Walking side-by-side with Elaine, we stepped across the golden carpet covered with small golden petals while servants of the Elven Cuisine Pagoda flanked both sides, deeply bowing whenever we walked past them; once we arrived at the building, which wasn't empty, all the commoners who were sitting down and enjoying their meals instantly stopped what they were doing, stood up and bowed. Even those who weren't citizens and were merely visiting for various reasons also bowed as it was my birthday, and everyone knew such a thing in the Elven Empire.
Ignoring the commoners, I glanced at the manager, who was also giving me a bow, though when he noticed my gaze, he stopped and approached Elane and I.
"Congratulations on your coming-of-age birthday, Prince Elif; it fills me with immense pride and joy that you and Princess Elaine would visit my measly establishment on such an important day." Said the plump manager with a large, subservient smile as he stood before Elif and gave him another deep bow before doing the same to Elaine, who merely nodded before ignoring him.
"Well, I had no intention of initially coming here, but this place serves as a good spot to escape the annoying guests. I also heard from Eyvor that you had prepared a special dish for me, and it piqued my interest." Remarked Elif lightly as he dismissively waved his hand at the manager while giving him a curious look.
"Ah, yes, I must thank you, Mistress Eyvor, for relaying my message. She is correct, Prince Elif; as I knew your birthday was approaching, I acquired several unique ingredients and had my chefs prepare a unique dish specifically with you in mind." Replied the manager as he turned and gave Eyvror a bow of gratitude before shifting his focus back to Elif, sporting a slightly pained expression when he remembered the cost of the several ingredients.
"Is that so? Well, I'm already here for that reason, so lead the way; I'm intrigued to taste this dish. What about you, Elaine?" Said Elif with a raised eyebrow while prompting the manager to nod as he had everyone follow him up the spiraling staircase.
"Yes, I'm also quite interested." Replied Elaine with a nod while walking beside Elif as they followed the rest of the group, Maxim, Illumia, Marley, and Idonea right behind them.
Once we left the first floor, all the commoners sat back down and returned to eating, and this happened for every floor Elaine and I happened to pass; the only floors exempt from this unspoken rule were the final three, two of which were reserved for nobles with the last being specifically for Royalty. However, as it was my birthday, the last three floors were empty as all the nobles, whether it was an Arch-Duke or a Baron, were all attending my birthday and were at the palace right now.
'Heh, I've hardly shown my face today, so they're probably confused where I'm at; oh well.' Mused Elif with a slight smirk as he wrapped his arm around Elaine's shoulder while she leaned into his side, garnering envy from women like usual.
Arriving at the topmost floor, we walked down the long hallway leading to double doors before two servants, who flanked the double doors, opened them, revealing a large room with a stage to the right, a big circular table in the middle with several small thrones and two large ones along with an entire side of the wall being made entirely of glass, giving one an excellent view of the surroundings. Like how all formal seating arrangements went, the ones with the lowest status would sit farther out, while those with a higher status would sit closer inward, which prompted Sarah, Echo, Shelia, Birger, Goliath, and Eyvor to sit at the outer edge.
Following that, Queen Nerthus was next, and while she may also be of a divine lineage, unlike Birger, who is only a prince, she's a Queen and holds full authority over the Divine Druid Kingdom; next would've been Suscila. She's from an Immortal hegemony like Elaine and I, but not only is she a guest, but she's also isn't the current heir. Her older sister, Cordelia, is, so by all accounts, Suscila is of a slightly lower status compared to Elaine and I, who are the Crown Princess and Crown Prince, respectively. However, she didn't sit down; she was instead looking at me, and it didn't take a scholar to realize she was waiting for me to sit down so she could sit right next to me and not Elaine, though she was going to be for a rude awakening.
Giving Suscila a fake smile, I passed her and sat down on the rightmost throne, directly beside Queen Nerthus, who was happily smiling while sitting next to Birger, which caused Suscila to frown, though, contrary to what she expected; Elaine didn't sit on the seat to my left, no, just like since young, she sat directly on my lap, though it seemed Suscila hated that more given her ugly expression, and I'm sure Elaines smirking didn't help either.
'Do you really need to tease her, Elaine?' Asked Elif lightly via divine sense with a slight smile as he wrapped his arms around Elaine's waist and rested his chin on her shoulder, gently blowing in her ear.
'Yes, I don't like the way she's been looking at you; she needs to know you're mine, Brother.' Replied Elaine firmly via divine sense as she eyed Suscila, who was about to move the empty seat out of the way, only for Elaine to grab it.
"That's my seat, Suscila; what do you think you're doing?" Asked Elaine softly with furrowed brows as she tightly gripped her seat, stopping Suscila from moving it.
"I was just going to move it out of the way, seeing as you're not sitting in it; that should be fine, right, Elaine? After all, an empty throne usually means one of two things: either you're absent, which you aren't, or you're dead, which you also aren't." Remarked Suscila lightly with a slight frown as he looked at Elaine while holding the back of the throne, trying to move it, though Elaine wasn't letting it happen.
"Those are merely superstitious reasons, Suscila; this is still my throne, and I may wish to sit in it later, so I'd like for it to stay here; that shouldn't be a problem. You should also know the empty seat next to Brother is solely reserved for his future consort, which is me; you wouldn't want rumors flying around, especially since you're engaged with Mada; such rumors would only sully your name." Declared Elaine gently with a smile as she glared at Suscila, who clenched her teeth in anger, yet she didn't refute Elaine's words since she couldn't do so without garnering suspicion.
While those stared down, I stopped things from escalating as I lightly clapped my hands, causing the curtains that hid part of the stage to open up, revealing several Elven dancers and drawing everyone's attention.
"Tch, bitch." Muttered Suscila quietly, something only Illumia, Elaine, and Elif heard, which hardly phased Elaine, though the same couldn't be said about Elif as the entire Elven Cuisine Pagoda trembled from the abrupt release of his Qi.
'Calm yourself, your Highness; you may be able to kill everyone else in this room, but you can't touch Suscila, not in your own territory.' Said Illumia quickly via divine sense, her words causing Elif's Qi to return to his body.
'Thank you, Illumia.' Muttered Elif lightly via his divine sense while he opened his eyes, only to see everyone staring at him.
"My apologies, everyone; my annoying servant had told me something that angered me a little, though I'm fine now." Said Elif lightly with a soft smile, causing the woman to completely forget about it, while the men nodded and didn't question anything.
With my little outburst having been forgotten about, we continued watching the dancers while I closed my eyes and leaned back on the throne; Elaine's kisses did help in greatly soothing my anger.
'Hmm, forget about what that stupid woman said, Brother; she's just jealous and can't handle the fact that you're mine.' Remarked Elaine via divine sense lightly via divine sense as she turned around and straddled Elif's lap, kissing his cheeks, uncaring for the numerous spectators.
'You're exactly right, Elaine, though it's still infuriating how that insignificant fish dared to badmouth you like she's of any importance.' Replied Elif via divine sense as he grabbed Elaine's waist and kissed her back.
'It's just as you said, Brother; you don't let the words of those insignificant creatures bother you when they speak badly about you, so you should do the same when they talk badly about me. After all, as you say, Brother, aren't we equal?' Asked Elaine via divine sense as she stopped kissing and rested her forehead on Elif's while their golden and purple symbols were touching.
"Haa, easier said than done, Elaine, though I shall give it a try; just don't expect much." Said Elif lightly with a soft smile as he looked deeply into Elaine's golden eyes while she did the same with his purple ones.
"Hehe, okay, Brother." Remarked Elaine with a soft, melodic chuckle as they kissed once more, which, like always, turned far more passionate and even slightly vulgar, with Elaine rubbing her plump butt on Elif's crotch while he gripped her butt cheeks, causing both woman and men to lightly blush.
"I-I want that." Muttered Nerthus softly with a blush as she watched Elif and Elaine while rubbing her thighs together.