The old man smiles when he sees that Amelina respects him despite being above him in status.
The old man nods his head and begins to lead Amelina and her children towards the stairs that are built with gold and silver, making Vincent wonder how much resources were wasted for the stairs.
While Amelina is climbing the extensive stairs, Vincent mulls over the reason why the stairs are so lengthy, making him wonder about the type of event that is about to take place.
After what seemed to be like 10 minutes, they arrived at the podium district. Vincent suddenly realized that the old man took them through a route that was different from the one normal civilians passed.
"Mmm, now it makes sense, that's why we only met a few people on our way, they were all nobles," Vincent thinks inwardly as he stares at the thousands of people that are sitting on the chairs. Some are even standing as the chairs are not enough to contain them, causing swears and curses to reverberate throughout the podium.
Beast men, elves, dwarves, vampires, dragons, and many other demi-humans are also present.
"Marquis Amelina, please carefully follow me, we are sorry for the inconvenience. if you had come earlier, then the situation wouldn't have been this horrendous" The old man named Noman says as he stops the crowd from coming closer to Amelina and her children. He is worried that thieves may try to snatch valuables away from them, like the jewelry on Hilda and Amelina's neck, which might result to fatal injury if the thieves suddenly rip it off their necks.
Amelina nods her head and wipes off the beads of sweat that are rolling down her forehead while she protects Vincent and Savina from the fierce mob.
After a couple of minutes, passing through the midst of angry mobs, Noman takes them through a place that has an OFF-LIMIT sign board and is also guarded by wolfmen that are about 2 meters tall with large dual axes strapped to their backs.
When the wolfmen see Noman, they bow their heads and make way for Amelina and her children.
The moment Amelina passes through the midst of the wolfmen, an alluring scent assaults Vincent's nose, the smell originating from several incenses that are being burnt around the platform.
Vincent raises his head and sees several nobles that are enjoying and relaxing with different types of drinks, fruits, and foods that have been stockpiled in front of them, while they crack jokes and caress the body of the whores that are sitting on their laps.
Amelina covers Savina's eyes and hurriedly walks away from the scene. Abruptly, Noman stops in front of a place that is established with rows of chairs and tables, with different types of delicacies placed on the table.
Noman glances at Amelina and says, "These are the seats that were reserved for you and your children, Marquis Amelina" Noman says with a slight bow.
Amelina nods her head in gratitude and replies, "Please drop the formality, Noman" Amelina also bows and sits on the largest seat which is meant for her, while her children sit on the smaller seats.
Once Noman sees that she is already sitting, he bows once again and walks towards a large compartment that is shielded by a huge canopy.
Vincent's eyes follows Noman's movements and he realizes that the shielded compartment is the king's temporary chamber.
"As expected of nobles, they are just exactly like those wuxia and cultivation novels I read on earth, coupled with the ones I have also written, they don't seem to care for the poor, who don't have chairs to sit on" Vincent shook his head inwardly.
Suddenly, Vincent hears a loud voice come from the side of the platform.
"Hehehe, Amelina, I didn't notice that you have arrived, as expected of you, you are even looking good despite nursing a baby. Did you see the message that I sent to you?" A man that is sitting a meter away from Amelina shouts.
He is a man who seems to be in his early forties, with a potbelly and overgrown beard that hasn't been shaved for decades. By his sides are two scrawny men that are also nobles like him. The man stares at Amelina with lust shown on his face as he uses his eyes to scan Amelina's body proportions.
Amelina squints her eyes when she hears the man's words, and she feels disgusted by his piercing gaze on her chest, so she replies.
"Yohan! Don't you ever in your life, send me such a message again, you shameless man. My husband just died and you are already trying to take advantage of me. If he was alive, you would have had your head rolling, just for looking at me like that" Amelina replies in anger and clenches her fists on the chair, causing everyone's attention to be diverted towards her and Yohan.
Vincent is annoyed and surprised at the same time, as he heard his mother call the annoying man a Chinese name, making him more interested in exploring his new world.
Yohan's face turns pale when he realizes that people's eyes are piercing through his soul for asking out a widow whose husband recently died.
Yohan suddenly laughs loudly and replies, "Hahahaha, you bitch! I just wanted to take pity on you by marrying you despite having four children. This is your second husband that has died, you are a cursed woman! Who knows if I will also die if I marry you, this public meat hole!" Yohan laughs loudly, causing the other nobles to gossip among themselves.
Amelina's eyes waters when she hears Yohan's reply, and she brings out a handkerchief and begins wiping the tears that are streaming down her face.
"Mommy it's okay, stop crying. Don't feel bad about his words," Savina pats her mother with her little hands while Hilda wipes Amelina's tears.
However, Zadicus has a grin on his face as he sees his mother crying, then he mumbles, "She is indeed a meat hole for marrying that bastard and giving birth to that leech! He should just die like his father so that I can take over his father's wealth. I'm the firstborn, I can't let anyone control me just because we became affluent due to his father's influence. If worse comes to worst, I'll just have to finish him off." Zadicus grins internally and rubs his hands together in an evil motion.
Vincent also gets angry at the man's sarcastic reply. If he was as old as Zadicus, he would have ripped off Yohan's head without hesitation, for making his mother cry.
Suddenly, a loud voice reverberates through the whole stadium, and an elven man can be seen floating in the mid-section of the stadium.
"Hear me out, people of Graven! My name is Tesodous. We all know that...'' Before Tesodous can complete his speech, the incessant chatter of the people increase even more as they all ignore him.
Tesodous' eyes turns red as the people ignore him, then he waves his hands in the air, and casts a tier-three spell.
The sand on the floor begins to form into tiny spikes and millions of spikes begin levitating in the air.
"Anyone who utters a word will be killed by these spikes, you can go ahead and talk if you want to underestimate my spikes. I bet you won't want to be pierced by them" Tesodous shouts, the crowd can hear him clearly as he amplified his voice with mana.
Gulping sounds can be heard as the people stare at the spikes that are levitating in the air.
"Ahem... As I was saying, Today is one of the most joyous days in the kingdom of Graven! Today is the day we pay homage to our great
heroes who have fought with their lives to protect our kingdom and died with honor. Apart from the celebration, we will also watch our greatest enemies fight themselves to their last breath, till no one is left standing. This year is going to be special, we have the ex-king of Slocota kingdom who is now a subject to us, and the leader of the Evil blood vampire clan. We are going to witness the two terrorists fight themself to a standstill. For Graven!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Tesodous roars and the soldiers also follow suit, coupled with the inhabitants of Graven.
The stadium begins to shake as thousands of soldiers start hitting their heavy weapons on the floor and the people also join them by cheering.
Vincent watches everything from the embrace of his mother who seems to be lost in her own thoughts as Yohan's words still linger in her mind. Vincent decides not to disturb her and silently watches the scene happening below him from above.
Suddenly, two gates that are adjacent to each other opens, and two bulky men walk out of the gates with huge collars on their necks.
When Vincent's eyes lands on the men, he feels a shiver move down his spine, as they are the scariest men he has ever seen.
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