The princess felt his gaze on her and she was very satisfied when the man almost forgot to breathe at her sight.
She greeted her mother and siblings as per court protocol,got herself a drink from the tray of a passing by servant and walked straight to the man that she was waiting for so long to see.
Unfortunately this was a banquet filled to the brim with nobility and dignitaries so it took them a while to finally talk as there was always someone stopping them to exchange a few words.
-Well Admiral,you sure took your sweet time to come and see me.
Was the first thing she said when they finally met.
She was of course joking,as this was an extremely fast time to achieve so many things.
-Your highness.I have been a little busy lately and I'm sure you can forgive me for this little delay.
Simon also said joking.
-I might if you ask nicely enough.
She smiled charmingly,making Simon's heart go into overdrive.
-I might do way more than just ask for your forgiveness.
Simon whispered into her ear,making her blush.
-I can't wait to see how you are going to persuade me to forgive you.
She said coquettishly,only loud enough for him to hear.
They were both flirting without a care in the world.
The empress saw her daughter chatting happily with the human and after taking some time she had to admit that they were looking great together.
There was also someone who was not happy seeing Alesia smile so charmingly while speaking with the alien admiral.
Irio Xanzi was getting jealous as he never had such a favor with the woman he loved.
She would acknowledge him as the grandson of the prime minister and her brother's friend but she never approached him and if he approached her then she would only talk to him neutrally.
The princess never smiled for him like she did for this accursed human and that was enough to make him mad from jealousy.
Alesia and Simon were catching up on the last two years when she spotted Irio walking their way with an angry look on his face.
-It seems that there might be some problems.
She warned Simon.
-Oh. Do you mean that someone will try to piss me off today?
His innocent voice didn't fool her even for a moment.
Simon automatically slightly shifted his stance into a bit more aggressive posture to scare away anyone who wanted to interfere with their chat.
Anyone who looked at the Terran Admiral right now had a shower crowl up their spine.
Fortunately for the young Elani nobleman he was stopped by princess Inia before he could reach the couple.
- Irio Xanzi you better stop right now,if you create a scene the empress will deal with you and if she won't then I will.
He was rooted in place after hearing those words which by the way worked like a bucket of cold water on his hot head.
-I'm sorry princess Inia,I just wanted to introduce myself to the admiral.
He used an excuse to justify himself.
-I don't care ,but if you didn't notice this human is now on guard and I bet that the moment you try something stupid he will put you in your place.
Wait for the duel if you want to stop him from seeing my sister but the way I see it you already lost.
Even if you win the fight,there is no way that Alesia will magically fall in love with you.
She never showed any signs of interest in you so why do you try so hard to win her over?
Inia had had enough of Irio chasing after her younger sister even when Alesia told him straight that she has someone she loves.
-You know that I love Your imperial sister and I would do anything for her.
This human isn't even a noble,what does he have that i dont,what is the difference between us other than the fact that he saved her life when she crash landed.
Princess Inia was speechless,This guy was an idiot.
-The difference is that all you have accomplished was given or helped by your grandfather and this human managed to not only escape from the junk planet in a ship that he built himself but also unify his planet and help its technology progress a few centuries in only four of our years.
Add to that his victories in battles and now he became the Admiral at such a young age.
Can you do the same on your own and without the help of your family?
Inia decided to point out all the achievements of a human and she was sure that in the same situation as Simon,Irio would probably die or live a meager existence.
The first princess approved of the human as he was a reliable man that didn't wait for everything to be given to him,instead he worked hard to get what he desired and he already proved his capabilities many times.
-So he built a ship and stole some technology from the planet sized junkyard.
If that is all he can do then how is he any better than me?
Irio refused gave in.
-Could you build a cruiser from scrap? Could you get rid of the pirates from a whole sector of space? Could you catapult our whole species centuries ahead technologically?Could you help build a star nation that rivals our empire within four years?
Inia asked angrily,she was really losing her patience with this moron.
Irio couldn't answer her because deep down he knew that there was no way for him to match the human's achievements.
-At least I'm a noble from one of the great houses of our empire.
He said, trying to save some of his shattered pride.
-He is one of their highest ranking military commanders and he worked for it.
You were born into nobility so that is no achievement.
That was the truth that hurt his pride the most.
She implied that without his status as a noble he was nothing and he couldn't refute her.
He was of course a warrior and he also worked hard for it but so was the human and if the rumor was true then the admiral was proficient in hand to hand combat as well as in armed combat.
-Now calm down and don't spoil the party by creating a scene.
Inia said,turned around and left.
In the meantime Alesia saw what her sister did and was grateful for her intervention.
-It looks like my sister handled the problem before it started.
She said with a happy smile.
-That's great as it would be inappropriate for me to kill that guy here and now.
Simon joked.
-He will probably come tomorrow to challenge you personally.
Alesia said.
-Good,the sooner I get rid of him the sooner I can return your pendant.
Simon smiled as he now understood the significance of her gift to him.
-Be careful with that as I don't know what they are planning but I'm sure that they have figured out a way to even the odds or give that guy an advantage over you.
She was sure that there was a plan in motion to get rid of Simon once and for all.