From afar, two people stood next to each other, observing the scenario unfold. They both held glasses filled with red wine in their hands.
"It seems like youngsters these days are too energetic."
The old man said this while looking at his own reflection in the wine. He was wearing a white ceremonial uniform, with a red cape around his shoulders, that extended to his knees.
Heh
The woman laughed as she gulped down the red wine. She looked at Jaden and Aliana with a smile and spoke modestly.
"Too energetic, indeed."
She was dressed in a ceremonial black uniform, much similar to the male knights. A sword hung from the belt around her waist. Her cape of blue concealed it just a little.
"But... isn't that something that makes it worthwhile?"
The woman leaned her body against the wall behind her. She looked at the two near the stage with warm, dark blue eyes.
The old man was standing right next to her. They could listen to the talks Aliana, Jaden, and a mysterious man were having with the emperor.
"Dear guests, who is in favour of their marriage?"
The unknown man asked as his smile was visible to everyone staring at him. He slowly moved his index finger to his own lips.
"Don't be so afraid."
He was maybe trying to lower the pressure in that situation. His green eyes were visible from under the hood, as if they were glowing.
"Just raise your hands without any fear."
Even though the man said this, no one raised their hands. The Emperor was smiling while looking at their futile struggles.
"GUARDS!"
He ordered his knights to arrest the three people who caused the huge commotion. The guards were already near them. They pointed the spears at their necks.
The crowd was witnessing everything quietly, while the two people standing at a distance were talking amongst themselves.
"This seems bothersome..."
The old man's eyebrows twitched. He sighed as he looked at the woman in front of him. Anger was quite visible on her face. She smiled as her hand reached out for the sword on her waist.
"True enough."
She looked into the old man's sky-blue eyes and smiled. The old man kept quiet for a while.
They had known each other for quite a while now. The person in front of him wasn't someone who would back off once she decided on something.
"Guess there's no helping it."
His eyebrows frowned as he pulled a shiny silver sword out of nowhere. He stood next to the woman.
As their backs touched each other for a split second, the old man let put a sigh. Then, he spoke in a confident, yet, angry tone.
"Guess we need to teach those youngsters to rely on the elders around them."
The old man walked towards the guards with an intention of beating them up. Suddenly, the woman's voice fell on his ears.
"Not yet."
He glanced at the woman beside him just to see that she wasn't there anymore. He heard one more announcement.
"We will begin with the traitor's execution right now."
The emperor had a sinister aura around him. His smile looked evil to everyone present there.
"BEHEAD THEM!"
He raised his hand and gave the command. A guard walked towards Jaden. He pointed the spear at Jaden's neck.
'Ah. It's over for me...'
Jaden thought with hopeless eyes. He couldn't think straight. His gaze fell on Aliana. He couldn't see her face properly.
'Did I ever thank her for saving me back then...?'
He remembered the day they had spent together. Even though it was only for a while, Jaden enjoyed it. Seeing the spear move back to just being thrust into his neck, he tightly closed his eyes.
Clank
The sound of two metals crashing against each other spread throughout the hall. Jaden flinched and opened his eyes.
"Huh?"
He gasped when the blue cape floating in front of him disrupted his eyesight. He couldn't see properly, but the sounds were clear to him.
Thunk
The spear was deflected to the ground. The person cut off the said weapon using the pitch-black blade.
Her tone sounded haughty one as she spoke loudly. Jaden thought that maybe he was hallucinating before death.
"Don't be so hasty, Emperor."
She smiled brightly and spoke in the same manner as Aliana had spoken a while ago. For a moment, everyone was silent.
Jaden was safe from the guard's spear. The crowd would've spoken if not for another unexpected person's voice.
"Kuhahaha!"
The old man laughed loudly. The guards surrounding Aliana were lying on the floor. He looked at Jaden and opened his mouth slowly.
"You should just rely on the elders, young man."
Zap zap zap
A flickering sequence of the sound paraded from a third direction. The guards surrounding the man in his robe went flying along with that.
With a smile on his lips, the man glanced at the Emperor. He raised his hands gesturing how useless the effort he made was.
"You shouldn't leave a magician with his mana unsealed to mere guards."
He said this as sparks of lightning floated around him. He slowly moved close to Jaden before speaking.
"So shall we hear out if anyone wants to support them...?"
He bowed his head while putting his right arm across his chest. The hood covering his head fell off as he moved to stand up straight.
His crimson-red hair that left everyone ensnared, became visible. The green eyes that made him look even more charming, along with the fangs exposed due to his bright smile.
"Who even are you?!"
The emperor shouted with anger. He didn't remember inviting a person with such features to the banquet.
He was expecting him to be some con-artist trying to sneak inside the palace. Before he could utter such claims, the man spoke.
"Ah. Did I forget to introduce myself?"
The invitation card popped out mid-air in front of the emperor. He slowly opened his mouth.
"I am Blaise Edinburgh."
He pointed towards the invitation card that the emperor could see in front of him. He slowly opened his mouth again.
"So who is supporting their marriage?"
Along with the sparks of lightning, flames and water droplets begun floating around Blaise. He smiled while baring his fangs at the Emperor.
Holding affinity for three basic attributes at the same time was something even rarer than holding affinity for a four of them. That would let anyone have the same expression as...
"Huh?"
Cold sweat begun breaking out on the Emperor's forehead. He had seen something unbelievable. What did he read, you ask?
There was the name of the person to whom that card belonged to. The golden letters on it glowed brightly, like the smile the man had on his face.
-[Magic Tower Master, Blaise Edinburgh]
---------------------
'Why are these people here?'
Jaden looked at the back of the person in front of him. Her black ponytail swayed, making the blue ends visible slightly.
His eyes filled up with worries at the unexpected entrance of her. That woman was close enough to notice his emotions clearly.
Not exactly to the one present mentally there right now, but to the physical appearance. She spoke in a calm tone.
"What are you worrying about? Leave it to us."
Julianne turned her head back to take a glance at Jaden. Seeing him unharmed, she let out a sigh of relief.
'This is too different from the original...'
Jaden couldn't put out his thoughts about his novel. In the novel, Julianne was abducted by a demon general.
The reason was uncertain, but she never showed up during future events. But here she was standing while wielding a sword.
'How is she strong?'
Jaden couldn't notice her movements. She was fast enough. If the man older than 40 named Blaine was the second-strongest swordsman within the Brimstone family forces, Julianne was the first-strongest.
She was a genius when it came to swords and martial arts. And the person who taught her that all was also available amongst them.
'What about that person...'
He looked at the old man with dark purple hair standing in front of Aliana. His voice sounded familiar for some reason, but Jaden decided to think about it later.
The rose petals were raining around him. That was the signature magic he could recognise from anywhere.
'Roland isn't supposed to be here either...'
In the original story, Roland Rosenstein died because of an unknown disease. More irregularities were appearing with the passing of time.
'And just who is he...?'
He glanced at the magic tower master. Such a character never existed within the 'Light of Dragonaria'.
At least, Jaden had no memory of writing about him. As he was thinking, a voice echoed throughout the hall.
"House Rosenstein supports their decision!"
Another voice followed it. Julianne was the one speaking after Roland.
"House Brimstone supports their decision as well!"
As Jaden watched over them with confusion visible on his face, Aliana was thinking something else. The grim expression on her face described how her plan hadn't proceeded further.
'Did something go wrong...? Why hasn't that person appeared yet...?'
She tried looking around, searching for someone. She couldn't find the person she was looking for.
"Hahahahaha!"
The Emperor laughed like a madman while putting his hand on the pendant around his neck. The two's unexpected appearance had turned the tables around.
There was no way that the kingdom would effort losing support of the two talented individuals. Not to mention, they had made it till there on their own.
"Very well! I shall allow their marriage!"
The old man had no choice but to agree to their choices. Magic Tower Master was present among them.
If he wanted to bring the royalty, Blaise could actually mobilise all his forces to do so. The old man bit his lips just thinking about that.
'Just you wait...'
The mysterious shackles that were blocking off Aliana's magic faded away. Aliana felt the weight of the air around her decreasing.
Snap
Not wasting the time, she snapped her fingers. She began thinking as pages of paper fell from the sky.
'It's about time he appears.'
She looked at everyone's astonished expressions. A smile appeared on her face.
"I want to make one more proposal."
Aliana said this as she walked closer to Jaden. She lent Jaden her hand to make him stand up.
"I want Crown Prince Lenon to give up his right of succession to the throne."
The hall was left in an uproar upon hearing Aliana's words. It didn't stop with that much.
"You see..."
A cold air began emanating from the entrance. Everyone's bodies froze with a terrific atmosphere that befall the hall.
"The papers you people are seeing right now are the papers with evidence about illegal businesses done under the name of Lenon Dragonaria."
People observed closely at the papers raining down. Lenon's signatures were visible on them.
The air around them got a bit more colder. Was it because of the papers, or the nightfall, or...?
"And the people working there ended up kidnapping some kids."
The banquet felt a huge tremor, as if the ground was shaking. Aliana continued to speak.
"The father of those kids is angry."
Bammmm
She had just said that when the huge entrance door went flying. It turned into thin dust before hitting anyone nearby. Black flames spread in the air.
The cold voice that everyone heard made them feel a splitting pain in their head. Most people were bleeding from their ears.
"Who was it?"
A man with a bulky body stood in the middle of the entrance. As he opened his mouth, the cold air continued to become even colder.
He didn't wear anything covering his upper body. He only wore a white pant and a garment made out of black fur around his neck.
"Who dared to touch my children?"
The Emperor could feel the killing intent directed towards him. If he hadn't done anything, he would've died soon.
Huff huff
Breathing heavily, the Emperor reached out for the pendant around his neck. The light glowed and blocked off the man's magic.
"T-this is what happens when you..."
The cold air was no longer spreading throughout the hall. But something was weird.
The Emperor's mouth shut as the man suddenly disappeared. Thw man's well-maintained body, that had a beautifully carved structure, vanished from his sight.
"Oh my. I never thought I would see this toy here."
The man appeared in front of the Emperor out of nowhere. When did he reach there?
They were standing at quite a distance just a moment ago. And the very next moment, the man was in front of him.
"The likes of you don't need it."
He slowly touched the pendant with the tips of his long nails. The pendant, which had a red gem, turned into dust.
The man looked into the Emperor's eyes coldly. The blood was trickling down the Emperor's eyes just because of the man's voice.
"Who was it...?"
The Emperor could feel his consciousness fading. He tried to stay awake by biting the insides of his mouth.
Blood flowed down his lips. He could see the man's black hair and golden eyes.
Tower Master Blaise was observing this situation calmly. He never moved a bit.
'What a carzy person...'
He stared at Aliana with a blank expression. He knew she had something to do with what was unfolding within the banquet hall.
It wasn't a simple assumption, but based on what she had said. It was certainly her work.
'Hah... I'll ask her questions later..."
Jaden was also aware that everything was related to Aliana in one way or another.
"Mister. Mister."
Blaise fliched because of the voice that came from behind him. He turned around to find some unfamiliar people.
"Are you friends with our sister?"
Lyle said this while pointing at Aliana. Blaise was about to speak, but he could feel the killing intent that the man was directing towards him.
"Lyle! Come here!"
Lilia pulled Lyle by his ears after saying that. She continued to pull Lyle, who was crying with pain, towards Aliana. Jaden was next to her.
"Papa! We've found them! So come here!"
Lilia shouted loudly while letting go of Lyle's ears. Those words were directed at the man who was near the Emperor.
But the man didn't move an inch. Aliana waited for a while before opening her mouth.
"Aliana Rosenstein pays respect to the Dragon King Solas."