As the sun and the moon had been dancing two times, finally the day of the grandeur sparring had come. I didn't know what the sparring would be shown, was it just the sparring between Lady Octavi and Lord Kaeso, the father of Lady Hillaria?
In the morning, as usual, Adel helped me with my morning routine. Nothing had changed; everything was the same as Adel usually did for me. Afterwards, Adel led me to the living room to wait for my parents and my brother to join us. As I waited, Aurelio was the first to arrive, with Felix and Livia behind him. This was the first time we had met without any distractions in seven years. Aurelio greeted me warmly, breaking the awkward silence that had settled between us. I tried to fill the empty room by asking him about his recent swordsmanship. Surprisingly, Aurelio's answer felt so cold and distant; he wasn't the Aurelio I knew, and he wasn't the same as he had been three weeks ago when I departed from home. Then, I told him about my sword practice. To my surprise, he turned his face to the other side, avoiding any contact, and it felt like he didn't like it.
Soon, my parents arrived with great attire, especially my father, he brought a cane with a lot of decoration and jewellery in there. I heard from Lady Octavi while she was tutoring me, that my family had some regalia; one of them was a cane, a symbol of status and power. This was the first time of mine seen this regalia. After both of us greeted each other, we walked outside. The sun shone brightly, making the jewels on my father's cane sparkle.
In front of our home, there were three carriages, each one more luxurious than the next. The first carriage was for my parents, the second one was for Aurelio, and the third one was for me.
As we approached the carriages, some of the maids took their seats as coachmen. Each carriage had two maid coachmen; the triplets were in my parents' carriage and Aurelio's carriage, with Felix inside Aurelio's carriage. For me, it was just Adel.
We departed from home to the palace grounds. This was the first time my family needed three carriages and a heavily armoured escort. The last time I was in a carriage was seven years ago when my family and I went to the city. Back then, we used only one carriage and a few unarmoured guards. Now, this was different. I went behind the coachman, finding a small gap to talk with Adel.
I asked Adel, "Why do we need so many carriages and army this time?"
Adel responded, "It's for security reasons, my lady. But that's the secondary reason, not the main reason; the main reason is showing authority and power to other nobles. As my lady knows, the Aurelius family as Duke doesn't have any vassals as Count to maintain their land, so these carriages and the armies will be as show to tell others."
—-
In front of the palace, there were already several carriages of nobles waiting to get inside the palace grounds. However, these carriages weren't as extravagant as ours, and their escorts were fewer men. The buzzing wasn't just the carriages; there were a lot of ordinary people who tried to get inside the palace grounds on other passages. Seeing that, I asked Adel if the grandeur sparring was made for the public too, and she answered the sparring was made for the public too; however, there was a designated area just for the public, and there was a designated area just for the nobles.
As I glanced around outside from my carriage, suddenly there was a man heavily armoured without a helmet coming to my parents' carriage. I could see there was a conversation between him and my parents on the door of the carriage. When the man walked away, suddenly the carriages led outside the waiting line of noble carriages. With that, our entourage passed all the nobles' carriages that were still waiting in line to enter the main courtyard.
In the main courtyard, I could see there were a few carriages in there. However, these carriages were much grander and more ornate than the ones we had passed. As our entourage almost reached the main entrance, I could see a glimpse of the Crown Prince at the main entrance. Slowly, the Crown Prince wasn't alone; I could see Her Majesty, Queen, beside him.
In front of the main entrance, the entourage stopped, and firstly, my parents stepped out of their carriage, and immediately their carriage left the main entrance. Next, Aurelio's carriage pulled up in front of the main entrance. He stepped out, followed by Felix, and immediately, the carriage departed. Lastly, my carriage, in front of the main entrance, stepped out from the carriage. At once, the entourage left from the main entrance with the armies. As I made my way towards the entrance and rejoined with the others.
From the distance, we could see the Crown Prince and the Queen. They were standing in front of the entrance to the inside of the palace. As this would be the first time, I saw my mother meeting with the Queen. Slowly we were walking to the entrance, and at once, the Queen put a smile on me. Seeing that, I could see my mother put on a smile too; however, somehow I felt their smile was forced and insincere.
As we exchanged greetings with them, we did not show any courtesy or bow. I overheard the Queen and my mother exchanging words that suggested they were thrilled to meet again after such a long time. It was clear they were putting on a show. However, there was no one around to witness this performance.
As for the Crown Prince, he merely exchanged handshakes with my father and Aurelio. To me, it seemed like a facade, a performance meant to uphold appearances. However, when the Crown Prince took my hand and kissed it, I questioned if it was also part of this facade. And where were the third prince and His Majesty, the King?
After all that facade, finally we went inside, and immediately there were some maids in front of us. At once, they were leading us somewhere, passing some hallways. Finally, they led us to a room, and I didn't know why we were inside the palace; I thought the grandeur sparring would be taken outside. As we entered the room, there were some nobles. They all turned to look at us, their eyes filled with curiosity and intrigue.
Out of nowhere, there was a feminine voice, "Finally, the Aurelius is here…"
I saw my father startled hearing the voice. As I looked at the source of the voice, it was a beautiful woman with brown hair standing not dressed in a gown but in light armour adorned with intricate designs. She approached us with a confident stride, her gaze fixed on my father.
As she was in front of us, she looked at Aurelio and me, and said, "Where is the other one?" Her attitude towards my father was so carefree as if my father were just another acquaintance. She even easily tapped my father's back, and she went into the middle of my father and my mother, bumping my mother out.
My mother suddenly said, "Oh, is it Lady Eliana? As always, Lady Eliana never has any courtesy…"
Eliana was her name. I tried to remember that name because neither Adel nor Lady Octavi was here, so there was no one to ask. I tried to remember when Lady Octavi taught me about the kingdom's peerage. While I was trying, suddenly her face was in front of mine.
"Is she the Crown Prince's Bertorhal?" She asked it so casually…
Suddenly, I remembered it—the name of Eliana. She was Eliana Aemilia, the Duchess of Romgardia. Lady Octavi told me that Her Highness Eliana, known for her carefree and lack of courtesy in her court or other courts, even though she had a bad nature like that, had been known for her courage, bravery, and Platina of her heart. She was also rumoured to be a skilled swordswoman; the rumour believed she was the strongest one without transmutation, which indicated her skill and her mastery of the sword. However, the shocking one from Lady Octavi was that she believed Lady Eliana and my father never continued their sparring or 1on1 duel without transmutation again after countless times because both of them didn't want the other side to score; the score between them was rumoured to be tied at an impressive number, as hundreds more. As they kept duelling, Lady Eliana saw my father not like other nobles; it made her more carefree in front of him.
My father answered her, "Yes, she is…" As Lady Eliana stood up in front of him, "How about you find someone to be your betrothal, to cure your bad nature?" Ah yes, I forgot that she was still single at her age, which made her lead her court alone by herself. As my father chuckled at her teasing, suddenly she said something odd and unexpected.
Suddenly, she said, "If the match is you, maybe I will consider it…"
My mother quickly responded, "Add the word 'like', Lady Eliana…If the match is like 'you'…"
Lady Eliana laughed and replied, "Very well, if the match is like you, maybe I will consider it."
My father responded, "Maybe you need to start wearing some great dress, not armour, to attract someone…"
"I thought wearing armour would attract someone like you, who appreciates strength and courage," Lady Eliana retorted with a smile. My mother and father exchanged amused glances, knowing that Lady Eliana was not one to conform to traditional expectations.
Her sight changed to Aurelio, and she said to my parents, "This is the first time Aurelio will be known in the royal court…" My parents nodded in agreement.
After all of that, we walked to the crowd with Lady Eliana beside us. Slowly, we greeted guests one by one, while we were greeting them. I noticed a huge thing, these guests weren't ordinary nobles. My parents called their names or they introduced themselves to us, as their names were a huge deal. All of them were Dukes and Duchesses; all eight dukes were in the room. However, the crowds were being divided into two; slowly I recognised it; it was the divide of power. Yet, my parents didn't join any of these two groups, instead took a distance from them, and Lady Eliana kept around us. At once, I knew there were three groups now; that was why Lady Eliana kept around us because she was by our side.
It meant the eight dukes were divided into three powers; one side had 2 Dukes, one side had 4 Dukes, and lastly, our side had 2 Dukes. After a few moments, finally, there was an announcement from the main door, that the royal family would enter the room. The announcement told the Queen, the Crown Prince, the Second Princess, and the Third Prince would enter the room.
As they entered the room, half of the Dukes didn't take any courtesy or bow to them; however, the one side with 4 Dukes showed their courtesy and bowed to them. The royal family's entrance was met with mixed reactions from the dukes, showcasing the dividing authority and power. Suddenly, I could feel some gaze pierce towards me. I tried to find these gazes, and they were the Second Princess and the Third Prince, who were staring intensely at me. It was the first time I saw the Princess; she had long hair and the same piercing blue eyes as the Queen. The Third Prince had a stern expression with everything that happened and the letter, while the Second Princess seemed curious. As they continued to watch me, I tried to avoid their gaze.
The Queen clapped her hands once they were in the middle of the room. The room fell silent as the Queen began to speak, her voice commanding attention.
She started to speak, "Welcome everyone in this great hall…" The Queen's voice echoed through the room, "May all of you forgive me for the sudden invitation to gather here today. I have called all of you and the other nobles to watch a magnificent show, where it's the first time that everyone in this kingdom will witness." At once, the Queen's gaze pierced towards me, "Firstly, I need to show my appreciation towards the eldest daughter of Aurelius, Aurelia Aurelius, for the magnificent idea and the approval." With that, all the eyes were on me, yet the Queen's speech wasn't over. "This show will be seen as the first step of the betrothal between the Crown Prince and Aurelia Aurelius, solidifying the relationship between our two families and bringing prosperity to our kingdom for generations to come."
Immediately everyone in the room clapped their hands while looking at the Crown Prince and me. However, it was a charade from them; the speech from the Queen showed my family, who gave the idea of the sparring; otherwise, my family and I were being shown as needing attention from the Royal Family.
I could see the Queen showing a little wave of her hand towards me as if to signal me to join her alongside the Crown Prince. As I wanted to take a step forward, suddenly my mother grabbed my arm tightly, silently warning me to stay. My father and Lady Eliana exchanged a knowing glance, understanding the underlying situation.
Out of the blue, Lady Eliana took some steps towards the centre of the room and said to everyone, "May I have the room? I see everyone in here wearing their great dress, yet I am wearing my light armour. Maybe it's just me who wants to watch the show as I am wearing this armour. While all of you are wearing the best dresses to come here, maybe everyone in this room really wants to have a tittle-tattle. So are we here to have a tittle-tattle or watch a show? If we are here to have a tittle-tattle, I will leave this room and join the public who have been waiting outside for hours."
The room fell silent, and trying to control the room, the Queen responded, "What some words, you have said Lady Eliana. As Lady Eliana has said, let's come to the palace grounds, and enjoy the show…"
The Queen and the others left the room, followed by all the dukes. Before leaving the room, my mother showed gratitude towards Lady Eliana.