King Darius did not show anything on his face while he communicated with Aldrian through voice transmission. He only smiled and then spoke to Aldrian normally. Aldrian also talked to the other mbers of the royal family without showing anything strange.
When he finally talked to Princess Xena, she was blushing. The princess seed more bashful today in Aldrian’s view.
The queen, seeing her daughter like that, smiled and spoke to Aldrian.
"Xena never really put much attention on her appearance, at least not until today."
"Mother." Xena wanted to shout at her mother with her face red, but she could not as she was in the middle of the banquet. They had also beco the center of attention, and she did not want to give her family a bad image.
Aldrian smiled and nodded. "I see. Then I am truly lucky today, as I have been given the chance to see Your Highness after dressing up. You are truly beautiful today, Your Highness."
Hearing that, the princess’s face beca even redder, and she could not help lowering her head and smiling.
"Thank you," she replied.
Aldrian could sense that she was truly happy.
"Your Excellency, you could let Xena accompany you. I know that you are disturbed by those nobles who keep bringing their daughters to you. With Xena beside you, they will not dare to approach you," the queen’s voice transmission ca.
"You could also communicate with my husband more freely while avoiding the suspicion of the spies."
Aldrian raised his eyebrows. Although that sounded reasonable, he knew that this kind of show was also like a declaration from the royal family that he was off limits to Princess Xena. Well, at least for tonight.
With her beside him, no nobles would be brave enough to simply push their daughters toward him.
That would not be appropriate.
In the end, on this occasion, the royal family had their own interests. Even though they were in the middle of their plan to get rid of the spies, they were still doing this kind of trick. He already imagined how the other noble families would see the royal family at this banquet.
They would think that the royal family was using their status to prevent any other won from competing fairly.
They used their status to warn them that he was off limits.
That kind of thing would raise displeasure in the minds of the nobles who had brought their daughters, yet they could not do anything about it.
Moreover, with the princess’s stunning appearance tonight, they would agree that she far outshone the other ladies.
Still, Aldrian thought that it was a good offer, and he nodded.
Queen Radena, after receiving his approval, gave a sign to her daughter to accompany him. Xena felt her face growing hotter, and with all the courage she could gather, she spoke to him.
"Uh, um, Your Excellency, would you like to dance with ?"
Aldrian slightly raised his eyebrows, but then he smiled. "Well, that should be who asks. Would Your Highness give the honor of a dance?"
Xena could not help but smile and nod. Under the watch of many nobles, they then walked toward the dancing area, where there were already couples dancing to the music.
Just like what the queen had said, no one approached him as they gave way for them.
Duke Vareden, who watched Aldrian go with the princess, felt inwardly frustrated.
’Damn it, if only there were no Princess Xena, we might have a chance to build a closer relationship with that bastard and learn more about him.’ He then looked at his daughter and softly clicked his tongue.
His daughter could only watch them, as she also had to admit that the princess was much better than her.
Aldrian and Princess Xena then arrived at the dance area, and the couples near them gave space for them. Without waiting any further, they took their dancing stance, with Xena placing one of her hands on his shoulder while her other hand touched Aldrian’s hand.
As for Aldrian’s other hand, he placed it on her waist. She truly felt shy at this mont, and the blush on her face never left, it even beca more obvious.
"My apologies, Your Excellency, but this is the first ti I have danced with a man. All this ti I have only danced with my dancing teacher. So if I make a mistake, please forgive ," the princess said in a small voice.
Aldrian nodded with a smile. "Well, it seems another honor is mine, to beco the first male dancing partner of the princess. And do not worry, Your Highness, I will not mind even if you make a mistake."
Xena nodded, and then they started to dance. For Aldrian, his dancing skill ca from watching how the nobles danced repeatedly and also from Sylphia, who made him practice dancing with her.
As a noble, dancing skill was necessary for him to socialize, that was what she told him.
He already had much experience with dancing, so he could move smoothly here. The princess was more or less the sa, although sotis there were movents that clearly showed she was nervous. Still, they danced nicely, and the sight of them even made the other couples envious.
Xena’s expression, which had initially been shy, slowly turned into a smile. Her heart gradually cald down. She saw his gaze resting on her, and he was still smiling, which made her shyly smile as well.
However, unknown to her, although he smiled at her, inside his mind he was communicating with King Darius through voice transmission.
"So who are they, Your Excellency?" the king asked. He was in the middle of talking with soone else.
"There are four of them. The first one is, of course, Marquess Beruin. The second one is Duke Vareden. The third one is a middle-aged woman wearing a red dress and has long brown hair on Your Majesty’s left side. The fourth one is a middle-aged man with blond hair and a plump belly on Your Majesty’s right side. The one wearing three rings on his right finger."
Hearing Aldrian’s reply, King Darius did not show any change in his expression, but he was inwardly astonished. That was because there was a duke among them.
He then glanced at the other persons who had been described by Aldrian.
After knowing who they were, he beca even more astonished. He wanted to grit his teeth in frustration, but he held himself back.
"The other two are Marchioness Iveline and Duke Beriklas. All of them are important nobles of this kingdom who have huge influence. Especially Duke Beriklas, whose comrce business spans across the kingdom and beyond," he said to Aldrian.
"It looks like those devils did not just take anybody to be possessed. They chose the ones who have great influence."
Aldrian, who was still dancing, replied, "That shows that the devils already learned everything about this world before the invasion a few years ago. The fact that they possessed them long before the invasion ans that they had prepared far in advance before they attacked."
"With their preparation, it is no wonder many powers of this world were powerless against them. They had already grasped many of the weaknesses that could be exploited."
"Then are Your Excellency going to make your move after this?" King Darius asked.
"Is the room ready?" Aldrian asked.
"Yes, it is ready, Your Excellency."
"Good. Please be prepared in case that when I get rid of one of the bodies’ possession techniques, the other bodies suddenly show a strange reaction. I will take Duke Vareden first."
"Yes, Your Excellency," the king replied. They had already discussed how to take care of the possible results from this plan.
Aldrian continued dancing, keeping his smile. After a few minutes of dancing, he finally told Princess Xena,
"Your Highness, my apologies, but it looks like we have to pause our dance for now. I will have to get rid of those devils’ influence among the nobles," he said through voice transmission.
Hearing that, the princess was slightly stunned. But then she released a small sigh.
"Alright. Is there anything that I could help Your Excellency with?" she asked.
"Could you distract Duke Vareden’s daughter for ? One of the spies is Duke Vareden."
Hearing that, she was truly astonished. She almost showed her shock, but she held it back. She glanced at Duke Vareden and his daughter for a second and nodded seriously.
"Alright."
After that, they continued dancing for a mont before they slowly stopped, which made so of those watching them wonder why they had stopped. They then left the dancing area, and with a courteous gesture, he excused himself.
"My apologies, Your Highness, but I will have to go to the restroom for a mont," Aldrian said.
The princess nodded with a smile before Aldrian left the hall. Princess Xena did not just stand there, she instantly approached Duke Vareden’s daughter, Vanesa.
Vanesa, who stood not far from Duke Vareden, seed to be interacting with so young masters and young misses. The mont Vanesa saw the princess approaching her, she stopped what she was doing. The others also turned to look at her.
"Your Highness," they said in greeting as Xena arrived in front of Vanesa with a smile. Xena nodded in response.
"Vanesa, it has been so long since we last talked to each other. Would you like to talk with for a mont?" she said.
Vanesa was slightly stunned by the sudden invitation, but then she smiled. "Of course, Your Highness."
So nobles who saw this were curious why the princess was approaching Duke Vareden’s daughter. Duke Vareden himself also watched his daughter and narrowed his eyes in wonder.
However, while his and so other nobles’ attention was on the princess, his body suddenly disappeared from the hall.
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