The Moonlight Swordsman

On the other side,

The Queen, Prince, and the heads of the kingdom's 12 most powerful families sat side by side at the banquet hall's great table, which was reserved for the highest of the high.

The air around them was thick with tension and anger.

"So, are you really not going to consider it again, Harold?" the Queen said.

"I won't reconsider. I don't care what is happening in the kingdom or whatever. I won't rest until I uproot the whole Rosewell family from Xelgar," Harold replied.

"It's set in stone now; just fix the date of the Duel of Vows and get over with this." Leah's Grandfather said.

The prince snorted.

"You both really are idiots.

"Then it is set; after 2 days, your Duel of Vows will be held.

"The location will be randomly chosen by the Queen later and will be informed by letter.

"Now move to the next agenda, recently, this so-called commonist is getting more and more out of hand. They dared to strike Goldwyn's territory and almost burned the whole town.

"If that idiot Soren was not there, it would have already been burnt to ashes by now."

"If I may, prince?" Goldwyn's family head spoke.

"Yes Damian, speak."

"I think we should pay more attention to this now; things are getting out of hand.

"Both I and Anthony have already suffered quite a loss in this,"

Anthony, the head of the Baroth family, shook his head in agreement.

"I already know this, but we can't issue royal mages to solve this problem. It was Father's clear order that it should be solved by you all,"

"Can't you ask the War Goddess or any other high mage?" Raigun Redmont spoke.

"Why don't you do it, Raigun? Aren't you a Grade IV mage?" The Queen replied, looking pissed.

"Vepara doesn't listen to anyone except for the king.

"She will laugh in our faces if we request her to kill some peasants. That's what you want? Then why do we have all of you in the ranks?"

"You all have gone soft, staying in your homes and ruling the territories,

"I miss the old days when we used to only fight with Theodora Kingdom,

"Oye prince, why don't we sneak attack on them, I am sure they are behind all this commonist shit," Yongiri Balthazar spoke.

He was the father of Soren and head of the Balthazar family.

"That, we can't do right now; we have the tournament coming." The prince replied calmly.

"I think we should start the dance and enjoy ourselves for the moment. Don't rush things," Madam Evergreen spoke.

"Absolutely, so who is going first then?" The queen said, looking excited.

"Let's ask the institute mages to go first," the headmaster said.

He motioned a guard over and issued a quick command with a flick of his hand. "Inform all mages in the institute to assume their positions for the dance," he said firmly.

The guard's expression became serious as he quickly acknowledged the order and disappeared to inform the institute's mages to take their positions for the upcoming dance.

Institute mages and their partners stood poised and ready in the center of the ballroom, waiting for the Queen's signal to begin the dance. It took around 10–15 minutes for everyone to come together.

"EVERYONE …"

The queen's hand rose, holding a glass of shimmering red liquid, "You may begin."

*Music*

The orchestra made up of various mystical instruments, began to play. The music they produced was different from what was found on Earth, but the melody was still familiar.

Some of the musicians used their magic to augment the sound, resulting in a genuinely magical experience.

Aizel and Daisy swayed to the music, their movements complementing each other.

While Aizel used his powers to improve his dancing skills, Daisy effortlessly glided across the floor, her every step imbued with grace and poise.

Their eyes locked in a trance-like gaze; their bodies moved in perfect harmony. A spark of chemistry ignited between them.

"Look at my babies! How beautiful they are together," Vespara commented.

Her eyes twinkled with delight as she watched Aizel and Daisy glide across the dance floor in perfect unison.

"Why are you acting like their mother?" Hazel commented.

She wasn't performing because she didn't have a partner. The same went for Soren, well, he was just drinking without a care.

"I trained them, that's why."

****

"So that's the War Goddess' student; he is quite handsome." Madam Evergreen commented.

The royal family and the heads of the noble families were all enjoying the performance at the same time.

The princess had joined them as well, and she was watching the dance with a gentle grin on her face.

"I heard he went toe to toe with Soren. Is that true, Yongiri?" Xavior Valtor asked, he was the head of the Valtor family.

"I already like the guy. He is a battle maniac; I can already judge him," Yongiri replied.

That was not what I asked," Xavior thought.

"Who is the girl with him? She is quite gorgeous despite being a Grade I mage," Yasmine Eudora said.

"She might be his concubine; she is gorgeous; maybe we…

"Let me remind you all, she is going to be on my team.

"I consider her quite precious; I hope you all can understand what I mean right?" The princess interrupted everyone.

All eyes were drawn to the princess, who had just made an unexpected statement.

The inclusion of a Grade I mage on the team for the next tournament was regarded with disbelief and concern.

Many thought it was a stupid decision that would eventually lead to the mage's demise. After all, how could someone with such little experience possibly endure the horrors that lay ahead?

"Sister, are you sure? You know how tough the tournament is, right?"

"So now you are going to teach me how tough it is? Is it me who always takes part or is it you?" She said.

"What about him? You know he is close to the kids and her?" The prince whispered in her ear.

"He doesn't own them. If security and protection are what they want, I can provide much better than him,"