The Majarlican Demigod

The Queen's Banquet

The Majarlican Demigod

Chapter 22: The Queen's Banquet

Talia was awakened by Zephyra's movement, who obviously couldn't see Grimreaper. Grim disappeared, but Zephyra insisted that she had seen him. Of course, I know she did, but explaining details to this kid is challenging.

I was able to convince my sister to just ignore what she saw by going to sleep. When I wake up, it's almost afternoon.

"ALLLLLLLYY!!!!!!" Zephyra busted into my room, followed by the maids who were trying to stop her.

This is the day of the Queen's birthday celebration.

"Father is taking me to the ball, Ally!" Zephyra excitedly told me as I sat on my bed twirling in her massive powder blue ball gown.

"Lady Ally, we have prepared 3 gowns for you to choose from." One of the palace servants said.

The gowns were worn by the mannequins on the side. One is a white and gold ball gown. I know it's perfect for my skin tone. Then, in the middle is a shiny red satin A-line gown, which is a whole lot simpler and easy to wear. And the third one looks like a garden-themed violet dress. It has a black butterfly design.

"Oh my gosh!" Talia said as she walked to the third gown, "Can I have this… magnificent, lovely, violet dress?"

I knew that Talia would fancy that violet dress.

"Yeah, go ahead," I stood up and walked to the gowns.

I looked closely at the white and gold ball gown. It seems grandiose and has too much of a Centralian flag. While the red dress has a nude sleeve, it's simple but classy and exudes elegance.

"I'll wear this red one," I told the maid.

"That's quite peculiar, my lady. You always pick a white dress because you say it's clean and easy on the eyes," she asked.

"It's time for a change, a guess," I shrug.

She signaled the other guy to remove the mannequin, "I guess you are right, my lady. Your breakfast is ready."

"Thanks. I'll have that for a moment." I responded, and the newbie servant left.

"I'm SO excited, Ally!" Zephyra continued, "Do you think Daddy will let me study in Centralis?"

"You're just attending a birthday party, then suddenly you're talking about going to the school of lawmakers." I replied, "But you can ask Father about it."

"I want to see what the Crown Prince looks like," she added.

"You better not embarrass yourself there later because if you do... You will embarrass the whole West." I warned her as I checked the red gown.

"Of course!" she walked out of the room.

"Ally, I'm super excited to get to the ball! I'll fit this dress now." Talia takes the dress off the mannequin.

The emperor's palace is a 4-hour trip from the West, so we must get ready at noon. I decided to have my hair done by curling its end length, parting it in the middle, and pushing the hair back with flowery clips. I'm happy with the final look... It's nothing like I'm a West. I pinned the brooch of the first district's lady on the left part of my chest. Talia has her hair tail braid that matches her violet gown, and Zephyra is smiling ear to ear, wearing the blue ball gown with silvery gloves and a big bow on her hair tied in half. We left our home with my father.

We finally reached the Imperial Palace-- it's stunningly big. You can see the high-rise towers from afar. The palace looks very enchanted and amusing. It's already getting dark, so the road is lighted by thousands of tiny fairy lights and fireflies. There's a lot of security as our carriage and other invited guests enter the palace.

Father got out of the carriage, and we followed him when the carriage was parked. Zephyra went with Father and his assistant while Talia and I walked with our scrolls. We made it through the guards' post, and the grandiose lobby welcomed us with many royalties.

Scheming through the crowd, I'm the only person wearing this color since we are in Centralis. We entered the ball and saw the majesty from the balcony where the imperial family was, except for Rupert. I feel so overwhelmed.

"Excuse me," a guy bumped into me, "I see you're from the West, right?"

"Yes." I bowed.

"Hi! I'm...—"

"I'm junior councilor Brighton Salazaria, and I'm with the lady of West. She's not interested."

I turned my head to where I heard it.

"Brighton?" I'm surprised, "That gentleman is a son of a noble. My father would be in trouble," I told him.

Brighton is wearing metallic yellow clothing tonight and has a different hairstyle.

"There are more important things you need to attend to than getting to know all these people," Brighton responded, "I need to tell you about an important matter." Then, he drew closer to me, "Artes is here." he whispered.

"What? Where? How d...–"

"He has planted explosives under the bridge. We need to do something to prolong the guests' stay here while we remove all those explosives." he continued whispering. "I have relied on the information to the Pandoras and Hans. I need you to tell it to the crown prince."

We walked further towards the center to look for Rupert. He's with his mom and the other members of the imperial family.

"Do everything you can, or everyone here will die," he continued.

This person is determined that Artes is here, and I am at a loss for words.

"Before I do that, how can I be sure that whatever you say is true? How were you able to find out that Artes is here?" I asked.

"I am the one that was sent to protect you, whom you have been looking for," he answered.

(To be continued)