CHAPTER 249: 249: AN ENTRANCE

The Great Priest of Elzager soon stood before the audience, and he took his stand on the stage of the ballroom, the position where the traditional rites of the engagement were soon going to take place.

He stood there with Elvis and Cordelia, while the rest of the audience stood, watching them and muttering amongst themselves.

Queen Lea was standing beside King Edward, and she couldn’t help but look around from time to time. "I wonder where Lysander is."

King Edward also looked around. "Didn’t you remind him to be here on time?"

"I did. But I don’t know where he might be now," she expressed.

"I hope he’s not causing any troubles or whatsoever. I wouldn’t need any of that today. All I want is a smooth engagement ceremony and nothing more. Any mess will not go unpunished."

"Don’t worry," Queen Lea assured. "He won’t make any mess."

She still looked around for some time. And not long after, the door to the banquet hall was opened again.

Everyone turned in the direction of the entrance to see who was coming in now. They thought it would be the emperor or empress, since he didn’t come with his daughter.

But it wasn’t the emperor at all. Rather, it was two people in red.

They caught sight of two men in red, dashing, beautiful red attire that blended together so well. Too well that it looked as though they were a couple.

"Who’s that?"

"I don’t know... wait..."

"Isn’t that Prince Lysander?"

"Yes. He is! The second prince!"

"But what’s he doing with... that other guy?"

"Who’s that other guy?"

"He looks familiar... wait..."

"That’s the wizard."

"Oh dear! The Wizard of EL?!"

"Oh yes! He’s the one. Why is Prince Lysander with The Wizard of EL?!"

Shock and confusion engulfed everyone as they watched Prince Lysander and Eden make their way into the hall. They were dressed exquisitely in red that they indeed stood out. Beautifully adorned and looking extremely compatible in them, people couldn’t help but talk.

"Why are they together?"

"They look like they’re the ones getting married?"

"So true. I mean, they do look good in what they’re wearing though," a noble lady said.

"Yes. I think their attire looks somewhat better than the ones getting married," another lady giggled.

"But why are they wearing it together? What does it mean?"

"They’re also getting engaged? Is this some sort of surprise for us?" a lady raised an eyebrow.

"How could two men..? This is insane!"

"The Royal family really is getting bold these days. Are they hosting their engagement too?"

"But I thought the romance was between The Crown Prince and The Wizard. Weren’t they the original?" A lady stared at another.

"Yes. I mean, they did look good..." She smiled.

"But is the brother also involved?!" Another lady speculated.

"I think I understand now! Maybe the two brothers have fallen for the charms of the wizard," The lady nodded to her friends.

"This makes sense," another shook her head. "How powerful is his charm that two royal brothers are into him? How normal is this?!"

"I don’t know. But I think the wizard and the second prince make for a better pairing," one folded her arms.

"Me too."

"No no no. I think the Wizard and the Crown Prince were better," A lady argued.

"Yes. I also think so."

And so the ladies found themselves gossiping about the relationship that might exist between the three of them, while the noble men hated the idea of whatever was happening.

And so did the King.

"What on earth is this?" King Edward glared at Queen Lea. "What on earth is your son doing??"

Queen Lea stiffened. She was shocked and didn’t expect it at all. But looking at the bright side, she figured that maybe her son was doing as she had instructed—poisoning and luring The Wizard of EL into his doom.

She forced a smile as she defended. "Don’t think too much about it, it’s nothing. I’m the one who gave him permission for this..."

"Permission for what? What’s going on here?" King Edward questioned.

"Don’t worry. It’s all right," She smiled, patting him on the arms. "Trust me, huh?"

King Edward was already getting frustrated, but he kept his calm. He couldn’t ruin the big day.

All eyes were still on Eden and Lysander as they made their way in. People were staring and talking—just as Eden had expected.

Even the priest and the couple to be engaged were staring. Elvis’s eyes were fixed on Eden.

He couldn’t help but stare at how pretty he looked in those red clothes, and the make-up he had applied on his face. He looked gorgeous in everything. And Elvis couldn’t help but stare.

He was lost in his face, lost in how pretty he was, how pretty his smile was, how pretty everything was on him. He gulped, admiring everything about Eden tonight.

And at that moment, he knew he was enchanted by his fellow gender. Not by a lady as he expected to be, but by his fellow gender, who had his heart fluttering without question.

Cordelia met his eyes, watching as Elvis’s gaze stuck to Eden. She hesitated because she knew at that moment that she was up for something she wasn’t sure she would win.

Because the heart of the man she was going after was already taken, stolen and sealed.

Adrian had a glass of wine over his lips while he stared at Eden, mesmerized. He couldn’t help but swallow, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he stared at Eden smiling as he entered.

He was ethereal at that moment, and Adrian couldn’t deny it. Because at that moment, he had realized something had changed in the air.

His view of him had changed.

After their last encounter, when Eden had saved him from death, he no longer saw him as someone whom he needed to kill. He no longer saw him as a monster whom he needed to take down as soon as possible.

Because right now, as he stared at Eden, all he saw was a carefree, pretty, sweet young boy he strangely wanted to protect.

It was a strange feeling he couldn’t fully define, but it was a feeling he was comfortable working with.