Descending the grand staircase was the golden boy of the kingdom himself. Not just in a sense, but literally. Short golden hair was reflecting the light from the stained windows like it was literally made of gold. His bright green eyes looked forward towards us guests, and we couldn’t help but stay silent throughout the whole descent, his shoes clicking with the marble stairs being the only sound echoing throughout the room.
But then, in the middle of the staircase, he stopped. He turned back, extending a hand. Then, I noticed another shadow stretching across the staircase behind the prince. As if on cue, the butler raised his voice again. “Please welcome, Her Highness, Princess Munith of Ortensia.”
The first thing I saw was a lightly layered white dress with light blue accents. Her heels clicked even louder with the marble stairs than the prince’s shoes. Then, when I finally saw her fully, my attention was immediately yanked to one thing. Her hair.
It flowed as she descended the staircase slowly, catching up to the waiting First Prince. I wasn’t surprised because of how flowy her hair was, but it was the color of her hair that caught my eye. It was silver. Not gray, not white, but silver.
I had seen people with blue hair, orange hair, green hair, and such. But this was the first time ever I saw someone, who is young at least, to have silver hair. I took a quick look around at the other guests, they were as mesmerized as I expected. Silver hair was definitely a rarity.
I looked back at the princess, her hand grasping Prince Key’s extended palm gently before the two of them walked down the staircase slowly together.
She had an almost permanent smile plastered on her face. It looked kind of similar to Eliza’s way of smiling, gentle and warm, but something inside me, I don’t know what, was feeling uneasy at the sight of it. It wasn’t because her smile didn’t reach her eyes, hers definitely did. But the reason for her smile, it was… unclear.
The prince and princess reached the base of the stairs, and I was very aware of how quiet the room had gotten. Everyone’s gazes were locked on them. Prince Key smiled, and it wasn’t one of those polite forced smiles that I was trained for either. It was warm, approachable, like he actually wanted to be here. I mean, it was his party, but his warm attitude contrasted with my expectations of him.
Every research attempt I made to learn more about him from books led me to believe that he was a prodigy in business and politics. Boy were those boring books, but I learned a few bits of this kingdom’s history, so I’d take it.
From what I had gathered, his personality was never documented well. I tried to judge the book by its cover by observing the paintings and illustrations of him I happened to find. That didn’t help much either since he poses like every other prince before him. Straight back, eyes straight, dead face…
So, from pure guess alone, I believed he was either a stoic, no-nonsense prince or an arrogant brat who happened to be born into privilege. I was relieved to find that, from my direct observation at least, he was neither of them.
Could it be, that I actually have a chance of befriending this guy?
The prince and princess walked to their table at the front and center of the room, facing away from us. Then, the aged butler from before returning to the side of the staircase, his hand extending again.
“Announcing the arrival of His Highness, the Third Prince.”
So, he’s here too.
Another man descended the stairs. His pace was more lax than the graceful descent of his older brother. It didn’t take long for me to fully see him under the chandeliers’ glow. He looked almost exactly the same as he did back at my birthday party.
Once at the base of the stairs, he placed a hand on his chest and bowed. I flicked my eyes around to survey the surroundings, and not a single one of the guests offered a reaction.
When the Third Prince, Julient, saw me. His lips curled into a smile as he gave me a small nod before walking to his brother’s side.
The two whispered to each other for a bit when the aged butler stepped away from the spotlight. Servants came rushing in a perfectly paced line as each of them handed each table an empty glass and filled it with wine.
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Yes, that includes mine.
I watched as the butler placed the glass in front of me and began pouring wine from a bottle, turning the label towards me to make sure I got a good look at it. It was indeed wine, not grape juice.
The butler bowed and walked away, leaving me alone with the glass of wine. I looked around, again, and the other guests had begun drinking theirs as they chatted quietly across tables.
Well, there’s no point dawdling.
I picked up the glass and slowly took a sip of the wine. For the first time in a long while, I tasted wine.
And it was awful.
Bitter, almost stinging my nose, I wondered if it had gone bad. A quick glance at the other guests revealed them savoring their drinks without complaint. Was it my taste buds, or did this world just not know good wine?
I felt utterly disappointed. This was my first chance to enjoy wine after regaining my past memories, and it had to be ruined. I placed the glass back down, letting out a long sigh unfiltered.
The wine lingered unpleasantly on my tongue as I set the glass down. I glanced at the royal table again, noticing that only the first and third princes, along with the princess, were seated there. The absence of other members of the royal family felt odd. Surely a prince’s birthday, especially one as important as Key’s, would warrant the attendance of the entire family.
Sure, this wasn’t the entire party, it was just the opening. Maybe they would show up when the main party starts at night? I decided not to dwell on it for now.
Soon, the aged butler returned to the center of the room, his voice silencing the murmurs of conversations.
“Esteemed guests, please raise your glasses.”
The sound of chairs shifting and glasses clinking filled the hall as everyone obeyed. I quickly grabbed my glass.
The First Prince, Key, stood from his chair along with Prince Julient and Princess Munith. The three of them turned around to face us and raised their glass as well.
“Honored friends,” Key began. “It brings me great joy to see you all this afternoon. Although the bulk of the party will be commenced tonight at the courtyard, I wish to thank you all for attending this opening party.”
Right, I already read the reminder. The party will commence at noon and end at around midnight. The reminder promised great performances will be shown all throughout, all with a lavish meal for lunch and dinner.
“Let us raise our glasses high!” Prince Key declared, his voice bright and booming. “Today is not just a celebration of me, but a joyous day for the kingdom and her people! To the future of Setus!”
The room echoed with a slight hum of agreement as glasses were raised higher. I mimicked the action, hesitating before taking another small sip. Ugh, still awful.
As everyone lowered their glasses, the butler clapped his hands, signaling a line of servants to enter the hall. They moved with practiced precision, each carrying trays with the first course of the meal.
A fragrant creamy soup was placed in front of me, steam rising from the bowl. It looked good enough and when the others started digging in, I took it as my cue to start spooning it up.
Thankfully, the food won’t be as bad as the wine. It wasn’t all that great either though. Clearly, they went for the presentation more than the quality. Leila’s are better, no contest.
The conversation remained muted as the guests turned their attention to the food. I didn’t hear any slurping noises or any clanks from silverware colliding with the bowl. Clearly, everyone here had etiquette training as well. Good to see that I wasn’t the only one suffering.
I glanced occasionally toward the royal table. The First Prince engaged in what appeared to be a lighthearted conversation with Princess Munith, who nodded along with a bubbly attitude like an innocent girl. Meanwhile, Prince Julient alternated between casual glances at the room and focused bites of his meal, which was cake for some reason?
Was it dessert time already?
The courses came and went, each more exquisite than the last. From soup to salad to a small serving of steak and a few more.
When the main course was cleared, a soft ring from a glass hit by a silver fork marked the end of the meal. The aged butler returned to the center of the room, bowing deeply.
“Ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to stretch your legs or enjoy the view of the garden, you are welcome to do so during this brief interlude. The afternoon’s entertainment will commence shortly.”
I took a deep breath again. This was the chance. The other guests rose gracefully, almost in unison. Some walked over to another and began having light conversations, others began approaching the First Prince, who was heading towards the side windows. Probably to look over the gardens.
I decided to make my move and approach him now before too many of the guests crowded over the birthday boy. But when I was about to rise up from my table, a shadow slowly loomed over me.
Looking up, I expected it to be the Third Prince, probably saying hi to me after so long. But, it wasn’t him. He was still sitting at the royal table, looking in my direction with narrowed eyes, specifically at the person standing right before me.
“Hmm Hmm~ You’re… Carine Sareid, right?” she said with a bubbly tone that caught me off guard.
“Your… Highness?”
She covered her mouth with her gloved hand and giggled delightfully. “Oh, it’s so nice to meet you, Lady Carine~! I’m Munith de Ortensia, but you can just call me Munith!” She bounced on her heels slightly as she extended a hand.
My body instinctively shook her hands, but my mind was entirely blank inside. It was so blank, in fact, that I had to completely stop moving as Feyt just so I could use both of my brains to process things.
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image [https://i.imgur.com/RdC5Gde.png]