The performer gave his final bows as the crowd cheared before rapidly dissipating Queen Vanessa looked at liedia in shock with a frown where did you get him have you been holding out on me just as she said that liedia stood up and gently grabbed the Queens right shoulder ofcourse not she said how could I dare I only thought anything that I showed you today the king could find a way to accomplish such a spectacle ten times better given his magical acquisitions and his overall Authority once he hears of this performance with one spoken word from her highness an even better one could be prepared for your ladies comfort I surmise oh liedia always the optimist the kings far too busy to hear the please of his Queen oh no my lady liedia replied with your unmatched beauty the king would move heaven and Earth
You dont give yourself enough credit Queen Vanessa retorded she stood up as her hand carresed liedias cheek as she glanced at Conrad but thats why I'm so in debted to lord Conrad if it wasnt for him finding this beautiful gem Im sure you would of been another one of my lieges concubines and I would of gotten my toughest rival yet but imagining all the things we could do for the king together if things went that way calms me down a bit as she smirked in conrads general direction only for conrad to blush as he held his hand over his mouth stopping the thought okay it seems now its time for a little dance in the ballroom ofcourse Conrad I must tell you continue treating liedia well for me okay Conrad bent his torso with one hand raised towards his chest indicating agreement
After the Queen and her family members had begun their descent Conrad walked up to liedias side as he curled his hands around her waist so this where you've been getting this new teasing side from the style of agression is quite similar liedia turned her head slightly facing Conrad you know I'm all about adaptating to my environment as she said that a voice could be heard coming from the corner You guys know I'm still here right
Darian who was left in shock by the performer had sat back down to deeply analyse him he was wondering who it could be and how everything he did with magic felt impossible when compared to the maids farmers and fishermen he had seen before it reminded him of a saying Matilda told him about could it be him no it cant be its impossible he doesn't have such showmanship he thought to himself Conrad smiled as he said how could I forget as all three began to descend the stairs while holding hands they at that moment in time they were the definition of a picture perfect happy family
Matilda gathered her group of maids as they directed the guests to the ballroom where the rest of the night would occur and conclude the room was contructed with marble like minerals the floors glissent as Complex gold patterns shined on it the walls and ceiling no different with gold and silver chandeliers wall decorations and portraits of great heroes and legendary nobles plastered on the wall at the edge of the room stood a portrait of Darian,lady liedia ,Sir Conrad and the entire households main servants the portrait was drawn the year of Darians birth all showing happy faces with pottery and flowers neatly placed all around the ballroom sat atop finely made small wooden tables or stools
Around the ball were tables filled with different styles of cuisines pastries ,braai food ,different frozen summer foods ,vegan dishes aswell different catering methods were also available for those who wanted to choose the food themselves they could choose a buffet style of self catering while those who wanted something to pair well with their drinks could recieve cocktail catering which focused more on appetizers as for drinks all types of drinks could be found not just alcoholic beverages near the end of the Ballroom was a small podium which did not have much allevation covered in gold cloth on it different thrones with one main Throne in the middle
There was all sorts of different games that were placed nicely across the ballroom so as to not to impede the movement of the guests the hall was made specifically to be able to Contain a minimum of 1000 people 10 times the size of many school halls or twenty times the size of large courtrooms the games highlighted across the room were Blackjack , poker in all it's many forms and variations, claps ,Roulette ,big six wheel and lastly pool each game were supervised by male servants and female maids who took the jobs of dealers and security preventing the use of any sort of magical ability or a scheme to cheat each were chosen by Roselle herself these games were products of Sir Doumond Conrads father from his experiences in Boreas City many nobles called him a genuis for there introduction a revolutionist even
In the midst of all the talking chatting, drinking ,laughter and gambling lady liedia and Darian stood near the dining tables closest to the walls as guests would occasionally come greet them while the sound of beautiful orchestral melodies rang throughout the ballroom the musicians who were located near the thrones played there hearts out as if pouring their hearts and souls into every solo as sweat could be seen dripping from the face and thrown into the air as they moved their hands and shoulders as they played the violinists expecialy although stringed instruments had already existed Sir Doumond really elevated them to next level introducing new variations the most popular being the violins this contributed the popularity the edison family had that time as Conrad would later go on to create high resolution camera photography technology although to nobles portraits were still valued more because of their unique styles and textures that made the nobles feel grand as if eternal unaging figures illusory dream spawns
Liedia watched her son carefully although he tried to put on a strong face she could sense some sort of fear she Quickly brought in a topic to relate it to Darians current condition well do you see the Queens dress Darian and how people gather around her in awe well thats because of me it was my design afterall mother aren't most of them entrail eaters at the end of the day how would you know if their reactions are accurate well Darian there are two types of compliment you can give one of interest and one given with a pure heart and spontaneous will Normally not be thought through and lack detail while the one taken in interest will Normally be more detail to hide your original intention so to not get caught and to do that you take whats already is the think a person is confident about and create slight exaggerations so although they are entrail eaters their feedback is not too farfetched and should be considered accurate overall
I will say mother the dress is nice was that taking all your time not exactly liedia replied I design the Queens entire wardrobe while running an entire company I have to make sure each dress is uniquely made for her and is not sold to other nobles one mistake could be a disaster that exact reason is why nobles are not allowed to alter any dress designed by our family just in case in a one out of a hundred chance it looks exactly like the Queens after the Queens tired with a dress it can then be sold to others in a way shes a true trend setter and the perfect model
Our family does great things son as you can see by the accessories worn today rings capable of recording information ear rings for telepathic communication hand bags allowing a large space to exist inside that selects items inside and gives it to the user based on intention aging decelaration moisturizer cream and so on this only an example for the female nobility my point is that we whether we like it or not are firmly in the sphere of nobility and once you enter only death and humiliation are the exit as our representative as the house of edison we should represent all that's good in the culture we find ourselves in and to be that representative you cant cower in the corner whether you hide or are active trouble comes eitherway so why not be active
A tear ran down Darians eye as his mother had him in her arms don't worry your my son I know you'll be able to adapt to anything that comes your way moving across the ball away from her adoring public Queen Vanessa squeezed her way through as she finally got to liedia as she grabbed her hand come let's go have some fun she said as she pulled liedia forward enjoy yourself liedia told Conrad before being absorbed into the chaos
Mean while two of the Queens gaurds looked on did you sense that Earlier larze ofcourse Edwin it seems a group of shadow assassins from the shadow clan were hired to kill off a lesser noble during this event and attempted to take advantage of the chaos, Edwin replied it must of been a lesser noble or a businessman a competitor I presume otherwise I'm sure they would of sent people more competent then that whats more interesting larze added is that they completely disappeared from our raidars that is true edwin replied the only person here capable of that is one of sir Conrads Butlers we should find and ask him for more details before reporting to the king after this event
Meanwhile on the gambling table was none other than Roselle sat at the gambling tables using her earnings from organizing the jousting tournament to and selling off the the knights to make even more money by putting it on the gambling table luckily her years in university did not end just by teaching and increasing her mathematical skills she had watched her classmates as they played these games and read books upon books on them which also unleashed her kinky libido as she had found out certain things she played game after game earning her the title of gambling Queen
She went from ta le to table Most nobles were decent to bad players just going through the motions while she analyzed each and every game each possible hand and what to and when to invest her professional skills could not be Questioned although she was not allowed to use all her earnings she thought quadrupling one quarter of her original earnings was enough
She won game after game after game the only person close to her in winnings was Charles who became so drunk he passed out and was carried to the toilet by maids leaving his daughter and wife, his wife who had black hair and wore a simple light blue ruffled collar dress with dark blue high heel slippers
She was a living machine suddenly both liedia and Queen Vanessa one clearly some sort of drunk the other clearly sober holding her friend as if waiting for her friend to collapse appeared to the people near her they could mistake her blushing red cheeks for something else or her attempt to maintain a straight posture as the real thing but Roselle had too much experience to be fooled the two sat down for the next round of poker specifically a game The great Sir Doumond called Texas holdem the name itself used words that many could not understand when many asked sir Doumond simply stated the first part was simply the name of a place and refused to ellaborate further
Roselle smiled this was the most popular form of poker and was easy for beginners to learn and had simple rules this gave her an advantage because she had to master it due to its popularity while it was a disadvantage to her because due to its simplicity her analytical mind was not much of an advantage Roselle planned to lose atleast the first round with the Queens money and intoxication it was likely she would go for multiple games not one depending on her attitude this truly was a treasure trove a golden opportunity just waiting for exploitation she thought to herself with a smile hidden by cards plastered on her face
Among the crowd Claus and Doulos talked about the outcome of the hunt to Doulos displeasure as Conrad who had finished talking to some Businessmen had asked Matilda to find a missing Darian cutting the Claus and Doulos conversation were two men one roughly 5,7 feet tall the other near or on Doulos height we would like to talk to you they demanded Doulos smiled with clear malice in his eyes he patten Claus on the shoulder as he went with them
Do you happen to know the cause of the disturbance as a mage of your reputation we doubt you have no idea what we are talking about Doulos looked at them and said they entered my Domain ofcourse expecting them to live was out of the Question ,So are we to presume nothings left for us to interogate is that correct larze replied as you pointed out sir Correct Doulos said as he began to move away from the two mages Edwin gave a provocation saying to use magic as if a tool of entertainment simply to gather a few strands of Leo's isnt that pathetic
Doulos replied you act so high and mighty when you like dogs do the exact same thing for the king but outside act like more than that atleast I recognize what I am a dog who drinks from the puddle left behind by its masters if I am to bark for them or perform like a clown what does it matter as for you two we may be of the same rank but do not delude yourself into thinking our levels are the same as he walked away Edwin was left enraged as larze said you think you pushed his buttons slightly too much
Near a bar counter was Roselle as she drank continously seeing this Doulos decided to sit by taking a drink from her hand hey not fair pay for your own she said he replied with I thought you would of been over the moon but your sadder then I thought well losing over half your money in eight rounds against amateurs does that to someone how about you what were you doing throughout this whole thing fleeceing Doulos replied just like you since you still have enough energy why not play a round
Meanwhile Darian had escaped outside and ran towards the grass maze his eyes blurry his mind in tatters as tears kept flowing