Charity Event (2)

"Our Royal Highnesses of the Great Esnaria!" The announcer soon bellowed causing the loud and lively crowd to quieten down.

Once the level of noise had reduced, the announcer continued his words, "Crown Prince Isadore, Prince Quinten, Prince Emory and Princess Cicely!"

Soon, the wide doors opened to reveal the princes' and princess. Olivia couldn't help but look at them along with everyone else. Of course, for a complete commoner like her, she would've never dreamed of setting her eyes on the royal family, let alone being within the same vicinity as them.

Now, right in front of her, were the royal children of Esnaria.

And true to the rumours, they were quite the good-looking bunch. All four of them were decked out in their most regal clothes, with the princes having their medals of honour displayed on their chests and the sharpest of swords hanging off their belts, while the princess looked elegant and demure as could be. Her cheeks were a nice rosy red and her graceful smile felt like a breath of fresh air. The princes' were no different either, they stood there tall and proud, with not one bit of shyness. They either sported an indifferent expression or were serving smiles to the young girls in the crowds.

After the announcement of their arrival, the crowd went back to its original liveliness, if not with even more vigour than before. The princes and princess had also moved forward and began to mingle with the nobles, greeting one another left and right.

Once the novelty had worn off, Olivia no longer kept her eyes on the royal children and soon moved her attention elsewhere.

"What do you think?" Eli suddenly asked.

"Think of what?"

"I presume that Miss Olivia has never seen the royal family?"

"Indeed, I have not."

Olivia looked over at the Crown Prince who was currently laughing along with a group of nobles, a charming smile playing on his lips. She felt it was a rather unusual sight, for someone that was used to looking at his unmoving face on paintings, it was now a bit peculiar to see that same face come to life in front of her.

Olivia moved her gaze back to the young smiling man in front. His eyes sparkled as he waited on her elaboration.

"They seem… normal."

Eli paused for a moment before asking, "Normal?"

"In that, I've just realised there's not much actually different between us. The only glaring contrast is their last name," Olivia explained. Now that she had seen them, she could no longer understand this large distinction between the royal family and commoners.

If anything, do they not bleed red too?

Eli stilled for a moment as his eyes widened at Olivia's bold statement. Once her words had sunk in, he couldn't help but give a chuckle.

"Miss Olivia definitely has a unique view."

Olivia suddenly froze at his statement before giving an uneasy laugh. She had become so accustomed to speaking her mind in front of Alexander that her terrible habit had come out in front of other people. Alexander was one of the few people that she regularly divulged her thoughts to, mostly because he knew a lot of her own secrets and most importantly because she felt comfortable in doing so. Eli, however, was not the same. She had seemingly forgotten that the man in front of her was a noble, a noble that was a subject of the king.

She slowly looked up at Eli and gauged his reaction, looking for any emotions of anger, rage or despise on his face, but what she came across was the soft harmless smile of a young man. The same smile that she was used to, and one that he always gave her when they were talking.

Once she was sure that he did not mind her outlandish thoughts, she finally relaxed. Although she wasn't exactly afraid of saying what she thought, she was undeniably currently standing on the king's turf and such words wouldn't be the best of things to be said out loud, especially in the palace.

Alexander continued to watch over the pair as they conversed with each other. For some reason, he felt extremely irritated as he stood there, gulping down the drinks as they came, yet it had no effect on him. Like drinking mere water.

He didn't quite know why he felt this way, neither did he know how to abate this feeling either.

His crimson eyes darkened as he stared deeply at the wine glass in his hand. Unintentionally, the laughter of Olivia and Eli drifted in to his ears causing his frustration and annoyance to rise.

"Alexander… it's been some time," A soft and gentle voice broke through his chaotic thoughts.

He looked down to see a woman standing in front of him. Her black her was coiled in numerous ringlets accentuating against her rosy cheeks. As Alexander continued to stare at her, those cheeks grew increasingly redder as the seconds ticked on.

"Miss Rayburn," Alexander greeted.

"Please, call me Agnes," The woman blushed further.

"Agnes, then. It truly has been a while," Alexander had for some reason continued the conversation.

"I haven't seen you attend the recent ball parties that have been happening. Are you well?"

Although Agnes was speaking to him, Alexander couldn't help but follow along with the conversation near him instead. His finger circled around the rim of his cup as his ears picked up on their conversation.

"I heard you donated a few paintings, Eli," Oswald, another young noble, had at some point joined in their conversation.

"Only a few bits and pieces that I had made in my spare time. I had nowhere to place them so I thought to bring them along here," Eli affirmed Oswald's speculation as he took an elegant sip of his drink.

"I didn't know you were a painter," Olivia remarked.

Eli brightened up slightly at her comment, "The one's that I had brought with me today are a few that I had painted on a whim so please do not think too highly of them. One day I'll bring you to see my other paintings."

Oswald watched on as Eli spoke softly to Olivia, his expression hidden behind the glass he was drinking from. When he first came over, he didn't think much of this 'Miss Olivia'. Her clothes were clearly of commoner status and not befitting of this type of function albeit having a rather pretty face, but such things did not mean much to him thus he didn't pay any attention to her. Yet, seeing how Eli treated the woman, Oswald could not help but look upon her once more.

"Then, I'll look forward to when that day comes," Olivia gave Eli a smile, accepting his invitation.

"Why don't you hold a gallery?" Oswald suggested as his brown eyes flitted between the two of them.

Eli scratched his chin while he thought, "Indeed, it has been some time since I last held one. I should host another in the near future."

He looked down at Olivia, his eyes softening as the thought of her looking and gazing upon his paintings caused a sense of joy to run through his veins.

"…Alexander?" Agnes' hesitant voice shook Alexander out of his eavesdropping.

Agnes could not help but gasp slightly once her black eyes met those extremely dark crimson one's. She almost stumbled backwards from shock at his expression but when she looked back at him a second time, there was no such thing seen on his face.

Did she imagine it?

"Sorry, you were saying?" Alexander spoke in a cool voice.

Agnes quickly gave a smile once more, forgetting the puzzling moment that had just occurred, "I was wondering why you hadn't attended many ball parties as of late."

"I've been rather busy," Alexander replied as calmly as possible.

He truly didn't know why he felt so irritated and annoyed at the moment. One thing he did know however, his irritation lied with the pair beside him.

"Ah, is that so? Do make sure that you don't work yourself too hard. A break is needed for the mind once in a while," Agnes sincerely worried and advised him.

Once she thought of her words however, she suddenly blushed a deep red.

'What am I saying! I almost sound like his…wife.'

Agnes looked up at Alexander in anticipation but all she saw was the vampire focusing deeply on the cup in his hand. Slowly, the smile on her face dimmed slightly as she couldn't help but feel a small bit of disappointment. Unfortunately, she didn't have any time to dwell on that as someone had announced another arrival.

"In the name of the Supreme King of Esnaria, His Majesty Roman Arundell and his Queen Evangeline! Loyal subjects, bow to your King!"

Soon the room fell into silence as two people slowly walked into the room. Once the duo stopped, everyone soon bowed their heads.

Olivia looked around and quickly bowed her head as not to stand out.

A low voice soon rang, "Lift your heads and be at ease."

Since the king had spoken, everyone stood up straight again. Olivia watched as the middle-aged king walked up the few steps to sit on his golden throne. His jewel crusted crown glistened under the bright lights. His arm was propped up on the arm chair as he leaned his head on his hand.

His sharp gaze ran across the crowd, seizing up every noble, even the servants that were constantly handing out refreshments were not left unlooked.

Olivia soon noticed that the amount of guards had also increased, as more men were now standing around, guarding all corners. They looked extremely cautious and vigilant as they eyed everyone with hostility.

She felt it was slightly funny as she looked on. What could possibly happen to the king under his own roof?

"It has been a while King Roman."

The king's eyes soon fixed on the speaker before he gave a dry reply, "It does seem to have been quite some time, Duke of Castleworth. It looks like you've gained weight."

The Duke of Castleworth did not bat an eye at the king's insult, rather he took it all in jest as he laughed along, "My wife has been stuffing me with all sorts of food and delicacies. Although it looks as so, at least I'll be warm during winter!"

"So you've been stuffing your mouth full of gold I see! No wonder all I smell is the stench of luxury."

"Ah, Harland, you old coot. Fancy that you've still managed to keep your head all these years," The Duke of Castleworth retorted back with a snort.

The King began to massage his forehead, "Stop bickering."

The two men glared at each other before turning away.

"Let us proceed," King Roman waved his hand as servants began to quickly prepare themselves.

Olivia, on the other hand, was slightly bewildered at what she had just experienced.

"They're always like usual," Oswald commented with an amused smile.

Eli looked down to see Olivia's puzzled expression, "Were you surprised at what you saw?"

She turned to nod her head before asking, "Is it always like… that?"

Eli gave a chuckle, "It's worse when they're all together."

Soon, the charity event started with one of the king's attendants calling out what each household or individual donated.

After a while, Olivia managed to slowly move herself closer to the walls, away from the crowds of people. She felt more comfortable standing here as she had the pleasure of being able to see what everyone else was doing.

She watched the so called 'charity event' continue, as precious jewels and cargo were donated or rather, handed straight into the king's hands.

Olivia felt herself get increasingly bored as she watched on. Her eyes would sometimes wander around the crowd and on a few occasions, stop on people she had recognised. For instance, at this moment, Olivia had caught sight of a particular middle aged man. One that she had seen a lot over the last few months.

Edgar Longe, who worked in the bureau that she frequently went to. His arm was wrapped around, what Olivia thought to be, his wife. His face looked to be the same as always while his wife had a constant smile plastered on, one that never seemed to fall down.

"Could you hold this for me," Olivia was suddenly stopped from her observations as someone spoke to her from the side.