDENT OF THE NORTH AND HIS REPRESENTATIVES LADY RENELLE ARDENT AND LORD CEDRIC ARDENT!"

Adrian’s attention was immediately pulled towards the door, and there he saw Renelle in a formal blue dress.

The Grand Duke and Cedric also had the same colors on as they walked towards the table, exchanged greetings with Grand Duke Ignis, and then took their seats.

[I feel like everything was grey until my lady arrived,] Adrian mentally said as he looked at Renelle, [you look beautiful.]

[You don’t look bad yourself, my dear butler,] she replied.

Throughout the entire mental conversation, there wasn’t a single change in either of their expressions.

Cedric was a bit confused. From all he had seen so far, he was certain that the butler would at least compliment her, but he strangely hadn’t said anything.

Or at least that’s what he thought.

Soon enough, the herald announced another presence,

"GRAND DUKE ZEPHIR SYLVARIS OF THE WEST AND HIS REPRESENTATIVES LORD SETH SYLVARIS AND LADY LINDA SLYVARIS!"

The three were dressed in green formal wear, and they also walked towards the table after their presence was announced.

Linda adjusted her glasses as she looked at her fellow class one students, noting that only Darius was surprised.

It seems Renelle and her butler already knew of her status as the daughter of the Grand Duke of the West.

A fact that was surprising since she was certain she had him well under the persona of just an ordinary teacher’s pet.

The three also sat down after sharing greetings with Grand Duke Ignis, and just after, the herald announced again, an announcement that got all their attention.

"GRAND DUKE HORUS EVERHART OF THE EAST AND HIS REPRESENTATIVES LORD GERALD EVERHART AND ...."

"LORD CASSIAN EVERHART!"