In the city of Iragin, as night fell, the brilliant moon was gently rising, illuminating every nook and cranny of the alleys.
People are buzzing the streets coming from everywhere to settle their business as the night market has just opened. Bare Elegance, one of the city's commercial establishments, is today busier than usual.
Different kinds of carriages has been parked on the side, and people can be seen coming inside the building from time to time.
The VIP rooms set aside within the venue on the small theater stage are all filled. While the front part of the stage are occupied by the flowers of Bare Elegance, 5 ladies are seated per table, waiting for the performance to begin.
The debut of the newly added flower, Lady Rose.
"I've heard that the City Lord's son is here?" Lady Laelia asked, gathering the attention of the other flowers.
With apparent interest, Lady Peony questioned, "Really? Is Lord Ahren here?"
The person across from them at the table, Lady Poppy, caught Lady Lupin's gaze as she said, "What a surprise. From what I know, Lord Ahren's previous visit was months ago."
When she saw that Lady Poppy had somehow placed her teacup back on its plate rather harshly, she couldn't help but sneer.
The tension between the two tables was increasing, and Lady Moraea said, "It's not best to talk about the Lord. The Hostess will undoubtedly scold all of you if she heard what you all are talking about."
Lady Moraea continued, "Let's stop this kind of discourse and focus on Lady Rose's debut. This marks the start of her journey as a flower here in Bare Elegance."
Lady Lupin simply pursed her lips and drank her tea. Although she is upset with Lady Moraea's intervention, she is unable to refute the other Lady's words. Lady Moraea is highly regarded and respected by the Matron.
In order to lighten the mood and prevent the ambiance from being ruined, the group of ladies discussed a different subject.
However, the aforementioned individual they are talking about is just like them, vexed for some reason.
"Your Highness, please spare me. I've already lost 6 times. My ego can't this anymore." The City Lord's son, Ahren Talon, dejectedly sighed as he saw his king piece being trampled by the other person's horse piece once again.
The person in front of him said in a gravelly calm voice, "Deal with it. You're the one who dragged me here."
"You ungrateful Prince!" Ahren scoffed, "If It weren't for me, you'd still be talking about political matters with my Father. Knowing you, I can tell you'd become bored discussing those topics." He stated as he sipped yet another glass of liquor.
The person in front of him is no other than the Prince of Phassis Kingdom, Zequiel Phyrros.
The young and notorious Major General who is known for his ruthless Regiment, is now playing chess with him while waiting for the performance to start.
"There's no difference between discussing political matters with your father, and playing chess here with you. Both will still bore me. You couldn't even last for 3 minutes." Ahren couldn't help but choke on the drink with what the prince has said.
"You don't have to do me like that! I lasted for 15 minutes in our fifth game—"
"I got you in under a minute on our second game."
"That's because I was warming up, okay?" Ahren exclaimed, appearing to be offended by what Zequiel had claimed.
"Playing chess is your talent. What are you warming your ass for?" Zequiel asked, as he crossed his arms, taunting the other person to answer.
Ahren simply glared at him, and changed the subject, "Anyway, just enjoy the performance tonight. Bare Elegance's flowers are the cream of the crop performers I've ever known. It's a good thing you visited at the right time, you get to witness a flower's debut."
"Just shut up, and arrange the pieces back to it's place. And I'm not here for a visit, I told you that already."
"Yes, Yes I know. You escorted the Grand Numen to Xylem Kingdom, and you just happened to stop by. I'd like to think you visited solely for me so don't burst my bubble. But Let's stop playing and drink for now." Ahren suggested and poured Zequiel's glass once again.
Just as Zequiel was about to drink the glass of liquor the lights in the middle portion of the Theatre Stage where the flowers are seated, dimmed. Zequiel with his reflexes immediately grabbed the sword hanging in his waist.
The next instant, though, caused his grip to loosen.
The remaining lights on the stage illuminated a woman.
She remained still as she stood there, drawing everyone's attention.
She was donning an outfit with red and black accents. Her dress' upper portion, which hugs her bosom and little waist in a striking shade of vibrant red, appears to be formed of large rose petals.
However, the intensely saturated color of red, started to wane, turning dark red before turning black.
"Interesting." Ahren mumbled as he saw the woman.
"I've heard this lady is blind. I wonder what she'll be performing today." He added as he stared at the face of the woman.
The said Lady, has petals of roses pinned on the side of her head with the petals enclosing each of her eyes. Only her nose and her lips that are red as a cherry, can only be seen.
And even with her eyes covered, one can see that the woman on the stage is embodying a flower of great beauty and perfection, yet seemingly cold and mystifying.
Just like her name,
She has sharp thorns like a rose in bloom.