The entire waiting room fell into a state of utter silence, following the footsteps of a group of individuals who had just made their way into the hall. The gaze of every single person in the lobby fell onto the group, specifically the person at the forefront, leading to a series of gasps and awes from the crowd.

Leading the group was a delicate-looking young lady, walking with grace and sophistication far beyond her years. She looked like a delicate summer flower, walking with steps befitting of a noble as she outshined each and every person within the hall.

Her smooth and long hair cascaded across her shoulder like a gentle spring waterfall, adding a touch of fervor to her otherwise soft appearance. Her ever-so-delicate facial features seemed to shimmer in the sunlight, captivating the attention of most of the male candidates, as they just couldn't seem to take their eyes off of her.

Part of her smooth-flowing hair was braided back and held in place by a silver-colored swan pin, with 2 braided strands of hair falling to the side of her face. The falling braids also had a similar pin attached to their edges, making it seem like a signature piece of this attractive young lady.

She wore a black frilled dress of a less conservative fashion, which stopped at her knees and would have exposed her legs under normal circumstances. Instead, her legs were covered by long front liners, maintaining the dignity of a lady while highlighting her delicate feminine charm.

There was no doubt in Elias's mind, the lady before him was the prettiest girl he had ever seen! Her beauty standards were well outside the scope of what he could call 'normal'.

"Wow... Now this is a sight worth drooling over." Lars communicated his feelings to Elias, half teasingly and half seriously.

Elias's mouth twitched at his brother's comment, before deciding to ignore him while turning his sights away from the magnetic young lady and closing his eyes in meditation. He felt like staring for too long would be rude, and would make him no less different from the people he had previously reprimanded for lecherously staring at Lady Rochelle.

Even if this young lady was well within his age range and totally outshined Lady Rochelle when it came to beauty, it wasn't to the point where Elias would stare at her like a fool, since he had more important things to do in Estica than fawn over girls. A gentleman could acknowledge beauty but never obsess over it.

The young lady walked over to the lobby's reception with her entourage, before procuring her assessment pass amidst the captivated gazes of the receptionist and guards.

She then took a moment to scan the hall for a place to sit, while inwardly critiquing the reactions of everyone within the lobby.

'look at these people, not one ounce of composure in their bones. I get that I'm an important figure and everything, but aren't their reactions way too exaggerated?'

'look at that guy, the gaze he is using to look at me is similar to a man who has just found his long, lost bride, and is mentally preparing for the engagement and wedding ceremony.'

'eww!... Is that drool at the side of that one's face? You are the possible future of the world's religious institutions, how do you plan on being a priest with this level of willpower!'

'why is that lady looking at me with a flushed face? I'm sorry miss, but you are far from my ideal type!'

The young lady's gaze wandered around the hall, taking in the fawning and entranced expressions of the crowd. Her eyes eventually settled on a part of the hall, where a commoner was seated politely with his eyes closed, his calm and composed demeanor creating a stark contrast to the scene around him.

This sparked the young lady's interest, as she didn't think the young man hadn’t noticed her walking into the hall. She put on a soft smile and elegantly walked towards him, tapping his legs to signal her presence.

"Excuse me, is the seat beside you taken?"

The gaze of everyone in the hall was directed towards the scene, causing them to wonder why she wanted to sit beside a commoner, even with all the other seats available. It wasn't that they were classist or anything, it was just that the situation seemed unusual, especially with all the guards around her.

Elias slowly opened his eyes as a soft and melodic voice drifted into his ear, wondering who could be taking the initiative to talk to him in the hall. To his surprise, an enchanting smile came into view, causing him to momentarily express shock before regaining his composure.

Elias gently nodded to the young lady, signaling to the chair beside him in a gentlemanly manner. "Be my guest."

The young lady's brows slightly furrowed, before lightly curtsying to Elias and elegantly taking her seat beside him.

'Interesting... His reaction was more of shock and surprise at me talking to him, rather than interest and captivation. His actions also show that he tries to act like a gentleman, even with his normal background.'

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'Now this is more like it...'

Elias watched the young lady settle into her seat, before closing his eyes to continue his meditation. The soft smell of spring flowers fell on the surroundings with the lady's arrival, causing Elias to open his eyes in interest.

"Excuse me... Sorry to disturb you, but is your perfume part of the spring collection of Silver Swan? I couldn't help but catch a whiff of its peculiar scent."

The young lady turned towards him with interest, amused at how it was her cologne that had caught his attention rather than her herself. She decided to indulge his curiosity since he had been respectful thus far.

"And what made you think that it's from a Silver Swan collection? For all you know, it could be from any of the other numerous fashion brands across the 3 kingdoms."

Elias smiled in response, his face taking on a scholarly look, as though he was about to explain the secrets of the world to the young maiden.

"Well, judging from your entourage and how everyone reacted when you came into the hall, I assume that you are an important figure, maybe even the daughter of an aristocrat or politician. That leads me to assume that you would naturally use beauty products from one of the big three in the fashion industry, which helps me greatly in narrowing down my options."

'Ahah!... So he did notice me earlier, he just couldn't care enough to react. What an interesting guy.'

The young lady inwardly quipped, while paying attention to the other details of Elias's explanation.

"The soft scent of the perfume also helps me to exclude the option of it being from a Don Gauge collection, since their perfumes are typically more tailored to a male audience. That leaves just two other options; Silver Swan or Palace Venice."

Elias then crossed his arms over his legs, his tone sounding more thoughtful as his explanation grabbed the attention of almost all the people in the hall. They were intrigued by the young man's fashion insight.

Elias, oblivious to what was happening around him, continued to speak with a measured tone. "Now as for Palace Venice, their cologne usually has a more spiced and provocative feel to it, a seductive touch if you will. The perfume you have on is more soft and delicate with its scent tones, leading me to assume that it's from Silver Swan.

"As for me saying that it's from a spring collection, I have a lot of interest in flowers, and the scent reminded me of the scent of spring."

Elias had always had an interest in perfumes since he felt like it was an essential part of a gentleman's aesthetic. Even if he could only ever afford to buy lower quality ones, he had done his research on the bigger fashion brands by reading fashion magazines and articles around him.

Even if his knowledge was limited, he knew a lot more about perfumes than the average person his age. Elias remembered reading in a magazine about the Silver Swan perfume collection, which had been released some time ago. All of this made him to be quite confident in his assumption.

The entire lobby fell quiet after Elias stopped speaking, leading him to feel quite uncomfortable. He was quite confused as to why he was getting stared at by everyone.

Before the silence got choking, one of the guards accompanying the young lady slowly clapped their hands, leading to a round of enthusiastic claps from everyone within the lobby.

The strict-looking guards, the lobby receptionist, the assessment candidates and even the good-looking young lady herself, every one of them was enthusiastically applauding Elias's cologne insight.

Elias was close to losing his composure and was eventually bailed out by the soft and clear voice of the young lady, which brought an end to the applause.

"What a clear and concise explanation. You are correct, it's from my family's spring collection. And as for the name, it's the 'First Kiss of Spring', the 2nd cologne in the collection."

Elias nodded thoughtfully, signaling that he understood. He felt like it would either be the 1st or 2nd cologne in the collection since they were the most expensive and fit perfectly with the lady's status. Elias suddenly noticed a key detail he had seemingly overlooked, the lady had called it her family's spring collection. Doesn't that mean that she is affiliated with the family behind the Silver Swan brand?

All of a sudden, a rush of realization hit him, causing him to stare blankly at the delicate young lady beside him. The entourage that ushered her in, the lobby's immediate reaction, her silver hairpin and her earlier statement, all of these pieces fit into a solid puzzle, causing Elias to take a deep long breath. The lady before him was Aamiya Chelsea, also known as Lady Silver Swan!

Elias's reaction caused the young lady to chuckle softly, twirling her braids around her finger in a ladylike manner. "How did it take you that long to figure out who I am? I thought the hairpins should have made it quite obvious."

The scene caused the observing crowd to let out numerous giggles, as the sudden appearance of shock on Elias's face made him look quite comical.

Elias slowly ran his hands through his hair, the sight of his perfectly chiseled face drawing the crowd out of their amusement. They didn't notice it before since they were too focused on his analysis, but he was actually quite attractive. Some people even went ahead to assume that he was a noble in disguise, which would explain why he knew so much about cologne and why he looked so attractive.

Elias didn't pay attention to the crowd, expressing his apology to the prominent figure seated at his side. "I'm sorry Lady Chelsea, but I tried my best not to stare too much when you arrived since it goes against the manners I was taught while growing up. Because of that, I didn't think about who you could be, forgive me."

At the mention of manners, most of the people in the crowd displayed embarrassment and remorse, causing Aamiya to smile in satisfaction. "That is indeed praise-worthy in its own right, so don't worry about it. And please, do call me Aamiya going forward, Lady Chelsea is a bit too formal."

Elias heaved a sigh of relief, responding casually to Aamiya's request. "Not a problem Miss Aamiya. And I'm Elias, Elias Nor."

The two teenagers then dived into conversational topics about modern fashion, moving from talks about cologne to sharing views about their taste in clothing trends.

The sight of two attractive people laughing and smiling while talking about fashion made the people observing the scene feel like they were gazing at a play, which aimed to communicate the beauty of youthful nature.

Some of the teenage boys in the crowd were burning with jealousy at the sight of Aamiya laughing at Elias's jokes, while some of the blushing maidens gossiped about how attractive Elias looked anytime he ran his hands through his tussled hair.

The mood in the waiting lobby had become very bright and lively, and the tension for the assessment had all but vanished.

A sudden announcement from one of the security officials in the hall broke the mood, bringing with it details for the candidates to follow;

'The first round of the apostolic assessment commences in 5 minutes. Participants take your passes and make your way to the hall on your right.'