King Cedric spoke once more, "Nobles, Ladies, Lords and my fellow royals." He scanned the crowd, making sure he had everyone's attention.
"Welcome to the first opening ball of the moon astral festival, in memory of the goddess astral that helped us overcome the titans that had the entire world in their strong grasp. May the goddess be blessed."
"May the goddess be blessed," came the response from the crowd.
Some had a sad look in their eyes, in recollection of what their ancestors had to go through in order to fight for the survival of humanity from the dreadful titans who ruled with iron fists and had the world at their complete mercy.
King Cedric continued, "Tomorrow marks the beginning of the selection training, good luck to all the participants, but tonight we feast and rise early tomorrow to greater alliances."
King Cedric raised another glass of wine for a toast.
Everyone followed his lead, toasting to new alliances, the goddess Astral's treaty from the first king, and a successful debutant season.
A season that meant entertainment to the nobles while also being the existence of one's birth.
But to the commoners who joined this year, it was their freedom, freedom from just being average, but to being more.
Queen Estella laughed as she held her husband's arm, then handed her glass to a servant.
Leaning close to his ear, "My love, it's time to retire for the night, you've had one too many wines tonight."
King Cedric's face was flushed, his head in a light daze, but he still had his senses intact, "ok, let's retire." He readily agreed.
But before leaving the ballroom, he searched for Jameson with his eyes, but this son of his was nowhere to be seen; he made a mental note to confront him in the morning.
One of the nobles walked up to Randolph, "Ah, Prince Randolph, how long has it been?" he asked, sizing Darla up and down from the corners of his eyes.
"I didn't know you'd make it for this debutante season, Lord Lucinan," Randolph greeted, clasping his hand in a firm handshake.
"As much as I love my kingdom's affairs, I truly am in need of a wife, I'm afraid so," Lord Lucian joked.
Randolph laughed along with him, "Well, one must take a rest from Kingdom affairs, I suppose." Randolph replied awkwardly, not knowing how to continue this conversation, and he rubbed the back of his neck with his other free hand.
Of all the nobles at the ball, Randolph disliked Lucian the most.
This stemmed from a conflict that occurred during their childhood years.
One where he held deep respect for Jameson, but never showed it, for fear of what his mother would do.
A faint movement caught Lucian's eyes. "Jameson is fond of late-night games in the maze," he muttered.
"What? where?" Randolph asked, unable to catch what Lucian had said.
Even though all he got was his brother's name, as he followed Lucina's line of sight, he also caught a glimpse of Jameson's dark red cape.
"Nothing, my eyes deceive me." Lucian gave a lazy smile before walking away from Randolph.
Darla stood in quiet listening to their conversation; It truly was odd.
She had always heard that Lord Lucian was an odd person, and he was one of the oldest spinsters in their age grade, of course, along with Prince Jameson.
There was a list among the high noblewomen.
Randolph muttered some strings of random excuses to Darla before heading to the garden, leaving her to herself at the ball.
She couldn't interact with other males, but with the females.
But then again, almost everyone was paired with each other, getting acquainted.
She didn't want to look like she was in a bid to search for a husband.
***
Randolph stepped into the garden. Walking around the place calmly looking for Lillian, in hopes that she spoke with Jameson and turned him down.
"Since when did Jameson take an interest in women? He wasn't one to show his interest in anyone." Randolph muttered.
Randolph decided to sit on a bench when he couldn't find her.
Neither could he enter the maze to search for her.
He never liked the maze since the accident which occurred during his childhood, the very one that made him wary of Lucian.
Jameson was holding on to his last line, his legs screaming for him to give up.
As he took the last step towards his room, he stepped out of the secret passageway that was hidden behind a massive painting which hung on the wall of his room, like a mural of some sort.
He gently laid Lillian on his bed, then bent to pull her shoes from her leg, before he eased onto the soft, lush carpeted floors, too tired to even register that his walking stick had been brought to his room.
His head rested by Lillian's feet at the foot of the bed, not being able to resist the heavy feeling anymore, he let himself go, closing his eyes, as his breathing synced with that of Lillian's.
[Ding! Contract marriage sealed, system linking]
[Status, partially unstable]
[Hosts are compatible]
[Updating, shared host site]
[Shared character profile loading]
[Ding! Voice system updating]
[Welcome, Prince Jameson and Princess Lillian of House Livingston of Androva]
The words blinked on the screen as a blue light enveloped both Lillian and Jameson.
A small gash appeared on the palms of the hands, their blood seeped out, mixing with each other and mixing with the blue glow that enveloped them, before flowing back into their hands, the gash closing up.
A small crest like a rose appeared on Lillian's hand, while a thorn appeared on Jameson's.
[Host's stabilised]