If the design of the room where they held their meeting was already luxurious, the place where they held the dinner was even more outlandish.
There were decorative ornaments made of minerals that can't be seen anywhere in this world, heck even the leathers used for the furnitures in the room are unfamiliar to the nobles who had lived and experience luxury their entire lives.
Everything in this room is so rare and expensive that if a common man uses up all the money and valuables that he had gathered his entire life, he probably won't be able to afford to buy even just a single object.
♪♫♫♫♪♪♫♫♪♪♪♫♪♪♪♫
As the female host of royal descent snapped her fingers, the musicians who had dedicated their entire life for the sake of performing started playing.
Then one by one the grand and delectable foods were served, and its smell permeated throughout the room.
Just by smelling its aroma, everyone who were present on the room started salivating, except for the host.
"Now, let's enjoy this feast provided to us by the prince" The host spoke proudly as she raised her glass of wine for everyone.
"For the prince!"
"For the prince!"
"For the queen!!"
"For the king!!! hahaha"
"For the royals!!! hahaha"
"Hahaha!"
The crowd applauded as they accepted the host's magnanimity with open arms, because they had no other choice, even if they knew that this obvious display of generosity was to remind them of their place-
To flaunt the royal's immense wealth, that even if she is very down in the list of lineages, this is where they belong, and this is where she belongs.
...
As everyone was enjoying the appetizing foods and drinks, chatting to further solidify the alliance that they had made, Simon initiated the first dance.
"Estella, may I have this dance?" Simon asked as he tilted his head ninety degrees down and reached out his right hand to the lady, observing the proper etiquette of a noble when a man is to ask a woman for a dance.
But before that, how did we get here? I'm sure you're all wondering as well-
On the corner as Simon gulped down the entire glass of wine that he was holding to calm his nerves he thought that - Exhale! 'This is it; I'm not wasting anymore time; I am not a man if I don't at least manage to ask her out this night.'
Slap! Slap! As Simon slapped both his cheeks at the same time, turning it red, before making his way to Estella.
Yes, that fine woman that is right now confidently socializing with her peers, Estella, which also coincidentally came from the same village as him, she was also the reason why he travelled to the kingdom of humanity aside from his ambitions.
Simon had always fancied her, even when they were kids, he had always tried to interact with her with any chance that he got, but he was never really sure if she shared the same feelings as him or if she was just being nice to him, and he never really confirmed, he did not had the guts to do so, because he felt unworthy of her.
After all who wouldn't be, she held immense talent and potential to reach the top right from birth, meanwhile Simon with just his meager talent barely manage to survive and struggled to foster his own growth.
However, perhaps it is because of his progress that was reached through his hard work and sheer will, or maybe it is because of the spur of the moment, of being too late, of never being granted another meeting with her, of never finding out whether he truly had a chance with her, but he felt confident that night, he felt that he was a little worthy of her.
He did not want to regret his actions any longer no matter the answer, even if it was rejection, he was determined, he had manned up.
He was brave.
The crowd were in shock at what they had just witnessed, some were in awe, some were infuriated as their plan to gather attention had just been ruined, while the others just paid no mind to them.
With their soon to be audience waiting in anticipation Estella thought that, 'Why not? Why not give him a chance? he's not someone I'm unfamiliar with'
"Sure, I don't mind" As Estella took a hold of the hand that was offered to her.
Not knowing that decision of her would forever change her fate.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
At first Simon's dancing was crude, and his techniques rudimentary, it was clear that he lacked practice, even some who were keeping track of them giggled silently at his pathetic display.
"Huhuhu"
"What the hell? Why even ask a woman with skills like that"
"If it was me, I wouldn't even bother dancing with him, I'll probably leave midway"
"Hehehe"
However, Simon did not mind, he did his best to make every minute work, to make it perfect despite his inadequacy.
Tap! Tap!
In turn, Estella reciprocated his intent and tried to match his pace and did her best to fix his mistakes.
There were times when she had to take the lead, treading carefully with each step, hoping that they don't make a mistake and fall, but even if they did, they were ready to pick themselves back up.
They had focused on each other so intently, that they were now alone in their own world, the space and the people around them had been enveloped with shadow of irrelevance, only the two of them were at the spotlight, and no one else could bother them.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
However, on the background there was one guy who let me just say, felt more than unhappy with the scene unfolding before his very eyes.
...
At the end of the banquet, it was time for the final event, the nomination for the new generation of guardians of the nobilities.
It is an event wherein a subordinate or the subordinates of the nobles are granted the right to enter the tower that is being strictly managed by the royals.
The reason for this is simple, every time one successfully climbs a floor of the tower, they are guaranteed to become stronger, although the improvement in strength varies from person to person, aside from that, they are also granted life span for every floor as a reward that varies from species to species.
Most of the subordinates of the nobility that had successfully been nurtured by the tower climbs up to the fifth floor most of the time, which on average grants them the ability to take on a thousand men of the ordinary citizens that dwells outside the tower.
So, after the specific time given to them for climbing the tower expires, they are forced to return back to the nobility that they serve.
They were then promoted into the role of guardians that oversees the territories of the nobles; their sole purpose is to become a super soldier that keeps the people in check and to stop them from rebelling, as they had obviously been turned into a force to be reckoned with.
It is also considered an honor to become a guardian, despite the two disadvantages, as not only are they given longer life spans than normal, but also because of the rarity of each person selected, which most of the time allows their name to be written in history.
Because just the thought of the people singing praises of their name, was enough to let them take the risks.
Currently the amount of guardian a noble can possess depends on how high their ranking is, a baron is allowed to only have one, a viscount is allowed to two, a count is allowed to have four, and so on.
In other words, each time one's ranking rises, the amount of super soldiers one can possess doubles exponentially.
"Now, for the nominees please come here to the stage to receive your seal of duty and obedience" The host announced.
"Go up there Simon" The baron spoke nonchalantly as he took a sip from his bottle of wine.
"M-Me?!!"
...