The muffled voices of many people could be heard from out in the hall where Kilian was.
There were excitement, chatter, and laughter coming from the big room on the other side of the door, Kilian stood in front of.
A servant stood by the door, he was placed there to announce the arrival of family members of the Count.
They were to walk through this specific door for the occasion, over the main entrance the other guest would use
The man was finely dressed, and Kilian eyed up at him, noticing how the man was nervously looking at everything else but Kilian.
"Are you not going to announce my arrival?".
Kilian spoke in a low but strict voice, making the man reach out for the handle, open the door, and with a yell, announced for the hall to hear.
"Kilian Heathgrave".
The light from the grand hall poured through the opening of the door, and Kilian stepped forward, with confident steps, making sure the "clank" from his cane, echoed when hitting the white marble floors.
No one noticed, the talking and chattering continued as if nothing had happened, the servant had barely yelled out loud enough for people to hear, now when the gathering had started.
Kilian ascended the stairs, and soon after a few heads were turned, silencing their mouths when they saw him.
People's eyes followed suit, wondering what others were looking at, and one by one, everyone in the hall would turn their heads, watching as a young man with light blonde hair, and eyes like light blue crystals joined them in the hall.
Silence slowly fell as people were admiring the beautiful youth, that besides walking with a cane had absolutely no flaws.
Whispering started.
"Who is that?"
"Have you ever seen a noble like that before?"
"Who could it be?"
Then someone spoke, just loud enough for others to hear.
"He came from the family entrance".
"Is it the… Third son?"
Several people now turned their heads away from the youth, trying to locate the host in the crowd, the Count.
A man stepped forward, and with an obviously fake smile, that was twitching, addressed the people.
"Let me introduce my third son, Kilian Heathgrave".
The words seemed to have trouble leaving his throat, and Kilian walked over and bowed in front of his father.
It was a custom he had read from the books regarding etiquette, and he needed to greet his father as the first person, when arriving at his debut into society.
People slowly started talking among themselves as they had been earlier, but several were still occasionally peeking at the young man who had entered, many of them being young ladies, with their fans covering, and quickly fanning their faces.
Kilian's father leaned in and placed his hand on Kilian's shoulder, squeezing it hard.
"Don't stand out any further".
It was a clear warning, and the words were spat out with contempt, only for Kilian to hear.
"Sure...Father".
Kilian brushed him off, and walked over to a long table along a wall, grabbing a glass of champagne, and sipping from it while scouting the many people in the room.
He needed Mr. Kilga, for him to be introduced to more prominent people that could be future allies.
Instead, a lady with black hair in several fake braids, came over and gave Kilian her hand, who in return bowed and kissed faintly upon the glove that covered it.
"My, what an entrance young Lord Heathgrave".
She looked him over, studying the youth, finding no flaws in his appearance.
"Thank you… Lady…?"
Kilian had no clue who she was, and tried to remember the content of the books about nobles in the country, but no one seemed to fit her description.
"Just Estelle". She replied.
Kilian looked behind her, and saw a big burly man with a beard and furious red eyes, staring back at him.
It dawned on him why he had not seen any nobles with her description. It was because she wasn't one.
"No one else seems to dare come to ask the young Lord about himself, but I am not someone who holds back words, you see".
"Is that so," he replied with a somewhat bored tone.
She leaned in, and her strong perfume tickled his nose.
"Is it true, that the young Lord survived a fall from the 3rd floor?"
Kilian gave her a mischievous smile and simply responded.
"Yes."
The lady giggled out loud, the high-pitched tone alarming the big gentleman further behind.
She must be his mistress or woman escort for the night, Kilian thought, and with a glint in his eyes, smiled warmly at the lady, amused at the sudden twitching of the man's eyes staring them down.
Somehow he was glad she had not mentioned the rumors about him being a cripple, it seemed the new rumors were more exciting to the people, and they portrayed him in a better view.
"Would you like to dance?"
She asked, ignoring the etiquette it took for a man and woman to dance at such a ball. She already had an escort, and Kilian would have had to be the one to ask permission from the man, to be able to dance with the lady.
Kilian gave her a fake shy smile, followed by an apologetic look.
"I am afraid with my poor health growing up, I have yet to learn how to dance, I would rather not embarrass the lade by giving a poor performance".
The lady giggled again, and tapped his shoulder with her fan, stepping in closer.
She was being no less than rude, but alcohol and a good mood, make people brave, or maybe it was simply her personality.
"I doubt you could give a poor performance".
She insinuated more with her words, and Kilian simply took a step back, placing some space between them, gesturing with his hand to the man behind her, knowing the man had visible veins popping out of his face.
The only reason that man had not come to intervene yet, was most likely because Kilian was the son of the host.
Kilian looked around and saw an opportunity to slip in through a group of people, leaving the lady behind.
He emptied the glass of champagne in one go, and left it on a tray, when a servant walked by.
The liquor brought a good mood, and he was soon chatted up by a few nobles.
He kept his persona charming to the people, giving both a knowledgable impression, as he was able to tell which noble lineage they were from, but also did not seem to possess the useless qualities, that had been in the rumors.
Kilian worked hard, going from one group of people to the next, wanting to make sure the useless son of the cunt, would be a sentence that was no longer with him after this night.
His legs held on, and the cane helped tremendously, using it to lean against, to switch the weight between his feet.
However the evening felt long, and soon, he was unable to keep walking, and with an excuse left a young baron couple, to head for a back room, that was set up for men to take rest.
He groaned when laying down on the couch, bringing his legs up. There was no one else in there, and it was not the only room, the nobles could rest in.
He rubbed his legs slowly, wishing Dante was here to help, but he had left Dante inside at the banquet, standing tall by a pillar while overlooking the event.
"Seems like I am not getting my dance tonight".
A tall man walked into the room, dressed in a black outfit, that contrasted Kilian's bright one.
His face was not covered by a mask this time, and the scars were just as vivid on his face as Kilian remembered from the shop.
Kilian did not care to keep up appearances with this man, and continued keeping his legs up, rubbing at his calves.
"You came a long way, didn't you".
Kilian wasn't sure what the man was referring to and rudely did not reply.
There was no reason to play whatever games, this man was up to.
"Lord Rayden, why don't you go dance with someone else, there are plenty of young ladies at the banquet".
Kilian then decided to be extra rude, wanting to make the man leave.
"Even with those scars, it is not as if Lord Rayden isn't handsome, some might even find them intriguing".
Silence fell, and Kilian wondered if he had gone too far. After all he himself would not want his own scars to be pointed out, he needed to have no flaws, if he was going to make it in this world.
"Handsome...You think I am handsome".
The voice had a surprised tone, but not unpleasant, more like a joyous feeling to it.
"Yes.. what?" Kilian was taken aback by the question.
It was not as if Rayden wasn't handsome, even with the scars, in fact without them he would probably be the most handsome man he had seen in both his lives so far.
However, that rude personality ruined the picture for Kilian, who didn't care much for pushy people.
The motion was quick, and Kilian felt himself rise up with ease, when Lord Rayden grabbed his arm, bringing him to his feet.
They stood close together, Rayden's right hand taking Kilian's left, while Rayden's left was placed around the lower part of Kilian's back, keeping his body close.
Kilian looked up in anger but was unable to writher out of the hold. This was just like at the store.
Why did this man find it amusing to tease him so much?
"This is not funny Lord Rayden, let me go".
"I will, in a second" Rayden mumbled, slowly swaying them both, careful not to move too much.
Kilian sighed, was the man being considerate to his legs?
He felt as if he was lifted, with minimal pressure on his feet. Then why did he always rudely touch him.
The consideration Rayden showed was obviously misplaced.
'Still, this man doesn't listen to others,' he thought
Rayden leaned down, being a full head taller than Kilian, and Kilian froze noticing the man was sniffing his hair.
'What the actual…Is he a creep?'
"I am interested in you?"
Rayden suddenly let out, almost as a whisper, the breath tickling at Kilian's face.
"Well, I am not interested". Kilian replied fast.
Rayden loosened the hold and let go of Kilian, as soon as he had heard the words.
Kilian was confused, had this man not completely disregarded his words earlier, so why did he suddenly stop?
"I apologize for my rudeness".
Rayden proceeded to bow slightly.
"I thought we were the same, and your remark earlier, I misunderstood, please forgive me".
Kilian suddenly felt bad, but didn't say anything, seeing Rayden giving him a slight smile.
"It seems as if it is one-sided, I'm not that rude to keep pushing for it".
Kilian's eyes widened, realizing finally, that this man was actually openly telling him, he wanted him.
He took a step back, not knowing how to reply, and Rayden seemed to take it as clear denial, and left the room.
Why? Kilian asked himself, shocked at the new realization, that Rayden had only tried to show Kilian his affection.
The teasing, the comments, the touching.
Yes, he had maybe gone about it in a weird way, but Kilian found himself blushing right when Dante stepped into the room.