Felix was greatly surprised - Serenity was the first person he had heard mention the great spirits except for Arboro, who was one herself. "Great spirits?" he asked her. "I've never heard of them. What are they?"

"Ah, I forgot, you're new to your noble house. I would be surprised if you even knew all of the lore of house Belrose yet, let alone that of my own house." she said with a slight smile. "House Tinnit was, long ago, nothing but a small and ordinary family of fishermen. However, as the legend goes, one day, while my ancestors were plying their trade on the shoreline, a massive glacier was flung from afar nearby them, which caused a major ruckus and disruption to the area, and killed a couple of family members. When the rest of the family went to check out the scene, there they found a fishman, so beaten, bruised, and bloody, that he could scarcely be recognized as a piece of meat, let alone as a fishman. And yet, somehow, he was barely clinging on the last vestiges of life. The patriarch of the family at that time was a low grade water mage who knew some healing spells, and he spent an entire week, day and night, using low level water healing spells to bring that fishman from death's door to stability, and months after to bring him back up to health. It turned out that the fishman was one who was beloved by the great spirit of water. She saw the disaster she had caused our family with her glacier, even though it was an accident, and she saw that we did not respond to her assault with offense, but instead with grace, and healed one of her own. And so, she bestowed my family with the blessings of water, and we took on the crest of the shattered snowflake, as the ice and snow of the massive glacier shattered our previous lives, and we became one with the waters. The glacier melted and became Tinnit Bay, where once there was nothing but a flat shoreline, and House Tinnit was recognized by the monarchy, and granted our peerage and domain as an important link to the merfolk. We named our domain Alamack, in reverence of the great spirit of water, whose name we know as Alathenara." Serenity explained, watching his reaction.

"Most of the time, the blessings of heaven are not so literal and directly observed." Felix remarked.

"You believe the story then? It's nothing but an old fairy tail." she said with a teasing smile.

"Of course I believe it. Only the blessings of the heavens themselves could cause such a beautiful fairy as you to appear in this world." Felix responded.

Serenity giggled. "And it seems they blessed you with a silver tongue." she said with a smile.

Felix could only smile wryly at that comment, as Arboro had been metaphorically holding his hand throughout the whole conversation.

Actually, he thought, maybe that really is the blessings of heaven, since Arboro was actually a grand spirit. Huh.

Suddenly, there was a bit of commotion, drawing Felix and Serenity's attention, the back doors of the hall opened, and Earl Belrose and Scarlet entered the room. Earl Belrose was dressed up in a fancy black suit, and looked quite cheerful and jovial today, his face flushed red with smiles. Scarlet was wearing a conservative long dress which was made of a strange fabric which seemed to catch the light in ways where it would change from black to green and back again, depending on the angle it was looked at. She was much dolled up, and looked very beautiful, with her long blond hair over one shoulder, and the makeup on her eyes somehow drawing in one's gaze to her green eyes, making her look piercing, as if she could stare through your soul. Her lips were red and plump as they drew in the gazes of the few men of the room, making all of them desire to taste them. She had a Belrose family crest pinned to her front.

Scarlet looked at Leo in disdain, who could only give her a look like he was pleading for help, but he was promptly ignored. The various young Lords went over to Earl Belrose and paid their respects, including William. He nodded graciously and waved them off, saying he didn't wish to interrupt the younger generation's good time, and he went over to speak with Tobias by himself near the entry. Scarlet promptly ignored all of the bachelor Lords, and walked over to Felix and Serenity instead.

"So, how do I look Felix?" she asked with a coy smile.

"Scarlet, you look as beautiful as the most prim lotus in the waters surrounding the lakeside pavilion every day." Felix replied.

"Are you saying I don't look any better when I go all out?" she asked playfully.

Felix smiled. "Of course you do. If you're always as a lotus regularly, then today you are that lotus in full bloom, illuminated by the bright moon." he said smartly.

Serenity giggled. "It seems the well of flattery within you runs as deep as the abyssal depths of the ocean, Young Master Felix." she said.

"Hmph!" Scarlet said. "It seems that despite today being about me, you've spent this whole time courting Lady Serenity then, for her to say such a thing." Scarlet remarked.

"Oh, no, make no mistake, it is me who is courting him. However, for a Lady of my caliber, all that needs to be done to accomplish such a thing is merely to allow him to approach me." Serenity proclaimed boldly and directly.

Scarlet blushed profusely. "Y-you! Shameless!" she said with a stammer.

"Don't worry, I understand that a man of his caliber cannot be held down by merely one woman. We can share if you're so inclined." Serenity said with a teasing smile, as she grabbed Felix's arm and held it closely, pressing it between her ample bosom.

Felix was dumbfounded, but Arboro told him to keep his trap shut and do nothing, so he did nothing except for enjoy the soft sensation on his right arm. Scarlet sputtered something and ran off to hide next to Earl Belrose, blushing so bright red that one would think she was born of a tomato vine, while Serenity had a smug grin.

Felix sighed. "Did you have to tease her so much during her own coming of age ceremony?" he asked Serenity.

"I can't help it, she's so adorable. And more importantly... Aren't you two cousins? So why does she seem jealous if I go after you anyway?" she asked, looking at Felix curiously.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"That, well, it's kind of compli-" Felix began, when he was suddenly interrupted by Tobias shouting from the entrance of the hall.

"Announcing Lord Richard, Second Young Master of the Duvain Dukedom!" he proclaimed loudly.

Everyone froze, and the mood in the room changed quickly, becoming frozen in ice as everyone looked over to the entrance.

"What's going on?" "I thought house Belrose and house Duvain hated each other?" "Aren't they enemies?" and so on was muttered around the room.

"What the..." Felix said, looking at the entry himself. In walked a sallow young man, wearing a sharp white suit, with white hair to match, and eyes which seemed as if they were covered in a mist, with a crest bearing a golden raven pinned to the front. Earl Belrose's face looked quite dark, as if he had just stepped in shit without wearing shoes.

"How dare your house intrude upon this grand event for my family? I definitely didn't send you an invite." Earl Belrose barked at him.

"Please calm yourself, senior Lord Earl." Richard said with a humble bow. "I am here on the orders of His Majesty, King Leopold himself. The King does not wish to see our two houses at odds forever, and so he wished that my noble house would at least send a token delegation such as myself to at least try at the very beginning of mending things between us." he explained, handing Earl Belrose a scroll bearing the royal seal. Earl Belrose harrumphed and opened and read it.

"Fine!" Earl Belrose said. "You may stay, but only out of my respect for His Majesty. If you so much as fart though, don't blame me for being impolite and kicking you hard enough to fling you all the way back to the capital." he said, still looking at Richard with disdain.

"I thank the Lord Earl for his magnanimity and hospitality, then." Richard said with a bow. Earl Belrose waved him off dismissively, and Richard turned his attention to Scarlet.

"And you must be Lady Scarlet. You are indeed worthy of being the center of attention for this event, for your beauty shines as brightly as the lone torch of the night in the wilderness of this world." he said, bowing to Scarlet. Scarlet gave a rather clear "Hmph!" and walked off back to Felix, preferring to have to be around Serenity again rather than have to be in Richard's presence, leaving him by himself. Richard smiled wryly and forced himself upon the group of other young bachelor Lords, who accepted him with a forced and awkward manner, as they could not reject him for fear of offending the house of a Duke.

"What scum." Scarlet spat out. "How dare house Duvain tread here!" she said, looking in his direction like she was looking at a pile of cow turds.

"Scarlet, you don't even know what house Duvain has done to invoke such enmity, aren't you taking it a bit too far?" Felix asked.

"Hmph!" she said, hmphing a lot today. "The reaction of grandfather and how he has spoken of them throughout my life is good enough for me." she said. "And also, if they did some small matter against my house, then grandfather wouldn't have forced me to wait until I came of age to tell me about it! After this ceremony is over, figuring that out will be my first task!" she added, glaring daggers at Richard.

"And also, how long are you going to hold his arm like that?!?" Scarlet asked, turning to Serenity, who still had Felix's arm nestled right in the middle of her bosom.

"As long as Young Master~ Felix will allow me to." Serenity said with a teasing smile, emphasizing the word "Master" heavily, with it's many implications.

Scarlet's face finally matched her name at that, and she was at a loss for words for a moment, when Tobias walked over. "Young Mistress, it is time. Please head to the front of the room." he said with a bow.

Scarlet looked like she couldn't decide if she had been pardoned for not having to be near Serenity any more, or if she was disappointed to leave Felix, but still, she walked to the front of the room. Everyone's attention turned to her, and they began to sense the flow of mana around them in the room. Many mana crystals had been placed around the room, so the mana was quite thick in the room today.

After another minute, the mana in the room changed imperceptibly, and began to slowly flow towards Scarlet, who had sat down in a meditating lotus position. The flow of mana began to pick up in speed quickly, and turned visible to the naked eye. A few people murmured, but this much had already been expected, with Leo as the baseline.

And yet, it kept strengthening. The thin wisps of mana turned thicker. The flows turned into streams, and the streams into rivers of mana, as it kept going. Finally, there was a crackling sound, and lightning and thunder appeared in the room, surprising many. And yet it kept going.

A rainbow sprouted, a celestial dragon flew. A lotus danced, and a halo of light grew around Scarlet, who continued to absorb mana rapidly, and with concentration. Several of the surrounding young nobles eyes had grown so wide that their eyes threatened to escape their skulls. Thankfully, it didn't continue to grow even stronger, and no one was fool enough to say a word during her mana coalescence. Finally, after about fifteen minutes or so where Scarlet absorbed so much mana that Felix had absolutely no idea how she didn't pop like a balloon, the flow of mana receded, and Scarlet breathed a sigh of relief. Earl Belrose had been watching attentively nearby, and looked so happy that he could jump straight through the roof with joy, as he walked over quickly to Scarlet.

"How on earth did this happen! Scarlet, are you the lucky star of the family, or what?" he asked, bear hugging her, to which she weakly protested, banging on his back until he finally permitted her to breathe again.

She coughed and panted in a good mood. "I may have an idea about it actually, Grandfather. I'll tell you about it later." she said with a smile.

"May I measure your grade?" Earl Belrose asked tentatively.

"Of course you can, Grandfather." Scarlet replied, holding out her hand to him.

Earl Belrose took her hand with as much care as if he were handling a newborn chick, and closed his eyes, clearly sensing her mana. He opened his eyes in shock quickly thereafter.

"Middle upper-grade..." he said, softly at first. Then he bellowed out loudly and joyously. "Hahahaha, she's middle upper-grade! The heavens keep bestowing me one blessing after another lately!"

Scarlet smiled and withdrew her hand, and sat down to stabilize the flow of mana within her. There was much murmuring in the room, and the young bachelor Lords could only hang their heads.

"To think that I dared to dream of having a chance with a middle upper-grade Lady." Abel said self-mockingly. The feeling seemed mostly mutual amongst the group.

No one interrupted Scarlet as she stabilized herself and consigned themselves to gossip, and Scarlet excused herself to go to a room which had been prepared in advance nearby so that she could absorb her elemental affinities in secret, while Earl Belrose followed. A short while later, Scarlet re-emerged with a smile, as Earl Belrose followed behind. If he was happy and jovial before, he looked positively ecstatic now.

"She was actually chosen by the darkness of our house, just as her brother Leo was! It seems my house is destined to rise in this generation!" Earl Belrose declared loudly, as Scarlet gave a curtsy to the assembled guests.

"My good grand-daughter, you are the new lifeblood of the house! Of course many gifts have been assembled for this occasion, and yet, if you ask anything of me right now, so long as it's in my personal power, I will grant it even if it's my life!" he declared loudly.

Scarlet smiled. "How could I ask for your life, Grandfather? Yet, if you do so desire to pamper me today, I suppose there is one thing I would ask for." she said, kneeling to Earl Belrose.

"Speak it and it is yours!" Earl Belrose said happily.

"I want him." Scarlet said, pointing to Felix.