"Prince Solon and Lady Orphelia."
'Look who finally decided to show up.'
I was already in the grand ballroom with Camille, honestly speaking she wasn't that bad of a person once you got past her silver tongue. Not to mention she looked absolutely stunning in her halter neck dress.
She chose to go with a cherry red color that blended surprisingly well with her brunette hair, which, was tied into a textured low bun with a few loose curls dropping in front her face.
"Stop staring at me so much."
I would have mistaken this statement as annoyance if not for the light blush spread across her face.
"Oh~? Apologies I was temporarily mesmerized by the beauty of my date."
"J-Just try not to let it happen again."
I smirked.
"No promises~."
Naturally I wasn't one to be outdone. I had opted to go with a more sleek look, black trousers with a longer than average wide lapel blazer that had bronze rope trimmings. Under the blazer was a black vest and white undershirt; For contrast I went for a white cravat instead of a tie. To complete my ensemble was a fur lined mantle that draped over my left shoulder.
'Simple and elegant, I already turned a few heads.'
"What are you thinking about?"
Camille had her head tilted to the side, she looked rather cute in that pose.
"Just thinking about what's gonna happen tonight."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Just a hunch, but I haven't really seen any of our teachers since the event started."
She seemed to gain a contemplative look after my words.
'Strange.'
Camille, being a repeat student of the second year should know more about what's going on than me. But I doubt it would make sense asking her, she seems like the type to be a stickler for the rules.
"Now that I think about it, you're actually right for once."
'That would be believable...if not for the fact you didn't look surprised in the slightest.'
I gained a teasing look on my face, fully intent on annoying Camille to the fullest.
"*Gasp*, C-Could it be? You actually gave me a compliment. "
"Sigh, This is why you can't give a dog a bone."
'Tch.'
Momentarily shifting my attention from mine and Camille's banter, I saw Alan and Leon in the distance. Leon had a date with some random I'd never paid attention to before, and from the looks of it, he definitely wasn't enjoying his time.
Alan on the other hand, seemed to be surrounded by beauties that were trying to curry his attention. However, something about that threw me off. From what I've seen of Alan I created a character profile of him in my head, and he was the type of person to show a smile even to people who made him uncomfortable; so for him to have a serious expression looking as if he was on edge was alarming to me.
'Please let my gut feeling be wrong.'
"Camille."
"Hah, what now Dirius."
"How about we go over there?" I pointed to where Alan and Leon were.
Coincidentally that also happened to be directly infront of a serving tray filled with champagne and wine glasses. Noting that it seemed that Camille misunderstood my intentions.
"Seriously? You want to drink already before the event even officially starts."
Whilst I could go for a drink, something told me it wasn't the time for that. Whatever it was that seemed amiss in this ball required me to be completely sober.
'That being said it would be easier to say I wanted a drink instead of telling my hot date that I wanted to go there to talk to men, even if those men happen to be my friends.'
"Pleaseee~? Just one glass I promise."
Utilizing my otherworldly, jade like beauty with sword like eyebrows and chisel- my bad. Utilizing a puppy face I pleaded with Camille knowing that she'd be unable to resist.
"No."
'Huh?'
Seeing the look of confusion on my face, Camille reiterated her decision.
"No. I can't have you embarrassing me here."
Right, there was no way she'd let a man known for causing problems when drunk to have a drink.
"How about this then, we go for a singular glass and you finish half of mine?"
She seemed to ponder on it for a moment.
"You really want to drink don't you?"
I nodded my head vigorously
"*Sigh*, Fine. Don't go back on your word though."
"I swear it."
'Curse you Dirius.'
***
We made it to the drinks quickly, considering it wasn't particularly far from where we were beforehand.
Picking up a glass of champagne, Camille stopped me yet again.
"Hey, are you really sure you want to drink that?" Her distress seemed to grow more and more evident ever since we made it here.
Cocking my eyebrows I replied to her.
"Yes, why?"
"No reason."
"Really now? You seemed to be on edge ever since I mentioned getting a drink."
"I just..don't want you to embarrass me."
"Riiiight, you said that before. But you and I both know a singular glass of champagne wouldn't do more than getting you tipsy. So again, any particular reason as to why you don't want me drinking?"
She grew quiet after my analysis. 'Figures. I knew she wasn't the type to give up information just like that. Well as much as it pains me to say, it's not like I had any intentions of drinking this anyway.'
Without wasting any more words I walked up to Leon and Alan with a playful smile glued to my face.
"Leon! Alan! A fine night tonight isn't it."
Leon's mood seemed to brighten a bit at my presence. 'Damn is his date really that bad?'
""Dirius/ Dirius!""
A cold response and a warm one, their unison could fit perfectly in a choir. Smirking a little I responded.
"Sup."
.
.
"Soooo Alan. Where's your date? Is it one of those girls I saw swarming you? I already saw Leon's date, which surprisingly, wasn't Orphelia?"
My statement about Leon's date was laced with a knowing sarcasm, his face seemed to contort a bit when he heard me yet..he didn't say anything. 'He must really be feeling down.'
"Ah, no. My date wasn't any of them, she's just running a little late right now."
Speaking of dates, Camille hadn't said a word since we left the beverage stand. She was just silently glaring at the glass in my hand, which, I had yet to take a singular sip from.
"Oh~? So who's the lucky lady then?"
"Lillith Etson."
'As in the smut reading perv? Why the hell does everyone seem to know her.'
"Mm, so do y'all have a thing going on or what?"
He quickly shook his head denying my words.
"Nah, not anything like that. She just asks me to go with her every year so the guys don't swarm her."
'Tall buff guy who acts like a puppy. I can see it.'
"Ah so like mosquito repellant."
He chuckled at my words.
"Does that make you two classmates then?" Leon chimed in.
"Yeah it does. We've been friend ever since our second year."
As much as I loved the small talk, that wasn't the reason I was there. Gaining a serious look I turned to Leon to prod his insight.
"Onto a more serious note, Leon. Have you noticed anything strange about tonight?"
My goal in provoking Leon's intuition was to make it easier for us to interrogate Alan. If the two of us noticed enough discrepancies it would be easier for us to drag an answer out of him.
"Now that you mention it I have. Where are all the second year teachers?"
"I noticed that they were missing earlier. But that isn't the strangest thing though. Why are all the upper years constantly sneaking glances at us?"
"You're right, but it's not just us. I've seen them watching all the second years."
'Perfect. Thanks for the setup Leon.'
Turning my attention to Alan I asked.
"Do you happen to know anything about thi—
BROOM
the lights cut off.
'Fuck.'