"Just how did I get into this mess," Allen sighed with an annoyed expression. He was already done with this only minutes into it.
"Please don't move sir, we want to make sure the outfit properly fits you," one of the attendants politely asked.
"We're almost done," another one of the attendants spoke, already doing a few finishing touches.
"Alright," Allen responded, but sighed again. They may be almost done, but he still had more hours of suffering ahead of him.
Just as they had finished putting the suit on Allen, the door to the room opened up, the person behind all of this nonsense.
"Looking sharp, Allen," August nodded in approval.
Allen was wearing a fancy and formal suit. Something only royalty would wear, yet somehow he was in a suit just like this. His suit was probably worth more than his entire village back home. And of course, August was wearing one of his own.
"Prince August," the attendants all bowed as he entered the room. They slowly stepped out of the way of Allen and August.
"I don't need your comments," Allen looked at him annoyedly.
"You don't need to be so harsh, it's just a one day event," he chuckled. "You'll do fine"
"Fine, my ass," Allen mumbled quietly enough for no one to hear, but he suspected August might've heard him.
A few days prior to today, August had told the rest of the Training Club that he had an event he had to attend - a banquet. He also mentioned that he could bring two along with him. Allen didn't pay too much attention to this, which would be his undoing.
The following day, August finally asked everyone who would like to come with him to the event. With everyone else either not interested, or having other matters to attend to, that left Allen and one other to attend the event with him.
Of course, Allen could have easily declined, as August isn't required to bring anyone. He is just able to bring two with him. However, August can be dangerously convincing if you let him be.
"Well, now that we have you outfitted, we just need to wait on one more," he said as they began to leave the room.
"How do you put up with wearing these," Allen exclaimed, tugging on his outfit and getting adjusted to it.
"You don't," he laughed. "Here, let's wait over here"
They took a seat, while they waited for the last person to finish up, the second person August took with him.
"Excited for the banquet, Allen?," August asked, to help pass time.
"Not particularly," Allen admitted. He looked at the floor.
"Don't worry, it won't be too horrible. Perhaps you can find yourself a nice girl here," he grinned.
"Is it me, or have you been hanging around Stephen too much lately?," Allen glared at him.
"Well, to be fair he was my guide, and then we just became fast friends," he shrugged. "But really, there will be several girls our age here, why not try talking to them? Or are you interested in Rose? It's pretty obvious that she-"
"No! It's not like that!," he interrupted.
"Sure. Or are you interested in Sarah? She seems to have quite the thing for you"
"Sarah?!," Allen was suddenly caught off guard. He suddenly remembered meeting her for the first time, as well as the time they went around London together.
"Oh? Did I hit a spot?," he grinned.
"No…," Allen glared at him.
"Well, alright then…"
After waiting around for a little bit longer, the attendants finally opened the door, with the second guest finally coming out.
"Well?, how does it look?," Rose asked, her face flushed.
She wore a beautiful, yet elegant dress. It was blue in color, complimenting her eyes. Her hair was tied up into a bun, but the star in her hair was still there.
"It looks very excellent on you. Very fitting," he complimented her.
"Thank you August," she nodded. "What about you… Allen?"
"Um, it looks very nice on you," Allen nervously spoke, not sure how to respond.
"Thank you," Rose's face turned red again.
"Alright you two, hope you are ready for the banquet, because it will be starting soon," August motioned for them to start walking, right after chuckling to himself from the reactions of the two. Allen just gave him a small glare before proceeding.
They followed August, with them still getting adjusted to their outfits, just to outside a small entrance with a curtain blocking the inside. However, Allen could tell that the event was just past the curtain, apparent by the talking and chattering coming from inside.
"Before we head inside…," he turned around to both of them.
"Yeah?"
"Something we should know?"
"Yes, there is something, or rather a few things, you both should know," he confirmed, then thought to himself for a moment.
"As you both are probably aware, this is a royal banquet, so there are going to be a lot of important people from London, minus mages. You two are free to mingle and speak to others, as well as help yourself to the great food and drink here, but I am counting on both of you to be on your best behavior while here," he explained.
"Right"
"Of course"
"I doubt either of you would cause any problems intentionally, but best to clear things up before the event. I would like the both of you to stick close to me during the banquet just to prevent any possible issues, but of course there will be times I will need to step away to speak to some guests attending," he added. "Any questions?"
"None from me," Rose crossed her arms.
"Used to this kind of stuff, huh?" August gave her a smile of understanding.
"Yeah, something like that. My parents and all…," Rose shook her head a little. August decided not to pry further.
"So we just go in there and follow you around?," Allen asked, still a bit nervous about the whole event.
"Correct, aside from when I need to step away, as I said previously. Oh, I do want to mention that I will be giving an announcement right before the event, and I want you two to be up on stage with me," he elaborated.
"Up… on stage?," Allen felt like he was going to fall over.
"Of course. It would be rude of me to not properly introduce my own two guests," he grinned.
"But… for what reason?," Allen asked, still both nervous and now a little annoyed.
"I did tell you that my parents are hosting this event, yes? I doubt they or my sister will show up to the event, but I believe my fiance is," August said while thinking to himself.
"You… think?," Rose stared at him with a curious expression.
"Your fiance?!," Allen asked, caught off guard. August is already engaged?
"Well of course," August replied, as if it was obvious he was already engaged. "Princes like me do need to keep the family bloodline going, as you probably know"
"But already? At fifteen years old?," Allen asked, still surprised.
"Allen, you do realize that Prince August will succeed his father and become the next king one day, right?," Rose asked, looking over at him.
"Right…," Allen said, looking at the floor. He knew this subconsciously, but directly thinking about it all felt different for him. Allen always thought about what his life would be like if he graduates the academy after three years and becomes a magical knight, but he didn't think of things like a new friend becoming king in who knows how many years.
"Well, we should head in now, unless either of you have any other questions. I do have a crowd waiting on me to address them, for the beginning of the banquet," he smiled.
Both of them followed behind August as he moved the curtain out of the way, revealing the event in front of them.
Calling it a banquet was pretty spot on. Plenty of tables lined the sides of the fairly large room, all with plenty plates of all kinds of foods Allen had never seen before. Aside from the tables, there were also plenty of interesting decorations to make the room feel more lively and extravagant.
Among the tables and decorations, were of course all the guests attending the banquet. All the guests were wearing formal and extravagant attire, just like the attire August had Allen and Rose wear.
Any sort of small confidence Allen had finally built up was already gone.
"Alright the two of you, time to head up to the front," he smiled at them, but Allen knew deep down he was getting a little kick out of it.
"C'mon Allen, let's just get this over with," she nodded her head in the direction August was already walking.
"Alright, alright," he sighed again once more.
The two of them began to walk towards the front of the room, just left of the entrance they came from. Just as they got to the front, everyone in the room began to take notice of the three of them, no doubt recognizing August. Allen could already hear the murmurs throughout the crowd as August began to prepare to make his small speech. Allen went on August's right side while Rose was on his left.
August cleared his throat before speaking. "Welcome everyone, to our yearly banquet. I dearly hope that each and every one of you come here in good faith, and prepare to enjoy yourselves this evening"
As August continued to address the crowd, Allen noticed that not only did his voice carry a sense of judgment and understanding, but also a sense of authority. It wasn't hard to tell that everyone throughout the room no doubt had high respect for the First Prince of England, despite him being the same age as Allen.
So, I really am looking at the future King of England, Allen thought to himself. It was still hard for him to all take it at once.
"-as per the agreement with my father and the Head Director, I have been attending the Magical Knights Academy not only to get a better understanding of our mage counterparts in our country, but as well as hopefully bridge the gap," August continued.
Just as Allen had spaced out of his thoughts, he noticed a tense feeling as he looked through the crowd, just right after he had caught the most recent part of what August had been speaking.
If Allen recalled correctly, there had always been tense feelings between mages and non-mages. There wasn't much anyone could do about this, as the ability to use magic was determined at birth, and the two groups were very different.
The Fire Outbreaks, which caused the Anti-Fire Act, didn't help either. It only helped to deter positive thoughts of magic that non-mages had.
"-and with me today are two fellow students from the academy. To my left, Rose Marion," he waved with his arm in her direction.
"Thank you for having me," she bowed respectfully to the crowd. It was hard to tell that she didn't want to be here either, with her face showing no form of annoyance.
Despite the crowd's general feelings on mages, those feelings seemed to disappear temporarily as Rose bowed. Whether it was due to her looks, words, or both, she had the crowd temporarily mesmerized.
"And to my right, Allen Fleming," he finally waved his arm in his direction.
"T-Thank you," Allen bowed, trying to mimic a formal bow, similar to Rose's. He hoped the crowd didn't notice his nervousness.
August smiled for a moment, probably due to Allen. He turned back to the crowd. "I hope that you can treat my fellow students not just as mages, but as guests of our banquet today. That is all, and may everyone enjoy their evening!"
And with that, his announcement speech was finally over. For a moment, the room was silent, but was taken over by applause from the crowd. August proceeded to look through the crowd once more, before turning around to Rose and Allen.
"Well, how did I do?," he grinned.
"Way better than I would've. But then again, you are a prince, and you have to live up to that," Rose pointed at him.
"Indeed I do, and it does not come as an easy task. Your thoughts, Allen?," he turned to him.
"Uh, I didn't know what was going on half of the time, but I believe you did well," Allen nodded.
"Really now? Well I obviously didn't do as well as your greeting to the crowd, Allen," he joked with a smile.
"Yeah, Allen sure had the entire crowd's attention with that one," Rose let out a soft chuckle.
"Ugh, shut up you two," Allen quietly replied, an annoyed expression on his face.
Shortly after, all the guests began to make their way around, getting food and talking to others. Allen could feel the hunger rising, and could only imagine how Thomas would be like if he was here. If it were not for his rising hunger, he would be a lot more nervous than he already was.
"Well, alright you two, I have a bit of business with a few of the guests, so I will have to step away for a short period of time," August explained. "In the meantime, feel free to grab yourselves a plate of food, and speak to anyone you'd like"
"I thought we were supposed to stick close to you?," Allen asked.
"Right, but I'll join you both a bit later. There's just something I need to handle," he elaborated.
"Alright, see you in a bit," Rose nodded as August already began walking away to speak to some others.
"Well, I'm starving," Rose admitted as she already began to walk to get a plate of food.
"Rose-," Allen started to say, but she was already too far to hear him in the noisy room.
Crap, what do I do?, Allen thought to himself. I don't know anyone here, they don't know me, how do they do this talking stuff?! Allen placed his hand on his forehead, trying to ease his nervousness.
He looked around for August, but he was already gone. Then, he looked back over at Rose, who was already in the middle of getting food, as well as chatting with a few of the other guests with a smile on her face.
I feel so out of place here, how can she do that?, He thought to himself again. He sighed.
"I take it you aren't acquainted with events such as these?," An inquisitive voice came from behind.
After being caught off guard, he quickly turned around to see a girl, who was probably around Allen's age. She wore an elegant black dress, matching her long black hair. She was rather attractive, compared to a lot of the girls attending Allen's academy.
"I'm sorry?," Allen asked, once again caught off guard.
"It's just, you looked like a lost puppy from where I was standing," she said with a playful smile.
"I'm- a what now?," Allen asked, suddenly confused. He had suddenly lost his nervousness.
"Nevermind. So, I take it your Allen, then?," she asked.
"Y-Yeah, I'm Allen. What's your name?," he asked in return, though his eyes were darting around the room.
"Oh come now, that's not a proper way to ask a lady for her name. You could say something like, 'may I ask for your name, miss?'," she giggled a little.
"Uh- oh sorry," he said, scratching the back of his head.
Is it me, or is she a Sarah 2.0, he thought to himself. At that moment, he almost wished he was dealing with her instead of this banquet event.
"Oh, don't worry about it, I was just teasing you. Besides, I think I'm done with all of these stuck up nobles speaking through their teeth," she sighed. "Oh, my apologies, I still need to introduce myself"
She giggled to herself for a moment as Allen looked at her curiously. Despite her suddenly approaching him, she seemed to have cleared up Allen's nervousness from within. Was it because he was having a somewhat normal conversation with her?
"My name is Millicent Seys, but you're free to call me Milli. Most people know me as Prince August's betrothed," she did a slight bow.
"Wait, betrothed as in his fiance?," Allen asked, surprised.
"Well, of course. What else would I have meant by that?," she giggled again.
Wait, this is August's fiance?, Allen thought to himself. She's really in front of me, just like that?