“Entering, his majesty Emperor Clarus II. Emperor of the Fortunis Empire, and the Hegemon of the west.”

The old lady from before called out in a pristine tone without a single tremble within her voice. As if on cue the giant wooden doors decaled with precious jewels and metals opened with a wide swoosh. His footsteps echoed within the ballroom as the Emperor finally showed himself. His aged face seemed to be the epitome of wisdom and magnanimity. His woolen cloak stuck to the ground behind him as he walked, its deep purple color exuded a sense of majesty. His garb showed a bright red with figures imprinted in a pattern all around his torso and legs, the hymn of a rune was felt on that clothing. Finally the scepter he wielded within his hand was made out of solid gold, the sheer weight of it must have been stiffening for any person- yet the Emperor was seen to have no trouble waving around such a weight. Affixed on top of the scepter were numerous jewels and gems surrounding a giant red rock that glowed with a breath of life, Viran could swear he could feel the mana within the air begin to swirl around the scepter itself.

Seeing every Noble within the room at once stand up with their heads bowed slightly Viran hurried to follow their example as well. Only when the Emperor finally sat himself on a high throne, a height that allowed him to overlook the entirety of the room, did the Nobles finally relieve their reverence for their mighty Emperor.

As his bright blue eyes swept around the room, only to finally situate themselves towards the Idicium Faction’s corner of the room, did his words finally speak.

“Thank you for attending my wishes for attending this year’s Day of Awakening. I realize asking for the presence of almost every Noble within my Empire was asking for much, but I assure you I have my own reasons.” The Emperor’s tone was one of seriousness and was void of any sense of joking.

The Emperor pauses for a moment as he briefly touches the pendant hidden under his clothes before speaking again once more, this time his eyes glancing towards Viran’s location every so often.

“But I will leave the serious business and talk for tomorrow’s rituals, the best suited time for it if I may say so myself. Now let us start with the introductions!” The Emperor ordered immediately.

Viran nodded slightly to himself after hearing these words, he had heard of such a thing from Sir Leonard on the way towards Verita.

Towards the Empire’s three century conquests, otherwise known as the Hegemon Wars, the Emperor’s of the past would often bestow remarkable characters with the titles of Nobility. So during the yearly Day of Awakening the newly created Noble Houses would be firmly introduced to every House present, but since then the tradition has warped in multiple ways. It has only been less than fifty years since the last war, without mentioning the wars raged against the Mountain Dukedoms, and little land has been conquered since then. Yet with such a large expanse of land with little governance, three new Houses were created underneath the banner of their Emperor to reign in his stead, these prestigious Houses were known throughout the realm. The Eminent Houses, Oriens, Idicium, and Zora were created. Within the North laid the Duke House of Oriens, towards the East the Margrave House of Zora, and to the South the Marquess House Idicium. Since then the Empire may have lost many Noble Houses, but they have never gained another Noble House since.

The introductions of every year were preserved only for those Houses, a uniqueness for them that only served to solidify their authority just underneath the Emperor himself.

“Thank you, Emperor Claus.” A bright young man who looked to barely be within his twenties stood up with a refined manner. His blonde hair swayed as he bowed deeply. “My name is Alexander Oriens, reigning Duke of the Northern House Oriens. Thank you.”

Just as the Duke sat down, two young boys and a girl stood up as well with refined manners. Their own bright blonde hair reminded Viran of a certain woman, and a sadness crept just around the corner to his heart. A lurking sadness that had long ago become normal for the boy, albeit unaware of it.

“The third son of Duke Oriens, Claude Oriens. I will be turning nine this year, thank you.”

“The second son of Duke Oriens and heir to House Oriens, Belde Oriens at your service. I turned ten earlier this month and will be participating in the Day of Awakening, thank you.”

“The first and only daughter of Duke Oriens, Aurelia Oriens. I turmed-” The girl’s face brightened multiple degrees as she realized she had accidentally fumbled her words, yet she persisted. “Ahem, I turned ten this year. I will be participating in the Day of Awakening. My apologies, and thank you.”

Just as Aurelia finally finished speaking, applauds rang out from every corner of the room, and from the Emperor himself. Over the noise most people wouldn’t have heard what was spoken, but Viran was clearly able to point out the degrading insults Belde threw towards Aurelia. Just as the loud applause ended so did the insults, yet Viran could see Duke Alexander smile towards Belde. Viran felt threatened just seeing the smile, it revealed no good intent but rather ill will.

“Yes, thank you House Oriens.” The Emperor smiled with sincerity as he looked towards House Zora.

Standing up in response to the Emperor himself was a particularly tall woman. Bright, red fiery hair seemed to shoot forth from her head as a snarl was plastered over her mouth. Viran knew exactly who she was, she was quite famous in her own right.

“Thanks.” She said brashly and without care. “Elizabeth Zora of the East. Margrave of House Zora, and Marshall of the Imperial Army that will crush the Mountain Lords to the East!”

Just as soon as the woman is done speaking she falls flat into her seat as she spreads her legs out in relaxation, whether or not she was ignoring the commotion around her or was simply oblivious no one knew.

“Erm.” The Emperor looked on flabbergasted as the numerous Nobles around looked around in wonder. The plans to invade the Mountain Duchies to the East were still not known throughout the cliques of the Nobles.

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“That was something I wished to tell you when tomorrow comes, but I suppose you all learned of it now.” The Emperor said with grimace. “Please, Margrave Zora, reign yourself in next time.”

“Yeah~” The tall red-haired woman lazily yelled out in response. Viran felt as though she hadn’t really listened well enough to the Emperor, but he wasn’t about to reproach her about the disrespect. Viran had heard enough from Sir Leonard about her.

It was sure enough that Elizabeth Zora was one of the most battle-savvy individuals within the Empire, and a forerunner of military thought as well.

As the room begins to cool down its discussions, the son and daughter of Margrave Zora stand up alongside one another. The boy shook his head in a dispirited way, as though he were disappointed.

“Hal Zora, second son of Margrave Zora. I turned ten earlier this year and will be participating in the Day of Awakening. Apologies for my Mother, and thank you.” As the son sat down his brown hair was shaken as Margrave Zora drove her fist into the top of his head, though from the boy’s appearance it seemed he was already used to such a thing.

As the daughter of House Zora stepped forward a step and was about to speak, Viran couldn’t help but turn his head slightly in confusion. He hadn’t been told that House Zora had a daughter as well, but he supposed it didn’t matter much in the end.

“Hello and thank you. My name is Lydia Zora, third daughter of Elizabeth Zora. I turned ten earlier this year and will be participating in the Day of Awakening. I am pleased to make your acquaintance.” Lydia bowed slightly towards the crowd before sitting down once more along with her family.

Viran’s heart shook once more when he finally realized that the entire crowd’s attention was now focused upon himself, and what they considered to be his family as well. Viran hadn’t thought of it before, but he would also be speaking in front of all of the Nobles present wouldn’t he? Viran hadn’t prepared anything beforehand as he simply went along with the flow during the entire banquet so far, just what would happen if he messes up in some way?

Unaware of Viran’s internal dilemmas, Robert Idicium stands up.

“Hello and thank you for having me. I am the Marquess of House Idicium, Robert Idicium.”

From Viran’s perspective, Robert Idicium’s introduction was rather flat and normal compared to the previous two Heads of the Eminent Houses. Compared to Margrave Zora’s introduction he lacked any flair or outstanding characteristics, were someone not aware of the power House Idicium held they may be fooled into believing them to be some weak and unassuming House. Lord Idicium also lacked the youthfulness and charisma of Duke Oriens, compared to the blonde patriarch Lord Idicium was just an old man with a scary looking face.

Of course, the normalcy that Marquess Idicium showed with his introduction was a good thing in the end. At least with a plain and normal introduction, you save yourself the risk of having a terrible introduction.

Within the circle of Nobles, first impressions mattered much.

As the old man sat down, a young boy the same age as Viran stood up. His coal black hair was untidy and looked greasy from far away, a bad premonition began to well up within Viran. His dress garments were stained with a red wine in some places, and Viran could see the shaking within the boy’s fingertips. A horrific sight, a deathly horrific sight.

“H-h-h-hello.” Gregory stuttered as his face paled once more. Viran could swear he saw the boy glance towards him multiple times as he stuttered.

“I-I turned eight… No, I turned ten this year amd will be partitipating in the Day of Awakening tomorrow.”

As Gregory struggled onward despite it’s futility, Viran couldn’t help but shake in his boots. An embarrassing show by his half-brother. Whether it be the miss pronunciations of words, the massive stuttering, or the gaucheness he showed; it was all too much for Viran to suffer through, and the very same went with Lord Idicium.

“...H-heir to Marquess House Idicium… Lay-laying South of-of the Empire.”

Viran sat there as he silently listened to the trainwreck known as Gregory Idicium. As he kept his face solid and plain, Viran began to speak to the Spirit that dwelt in his mind.

“Ry what the hell is happening to him?” He asked with surprise and urgence.

“Talking to me at this moment may not have been the right idea…” Ry responded immediately, yet within his voice Viran felt not the usual mockery. But perhaps pity?

Right as Ry responded, Gregory’s head turned within a flash as he stared directly at Viran. Viran could feel the sweat go down his back, somehow he felt in danger. The look within Gregory’s eyes were clouded, as though a mist had descended upon them. Viran somehow felt the boy was unable to see much around him, or perhaps he could see more.

“DEVIL!” Gregory’s voice screeched at high levels as he jumped over the tables.

Immediately his hand reached out and Viran could vividly feel the mana around pulsate around his hand. A familiar cold frost was felt by his leg, yet Viran was already prepared as he felt his own mana spurn in his body and he moved to the side dodging the icicle.

Though he successfully dodged the spell, Viran could clearly see how Gregory had improved over the entire year. The icicle from a year ago was only able to put a small hole within Viran’s hand, now the icicle was clearly able to blow off an entire hand. Though Viran dodged it, the table was completely blown in half as the chair flew a few feet away as well, evoking screams from the Nobles nearby.

“WHY MUST YOU HATE ME? HAVEN’T YOU DONE ENOUGH?” Gregory screeched once more as he ran forward at Viran once more.

This time, however, Viran wouldn’t be pushed into action. Plastered upon Margrave Zora’s face were numerous crescent moons. Her eyes clearly showed happiness, yet her eerie smile showed a dangerous lust for killing and death. Viran unconsciously stepped back slightly.

Within a single motion Margrave Zora was on Gregory like a falcon with its prey, and the boy was knocked out completely. Small rambles filled to the brim with insanity was all that was left of him.

It would be an understatement to say that the ballroom was currently in chaos at the unexpected events.

Duke Oriens held his arm out forward, preventing his own people from interfering in the manner, yet he could do nothing to interrupt the crazed conversations that erupted within his faction.

“Just what happened?”

“He just attempted to kill his own brother! In front of the Emperor no less…”

“Such a thing…”

Towards Margrave Zora’s faction, there was little clamor within her faction. Only small chatter and questionable stares were seen within her faction.

Marquess Idicium’s faction were flabbergasted and shocked, though for the wrong reason. Rather it was the inactivity of their Leader, Lord Idicium, that left them shocked and deeply troubled. That much was to be expected though, afterall the Leader of a completely opposite faction had a faster reaction compared to their own. Such a thing was shameful, and the trust within Lord Idicium waned once more.

However Lord Idicium couldn’t care less at that moment, his mind still buzzed with shock after all. The shock wasn’t caused by the actions of Gregory, but rather through the words spoken by that damned brat. Yet no one knew, no one but him.

With a wave of his hand the unsettled chatter of the neutral Nobles and Emperor Faction Nobles ended without any resistance. Seeing the rest of the room still disgruntled, Emperor Clarus couldn’t help but click his tongue in annoyance.

“Quiet! Quiet! Go send for a physician, something is terribly wrong with this boy!” Emperor Clarus immediately ordered with a loud yell as he stepped down his high chair.

By his orders the sounds within the room immediately cease, and Lord Idicium himself finally gets up from his chair. Though hesitant at first, he immediately goes towards Viran. Much to his surprise.

“L-Lord Idicium?” Viran asked in a high pitched voice, he felt as though the blame would somehow be centered onto him again somehow.

“Sit. Stay.” Lord Idicium ordered in a low growl as Viran silently cursed him under his breath.

‘Treating your own son like a dog is a bit much, ain’t it?’ Viran grumbled in his head.

Despite the annoyance held deep within his heart, Viran listens obediently and silently waits for the physician to arrive once more.