Rose Castle Banquet Hall
Royal Palace, Gerfast
GWE
November 24th
Year 1054
The scene was the Rose Banquet Hall again, and today was the after-party of the GWE's Princess' 16th birthday celebration.
Just like the night before, most of the attention of the guests was torn between two sets of people.
The Celebrant, who was adorned in a rich brown dress that matched her chestnut hair, flowing like liquid silk.
Delicate black lace adorned the bodice, with black highlights tracing the seams and edges. The hem fell gracefully to the floor, swaying with each step and catching the light.
Like always, Arnold who was with her was also a focus of attention, but today, he was completely overshadowed by the other set of people, one of which was his younger brother.
Glancing around, it wasn't hard to see the gazes of a lot of single young ladies moving in the direction of Evan who looked dashing in a grey tuxedo paired with a blue shirt and a black bow tie.
A blue rose lapel pin added a touch of elegance to his breast pocket, complenting his attire perfectly.
Beside him, Eliza wore a stunning grey dress with sapphire blue accents. Her jewellery matched the blue highlights, and a grey hair ornant adorned her blonde hair, completing her look.
Together, they created a striking contrast, each wearing the other's colours with style.
It was fashionable for married or engaged couples to wear clothes that showed off both people's colours, and even though Evan and Eliza had done this on nurous occasions before, it was usually sothing more subdued, and nothing as blatant as this.
The sapphire blue on Evan was basically a big Neon Sign that only other girls could read, and it stated four simple words; Stay Away, He's Mine.
Conversely, Eliza's grey dress was a warning understood by the guys which sent out the sa ssage.
After the first dance, Evan and Eliza separated for a while to talk to friends and associates.
There seed to be an important issue coming up as the Emperor and Empress, as well as the Crown Prince, the Dukes and so ministers also took a temporary leave to discuss matters of state.
While Eliza went to speak with Suzanne Dyer (Refer to Chap. 192) and Charise, Evan went to Laurene who had been looking at him like she'd seen a ghost.
"So, why'd you look like you'd seen a ghost?"
"…how are you here?"
It turned out that she was simply astonished that Evan, of all people, attended more than one day of a multi-day event.
Laurene had lost count of the tis Evan had just shown up for a day and then vanished from major events like the Empire's founding ball, the Emperor and Empress' birthdays, and the Crown Prince's birthday. In fact, he hadn't attended the Crown Prince's birthday for the past four years!
Seeing him at the after-party today was a surprise.
For Nobles, rumours could easily spread about soone missing such events, most of which were degrading.
Like for example, if a certain Countess did not attend the events, people could say her family was too broke to buy multiple dresses for the occasion.
But with Evan, it was clear he simply didn't care for such things.
After her initial surprise, Laurene quickly changed the topic. With a snap of her fingers, she used magic to isolate the sounds of their conversation from eavesdroppers.
"So, when are we heading to Tarse?"
As Evan had told 'Aidos', he planned to involve Laurene and David in dealing with the Fallen Celestial Deities to ensure everything went smoothly. Laurene was to handle Illusion Celestial Belphont, while David would deal with Arcane Celestial Lorethi.
"The 28th. We'll take trains since waypoints would leave records that are harder to erase. I've already prepared everything."
"Isn't that cutting it close?"
"I have intel that they're making strange moves.
We need to act fast before they change their plans and render my information on them useless."
Evan responded, recalling what Leviah had told him that morning. He had briefly considered having Leviah kill the Death Celestial but decided against it, knowing it would drastically alter the Celestials' plans.
Mortis' presence was crucial in their plans, and he didn't know how much Faulin would change things if Mortis died.
'Anyway, that's why I'd have the Paladins.'
Evan glanced at Alie's cousin, Sir Heinr Harris, a high-ranking Paladin who was a crucial ally during the Cheverton Incident. He planned to involve him just as he had during the Dullahan Attack two years ago.
After a brief talk with Laurene, she disabled her sound isolation. Evan called for a passing maid, raising his hand to collect glasses of wine for both of them.
It was then that Laurene's eyes caught sight of a shiny item on Evan's hand, which had not been visible before as his hand was in his pocket.
"Hmm?"
"Here. Anything up?"
"Thanks."
Laurene thanked him for the wine, before pointing at the ring and continuing.
"No, it's just that I feel like I saw sothing similar earlier tonight…"
Before Evan could move his hand away, Laurene grabbed it and scanned the banquet hall with her Mystic eyes. It didn't take long to find the area with the highest concentration of ambient life energy, and with a bit of zooming, she spotted what she was looking for.
She alternated her gaze between Evan's and Eliza's hands, noting the similarities in their rings. Before she could comnt, she noticed the fingers they were wearing them on.
"…wait, what?!"
Her voice was louder than usual, drawing the attention of those nearby who wanted to know why she raised her voice. Ignoring their gazes, she turned to Evan and asked.
"When did this happen? How? Why?"
"When: Last night. How: I simply asked and got an affirmative answer.
As for Why? That's a strange question. Isn't this the rather obvious conclusion considering our relationship?
It'd been on my mind for a while and since I got the rings last night, I thought; why not?"
"…"
Evan understood what she was asking about without her needing to spell it out, so he just answered truthfully. His answers had Laurene staring at him dumbfoundedly for a few monts, before proceeding to drag him halfway across the hall to where Eliza was.
"Can you guys give a mont?"
She called out to the group of ladies, before focusing her gaze on Eliza and barraging her with questions.
"How did this happen? Why am I just discovering this? He didn't force you to make any hasty decisions, did he?"
Laurene's voice was a mix of excitent and disbelief as she bombarded Eliza with her inquiries. Eliza, still taken aback, glanced at Evan, who shrugged helplessly and then back at Laurene.
"No, Laurene, he didn't force into anything."
Despite Eliza's reply, Laurene still had a skeptical look on her face.
"You sure? I an, this is Evan we're talking about here."
"How little faith do you have in ?"
"Shut up for a second, Evan."
Eliza chuckled at Evan's expression of disbelief, a teasing smile appearing on her face as she spoke.
"True, it is Evan we're talking about here."
"Wait, what?!"
The sight of Evan's 'betrayed' expression made Eliza unable to hold her laughter anymore, bursting into a fit of giggles. Laurene couldn't help but smile too, though her skepticism lingered slightly.
"But on a serious note, no. I wouldn't deny that his thods were quite unorthodox…"
Eliza narrowed her eyes at Evan, who looked away, whistling suspiciously. Shaking her head, she continued.
"But my answer would've still been 'Yes' even if he went with a normal proposal."
Once Laurene confird that Eliza wasn't pressured into the engagent, another issue arose.
"You an to tell you got engaged last night, and you didn't think to share this with throughout the day?"
Eliza had been in the castle since noon, but she wasn't wearing the ring, so Laurene hadn't noticed anything. Nevertheless, close friends usually shared such news, so Laurene felt miffed that she was kept out of the loop until now.
Given Evan's silence when she dragged him over, it seed they hadn't intended to keep it a secret either.
Eliza noticed Laurene's pout, finding it adorable. With a soft smile, she reached out and gently rubbed Laurene's cheeks.
"Oh, Laurene, you look so cute when you pout like that."
"Don't try to distract with complints."
Laurene swatted Eliza's hand away playfully, but the corners of her mouth twitched upwards despite herself. Though Eliza noticed, she didn't comnt, instead giving Laurene the answer she wanted.
"Well, it was supposed to be a surprise, you see."
She then pulled Laurene in close and whispered in her ear.
"Evan wanted to use this occasion to make a formal announcent. With your parents present, it would completely shut down the Vassal nobles who oppose it.
I didn't tell you earlier because it was supposed to be a surprise for you, too."
Laurene's eyes widened as she took this in. Her irritation lted away as she understood the plan's significance. Glancing at Evan, he shrugged and explained
"Exactly. We needed the perfect mont to announce it, and tonight provided that. That's why we're here despite not initially planning to attend.
As much as I'd have loved to take my ti dealing with the Eris Duchy Vassals, I have more pressing issues that need my attention—like the Celestials—so there's no ti to waste on small matters like this.
They would have no choice but to accept it with the Emperor and Empress endorsing our engagent."
Laurene sighed and pressed her fingers to smoothen her creased brows before replying.
"Well, I guess I can't be too mad if it was all for such a strategic reason. But next ti, give a heads up, okay?"
Evan and Eliza exchanged glances before raising their crossed fingers and replying in unison.
""We make no promises.""
Laurene barely controlled her expression, and seeing her twitching brows, Evan burst into laughter, earning him consecutive pokes from the displeased princess.
"You two are sothing else. But..."
Laurene looked away with a small smile, her gaze shifting toward a certain Duke's son as she continued.
"...Congratulations, truly."
◇ ◇ ◇
While the trio settled themselves in the corner, the rest of the banquet hall buzzed with gossip.
When Laurene's exclamation about the engagent rang out, the surrounding nobles had various reactions. Conversations halted, and all eyes turned toward them.
Gasps of surprise echoed as they processed the sudden news. The revelation of Evan and Eliza's engagent ca as a shock to so, especially those aware of the Duke's vassals' intentions.
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