The carriage doors opened and mother stepped out first and I followed. The moment my feet touched the soft snowy ground, I raised my head and looked forward.
Unlike what I imagined, there were no people who crowded outside and waited for us to get down. There were a couple of men who greeted father but the ladies were mostly a staying in groups and stared at us from far away.
"I don't like all the staring." Athy stated in a voice loud enough for the others to hear. The people who were staring earlier quickly withdrew their eyes.
"Your grace, the tents are ready." Ragnar informed my father with a bow.
Father nodded and excused himself from the men who were talking with him. "Lead us there."
We walked to a tent that stood out from the rest because of its black and blue color. A flag with the Castellan symbol waved at the top. The flag was blue but the symbol embroidered on it was black, the same symbol as the moon brooch.
The knights all lined up and bowed as we walk towards the tent until we entered. I could still hear the murmurs of the people around us even when we were already inside. The butlers, the maids and the generals of the knights also followed us inside the tent.
"Generals, did you find anything off with the guests?" I asked them.
"Besides the fact that many of the nobles would like to have an audience with Her Grace or you, Lady Mel, there's nothing that was out of place." Marionne answered.
"Did you get the names of the ones who want's an audience?" Athy asked as she took off her coat.
"Yes, youngest lady." Marionne nodded. "We gave them to Sir Loki to check."
"Good." Athy remarked and raised her arms to Loki who immediately carried her over to a chair. He gave her the names of the people who wanted to talk to us and she started to evaluate the names.
"General, did you have the horses checked?" I asked her. "Also, did you check the perimeter before putting up the camp?"
"Yes, my lady." Marionne nodded, her face never changing expressions. "There are knights watching over the mounts and I personally checked the area before putting up the camp. Sir Anderson is putting up a barrier around the camp as we speak."
"Good." I nodded. "You can go and have lunch with the knights, come and see me before the hunt begins, okay?"
"Yes, my lady." Marionne bowed before leaving.
I went to Athy who was checking the list of names that came to ask for an audience before we arrived.
"Everything okay?" I asked when I saw that her brows were furrowed as she stared at the list.
"A certain Dominic McClare would like to meet with mother." Athy spoke and pointed on a name in the list.
Dominic McClare, eldest son of Marquis House McClare. The one who sold Nekiah the succubus princess for auction.
"Interesting." I murmured and looked at Athy with a smile.
"Do you think we should agree?" Athy asked with a frown.
"We can, but not today." I told her. "Mom should be briefed with how she should act around such a young man."
"Okay." Athy nodded. "Loki, take note."
Loki who was standing by Athy's side was startled but immediately took down notes.
"Where's Uriel?" I asked when I didn't notice my second sister. She should be looking over the list with us by now.
"Lady Uriel is outside talking with some ladies who saw her casually walking around with her maids." Sebastiene answered.
"That was quick." I commented. Uriel has always been the friendly one among us sisters. She always had people around her everywhere, that it was weird seeing her alone.
"How did you even know that when you have been in here with us this whole time?" Athy asked her with a disgusted look on her face. "Did you put some sort of tracking devise on her?"
Sebastiene chuckled.
"Of course not, my lady." Sebastiene shook his head lightly. "Demons have very strong senses that we could hear talks from metes away. Even Sir Loki has the same ability, though his sense of smell is stronger than mine, I believe that my sense of hearing should be on the same level as him."
"Athy turned to look at her butler who merely nodded, confirming Sebastiene's claims.
"Anyway Athy, just let the people who we have connections with, like House Polit to come and meet us first. The others, we'll meet tomorrow." I instructed her.
"Hmmm.." Athy hummed and nodded. "Mother also likes Countess Polit and the countess invited her to tea with some other ladies."
"It should be fine." I assured her. "They won't go far and just let Astrid and Klent follow her. They should be enough to protect her if anything happens."
"Okay." She nodded. "What abou-"
Athy was cut off by the loud sound of trumpets which made all of us look up from the list.
"They are here." Sebastiene whispered.
"Who?" Athy asked with a frown.
I stood straight and an evil smile escaped my lips.
"The Elleveire Royal Family."