Chapter 271 - The night of the birthday banquet (Part 1)
The next morning, Dimitri and I had another delicious breakfast together with Grandma Valeria and Grandpa Ruslan. I waited for a bit so that the elders can pack up their things and leave instructions to their farm managers. They will be away for a couple of days since they are also invited to Aurum's birthday banquet at the royal palace just like me.
As for my other husbands, Lark, Kayden and Ioannis, they opted not to attend since they can't be seen as someone connected to me for now. They are well-informed about the plans that I made for this banquet and did not want to give away my other identity. I will be attending the party as the queen of Eieneos and not as Luna, the academe student.
Once everything is set with my grandparents-in-law, I teleported the three of them smack in the center of the teleportation portal inside the royal palace for the party. I don't want them to take too much time on the road, incur any expenses or be tired so this is the quickest way. It was normal for guests to arrive early anyways so that they can rest and prepare for the event later in the evening. Even if they arrive in the middle of the morning, it is fine.
As for me, I teleported to Eieneos to get prepared for the banquet. All my dresses and accessories were left there and I also wanted to make sure that I teleport in a grand manner from a location that the mages of Athanoviya could not detect or pinpoint. I want to add some drama and mystery to my arrival so we should start with making sure they figure out that I come from a place where only mystiques can live in.
From the time I left Hoffen City, I was continuously exchanged messages with Xenos who is my insider in the palace. Together with the other three attendants, Calyx, Yren and Helios, they gave me updates on how our plans and the progress for the banquet preparations are going. They are giving me constant updates about Aurum since he may try to do something unexpected.
They have reported how Aurum looked stressed and on tenterhooks, nervously waiting for the banquet and whether I will attend it or not. I sent them a spell orb that they simply need to use if they think that Aurum is about to try to escape from the palace banquet and emergency measures are needed to prevent him from leaving.
They also added that Aurum has been constantly telling them to be prepared to leave the palace in case I don't arrive on time for the banquet. The prince have also repeatedly said that he doesn't want to marry anyone else but me. They said they simply smiled at him and nodded to calm the prince down. On the other hand, Helios, Yren, Calyx and Xenos have been constantly expressing their happiness and excitement of being part of my family soon for the last couple of days.
I have also started assuring them that I am also excited about them being part of my family too. I have given final confirmation that I will arrive at the banquet but in another identity as someone from Eieneos. I am not sure if these five still remember how I looked like in that identity though. I have shown my real face to them once and that was when Void appeared before me for the first time.
Since time in Eieneos runs way slower than it was in Athanoviya, I had some bonding time with the twins and Ioannis as well as consult my predicament to the older people in the kingdom. I swore I laughed a lot when I addressed them as an ancestor due to their old age.
Time is irrelevant for those that have a limitless lifespan like mystiques and deities but if you point out the number of years they have been alive they seem kind of pissed about it. They couldn't get too mad at me though since I am simply telling the truth.
Out of the four people I have asked, it seems that Lia and Laerad are the ones that have the highest potential to help me out. They said that they have met other mystiques in the earlier times that was able to do what I was planning to do at present. They promised to do their own research and investigation then let me know about the results soon.
I was able to successfully spend a whole day with my important people in Eieneos before I had to prepare and teleport to the royal palace of Athanoviya. Since it was a birthday, instead of wearing my usual black and purple clothes when I go around, I wore a floor length midnight blue A-line dress with a sweetheart neckline and a 3/4 length raglan sleeve. It was a mix of vintage and a bit of modern style. Though I don't want to be covered up like a mummy during a banquet, I still opted to wear a translucent veil on half of my face to lessen the possible attention from the party crowd.
I chose to wear a comfortable pair of silver shoes with only half-inch heels. My dress is long so it doesn't matter if I seem to be just wearing doll shoes underneath. I am also way taller in this body compared to my body before so there was no pressure.
When it has been about 30 minutes after the official start of the banquet, I bid my goodbyes to the people in Eieneos and started teleporting straight to the portal in the middle of the Athanoviya palace grounds. I quite like my outfit and that of my entourage today.
As I appeared in the middle of the palace portal, I saw that it was surrounded by palace guards every few meters. This is a big event attended by a lot of nobles as well as royals from territories that are both friendly and neutral to Athanoviya. This much security is understandable and justified. I walked forward towards a man who is obviously dressed as a steward and gave my invitation.
When he opened the invitation and read what it says, he immediately fell on one of his knees. He gave me a bow and greeted me loudly, "It is an honor for us that you graced us with your presence, your highness, Queen of Eieneos." I responded with a slight nod and a simple, "Please stand. Thank you for inviting me."
I extended my senses and noticed that there are several people observing the teleportation platform besides the palace guards. There were also spies from other powerful families and kingdoms too. Using the portal is like a high status symbol since only those with either power, money or mana can use it to travel here.
Upon hearing the stewards greetings, I heard very faint noises of people running back to the inside of the palace. They must be giving a heads-up to their employers about my arrival. The steward guided me to the main banquet hall and did not leave until I was seated in my designated table. He even left two palace guards with me, thinking that I arrived without an entourage.
It is not that I do not have an entourage, they are just invisible. They will be showing themselves in a bit to present my gifts to the birthday celebrant. I brought Samir and Laerad with me today so they can look around the human realm and observe how humans celebrate banquets. They insisted on coming for my safety though I know that was just an excuse and because of the fact tha royals are not supposed to go to banquets with no attendants.
The party has started half an hour ago but the main program has not begun. It is a usual practice to wait for an hour for all guests to arrive before the birthday celebrant makes their appearance and starts the festivities. I quietly looked around and stayed in my seat to get over the boredom. Some attendants gave me some snacks and drinks on my table so I do not have to stand up.
At exactly an hour from the time the banquet officially started, a fully dressed and handsome Prince Aurum appeared at the top of a grand staircase followed by his four dashing attendants that are also impeccably dressed for the occasion. They alighted the stairs in a regal manner and then sat at the high table meant for the queen, queen consort and other members of the palace harem as well as the birthday celebrant and his aides.
Once Aurum is seated, he gave a short speech that practically shouts "I hate being here" all over it. He sat lazily and then started drinking wine like there is no tomorrow. He was so preoccupied that he did not even notice me sitting nearby. As for Xenos, I already gave him a heads up on where I was in the hall and the other three couldn't help but follow where Xenos has been staring at for the last few minutes. I raised my wine glass and nodded my head to greet them.