In the middle of the day, inside a building, various seats were scattered in the luxurious room. People of all ages were attending, while you couldn’t tell their precise age due to many factors there was something all of them shared in common.

All of them had expensive clothing, and their faces were hidden or partially hidden depending on the person’s preference. They chatted, drinking wine as they indulge themselves in the finest wine available. Maids and butlers served the customer with refills of wine, and if they asked, food was going to be prepared just for them.

A group of four men sat together, conversing as everyone was doing. They were seated right at the front, the esteemed VIP members. Each of them held quite the influence, yet that could be said for all the other nobles attending.

What separated them from the other was their relationship with the person who organized this attraction. They all had some sort of ties with him, all of them without exception were long time customers. Due to this, the four of them grew close to each other because of their common interests. With drinks in their hands, the glass of wine was untouched.

“We should wait a bit before we begin drinking,” said a man, leaving his glass on the table.

“You do have a point, I wouldn’t want to start the party without everyone,” replied another man, agreeing and mimicking his actions.

“It’s not like we’ll be waiting long!” Laughed another, slapping his leg.

“Heh, that’s right. He isn’t the type to be late to this event.” The last one, commented with a tiny smile.

All they had to do was wait until the arrival of him, so they had to figure a way to pass time. As such, they began talking about more personal things. Though it wasn’t as personal since all of them got along very well.

“By the way, what happened to your daughter? I heard she was beaten up by some hoodlums on her way to school? I heard her friend was admitted to the hospital.” Man number two, asked, simply curious.

“Honestly, I couldn’t care less when I heard the news. She’s a bitch just like her mother. I don’t know how that whore raised her. Damn, there you go, souring my mood.” Man number three, enthusiasm was nowhere to be seen, instead it changed to a sour expression.

“It must suck being a father. Well, not exactly. I don’t remember you even raising her in the first place. If I remember correctly, the mother of your child prohibited you from seeing her. Wait, why did you even let things go her way?” The fourth man inquired, wincing when he thought about the situation further.

“I didn’t have a choice. Apparently, the government deemed me unsuitable to raise her. What ever fuck that means. And they were adamant on that, moving them away from my place to god knows where.” The third man, complained, deeply signing.

“And you let that happen? If it was my daughter then I wouldn’t let her leave my hands. I’ll raise her with or without her mother if I have to. She’ll be sharing my blood, after all.” The fourth man fired back, perplexed.

“What do you want me to do? Go against the Royal family? For fuck’s sake it’s the royal family we’re talking about! If I go against them, I’ll lose everything. I wouldn’t even be here.” Man number three, exclaimed, defending his decision.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“You would, but on the other side.” The fourth man, joked, which went on to be ignored.

“He’s right, though. It’s better to just have an intimate relationship with another woman and have her give birth to another child. You can’t let that bother you forever, life goes on and you have to keep moving forward. Luckily for you, you hold no strong feelings towards your ex wife or daughter so it should be easy for you to move on.” The first man gave advice which was obviously addressed for the third man.

“Yeah, you're right. I should stop resenting her, and move on. While I haven’t met a wonderful woman yet I believe that day will appear before me sooner than later.” The third man, wryly smiled.

“I shouldn’t have brought that up, sorry man.” The second man apologized, putting his head on the table.

“It’s fine.” The other man was quick to accept the apology.

“Gentlemen, is there anything I can offer to you? Ask and I’ll gladly oblige.” A maid appeared, bowing in pure respect.

“We’re fine.” The first man said, waving in a dismissing manner, for her to leave.

“As you wish,” she said, leaving to serve another group of nobles.

The group of men, patiently sat in silence. Not only for the last member, but for the event to start. Not long, footsteps grew louder as someone approached the table.

A man wearing an ankle-length black coat, boots, a wide-brimmed hat, gloves, and an outer over-clothing garment of the same shade of black.

His face was hidden by a peculiar mask, a bird-like bear mask. The sweet, pleasant scent of lavender could be smelled from his attire. The fragrance relaxed them from their stressful conversation. The man stretched his arms, in a big welcoming gesture.

“Sorry for the wait, I was preparing for the biggest event of the year.” The man said, heading and taking a seat on the last chair available.

“Should we have our awaited toast? To honor the long awaited return?” The man with a bird-like mask, raised his glass of wine.

All of the men gathered at this particular table raised their glasses in unison, clinking the glasses of wine. The five of them said different phases the moment the glasses contacted each other.

”乾杯!”

“Cheers!”

“Salud!”

“Prost!”

“干杯!”

The five of them gulped down the drink. The man with the strange mask, raised it for his mouth to be visible. He no longer had his hat on, opting to place it on the table for the toast. Once they finished the wine, the man put his hat back on and put his mask down.

“Huh? Why did you guys say cheers in different languages,” asked the third man.

“Why not?” All of them replied in unison.

No more than a few seconds passed when the dimly lit room lights got stronger, lighting the whole room. The tallow candles emitted light far stronger than what they were capable of. Light magic was utilized for this occasion. All the noble's, including the five, attention was on the front where a stage like theater was built. A man in a butler's uniform stood on the main stage.

“Ladies and gentlemen. The long awaited return of our one and only slave auction is about to commence!” The butler normally spoke as his voice was being amplified by magic.

“It’s finally begun,” said an excited lone student in the background.