Jade Leywin POV
"Welcome! Please come in" I and Art said at the same time greeting another group of guests as we were currently welcoming all the invitees for Ellie's birthday party
"You shoud try and ask one of them for a dance later" the mother whispered in a not so low tone
"Mom!" the girl just blushed and protested embarrassed
"Ohhh, it must be good to be so popular" we heard a voice say from behind us as we felt 2 presences glaring daggers at us
Turning around I could see Mai and Tessia standing there glaring at us, Mai was wearing a simple midnight blue dress with thin shoulder straps, the dress hugged tightly around her chest and waist before loosening a little in a skirt that went down to her ankles, she was wearing simple white sandals with no heel, no jewelry and little makeup, Tessia was also wearing a simple emerald green dress with no shoulder straps, it had a heart shaped corsage with no cleavage, her dress also went down to her ankles and like Mai she was wearing white sandals with no heel, no jewelry and little makeup
As for Art and me, we were wearing human formal outfits which consisted of a simple suit (mine was black while his was blue) with a white shirt underneath and a pair of brown loafers, Artcs hair have been styled by mom while I removed my earrings and rings
"We thought about keeping our outfits simple since this is Ellie's party so she should be the center of attention" Mai explained
"Oh, well you look great regardless of what you wear" I said
"Compliments aren't going to help you" Mai retorted pouting although I could see a faint blush on her face
"Oh come on, you two know that neither of us have any interest in anyone aside you two" Art declared as he walked up to Tessia and took her into a side hug giving her a quick peck on her cheek
"I know, but I still don't like it when other girls look at you like that" Tessia said sulking
"Likewise" Mai agreed
"Well I don't like when guys ogle at you as well so we're even" I told Mai
"Maybe we should tell director Goodsky to expand the medical ward" Art commented
"Yeah it might be a good idea" I agreed
"I know you two are joking but knowing what you can do it's still quite frightening" Tessia voiced with a concerned expression
"Oh please, we know how to hold back" I said shrugging my shoulders
"Oh so you are planning on beating them" Mai retorted
"Well, yeah" Art and I said at the same time
We continued chatting while welcoming the various guests, some people recognised Tessia and to say they were surprised would be an understatement.
As all the invitees arrived we regrouped in the hall which had been adorned for the party, big decorations were put on the walls and a massive banner which said 'Happy birthday Eleanor' was hanging from the ceiling, several long tables were set at the edges of the room each full of food prepared by the cooks and more than a dozen butlers and maids were constantly crossing the room carrying trays full of drinks
"They're coming! Everyone get ready" dad ran down the stairs and took position in front of them
"I thought we were just having a family party! Why do I have to wear this uncomfortable dress and even more uncomfortable shoes?" I heard Ellie complain
"Slowly" mom told her as she guided Ellie down the stairs, keeping her hands on Ellie's eyes and making sure she wouldn't fall
"This is why!" mom said cheerfully as she removed her hands from Ellie's eyes
"Happy birthday!" we all shouted and Ellie's face turned into pure happiness.
The party was in full swing as everyone was eating and chatting happily, Arthur, Tessia, Mai and me were in a corner of the room talking about our incoming enrollment at Xyrus Academy until a very disturbing sight came into view
A bunch of snotty brats was talking with Ellie and her friends, their intensions clear, I started walking towards them prepared to disintegrate the little shits
"Leave her be, it's her party she should have fun" Mai voiced as she grabbed my arm
"She's free to have all the fun she wants as soon as I get her away from those brats" I retorted
"Agreed" Art said as he also tried to walk towards the brats
"Art, do I have to remind you that we were roughly their age when we got engaged?" Tessia voiced
"That's exactly the problem, she is way too young to date someone" Art replied
Before anyone could say anything else a clinking sound draw our attention, turning around we saw dad clinking a spoon on his glass of wine
"Before the next portion of the party begins I would like to thank everyone here on behalf of my precious daughter, for coming here to celebrate her birthday" dad declared while clearly drunk, Ellie just blushed embarrassed and used her hands to hide her face
"I've been blessed with so much in life but there would be ni greater joy than for my daughter and one of my sons to partake in the first dance" dad continued and at this Ellie's face turned into a mix of panic, fear, shock and anger while mom had a vein throbbing on her temple trying with little to no success to hide her rage at dad'd stunt
"You're bettern than me at dancing, you handle this I'll make sure mom doesn't kill dad" leaning in I whispered to Art
"Okay" he replied as he walked over Ellie and I made my way towards mom
"You do realise what kind of disaster this could be if Arthur wasn't skilled at dancing right?" mom questioned dad angrily reprimanding him and banning him from alcohol for the rest of the evening after Art managed to pull off a perfect show dancing with Ellie
"Good thing he's engaged with a princess" Tabitha commented with a laugh
"What did I miss?" Lilia showed up a little short of breath, she was wearing a long sleeved cobalt blue dress with a large frilled skirt (A.N. I have no idea if it's the right color but it's the same dress showed in the comic)
"Oh, Lilia you managed to make it!" Tabitha said
"Yes, luckily I made it in time more or less"
"Hey, Lilia"
"Hi"
"Good evening"
"Hello"
We all greeted her and she turned around to greet us with a smile on her face, smile that died as she saw Mai with her arms wrapped around my left arm basically hugging it, over the course of the evening she found out this was the most effective way to keep all the girls at the party from asking me for a dance and of course Tessia was doing the same with Art
"Ehm, w-what are you doing?" she asked confused
"Making a statement" Mai and Tessia replied and Lilia made an even more confused face
"Oh right you don't know, ehm Mai and I are engaged" I told her
"Oh" I could see her face stiffen and her eyes welled up a bit "I-I think I'll go give my congratulations to Ellie" she said as she started leaving walking quite fast
"Sigh" Mai facepalmed
"What?" I asked her
"You know for all your maturity, knowledge and intelligence you can be denser than a brick when you want to" she simply commented
"Lilia has feelings for you, from what I could see she had them for longer than I'd known her" Art explained
"Oh, ehm"
"Don't worry, she'll be fine, I know you care for her just not in the way she would like" Tabitha said with a wry smile "You shouldn't worry either Mai, I don't know for you elves but it's not uncommon for us humans that our first love turns into a bittersweet memory, with time she'll be fine"
"Ehm, okay" Mai replied
"Mind if I borrow the lads?" Gideon suddenly showed up and asked for us
"Oh, master Gideon I didn't know you would attend" Tabitha said
"I have a little collaboration on going with these two" Gideon said curtly before dragging me and Art away
"The council approved your designs, a steam powered ship will be constructed in order to reach the other continent and long distance communicators will be mass produced and commercialised soon" he told us as we reached the garden
"Oh, that's all cool" I replied deadpanned
"I guess you were rewarded handsomely for those inventions" Art commented
"Bah, money, power, influence it's all just a tool, what I want is your knowledge" Gideon revealed to us
"I will give you some other blueprints down the line but don't expect anything groundbreaking okay? This continent is doing just fine there's no reason to change it" there's no reason yet
"Alright alright, I won't ask but I want your help in the construction of the ship"
"I believe this is already part of the deal we made" I said, this will make things significantly easier for me
"What about you?" Gideon addressed Art
"Honestly I'm already having second thoughts about the steam engine" Art replied
"Listen let's just make the same deal I made with your brother, I won't ask for anything world changing just a couple of ideas every now and then and some suggestions when I ask in exchange I'll be your personal benefactor okay?" Gideon proposed
"I guess it will be advantageous to have you on my side" Art replied
"So we have a deal?" Gideon asked extending his hand
"Yes, we have a deal" Art grabbed his hand and shook it
_____________________________________________
"Ugh, another dress" Ellie commented exasperated
"Well this one is cute" mom commented
After our talk with Gideon we returned to the party and enjoyed ourselves until midnight when the party ended, we were now in the living room and Ellie was opening her gifts which were all dresses or tea sets so far
"I think it's time for a little change" Tessia declared as she took out a fairly large box from her dimensional ring and handed it to Ellie
"Happy birthday Eleanor" she said
Ellie took the box with sparkling eyes as she thanked Tessia, opening it she took out an elven bow
"Woah, thanks!" she said excited as she tried her new bow obviously without any actual arrow
"My turn!" Mai announced as she handed her a small rectangular box
Ellie opened the box and took out a small stiletto with an extremely thin blade and a finely decorated cross guard
"Ohh"
"This will pair nicely with the bow, if anyone manages to sneak up to you you can use that to defend yourself" Mai explained
"Ellie, remember to always be careful with that okay" mom said a little worried, well we are giving actual weapons to an 8 yo after all
"Big brothers, gift please" Ellie walked up to me and Art and asked for her gifts making her puppy eyes
"Ellie you're being rude" mom reprimanded her
"I'll go first" I said as I also took out a small rectangular box from my dimensional ring
"Earrings?" she said clearly disappointed by the gift, I guess she is a tomboy after all,
"Not regular earrings my little tomboy sister they are artifacts" I clarified and at the word artifact her eyes lit up in excitement
"How do I use them?" she asked
"Once you'll awaken as a mage you'll be able to use them by simply imbuing some mana into them, now for the sake of a demonstration I'll imbue some of my mana" I explained as I imbued a bit of mana in the earrings
"Woah!" Ellie shouted
"Ehm, what happened?" Vincent asked confused
"These earrings primary function is to enhance one's sight allowing you to see across immense distance and zoom in to whatever you want, Ellie try and focus on that vase" I explained
"Whoa it became bigger!"
"This will allow you to see clearly even the farthest target also the other function will allow you to see like in broad daylight even in the darkest environment" I continued
"Where did you find such powerful artifacts?" Tabitha asked
"I made them" I shrugged
"Thank you big brother!" Ellie exclaimed as she jumped up and hugged me
"Okay, now it's my turn" Art said as he took out 2 boxes from his dimensional ring, one of which was finely wrapped, he handed the simple one to mom and the decorated one to Ellie
"Oh for me too" mom said surprised
"Necklace!" Ellie shouted and she looked at Art expectantly
"Sigh, yes those are artifacts too" Art sighed
"What do they do?" mom asked
"They are protective artifacts, if you are attacked they will summon a barrier to protect you and if the barrier breaks they'll teleport you to the safest location you know, unfortunately they will only work once so they're more a last resort than anything" Art explained
"Wow, such powerful artifacts, how much did you pay for them and where did you find them?" Tabitha asked most likely thinking about getting one for Lilia
"They aren't something that can be bought honey" Vincent told her