Alistair growled in anger. The fact that his and the princess's marriage was ever an option never beca public. After all, the deal was never finalized, so there was no need for an announcent.
Yet here the princess was, that wretched woman. Alistair felt revulsion just seeing her again. Not only did she dare to ruin his life in the previous tiline, but she actually dared to show up at his engagent party with lina and try to ruin it all.
He could already see the shock on the nobles' faces as they stared at the princess and then at Alistair. If this got out of hand, it would turn into a scandal of the highest caliber. No noble would support lina, and their efforts to endear nobles to the Monster Realm would all crumble to pieces. All because this wretched princess was denied a toy she wanted.
Alistair knew that the princess saw him as nothing more than a toy. A possession to be obtained and bragged about, but later discarded in so faraway corner. If she weren't a princess, then Alistair would have thrown her out of this place himself.
"I am ever so honored that you would bestow your radiant presence upon us, Your Highness," lina approached the princess and greeted her with a perfect curtsy, allowing the magic in her dress to swirl around her.
Alistair followed her almost numbly, barely able to contain his anger. He had no doubts that the glare on his face gave away his emotions far too clearly, but he just couldn't help. Not when that wretch stared down at lina. He could see the hatred in her eyes, but also curiosity at the dress.
"That… is a rather unusual dress," the princess noted reluctantly.
"It was made by the elves of Euroa," lina replied politely, her head bowed low.
"The elf?" The princess gasped in shock. "I can't believe it. Not only do you steal my fiancée, but you even collude with elves?"
Everyone gasped at the accusation. Alistair's fists clenched, and he saw lina's calm mask wavering. Being accused by a royal in front of all the nobles. The situation couldn't be any worse. But was there anything he could do to change it? To save lina's reputation at the very least, if not his own.
But he felt so helpless. Just like before. When the crowds surrounded lina, accusing her of destroying the world. When they yearned for her death, and she just stood, horrified and helpless, by how it all had turned out.
At that ti, Alistair had grabbed her and run. It was the only thing he could do to protect her. But running would do them no good now. If they ran, then the world would continue down the sa destructive path as before. People would continue hating everything associated with the Monster Realm and try to destroy it.
Even with Heiliger behind bars, there was no guarantee that sobody else from the Church wouldn't push the sa realm separation agenda. But what could he do against this impetuous woman who held all the powerful cards in her hand simply by birthright?
"Your Highness, I'm afraid there has been a misunderstanding," said Richard of all people, suddenly stepping closer to them.
"A misunderstanding?" The princess glanced his way.
"Yes, Your Highness. My youngest brother has always had his eyes set on marrying Miss lina. My father wouldn't even entertain the option of him marrying soone else, given how much devotion he has shown to Miss lina. I believe every commoner in Sunglow would confirm that fact if asked."
The princess looked at Richard indignantly. "Are you telling that I made the whole engagent up?"
Alistair had no clue what Richard was trying to accomplish, but currently, he was only fanning the flas. Accusing the royal of making a mistake was serious. A commoner could be executed for treason on the spot. Even a duke's son like Alistair and Richard could end up in serious trouble. House Sinclair might be forced to disown him.
"No, Your Highness. I would never claim sothing so preposterous. I believe that soti during the exchange between my father, Duke Sinclair, and His Majesty, the King, there arose a misunderstanding. It was never my little brother who was supposed to wed you. It was ," Richard announced.
Alistair just barely managed to temper his expression. That definitely wasn't true. Richard had firmly rejected even the idea of marriage, claiming that he needed to learn and understand how to be a proper duke without any "feminine interference". Why would he suddenly claim otherwise?
"You?" The princess gaped at him, as did the rest of the guests.
"Yes. I sincerely apologize, Your Highness. Had I known that you would be coming to my brother's engagent party, I would have prepared a proper ring and proposal, but it appeared that you were not interested in coming, so I intended to do it on a different occasion," Richard said and dropped down on one knee in front of her, and gently kissed her hand.
To Alistair's surprise, the princess actually blushed.
"I… Oh my…" She fumbled.
"Your Highness, shall we prepare a table for you to rest at that. There's still plenty of food and drink for you to enjoy," lina offered.
At her words, the nobles jumped to their feet one after another, offering their seat to the princess.
"My, it appears I have lots to think about. I'll take you up on that offer," she said.
Alistair couldn't believe that she actually accepted it so readily. Then again, he wasn't sure how the correspondence between the King and the Duke worked. Perhaps there indeed was space for so misinterpretation.
"You owe a big favor, little brother," Richard whispered as he passed by Alistair.
"You have my gratitude," Alistair said, inclining his head ever so slightly.
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He never expected Richard to act like an actual brother. What if this actually ended with him marrying the princess? Would Richard end up as miserable as Alistair had been?
But Alistair realized that wouldn't be the case. Richard never cared for romance. In the last tiline, when Alistair was announced the heir of House Sinclair, he swiftly married the only daughter of another duke and beca a duke anyway, ruling over different lands. Perhaps that was what mattered more to Richard.
In a way, Alistair realized that he and his brothers struck an odd balance. Alan valued romance too much, flitting from one woman's bed to the next without any care for anything else. Richard didn't even care to look in a woman's direction, only caring about the duchy. anwhile, Alistair was in the middle, committing fully to his beloved.
Nonetheless, Alistair wouldn't forget what Richard had done for him today. If he wished to take over Father's duties afterwards, Alistair would gladly step aside. In all honesty, being a duchess was probably too much for lina anyway. They had their hands full with other matters.
The mont the princess accused lina of stealing her fiancé, lina thought everything was over. For a second, she contemplated teleporting herself and Alistair as far away as her magic would allow her and then head to the neighboring country, living a life unrelated to all of this. Just for a mont.
But an unexpected ally had appeared in the form of Richard. lina never would have thought that he would willingly help out Alistair. Even after witnessing it, it didn't seem very likely. She suspected that there was an ulterior motive to all this.
Perhaps Richard believed that if he married the princess, he was far more likely to take over as the next Duke. But even if that was the case, lina didn't see it as a problem. After all, if Alistair were to beco the next Duke of Grenardia, then lina would be the Duchess. She knew nothing about managing a duchy.
Not to ntion that her thoughts were filled with far more important matters. She had to press forward and show all of these gathered nobles, including the princess, that the Monster Realm was nothing to be feared, but rather sothing that they should accept and learn from.
For that purpose, she and the Duchess have organized sothing special.
Soon, all the hubbub around the arrival of the princess had died down, and she took a bite of lina's opera cake. The princess looked like she wanted to say sothing bad about it, but in the end, chose to remain silent and enjoy the dessert.
With her calm, lina continued to the next part of their engagent. An elven magic dance performance accompanied by Sienna and Mango. Remi took the center stage, dressed in a traditional elven dress with a long, flowing blue skirt and long sleeves.
The outfit was lightly embroidered with magic, although not to the sa degree as lina's. It was just enough to bring out Remi's natural beauty. Two more elves, dancers from Euroa, accompanied her while Sienna and Mango sat at the back of the stage like two sentinels: one of fire and one of ice.
The dance began, and Remi sprang into motion. Her clothes flowed along her graceful movents like water flowing in a river, while the magic embroidery created lines of light, making the audience gasp in awe.
At one point, Sienna would shoot a gentle fla at the stage, making it wrap around the three elven dancers, never getting too close to burning them. lina did keep a strict eye on her flas, ready to push them in the right direction should the wyvern lose control. But she never did.
Mango's task was much simpler. Once Sienna was done with flas, she rely had to rain down so sparkling snowflakes on the stage. Such delicate control as Sienna had displayed was still beyond the little fox. But nonetheless, the snowflakes danced around the stage, swept along with the energetic movents of the dancers.
Once they were done, the nobles applauded the show, and the three elves bowed. Remi shot lina a toothy grin as if to say, "Did you see that? I'm amazing, aren't I?"
lina nodded at Remi with a wide smile. She was happy that her friend was able to join the engagent party, although not as a guest.
After that ca the engagent speeches by those who wanted to give them as well as gifts. lina did not doubt that these gifts were more for House Sinclair than her. They wanted to curry favor with the Sinclairs, but she and Alistair had to smile and accept them gratefully.
"To my youngest son and his lovely fiancée, I would like to present these bracelets. I've ordered them specifically to fit both of your sizes," the Duchess said as the servant of both of the ornate boxes. She opened the first one, taking out a beautiful, delicate, golden bracelet with amber stones adorning it.
"For you, lina, this amber bracelet, so when you gaze upon it, you would think of the amber eyes of my son," she said, holding the bracelet, showing that she wished to put it on lina. Doing that instead of letting the servants do it showed that she respected her.
lina outstretched my hand, allowing her to slip the bracelet on her wrist. It was truly beautiful, and the amber stones really did remind lina of Alistair's eyes.
The Duchess then pulled out another bracelet, a bulkier one, clearly intended for n, with blue sapphires adorning it. Alistair accepted it with a smile.
"I might have asked elves to put so enchantnts on it. With these, you should be able to tell where the other is as long as they are wearing the bracelet."
"Thank you, Mom. It's a wonderful gift," Alistair said.
lina also thanked her, and the Duchess retreated to her seat. The next one to present the gift was Grandfather.
"I thought long and hard about what I could present to you that would be a worthy engagent gift. I'm but an old man, a baker, with not much to my na," Master Gilbert began.
lina smiled. She knew full well that he had a whole room filled with various treasures. The nobles here would lose their minds if they knew what he possessed.
"I finally decided that I shall entrust you with sobody whom I should have entrusted to you a good while back," he said and let out a whistle.
The shadows around his feet moved, and a mont later, Knight jumped out of them, making the guests gasp in surprise.
"My beloved friend, you've been with through thick and thin, but I've grown old now. I cannot take you on adventures you desire," he said to Knight, who gently nuzzled against him. "So I ask whether you, lina, and Alistair, would take care of my dear friend. I know he's already grown quite fond of you both."
"Grandfather, I would be honored," lina said, and shot a look at Knight. The nightmare wouldn't even spare her a glance.
"Of course," Alistair said, and Knight neighed in agreent.
Of course, he would. Traitorous horse! Who gave you all those pastries?
But lina wasn't really mad. She had already suspected that Knight would eventually be in Alistair's care. The two had already developed a strong bond. Not to ntion that Alistair did deserve a mighty mount. lina had Sienna, so she didn't feel like she was slighted.
The nightmare joined Sienna and Mango at their special tables, and servants brought him so snacks to enjoy as well. But there were still a few people who had to present their gift. Auden Speziale stepped up next.
"I, too, would like to present a gift to my dear friend and business partner, lina, and her fiancé. The mont she agreed to work together with and spread the beauty of Monster Realm ingredients was likely one of the happiest days of my life. I hope our partnership will continue for years to co," Auden said.
He was the only one so far who had paid more attention to lina rather than Alistair. She could see that Alistair wasn't too pleased by his words, but she nodded gracefully in thanks, just as the Duchess had taught her.
"I present this jewel I found during one of the many expeditions to the Monster Realm. While I don't understand its purpose, I believe that soone as well versed in magic would know very well what to do with this," Auden said and brought a small box in front of lina.
She took it and opened it together with Alistair. They both gasped in shock as they saw the contents of the box. It was the Stone of Sacrifice.
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