The door opened once again and a young woman entered.
She was non other than the President's daughter.
She was wearing a royal blue body fit, knee-length dress, matched with her blue clutch bag and five-inch stelletoe shoes.
Her hair was curled on the tips as it freely bounced on the air.
She had a pair of deep-seated green eyes which he got from her father, President Moulin, thick eyelashes and well-drawn eyebrows. Small yet pointed nose.
She had inherited her mother's facial shape and body figure. She looked like a ramp model because of her five feet and nine inches height.
Yes, she was taller than Jane in height. However, compared to her, Jane had a curvyer figure. Thanks to her ant-like waistline.
Rosalie was twenty-four years old and was working on her Master's Degree in Political Science.
"Rosalie!" Mr. Castillon immediately got up to greet the young woman who was the daughter of his best friend.
"Uncle Ben!" Rosalie greeted him with a kiss on the cheeks.
She then greeted her parents starting with her father.
"Daddy!"
"Mommy!"
"I'm sorry I'm late. School matters."
"It's okay. Did you drive yourself here?" President Moulin asked her daughter.
"Yes. I ditched the guards you assigned to me, Dad." Rosalie honestly answered him proudly as she sat down beside her mother.
"Rosalie, it's for your safety. Don't do it again next time, okay?" President Moulin reminded his daughter for the nth time.
"Relax. Her guards are surely tailing her car. She's still young. And I'm sure she won't do this again." Mrs. Moulin sided with her daughter making the President to be hopeless.
"My daughter's here now. Where's Francis?" President Moulin asked Mr. Castillon.
"He's probably in the building right now." Mr. Castillon answered.
"Isn't he Francis?" Rosalie asked and pointed at Edric who was silently observing them all this time.
"No, he's not. He's Edric, a relative of Benedict." Mrs. Moulin answered.
"Oh!"
Rosalie's attention was immediately caught by Edric's handsome face and his presence the moment she entered this lavish room.
In fact, she had been looking at him the moment she walked in. She even ignored the thought of Francis whom she secretly had a crush on for a very long time.
Edric knew that someone was looking at him and it started to annoy him.
He threw her an annoyed gaze, however it even made Rosalie become more interested to him.
She wanted to talk to him however, the door opened once again and a young man entered.
"Francis!"
"Dad!" Francis greeted his father, Mr. Castillon.
"Good evening President Moulin, First Lady!" He also greeted the President and his wife after greeting his dad with formality.
The couple got up to greet him.
"Francis!" President Moulin greeted Mr. Castillon's son with a genuine smile.
"I told you to call me Uncle Franco, didn't I?" President Moulin said.
Francis was a twenty seven year old man. He was well-mannered young man and quite a popular bachelor in his field.
He was also handsome. With well-defined jaw line and clean-shaved face. His mesmerizing brown eyes were deep-seated making every girls to melt on his gaze.
However, Edric was more handsome than him.
Edric had those godly body features after all. Edric had a deep-seated amber eyes, pointed nose, thin lips and long eye lashes. His face was small. Yet it made him to be even more attractive to everyone's eyes.
These features had complimented Violet's visuals really well.
Francis had been living most of his life in a boarding school overseas.
When he graduated college, he had decided to work on a giant real estate firm in Country A.
He only came back to Country F to visit his dad during holidays or whenever he had a free time from his hectic schedule.
"Francis! You have grown up to be such a fine young man!"
"Thank you Madame First Lady!"
"Your such a comedian aren't you? Call me Auntie Eloise." It was evident that she was only faking this attitude while talking to Francis.
"Okay Auntie Eloise." Francis had decided to go with the flow.
"And oh! I guess you still remember Rosalie?" President Moulin then grabbed his daughter's hand and pulled her in front to meet Francis.
"Of course! I still do even if I only met her once. She was the snotty and naughty little girl who liked to mess around with her nannies." Francis said with a grin.
"Oh come on! You still remember that? You're still the meanest man ever? And besides, I'm no longer that girl back then!" Rosalie refuted with a scoff.
"You're welcome!" Francis said with a tease.
"Well I guess you still remember each other quiet well. That's good." Mr. Castillon said then patted his son's shoulder.
"Let's take a seat first, okay?" He continued.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Since Edric didn't join the greetings and introduction, everyone ignored him.
Francis had also ignored Edric since this was the first time he had seen him.
"Alright! Since the kids are now here, let's go down to business." Mr. Castillon proposed.
However, Mrs. Moulin had other thoughts in mind.
"Oh, we still have time for that later. Why don't we eat first?"
"I agree with Eloise."
"Right! I'm quite hungry to be honest." Mr. Castillon said.
Soon, their appetizers were served.
Everyone had a bite except for Edric.
"Edric, don't you like the food?" President Moulin asked him.
"I'm good. I'll eat when the main course arrived." He said.
Seeing that Edric was not eating, Rosalie also stopped eating.
"How about you, Rosalie?"
"I'm not eating, too. I'll wait for the main course Dad." Rosalie replied.
Rosalie wanted to start a conversation with Edric because his silence intrigued her.
"Your name's Edric, right?"
However, Edric ignored her.
"Who is he Dad?" Francis finally asked.
"Hello Francis!" Edric greeted him and let Mr. Castillon to finish the introduction for him.
"Son, he's Edric. One of your cousins." He continued without stuttering.
He still felt the chills down his spine when he introduced him as a family member.
This man was such a legendary and important figure for him and his predecessors.
"Really? I haven't met nor seen him." Francis said with a frown making the three people to be curious.
"It's only natural. After all, he lived overseas with his mother. He had only found out that he's related to us. So he came and decided to pay me a visit."
"That's right. It's a shame that I only discovered such an important matter now." Edric said.
"I see. Which country have you been living all these years?" Francis asked.
"Does it matter?" Edric was displeased with this question.
"Ha! Haha! O-of course it doesn't matter. Right son?" Mr. Castillon nervously stammered.
"Yeah. No biggie. I mean big deal." He corrected himself.
Good thing Francis didn't make it a big deal and just agreed with his dad.
Then the main course was served and they started eating.
Edric only took a small portion from the dish and ate it.
No one dared to talk during the entire meal until they were on desserts.
"So, shall we go down to business now?" Mr. Castillon asked.
"Oh, right!" President Moulin said.
"Son, do you have a girlfriend?"
"Yes, Dad. In fact, I was about to bring her with me. Too bad, she has a conference and cannot make it. Why Dad?" Francis curiously asked his father.
"Well then you have to break up with her."
"Break up? Why? I can't Dad. I love Monique!" Francis could not help but raise his voice in disagreement.
He was caught off-guard by what his father wanted him to do after all.
"You see. Franco and I have become friends because he saved me back then. We have become the best of friends as the year progressed. To strengthen the bond of our brotherhood, we both made an agreement which involved you and Rosalie."
"What agreement and how the hell should it involves with my love life?!" Francis' emotions were now on the roof.
"It's a marriage alliance between our children!" Mr. Castillon told his son making him and Rosalie to be shocked.
Well Edric was not surprised with this marriage alliance thing. It had already existed back then during his time.
"What? This is ridiculous! Dad! How about Benedict Jr.? They're of the same age. Why me?" Francis
"Benedict, Jr. is hopeless. You know your brother's capabilities. He doesn't even have a dreams and plans for his life other than sleeping around with women."
Upon the mention of his second son, Mr. Castillon rubbed his temples for an incoming headache.
"Listen, as the eldest, please grant your dad this wish." Mr. Castillon knew that it's hard to convince his son to change his mind on things. After all, he had inherited this trait from his late wife, Mrs. Castillon.
"Wait! Mom! Dad! Aren't you going to consider my feelings about this, too?" Rosalie butted in.
Of course this was already the twenty-first century and women could voice out their opinions on important matters.
Rosalie was glad that in this household, she was loved by both of her parents.
"Rosalie. I know we have pampered you with love ever since you were young and always told you to never fear and speak up your thoughts however, this is the exception, sweet heart." President Moulin said.
"No, Daddy! You're wrong! I will never agree to this." Rosalie got up from her seat and hurriedly walked towards the door to leave the room.
"Rosalie!" President Moulin called out his daughter's name however, Rosalie didn't listen to him and left the room completely.
Mrs. Moulin also excused herself to follow her daughter and President Moulin allowed her.
"I'm sorry about that. She's just probably flustered by the news."
"It's fine." Mr. Castillon said while trying to lighten up the mood.
"I'm out of here! Excuse me!" Francis had also decided to leave the room so he could breath.
"Poor man." Edric mumbled to himself as he followed Edric with his gaze.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure that Francis will agree to this marriage Franco." Mr. Castillon reassured President Moulin.
"En! I'll also ask Eloise to convince Rosalie about this. Right, after all, this marriage alliance means so much for us. After this, our families will forever be connected."
"Uncle Franco, can I ask you something?" Edric interrupted their conversation.
"Yes, what is it Edric?"
"Do you have another daughter, aside from Rosalie?"
Edric observed President Moulin's reaction after he said that. The former inwardly smirked when he saw a subtle change with his expression.
"No, he doesn't have another daughter. Why Yo- Edric?" Mr. Castillon almost slipped as he answered the question for the President.
"Really. Such a shame. I guess if you have another daughter, she should be as beautiful as Rosalie." Edric said casually.
"Right. Sadly, Rosalie is an only child that's why she's acting like that. We spoiled her while growing up."
"Why? Are you by chance attracted to my daughter?"
'Yes. Probably, I am attracted to your daughter.' He answered in his thought.
"Oh! None at all. She's not my type."
Edric's frankness caught the two men around him off-guard.
Had he not known that Edric was actually older than him, Mr. Castillon would dare to scold him on the spot for speaking frankly in front of his best friend.
What he said must have offended President Moulin.
"I like this kid! Such frankness. It's very rare for me to hear that." He said in amazement.
"Right. Just because she's my daughter I would expect every man to like her, no? I expect them to respect her." He added.
President Moulin was really impressed with Edric.
"But President Moulin, are you really sure that you don't have another daughter aside from Rosalie?" Edric repeated his question making President's Moulin's expression to change drastically.
Since it was Edric, Mr. Castillon had no way to stop him. He dared not to.
"Young man. No, I don't have another daughter." This was President Moulin's firm response.
Edric then got up and fixed his suit and moved away from the table.
"Thank you for this lovely dinner. I really enjoyed it." He then turned his attention to Mr. Castillon.
"Uncle, can I have a few words with you before I fly back tonight?"
"S-sure!"
Edric smiled meaningfully at President Moulin and added, "It was nice meeting you Mr. President. I hope we will meet again next time."
Edric then faced towards the door and made his way out.
"I'm sorry if Edric was acting weird, Franco. I hope you won't get offended. Anyways. I won't hold you that long. And it's getting late now, too. Also, I know you're very busy with state affairs. So how about let's continue talking about this during the weekend. How about that?"
"Sure, Benedict. I'll ask my assistant to call you if I'm free over the weekend. And don't worry. I don't mind his attitude. We were young back then and I understood his temperament so well."
The two friends exchanged their goodbyes and parted ways.
Mr. Castillon went straight to see Edric while President Moulin went home to check on his daughter.