CHAPTER 30: 27: COMPANY FOR A BALL.

Selene was standing to the left of her father, accompanying him for the day’s meeting.

Honestly, she’d rather be in her room focusing on working on her mana core, but since the meeting was about an issue concerning her, she ended up having no other choice.

It had been around five minutes after she had arrived when the door to the office opened, and two people stepped in.

It was the young master of Myrvale, and his escort.

Edward was the same as yesterday, dressed so beautifully it made Selene do a double take on him. She still couldn’t wrapped her head around the fact that the pretty thing awkwardly standing in front of them was of all things, a man.

She remembered the shock she had felt when she saw him for the first time yesterday.

She internally let out a sigh, careful not show anything outside.

The world is a strange place.

Selene offered Edward a small nod in greeting, and he greeted back, avoiding eye contact with her, for some reason.

"We’ll continue from where we left off yesterday." The duke spoke while flipping through a few papers lying on his desk, absentmindedly signing some off them as he addressed Edward.

"Take a seat." He said, pointing to the chair in front of them.

Edward flinched slightly, and reluctantly sat down in the chair by the desk, and his escort, the rough looking man stood behind him, his posture as perfect ever.

Silence reigned for a moment, and when it started getting awkward, Edward spoke, fiddling with the bracelet on his wrist.

"I hope that we can come to an agreement regarding this, my father was insistent on maintaining a good relation between us."

The duke hummed in response, and then slowly looked up from his papers.

"That shouldn’t be a problem, Selene is pretty unharmed as for now. And she has made the statement herself that you were just another victim of this incident."

He stroked his chin, seemingly deep in thought.

"All we have to worry about right now is the spreading rumours, the other houses are most likely interested no doubt."

Edward nodded along, and Selene just stood there, looking at them.

It was not time for her to speak, yet.

And it was not like she desperately wanted to speak, she was a quiet person by nature, and unnecessarily wasting energy on words sounded like a chore to her.

So she stayed silent, observing the room.

The escort was looming behind the timid Edward like a guardian angel, correcting and guiding him every time he talked himself into a corner.

It was almost comical just how un-trained this boy was in the matters of politics, Selene wondered what had been going through the mind of his father when he had decided to send him here.

In her opinion, Edward was more fit to be a show piece, a doll more than some conniving politician.

With just a little adjustment to his outfit, maybe even a few additions here and there. And improving on his make up she was sure that Edward would like prettier that most women.

Now that she thought about it, Edward did look quite cu-

....

She cleared her throat, tightening the leash around her straying thoughts.

Clearing her mind of the unnecessary ideas, she focused on the conversation going on in front of her.

"I see... in that case, you could maybe accompany Selene to the party?"

She blinked.

Party?

She had missed a lot while being lost in her thoughts.

She looked at the duke, then after hesitating for a moment, leaned in and whispered a question.

"Father, what party are we talking about?"

The duke turned a little, shooting her a look, then spoke after a moment.

"The royal ball, its going to be in a week from now on."

Then he turned to Edward and flashed him a smile.

"It would be a pleasure to have you accompany our daughter, and this might as well be a good opportunity to clear away any misunderstandings people have about you two."

Edward nodded timidly, and Selene barely caught his escort shooting him a glance.

And she herself, tried her best to keep a vein from popping up in her forehead.

"Father, what about the Vivian then?"

The duke waved his hand, chuckling.

"Don’t worry about that, I’m sure he will understand."

You... idiots...

They were going to send her to the royal ball... with this... guy?

No.

Please tell me that this is a joke.

You can’t do this to me! It took me months to convince Vivian!!

She screamed inwardly, barely managing to contain the frustration.

Obviously though, outwardly, she was giving them a polite smile, holding back the urge to cast a fireball on her fathers stupid head.

"It’d be my pleasure." She gave them a small bow, lifting the hem of her dress. "I’m sure that Vivian will understand, this is quite the important matter after all."

Outwardly, her voice was steady and calm.

And on the inside...

I hope you all burn and die in hell you bastards!

They had all been dismissed a short while after that.

Selene was the last one to leave, waiting until her father’s footsteps had grown faint before stepping out of the office.

She walked towards her room, at first her footsteps rang lightly along the wall, like any other lady with any smidgen of manners in them.

Then, the sound grew a little heavier, ringing clearly against her ears.

Then it grew even more, a little painful to listen to.

By the time she had reached her home, Selene was practically stomping her foot on the ground, the poor floor being the victim of her fury against the people that had just ruined all her plans.

She took off her shoes and threw them into a corner, then without even bothering to change, plopped into her bed.

She buried her face in the soft mattress, sinking into it before she could think about doing anything else.

After a long moment of silence, she sighed.

"This sucks..." She groaned into the pillow. "They ruined it all..."