Fireflies And Butterflies (ON HIATUS)

19║First Talk

Czarina repeatedly poked the peas in her plate, rolling her eyes in irritation as she listened to what the others were saying. She dumped her head into her palm when her father stood up, his cup in his hand.

Qlaus raised his cup. "I would like to make a toast to my two lovely children, Vladimir and Czarina, for coming in first and second in the second race." The table clapped and he pointed his cup at Czarina. "Czarina I'm not surprised because you were born to be a racer. You really did well despite the fact that you had a fifteen minutes delay." He pointed his cup at Vladimir and the young man puffed up his chest in pride and Czarina exhaled heavily, gnashing her teeth. "Vladimir I am surprised that you came in first, seeing as I've hardly ever seen you show any sort of interest in racing."

Vladimir scowled but then smirked. "It's a champion's secret."

"Then safeguard that secret really well. I know you wouldn't want to share it with the world."

"I never intend to," Vladimir said smugly, his eyes straying to Czarina. She narrowed her eyes, and he slowly sat with a wide smirk.

Qlaus hummed and said, "moving on. I would also like to thank our sponsors. Felid, you make an awesome array of deserts. Mamadou, you make the best beverages. Can we give a round of applause for our two lovely food experts?" They did and he nodded. He raised his cup once again before he sat down.

"Hold up," Czarina heard Roy say and she lazily twisted her head to look at him. A funny frown was on his face and he was pointing at himself. "What about me?"

"What did you do?" snorted a man that was close to Roy's family, Cheshire beside him. He had marks on his face that was similar to Cheshire's—they were three horizontal lines on each cheeks. His skin was of a rich black complexion. He folded his lithe hands and cocked an eyebrow. "Did you win anything?"

"No?" Roy looked up and tapped his chin. "I'm supposed to be applauded because my skills makes it possible for everyone to watch everything live."

"And that's helpful in what way?" asked another man and Czarina looked at him. He had deep brown hair and a golden-tan complexion. A woman and a young boy was sitting on each side of him. The trio were the Altin family.

Roy shifted a little in his chair and raised a brow. "I'm sorry Ömer because if it weren't for me your wife and son—everybody—wouldn't have been able to catch everything. Live might I add."

The man snorted and picked up his fork. "Oh what mighty skills. Must be lovely don't you think Azra?" He turned to his wife and she shrugged, chuckling softly. He pointed a thumb at her. "See?"

Roy huffed and tugged at Aidenn's cloth. "Why aren't you defending me?"

Aidenn looked away from the baby in his arms and gazed at Roy. Sincere surprise was written all over his face, his eyebrows almost disappearing into his hairline. "Defend you from what? Are you fighting?"

Roy's whole being sagged and he sighed loudly. He shook his head then straightened his posture. "You do know how to make everything seem boring." Aidenn blinked and he rolled his wrist at him in a dismissive manner. Because it was his prosthetic arm, his child squealed and clapped loudly. He gestured at his baby. "There you go. My applaud."

"From a baby," Ömer deadpanned and Roy glared at him.

The table chuckled and Czarina simply rolled her eyes and continued poking the peas. Everyone's laughter died down when Reine decided to speak.

"Um... Roy... Why aren't you eating? You don't like it?" Reine asked quietly, her face as blank as a plain sheet of paper.

Czarina looked at her uncle's husband and saw him shrug.