The Northern Banquet (3)

Estoria saw everything unfold before her very own eyes ever since her awakening. All her senses were highly heightened, making her eyes and ears see and hear everything, even from a distance that a normal person wouldn't be able to perceive. She witnessed everything and heard every sound.

Estoria came upstairs to escape from Isabella, when she saw Eston, she was about to call out to him but she noticed Tyrion running after him. She thought she was about to witness an interesting drama unfold before her eyes, so she stood there stunned at what she saw—it quickly turned into a romance drama, but one that became R-rated.

Estoria walked out onto the terrace of the second floor to clear her mind, holding a wine glass filled with red grape juice in her hand. She leaned her arms over the balustrade when she heard voices again, this time from underneath her.

Estoria leaned over the balustrade to see directly beneath her—there was another terrace with three individuals. It was the same terrace from where Tyrion had run out earlier. She recognized Aluxio's redhead immediately, but she wasn't sure about the other two—one had black hair and the other had oddly glowing blonde hair.

"Tyrion should have explained before rushing out like that; such unpleasant behavior, I apologize on his behalf again, Luke," said the one with black hair, facing the glowing blonde.

From his voice, Estoria recognized him as Darius—he had a gentle voice but with a force that made it unforgettable. The glowing blonde seemed to be named Luke.

"It's fine; he said it was urgent," replied Luke to Darius.

"I just know how urgent it was," Aluxio grunted.

"Was it because of the person who entered a moment ago?" Darius asked Aluxio.

"Yes, I'm sure of it. It's because of Eston," Aluxio replied.

"So it was him? I thought he felt familiar, but why?" Darius seemed to have forgotten he had met Eston before.

"I don't know; he rushes to his side the moment he sees him. Tyrion was basically his personal maid when we stayed at the Stallions," Aluxio said, taking a sip from his champagne glass.

"I didn't know that about Tyrion; you should have told me beforehand," Darius replied seriously.

"Why is he being so serious? Did he realize what kind of relationship they have?" Estoria thought as she listened.

"Let him be; why are you guys investigating him?" Luke defended Tyrion.

"Wait, are you drunk?" Aluxio suddenly said, moving closer to Luke.

"It seems like it; if he wasn't, he would never address us like that," Darius said.

"No, I'm doing just fine, or am I your next target?" Luke said, moving away.

"He's drunk," Darius and Aluxio said simultaneously.

"I said I'm not! You can't do this to me!" Luke tried to resist as Aluxio forcefully took away his champagne glass.

"Save face for yourself; it's your banquet. What will people say if you get so drunk that you have to retire to your room when you've barely shown yourself at your own banquet?" Darius said in a harsh tone.

"I'm not leaving until I see Alstroemeria!" Luke protested.

The champagne glasses held by Aluxio and Darius both fell to the ground, shattering glass everywhere.

"Oh, this is getting quite interesting!" Estoria thought, leaning over a little more to get a better view.

"What?" Aluxio said.

"What did you just say?" Darius asked.

"I have to see Alstroemeria before the banquet ends. Have any of you seen her?" Luke asked, unaware of the expressions on Aluxio and Darius's faces.

"Why do you want to see my sister?" Darius asked in a deep voice.

"What? Your sister?" Luke seemed to realize who he was talking to.

"Why are you trying to see her?" Aluxio pressed.

"I... I like her... So why can't I see her?" Luke said in a low voice, which Estoria caught clearly. She started to get excited, metaphorically "jumping up and down" at the drama unfolding.

"I dare you say that again to my face," Darius spoke with intense focus on Luke, almost threateningly.

"You're so lucky Tyrion isn't here. Wow," Aluxio seemed more shocked.

"Why can't I like her? It's not like I'm forcing myself on her—" Luke was abruptly cut off as Darius quickly covered his mouth with his hand, turning Luke's face red from the pressure.

"Not another word about her," Darius said in a menacing tone.

"Wait, Darius, don't do anything to him just yet. We should get all the information out of him before he sobers up," Aluxio said, walking over to them.

"Do you want me to listen to him speak so ruthlessly about Alstroemeria?" Darius turned his head to Aluxio.

"Isn't this too much? Is he the overprotective type?" Estoria wondered.

"I don't want to hear it either, but we might not get another chance," Aluxio replied.

Darius furiously removed his hand from Luke's mouth, leaving him breathing heavily.

"What is wrong with you both?" Luke weakly protested.

"What's wrong with me? Tell me what's wrong with you first. Is this why you befriended us—to secretly get closer to our sister, to have a chance to—" Darius stopped himself.

"What are you thinking? What was I going to do to her? I befriended all of you before I even had a crush on her. It wasn't until later, when she started playing with me—" Luke was interrupted by Aluxio this time.

"What the hell are you trying to say in front of us?" Aluxio asked furiously.

"Oh, come on, let the man finish his words! Just when it gets more interesting, they shut him up!" Estoria watched closely.

Darius was so furious that he couldn't even understand what everyone was saying. He couldn't believe what he was hearing—it was almost like a distant dream he wanted to wake up from right at that moment.

Luke pushed away Aluxio's hand to speak again. "Let me finish speaking first before interpreting my words. I was talking about the time we used to play together when Isabella and I used to stay at the imperial palace. We all used to play together as kids."

Hearing this, both Aluxio and Darius calmed down a bit.

Luke continued, "It was a few years later when Isabella and Darius stopped hanging out with us. It was mostly me and Alstroemeria left, because Tyrion and you were always busy with sword battles. It was then that I started liking Alstroemeria. We were always together—"

Darius interrupted Luke, "So are you saying it's my fault you started liking Alstroemeria?"

"No, I'm just explaining. You keep getting the wrong idea about me," Luke replied.

"How am I getting the wrong idea here? You said yourself you were always alone with her! You didn't even consider her age—she's a year younger than you!" Darius shouted at Luke.

"Isn't he being a bit dramatic? It's only a year..." Estoria pondered.

"I could say the same about you and Isabella. She's also a year younger than you, and you were always alone with her too! Heck, you're even engaged to her now. I can't begin to imagine how that happened," Luke shot back.

Darius fell silent at that; maybe he finally realized he was in a similar situation.

"You're also a lost cause," Aluxio sighed at Darius.

"Does she even like you back? Darius and Isabella's feelings are mutual," Aluxio asked Luke.

"I haven't told her about my feelings yet," Luke replied calmly.

"I bet she hates you. I've seen the face she makes whenever we talk about you in front of her. Forget about her," Aluxio said, trying to calm the situation.

"How can you be so sure? I'll have to try before giving up so easily, at the very least," Luke clenched his fist.

"Then what will you do after she rejects you? Don't even think about bothering her after that," Aluxio warned.

"Why can't I do that? Aren't you already doing it?" Luke retorted.

They seemed to know about the situation between Aluxio and Estoria.

"What? How did you find out about that? Do you have a spy planted on us? Or Estoria?" Aluxio's anger flared again.

"How could I not know, when everyone downstairs was gossiping about how the young lady of the Stallions trapped the second prince in her palms and was playing with his heart?" Luke said fearfully as he backed away.

Darius listened intently, his expression hardening. "Is that true, Aluxio? I didn't think Estoria was that kind of person."

Estoria, who had been eavesdropping from the balcony above, was taken aback by Darius's comment. She thought to herself, "Am I really seen that way by Darius? Do I appear like someone who can manipulate hearts? Okay maybe I do fit the description.."

"It's not true; I am the one bothering her. She did nothing wrong," Aluxio defended Estoria, he couldn't deny that he had been the one telling everyone he loved her.

"I wasn't asking about that... I wanted to know if you really loved her as much as you claim, so much that you couldn't even hide it from the whole world," Darius turned to Aluxio.

Estoria didn't need to see Aluxio's face to know he was blushing right now.

"I DO!" Aluxio shouted in a panic.

The air was painfully awkward now. There wasn't a single rustle in the wind until Luke spoke again.

"I also love Alstroemeria. Isn't she blindingly gorgeous? Her pink hair is so soft, and her eyes turn into crescents when she smiles—" Luke continued, seemingly oblivious to the tension he had stirred up.

Luke had really done it this time. Estoria couldn't help but whisper to herself, "Rest in peace."

"Get his legs. I'll take his arms," Darius instructed Aluxio.

Aluxio moved swiftly, grabbing Luke's legs, while Darius lifted him by his arms. Together, they hoisted him up and started moving towards the balustrade.

"Stop right now! If you throw me over, it'll start a war in the kingdom!" Luke pleaded, afraid to move lest he fall over.

Estoria was completely engrossed, but in her excitement, she accidentally tipped her wine glass, spilling red grape juice onto Aluxio's back as he held onto Luke's legs.

Aluxio froze for a moment, then suddenly looked up. Estoria realized her mistake and quickly hid before Aluxio could spot her.

"Wait, stop, Darius," Aluxio said, placing Luke's feet back on the ground.

"What is this about?" Darius halted.

Luke saw the drink spill onto Aluxio as he tried to convince him to let him go. He was relieved to be still alive and thanked the person who spilled the drink.

"Can you check my back? I think something dropped from the sky," Aluxio turned around.

Luke burst into laughter the moment he saw Aluxio's back.

He didn't know what the worst part was, the fact that Aluxio chose to wear white or that the person above chose to drink red wine.

"Where did the red wine come from? There must be someone on the upstairs balcony," Darius said as he lifted his head to look at the terrace above.

"I don't see anyone. Maybe they ran away after realizing what they had done," Luke said, standing beside Darius and also trying to catch a glimpse of the person who saved him.

Aluxio removed his stained coat. "We should head inside now. We've been out here for too long."

"I agree. I can't leave my guests alone for too long," Luke said, quickly making his way to the door and exiting swiftly.

"Let's go. You should change your clothes too," Darius said as they both left the terrace.