As we strolled along the exotic garden heading toward the north wing of the palace, where the lords resided and where the banquet was to be held, my mouth started watering as my mind began to wander off, imagining all sorts of delicious dishes on offer tonight.
When we arrived not long after, a butler greeted us and ushered us into the drawing room, which was tastefully furnished and decorated, very much like a drawing room in a French castle during the Georgian period.
After I had satisfied my curiosity of the room, I turned my attention to the lords, who were currently talking about the national topic, which very much interested me. I heard something about Wulin and conferences, which I had been invited to come along by Lord Geoffrey. So of course I was interested.
Lord Geoffrey, dressed once again all in white, was very alluring. He was sitting in an armchair, one leg crossed over the other, as he chatted with Lord Noah, who was also dressed all in white. They both looked gorgeous and, even more so, intriguing with those masks on their faces.
Lord Felix was having a friendly—at least I thought it was friendly—argument with Lord Aaron. Obviously, it had something to do with their soldiers. Once again, they both wore dark garments in the military style, though they each exuded auras of different characteristics. While Felix gave out a dark, sinfully alluring impression, Aaron, on the other hand, gave out a boy-next-door sort of feel, to me at least.
Lord Victor, also in white tonight, was talking to Lord Ethan, whom I had yet to officially met. Meanwhile, Lord Caleb, dressed all in black, was watching me—I felt his gaze even though I was kind of hiding behind the girls.
Having his undivided attention on me, despite the fact that we were across the room and quite far away from each other, made me feel all flustered. I licked my lips, my mind once again flashing back to that night at Butterflies Paradise when he had passionately kissed me.
The girls walked up to the lords and curtsied low, which drew the lords' attention.
Lord Geoffrey said in delight, "Aria, Leona, Brenna. Don't you all look beautiful tonight."
Aria said, "Thank you, my lord."
Lord Geoffrey said, "Rise." And the girls straightened up and lifted their heads.
Then Lord Geoffrey turned his attention to me and said, "Alfie?"
With my name being called out, I stepped forward and saluted all of them. "My lords."
Lord Geoffrey said, "Don't you look fetching tonight, Alfie."
I blushed, touching the tip of my hat subconsciously. Suddenly, Felix got up from his seat and came over to me. Before I could react, the lord wrapped his strong arm around my shoulders, his masked face close.
He said, "You look adorable tonight, little elf, just like a young military officer."
I attempted to remove his ironlike arm from my shoulders as I said, "Thank you, my lord, for the compliment."
Lord Geoffrey said, "Alfie?"
"Yes, my lord?" I answered sweetly.
Lord Geoffrey chuckled. "You haven't yet properly met Lord Ethan Sherwood, have you?"
I shook my head. Then I turned to face the lord with golden-blond hair and blue eyes who was obviously staring at me intently as if I were a suspicious person.
I saluted and said, "My Lord Ethan." Of course, Felix still had his arm wrapped around my shoulders, so I couldn't do a proper salutation.
Lord Ethan got up from his seat and came to stand inches away from me. He narrowed his eyes as he scrutinized me up and down, which made me a little nervous.
Felix said darkly, "That's enough staring, Ethan."
Lord Ethan ignored Felix and smirked at me. He said, "You are a pretty little thing, aren't you, Alfie? Damned pretty enough to fuck. No wonder they're fighting over you."
I could only stare at him, dumbfounded. This was the very first time we officially met, and that was what he decided to say to me? I am damned pretty enough to fuck!
I obviously didn't know how to reply to that. I licked my lips and then said instead, "Nice to meet you, my lord," as if he had just said hi to me. I took a deep breath and got my wits about me. I began. "But I'm a boy, sir, so you can't possibly do that sort of thing to me."
Lord Victor said from a small distance away, "Don't mind him, Alfie. Ethan is as boorish, vulgar, and as crude as they come, but he doesn't mean any harm. He always speaks his mind."
Ah, so this Lord Ethan Sherwood was that sort of man, was he? The blunt, coarse sort of man with no hidden agenda. The type to speak whatever was on his mind without a care in the world.
Suddenly, he leaned his face even closer and started sniffing at me. I noted that his sky-blue irises were dilating as he stared at me. "Your smell..."
Felix's palm appeared on Lord Ethan's masked face as if by magic, and a moment later, the man was pushed back. "Get lost, Ethan. Stop bothering my little elf."
Aaron stood at that moment, as if he was agitated. Before anyone was the wiser, he was beside me, got hold of my hand, and pulled me out of Felix's arms. He said, "Stop claiming Alfie as yours already, bastard Felix. Now, I'm starving. Let's eat."
With that, he led me toward the door.
Behind us, I heard Felix say, "That bastard Aaron."
Across the hallway, Aaron led me into another elegant room. This one had a long table that was beautifully set up with lit candles, bouquets of flowers, wine glasses, silver plates, and cutlery.
Aaron pulled out a chair for me, which I supposed meant that he wanted me to sit there, right next to him. Of course, that was fine with me, and I obediently took the offered seat. As Aaron proceed to sit down on his own seat to my right, Felix appeared on my left and claimed that one. A moment later, there was loud hustling and bustling as everyone entered the room.
At the head of the table was Lord Geoffrey, which didn't surprise me because he was the head of the kingdom. To his right was Aria, his ward, while to his left was Lord Noah. Next to lord Noah on the left was Brenna, his pretty assistant. Then beside Brenna was Caleb, who was sitting opposite me. I noted once again that his eyes never left my face from the moment he sat down. Nervous as I was at receiving so much attention from him, yet having not heard one word from him, not even a simple hello for a greeting, I gave him a bright smile and even waved as if we were best friends and seeing each other for the first time in ages. I thought I saw a dark glint in his eyes but wasn't sure. Of course, I wondered why he was so quiet tonight.
Next to Caleb on the left sat Leona, who was currently busy talking to Lord Ethan who was beside her. Back on my side of the table, to the right of Felix, was Lord Victor, who suddenly leaned back—bypassing Felix behind the back—and tapped on my shoulder.
My attention was caught, and I turned to him with a raised brow.
He said, "Hello, little one."