Chapter 53 BanquetA Few hours later, one luxurious carriage and another regular carriage arrived in front of baron"s mansion. Abium wore a pleated top, pants, and metal belts. Meanwhile, Helena and her sister wore the same scarlet tops and long narrow, wrapped heads.
Baron, on the other hand, wore a dress that looked like a military uniform with a serious face, he walked to the luxurious carriage. Soon, Abium and Helena walked towards the normal one.
Camilla wore the same scarlet colored dress and simply sat on her sister"s shoulder and humming some weird song. Because both of their clothing appeared the same color, sometimes even Abium finds it hard to notice her presence.
Soon, the carriage set out, and after a few minutes, it arrived in front of the castle gate. Abium grabbed the Crown prince"s invitation badge and got off the carriage. He glanced around for a split second and couldn"t able to find out Baron"s carriage.
The banquet was about to start at 5 P.M.
Abium looked at the palace, which was incomparable to any building inside this kingdom. This palace was built by the current king ten years ago to share his victory against the Wadel Kingdom.
At first, Abium was planning to meet up with baron outside the palace and enter together. But once he noticed it was taking too much time for that carriage to come, he brought Helena and walked forward.
At the entrance gate, multiple royal Knights checking every person"s invitation letters and only let them in if they got invited. Each of their strengths was equal to at least a third tier.
Even if you were an influential n.o.bles, if you didn"t have an invitation letter, then you won"t be able to enter. Because of the incident that happened in Bare keep town, the security got even tighter. As Abium and Helena walked closer towards the gate, they were also blocked. But when Abium showed his invitation badge, they quickly let both of them in.
"DON"T LET THEM IN. HE IS A COMMONER!" A high pitched noise came from behind as Abium noticed it was the same guy who told him to kneel down in the magic tower. Soon, all the n.o.bles who were near to the surroundings shifted their gaze towards him. Some of them even recognized him but kept quiet about it.
Because he knew they were waiting for what was going to happen.
"Young master Philip! But they have the crown prince"s invitation badge." A royal knight stepped forth and spoke.
"What?! How could a commoner have an invitation badge? He must have stolen it from some others." Philip said with an angry tone, which made some knights believe his words completely.
Following that, a few knights suddenly unsheathed their swords from the sheath and pointed towards his direction. Some Knights still showed some hesitant expression but quickly followed others.
"Quick! arrest him!" Philip"s continuous shout made Abium frown.
"If I meet this guy again, I am definitely gonna kill him." Abium already marked this guy on the red list when he arrogantly told him to kneel. Soon, the royal knights began to get closer, but another domineering voice came interrupted them.
"What are you doing? Is this your way to greeting a guest?"
Women wore a silver armor and walked towards them from inside the castle. She was also a knight with scarlet hair and the same scarlet eyes.
"Lady Roysia, huh! I think she already became Captain of Royal Knights." Although her appearance might look like 30 years old, he knew she already crossed 50. She soon arrived in front of them and curiously looked at Helena. No! She was currently looking at Camilla with interest.
"Oh? So you are the fairy, huh?" She said as she glanced towards Royal knights and continued.
"So, why did you trying to arrest them?"
"Ma"am young master said that they are commoners, and I also suspect he must have stolen someone"s invitation badge." the royal knight replied while pointing his forefinger at Abium.
"Hm? But he is the newly t.i.tled Baron Abium. So, are you still gonna arrest him, huh?"
"W-Wh? N-No! Ma"am, I thin-."
"Shut up." She interrupted that knight, and her eyes darted towards Philip.
"Young master Philip, please refrain from creating problems for others from now on; otherwise, I will have to make an official complain to your house. Also, he is an important guest." She scolded him with a strict tone then returned to Abium.
"Sir Baron! Sorry for the knights" rude behavior earlier." She invited both to enter the castle. Abium just waved then followed her behind. The palace entrance was still a few hundred meters away from where they stood. Helena followed both of them with some nervousness on her face.
She never went to any royal palace in the past due to she lived in a rural area. The palace from a distance looked to be made entirely of gold, and when they get closer enough to touch, they could see it appears painted in gold.
But what was a more surprising thing was the floors were entirely marbled, and the stairs rains were polished, ornate mahogany, and carved so that it shined.
Many influential figures already arrived waiting there in the hall. No one notice or even paid any attention to their arrival. Abium could hear from time to time; a servant would shout out influential n.o.ble"s arrival.
He looked around the large hall before he noticed he knew no one. Before he could speak to the knight captain, Lady Roysie said some words to Helena and separated from them. Following that, Abium and Helena soon heard another announcement and smiled.
"Baron Auguinare is entering the hall." Baron entered the hall along with his two disciples. Both greeted him and joined them.
At the same time, Abium didn"t stay idle and scanned the whole surrounding from time to time. Even with that, he found no abnormalities inside the hall.
But what made him even more puzzled was he noticed only a few apprentice mages inside the large hall. Moreover, all of them were sons and daughters of some n.o.bles.
"Young master Philip of Count Bellman household is entering the hall!"
He stopped his foot as he felt a piercing glare from that Philip. But he soon shrugged his shoulder. Next, everyone started moving towards the Banquet Hall, so Abium"s group also followed them.
He shifted his head towards the Hall and noticed the tables were split based on t.i.tles. There were four tables inside the hall. They also put baron, viscount, and first-tier mages together on one side. On the other side were counts, marques, and finally, seats on the front were for Dukes, princes, princesses, and second-tier mages.
Well, no mages would appear for these type of royal banquet because they won"t care about the n.o.ble"s etiquette. They put the main table in front, at the location of about a few steps higher than the rest.
"Table for low-rank n.o.bles is closest to the entrance, huh."
Breakfast within the royal family was often a grand affair.
According to royal etiquette, those who dine with monarch, including the royal family members, must follow his every move and do what he does during the meal.
So if King stopped eating his breakfast, everyone must stop eating too, whether they were full or not. This banquet meant for officially announcing the crown prince as King"s next heir. But in the past, due to some reason, King died while he was having dinner on the table.
Some said it was an a.s.sa.s.sination, and others said it was due to the curse, but no one was sure. This time Abium would definitely see what the reason was.
If the King died due to the curse in the past, then why was he still alive? His eyes narrowed. Abium"s group soon walked towards their seats and sat down.
"Ah, welcome, Lord Baron."
"h.e.l.lo, Lord Baron."
Baron gave a short response to all those greetings.
"Lord Baron! I didn"t expect you to attend a royal banquet in my life." A young man with black hair walked near to baron and gave a puzzled gaze.
"Lad! How is the old man? Is he still alive?"
"Yes, Lord Baron. Because of the old age, he gave up the t.i.tle to me and now enjoying his old days with grandchildren."
"Grandchildren, huh!" Baron nodded with a smile and introduced Abium.
"This is Baron Abium, and this child is Helena. Both are like my guests. He is a baron Wido."
Abium widened his eyes a bit and greeted.
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"h.e.l.lo, baron Wido." He remembered Wido because he was also one of the victims during the ma.s.sacre of grand n.o.ble gathering.
As they were chattering on the table, another announcement came.
"Viscount Gauvain and young master Robert are entering the hall." All three of them stopped their chatting and shifted their gaze towards the viscount.
Robert walking on Viscount Gauvain"s side and behind them walked a figure which made Helena to an alert mode.
"Watson!" She muttered out loud, but n.o.body able to hear it clearly due to noise. Soon, they walked towards the table, and finally, Watson"s eyes landed on Abium and Helena.
Within a second, his hand moved towards his waist then noticed he was in the presence of many n.o.bles. He gritted his teeth and quickly whispered something to Viscount Gauvain.
Although Abium couldn"t able to hear what he was saying to the Viscount, be he guessed Watson was telling who they were.
"I didn"t expect the royal family even invited a commoner to attend this banquet." Robert intentionally said with disdain that made everyone shifted their eyes to Abium and Helena.
"Young master Robert, he is newly t.i.tled Baron of Alastall. Please refrain your words; otherwise, it will only ruin your house reputation." Baron spoke in a cold tone and shifted his gaze towards Viscount.
Although in the past, Baron didn"t know what this viscount was after but he knew he was the one who sent those a.s.sa.s.sins to his territory. Both stared at each other for a few minutes before a booming voice shook the hall.
"Abium, My friend! How are you? I thought you wouldn"t come to this banquet at all." This time everyone froze on the spot when they heard that voice. Soon, that figure walked towards him with a warm smile on his face. It"s none other than Crown prince Huggin. Every low-rank n.o.bles became startled and even some high rank.
"Greetings, Your highness!"
"Haha, I thought you already forgot about me. So how are that lady and Umi? Are both of them still alive?"
"Yes, your highness. Both Umi and her mother are alive, and they went on another journey with Nicolaus."
"Oh, that b.a.s.t.a.r.d? I will be glad if he had died already. Anyway, I thought we would never meet again. Let"s talk later once the banquet is over. Meet me once it"s over."
"Yes, your highness."
"Okay. I will also inform your arrival to my little brother."
Crown prince hurriedly ran off after he spoke these words. But on the other hand, everyone stood there frozen like a statue, even including Helena and Baron. Quickly Baron recovered from that shock and let out a fake cough and asked.
"Lad! When did you meet the crown prince?"
"It"s a long story Lord Baron. I will tell you later."
At the same time, Viscount Gauvain"s venomous eyes observed his every movement. This half-elf was the one that almost ruined his plans and seems already had some connections with the crown prince made him narrow his eyes. Viscount quickly made up his mind and thought of getting rid of this threat. The organization already warned them not to mess up the plan.
"Watson! After this banquet stays here in the capital and follows after him. Make a plan and get rid of this half-elf. Although he is also a n.o.ble, he doesn"t have anyone on his side to protect. Kill him silently; if not, he might become a future threat. If you need some help, just ask the organization they will help you with these small matters."
"Yes, my lord."
As they were discussing, another announcement made everyone shift their eyes.
"d.u.c.h.ess Margery is entering the hall."
Following d.u.c.h.ess arrival, Duke Adhemar"s family, Young master of Duke Louvel, and other Margrave family members of the kingdom.
They all entered into the hall with their subordinates behind them. The door closed after all of them came, but there was n.o.body who got up to chat with them.
Click. Click.
The clock reached exactly 8 Pm.
Screech-
The large door opened, and the royal family members showed up with their entourage.
The servant got ready to shout out about their arrival, but the person who walked in the front dismissed him.
Peral Kingdom"s monarch, 8th king after the foundation of the kingdom, King Sewallus arrived.
King wore a golden crown, shining cloths, and his face looked pale as white. He looked thinner and was accompanied by the queen on the right side, while Princess Ankerita on the left.
They headed to the elevated seat without any introduction and sat down. All of the n.o.bles got up to greet the King, and he sat on his chair.
"Welcome. Thank you for responding to our invitation."
Followed him, queen and other royal family members sat on their own seats.
The king continued.
"I am pleased that all of you have come to this banquet." He stopped for a second then let out a long sigh.
"It seems not all of you came, huh. Anyway, I invited everyone here is to inform officially about the future heir of the kingdom."
The hall went silent for a moment soon the King started to speak.
" "Cough" I do feel guilty for not discussing this with any of you beforehand. For that, you have to forgive me."
Gasps could be heard everywhere. Because it was scarce for a king to apologize to their va.s.sals, Abium could tell quickly, the king"s body condition also not appeared good as he heard earlier.
"But first Let the feast begin!"
King first began the banquet, and soon, others followed his movements. The tables were filled with many dishes Abium only heard of it from others. They placed Venison in the center of the table. It seems crown prince himself hunted that wind antelope that was known for its speed. Chase and hunt was a very important part of a n.o.ble social life.
Venison was being pan-fried with spices, onions, and leeks. He saw many other dishes placed like ground almond sauce, red spiced wine, custard tart, munch eat bread rolls, etc. After some time, King stopped eating, so did the others. He quickly took a sip of spiced wine and spoke.
"Today, I will make an official statement. I choose my eldest son, Huggin, as the next heir. Although he was a naive kid, I am sure he will make our kingdom prosper with the help of his two little brothers."
The hall went one again silence for a second but soon followed by disagreement voices echoed from all over the place.
"Ahem, I knew you are disappointed, but this is best for both the kingdom and citizens."
Continuous anger voices echoed, but soon, everyone agreed without any choice. But soon, Abium saw a magic circle was drawn behind the king"s seat and began to flicker.
A hooded girl with black hair and black pupil materialized behind him; next instant, a black dagger appeared in her hand.
The following instant, she plunged her dagger from the King"s back mercilessly.
"DEAR!!" Queen"s sorrowful cry echoed inside the hall. Abium quickly thought of casting a blink spell, but even with that, Abium knew he wouldn"t able to arrive in time.
Once, again, the magic circle flickered, then that girl disappeared from there, leaving no trace behind. It took everyone, even including Abium by surprise.