Even before Arthur had set about installing his decorations, the ballroom of the butler’s guild was unlike anything Arthur had ever seen in his entire life prior. The ballroom’s walls were made of white flowing marble that glimmered gorgeously in the artificial light from the angelic-looking chandeliers that hung by tantalisingly thin magic threads from the dome-esque ceiling.
The building’s interior resembled most observatories in its shape, with two rectangular areas to the north and south, that both seamlessly topped a wide circular ballroom proper encircled by a marble promenade.
At both ends of the ballroom, there were stained glass windows – both depicting a battle between two almost God-like existences. One, a tall man with muscles as large as mountains, shimmered resplendently with a golden radiance, fought with another – a snake. Though some only saw its mouth as it was the only thing that was obviously visible, the rest of the stained glass seemingly depicting a completely barren night sky, but Arthur was different – he could see the mana scales emanating from each shard of glass. The snake’s body was not invisible, it was all-encompassing – a depiction that was made all the more tragic by the other stained-glass window seemingly showing the result, two seemingly pleased snake eyes that sat amidst the total darkness of its body – a never-ending hunger in them.
The floor was covered in mosaic tiles that when viewed from above ushered one from their place in the mortal realm into a divine place. Each small, insignificant, tile came together to form a visage so beautiful that the 9 moons of the capital planet were said to all wish to glimpse at the face of the lady whose face was depicted. Thus, the story goes, the reason that all 9 moons align above the ballroom’s oculus every year is to peek a glimpse at her through the oculus in the ceiling.
However, the view is not only incredible for the moons, as upon looking up at the night sky from below through the lens of the stained glass that filled in the building’s strangely large oculus in the ceiling, one would see the capital city/planet’s largest moon in almost unimaginable clarity and resolution – emphasising its almost ethereal silver beauty.
Time almost stood still as he gazed at the room before him. He knew for a fact that at least some of the beauty was a result of the powerful enchants that infused every centimetre of the room, but Arthur didn’t care if at least part of it all was artificial. Everything in sight was just so overwhelming in beauty, and just remembering that first time he’d been shown the room made Arthur almost blush in embarrassment.
Arthur had stumbled back in astonishment upon first being shown the ballroom – his shock at the level of beauty possible thanks to magic having been palpable on his face. He had asked his assigned tour guide if he could learn of the name or status of the woman depicted, but the woman had shaken her head, and informed him that he would be informed of such things upon initiation – that is, should he succeed in the task that he had been assigned and actually become initiated.
That task, to somehow organise a ball for the elite of the Imperium and beyond and do it whilst not even knowing 10% of what he needed to, had been a herculean one indeed.
His levelling at the military base had done much to boost his mental and social stats as well as push his cultivation speed into overdrive, but the work of organising everything had taken a lot out of him, and he could barely remember the last time he had been given even a second of free-thinking time. 100% of his mental capacity had been dedicated to organising the ball that would happen in only a few hours, but now, as he stood on the balcony overlooking the entire hall, he couldn’t help but feel nervous.
Sure, he’d organized elite gatherings hundreds of times in the past, and he had put in an enormous amount of effort to make everything about this ball perfect, but would that truly be enough?
Doubt subtly gnawed away at his heart.
However, no matter what, he could not allow his doubts to overwhelm his mind – too much relied on this evening going perfectly for him to be getting caught up in his own ego.
“Venerable Sir, the chapter master has concluded his assessment of your preparation and organisation skills. He asked me to hurry and inform you that he approves of all that you have done so far.” The lead server’s voice said from behind him, breaking him out of his thoughts, and causing Arthur to turn around to face the wolfman humanoid wearing a black-tie formal suit.
Arthur could only smile and nod at the man in response at being told the kind words from the chapter master. After all, words were just that, words, and Arthur suspected that the final assessment would be far more critical. The best-laid plans and all that.
Arthur scanned the room around him and nodded approvingly at each of his chosen decorative elements. Flags with enchanted golden tassels, sublime paintings depicting a noble soul triumphing over an enemy, but most specifically selected to appease the nobility of the Grand Imperium in specific, there was a jewel-studded stage in one of the boxes at one of the ends of the ballroom. It seemed that, no matter if you were on Earth or out in the endless expanse of space, a good opera was always going to be enjoyed by the elite – though the Imperium’s version of Opera was said to be truly incredible, thanks primarily to heavy use of magic and system enhancements.
To be honest, Arthur was slightly excited to see the opera himself after he’d deliberated for many hours on which of the millions of different A+ graded operas he would have performed before making his selection. However, the opera would come at the end of the evening, and there were about 2 hours to go until the whole ball even started, so he’d need to suppress his excitement for a bit.
Out of the corner of his eye, Arthur noticed a nervous-looking Steven pacing in circles at one end of the ballroom.
Arthur let out a slight chuckle. He’d been quite surprised to hear that the teen had already gotten himself acquainted with a lady friend, but it was a pleasant surprise.
Though he wouldn’t admit it to himself because of how selfish it sounded, all the time he’d spent working recently had been time Arthur had not spent thinking about Earth’s final fate and his prior failures, and so he had probably not had such a clear and level head in a long time. And, if the teen was managing as well as he seemed, then Arthur could do nothing but be supportive.
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
However, that being said, his paternalistic instincts told him that this lady friend would probably prove to be troublesome now that the teen had revealed his connection to Arthur. The whiff of power could corrupt even the purest of hearts and though Arthur was not prideful enough to think himself too powerful – he was certainly better off than most. He would have to be once again put up his guard when communicating with random people – a practice he hadn’t needed to implement whilst rotting away in the nursing home prior to the system’s arrival.
A small, hesitant, smile formed on his lips as he watched one of the servants putting up one of the final decorative pieces.
Finally, he thought to himself, I have accomplished something via means other than my fists and or dagger.
A powerful aura moving within range of his own passive aura sense made Arthur turn all at once and he was met by the mildly handsome visage of the Butler’s guild Imperium Capital Chapter Master.
Arthur’s heart suddenly started beating at a previously unknown high frequency as the man seemed to scan him up and down, before nodding and then moving away with a slight smile on his face.
Arthur felt his whole body release a pressure that he hadn’t realised had been building up inside him. He didn’t know what it was, but the chapter master always seemed to put him on edge, though Arthur suspected it was more because of the man’s obvious power than the inquisitive glare that seemed permanently infixed in his eyes.
As his heart calmed, Arthur decided to refocus himself on working – as in a few hours, his future would be on the line, and he could not fail.
----------------------------------------
Steven nervously played with his cufflinks that had come with the surprisingly comfortable black-tie suit that he was wearing that Mr Goodman had generously given him. He couldn’t believe that his colleague Samuel had actually managed to secure him a date, though the idiot had refused to give him much more information than “she’s really beautiful dude” which wasn’t exactly much for his frantic teenage fantasies to use as material.
Though, there was always the possibility that he had just not heard or understood any further description of the girl as his grasp of the Imperium’s Common Tongue was workable, but not yet fluent. However, the smug look on Sam’s face as he made good on his promise to help him out told Steven that the idiotic genius hadn’t intended on giving out much more info than was contained in those brief few words.
An inkling of guilt arose in Steven’s chest as he realised what he was doing right now. Not only was he about to attend an evening filled with people who undoubtedly were involved in, or at least knew about, the complete destruction of his planet, he also had given in somewhat to peer pressure and had levelled a tiny bit so as to increase his Social stat perks so as to not completely freak out this girl he was going to dance with. In other words, he’d compromised his principles, and thus betrayed his own convictions. And the question he kept asking himself was, for what?
Well, for a girl of course! A completely unknown, potentially non-existent, girl that a colleague who also worked for a literal demonic mass-murderer had apparently known for ages, and whose name was apparently a big deal in the Imperium elite for some reason.
Would she be worth the guilt? He questioned himself with an increasingly guilty conscience. He even pondered backing out of this whole event and spending the evening keeping Lucas company.
Then, a moment later, all such thoughts dispersed as though mere they were nothing more than dust in a hurricane, as a knock on the door to his dressing room was followed by a radiant beauty unlike any he’d ever seen before entering his room – the girl in question wore the most beautiful smile Steven had ever seen.
Immediately, his heart started racing, a problem that only grew more pronounced as she began walking towards him – before curtseying and introducing herself.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Sir Steven. My name is Alisha Camereon.” She said in a sultry, flattering tone that brimmed with seductive energy.
Steven gulped, a blush appearing on his face, before he lowered his head a little – mimicking some sort of bow – before replying in a far less smooth way than he would have liked, “It’s nice to meet you, Miss Alisha.”
The astronomic beauty smiled gracefully back at him – her face giving him no hint that she found his awkwardness too off putting. Steven felt his heart thud in his chest as he moved hurriedly to try and entertain his newly arrived date prior to the evening’s big events.
Yet, proving herself to be as beautiful on the inside as on the outside, Alisha was incredibly easy going and Steven honestly felt himself falling in love with her as they engaged in light pre-ball conversation. Time flowed easily for Steven, and he was almost certain he would have lost track of time completely and thus missed the ball entirely had not Alisha politely reminded him 5 minutes before the ball was to begin.
The young couple left the dressing room – both wearing smiles that went from ear to ear, though only one set of eyes was burning with a passionate love. Steven couldn’t help but feel overwhelmingly lucky to be on a date with the woman standing next to him, and all of that guilt he had felt earlier vanished as his bitterness and sorrow was substituted with a far more fluttering and wholesome emotion – love.
It had been love at first sight, he just knew it.
A minute or two later, they stood in the outside area where all guests were required to stand whilst awaiting admittance. Steven felt his heart almost stop when Alisha turned to him and said that she had to go and speak to someone else for a little bit, but he felt his spirits return in full force once she promised to return to him for a dance.
She got further away from him with each of her elegant steps, and Steven had to physically shake his head to stop himself from simply following her with his eyes the whole time that she was speaking with whoever it was that she was speaking to. His mom had always taught him that if he wanted a girl to like him, he shouldn’t come across as too obsessed with her, and he was pretty sure that staring her down this entire evening would indicate his definitely real new obsession.
Steven looked around him in search of anything or anyone that he, a completely out of place native from a now completely destroyed planet, could approach whilst he waited for Alisha to return to his side. However, everyone around him seemed completely unapproachable, either they were far too powerful and intimidating looking, or they were physically fenced off from all other attendants – including Steven.
There was an incredible diversity of people attending this ball, for whatever reason, and Steven was once again struck by the realisation that he was well and truly an outsider to all of this. Whilst everyone else chatted about how beautiful their home worlds were, or how their recent dungeon escapade had gone, he had no home world, and he definitely didn’t want to journey into any dungeon – so, he just didn’t fit in. So, even among people from hundreds of different alien races, he felt like he alone was separated from whatever social milieu allowed these vastly different peoples to come together in peace for long enough to enjoy a ball together.
This solipsistic spiralling was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a familiar middle-age looking man standing at the entrance of the grand ballroom - Mr Goodman.
His many time saviour coughed appropriately, his system enhanced throat carrying the sound throughout the entire crowd – bringing everyone in attendance’s attention straight to him. Then, he made the announcement that everyone – including Steven – had been waiting for, “The esteemed attendants may now enter the ballroom as and when you please.”