On the eve of the big battle royale, each combatant involved was forced to attend a banquet in the Imperial Palace.
This banquet is attended by the contestants, the royal family, and the elite of Volaria. As a result, Scarlet, Lily, Eleanora, Tyler, and Sakura were not allowed to attend; however, Ren being a contestant, Lucilia, Ivy, and Aurelia being members of the royal family, and Ashastha, along with Sthora and Laelli, would attend as diplomats. Mae was also allowed to come along due to her status as a genius inventor; however, it was not mandatory for her, so she stayed behind and chilled at the mansion with the others.
Ren was dressed in a black designer suit with dress pants and dress shoes.
"How handsome~" a voice from the side said.
Lucilia and Ivy were both coming out wearing red dresses that matched their eyes. Ivy's dress in particular didn't even attempt to hide her asses, as it stuck tightly to her. Aurelia came out shortly afterwards wearing a white dress with light blue designs on the bottom.
"Where's Ashastha and the others?" Ren asked.
"They will be here soon; they had...trouble with their dresses. After all, it's not easy to make dresses that fit Ashastha's size or that can accommodate Sthora's wings. Same with Laelli." Ivy said.
After a few minutes, the dragon girls finally came out of their room. Ashastha dressed in a long golden dress that fit her perfectly; Sthora came out in a similar colored dress that matched her scales; and Laelli came out wearing a long black dress that went perfectly with her dark raven black hair. Each of them looked beautiful in their own right.
Everyone left the mansion after saying goodbye to those staying, but not with Scarlet, Serenity, and Lily getting some holographic pictures of everyone. Especially them with Ren. Even Eleonora took one with him.
Everyone got into a similar model limousine flying vehicle and set forward to the Imperial Palace.
"So...what can I expect? Ren asked Lucilia, Ivy, and Aurelia.
"Well, first you will be introduced to the crowd with the other competitors; prepare for them to try and get under your skin. The men you will be fighting are all the "golden boys" of their generation. They all think they are at the top of the mountain." Ivy said explaining how they would react.
"You will also meet our siblings...for better or for worse." Lucilia commented on how all of her brothers and sisters should be there.
"As well as the Emperor's other wives...we all hate him though, so don't worry about offending anyone by trash talking him." Ivy said with a smile.
"Except for Serana, she is someone you should not be loose-lipped around." Aurelia said.
"Serana?" Ren asked.
"The Emperor's latest whor-I mean wife. She is still loyal to him for the moment, so be careful around her." Ivy said.
"Seems Ivy is not a fan of this Serana." Ren thought to himself.
"Anyone, this is a simple meet and greet party; it'll be good for establishing friendships with some of the influential nobles in attendance who are not participating in the fight. If you win, your name will become extremely famous." Aurelia said.
"Famous?" Ren asked.
Lucilia responded "Not only will you be married to me, but you will become the first non-noble-blooded winner of one of these events."
"Really? Wait, how many of these have happened before?" Ren asked.
"Throughout history? Hundreds. Recently, three in the past decade." Lucilia responded.
"Three, what were they for?" Ren asked.
"One was for the right to own a moon or something I don't know; it didn't matter much; the other two were for the marriages of two of my older sisters. Artoria and Siena." Aurelia explained.
"So two of your sisters are now married?" Ashastha, who had kept silent in her seat, asked.
"Nope, just one. Siena killed her would-be husband on the eve of their wedding in a duel." Lucilia said.
"This family is brutal..." Ren thought to himself. He thought about how Lucilia and Aurelia acted around him, Lucilia with what she did to Cilan, and Aurelia with how she tortured him and called it training.
"I still can't lay down on my left side..." Ren thought to himself.
"What about your sister Artoria, then?" Sthora asked.
"She's the oldest of us, and she's happily married with two daughters. One of which you will all meet tonight." Aurelia said.
"She's happy in a forced marriage?" Ren asked.
"She was a different case...she tested her husband's candidates by fighting them brutally...at the end, only one of them didn't run away from her; he became her husband shortly thereafter.
"You know your entire family is insane, right?" Ren said out loud in shock.
"We take that as a compliment." Lucilia said.
"Of course you do." Ren said, face-palming.
His reaction got smiles from the others, almost as if they took what he said in stride. Even Aurelia was smiling.
Soon after they continued, they arrived at the Imperial Palace, a giant building surrounded by its own walls from the outside, almost as if it were separating itself from the rest of the world. Inside the walls was the main palace, along with multiple smaller buildings and other private pieces of land, including a farm, a garden, and many other luxuries.
"Wow..." Ren said, looking upon the palace.
"It may look very exquisite and beautiful, but inside it is nothing more than a palace of greed and arrogance." Ivy said, looking at the palace in disgust. It seemed like she was far from fond of being at this place.
Once the limousine landed, everyone got out, and they were immediately the center of attention from the other guests and certain members of the planet's media that were allowed to see them enter, though the media were banned from actually entering the palace itself.
The girls were immediately gathering attention as the crowd started to chant for them, with some guys ogling them with lust and girls with jealousy.
"Yeah...I don't like this one bit." Ren thought to himself.
Ren and the girls got through the red carpet walk and went into the mansion, where there was nothing but exquisite decor in the room. The party was being held in the main hall, where all the nobility and important names had gathered.
Lucilia and Ivy didn't leave Ren's side, as they knew they just walked into the den of a pack of wolves, each of the contestants trying to size up Ren.
"However, at that moment, a woman with long blonde hair and light blue eyes walked up to the group, and she bowed in front of them.
"It is good to see you, Princess, Empress." she said.
"It is good to see you too, Clovia." Ivy said.
"It's been awhile." Lucilia also said greeting the girl who walked up to them.
Clovia looked at Ren. "So this is the man who captured your heart..." Clovia paused, looking at Ren, observing him. "I don't understand why...he's so...basic."
And with three words, Clovia just declared war against Lucilia.
Lucilia didn't hesitate to slap Clovia right across the face, leaving a red handprint on her cheek.
"You bitch!" Clovia yelled out, which earned her another slap right on the same spot.
Clovia wound her hand back to slap Lucilia in retaliation, but was stopped by someone else's hand.
"Sister...let's not do this here."
Clovia backed down quickly, and her brother stood in front of her. "Hello, my name is Ignis Cassius Valgus; I assume you're that...boy from Earth."
"Did he just call me "boy"? Ren thought to himself.
Ren got angry, but Ignis didn't pay him any attention. He bowed in front of Lucilia.
"It is great to see you, Lucilia; you look as beautiful as ever." Ignis said to Lucilia, who was completely ignoring him.
Ignis reached out his hand to grab hers; however, Ren grabbed his arm, pressuring it enough to make Ignis scream in pain.
"You DO NOT touch her." Ren said, threatening Ignis.
Lucilia's eyes started to shine seeing the display from Ren as he stared daggers into Ignis, almost like someone was looking at their prey.
"What the hell is with him?" Ignis said.
However, his ego didn't let him take Ren seriously.
Ignis stood up and said "No matter, I'll kill this mutt soon enough. Lucilia, you will look gorgeous on our wedding day. Be seeing you, Lucilia."
Ren was ready to attack Ignis right then and there, but Lucilia stopped him.
"He's not worth it." Lucilia said, looking at Ignis, who was leaving "But anyway...that was amazing!"
Lucilia was excited to see him being dominant with Ignis; she had never liked how pushy Ignis was, and it was great to see someone he thought was underneath him show such dominance over him. Lucilia looked over at Ignis, who was talking to his sister about his arm, which was now starting to bruise.
Lucilia was not used to seeing this side of Ren, but she has noticed how angry he was earlier when she was being gawked at by the random men in the crowd.
"Maybe I'm rubbing off on him in more than one way..."
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