The venue.

This year it was the Newman family that hosted the celebration. Since the capital was not a coastal city, for obvious reasons the maritime minister was often absent, but now not only he was trying to impress the rest of the nobles, it looked like he was going all out.

To Lee the venue looked more like a dinosaur graveyard, though. The spacious wooden structure with two long, sumptuously stacked tables inside, erected near the small lake behind the minister's mansion, was decorated with countless white bones of different shapes and sizes.

Most were fifteen to twenty feet tall with some even taller, and the curved form pointed at them being parts of some humongous creature's rib cage.

Lee wasn't clear how exactly bones were cleaned since they were too big to be simply boiled, but they looked rather fresh, indicating Newman hadn't dug up the remains of an ancient creature.

While the main structure where the feast was held was already impressive, Lee found the small, square shaped stage in front of it much more interesting. It wasn't big, maybe five yards long and wide. But the three feet long, conical white teeth, used as decor around its sides, made shivers run down Lee's spine.

It was clear that the owner of those teeth could easily bite off an elephant's head, and it was hard to imagine someone had the ability to actually kill it. But Lee had seen people of such power, and had an inkling that the emperor might one of them.

"See those big-ass bonfires on the other side of the lake?" Tess woke Lee up from daydreaming, "Looks like General Hardwood decided to help Minister Newman out. It's his land on the other side, you know?"

"Mhm." Lee could only nod.

The sun had already set and the half dozen burning pyres in the dark were surely impressive. Technically they were erected quite far, across the lake, but from the perspective of people sitting at the tables they were behind the small stage. The reflection of fire on the water's surface probably was meant to accentuate the performers that later had to present themselves in front of the elite crowd.

"May I go for a walk?" Lee asked Tess, trying to free himself from her holding his hand.

Seeing her furrow brows in displeasure, he pointed at the countless torches lighting up the place, and added, "I can't get lost here."

"Fine! Just don't go near the lake!" She said, unwillingly letting him go, "And don't wonder off! You have to be at the table before the fu… before The Emperor arrives!"

While Tess joined Alan, disturbing his discussion with the prime minister, Lee leisurely began to stroll around. At the back of his head he clearly felt Tess's intense stare, but he was not worried about that, rather amused by the amount of willpower his stepmother had to have during events like these. Her swearing was clearly going to end badly one of these days.

Servants were rushing all over the place and most of the guests had already arrived. Members of the Imperial Council along with few other nobles sat at one of the tables, while the younger generation awkwardly tried to keep up casual conversations at the other. Technically Lee had to be with them, but he thought of an excuse and went to explore the Newman family's grounds.

He wasn't really bothered by the fact that he was a toddler compared to them, or nervous to sit at the same table because of that. He was also fine with keeping fake appearances and smile in faces of his parent's murderers until the moment they died by his hand.

The problem was – he felt nauseated, because by some twisted irony of fate he had to sit right next to the most retarded of them, Drevin. Newman's eldest son was the one who caused the destruction of Pine Village by molesting one of the local girls and then killing her man. And currently he was almost as wasted as back then.

For some reason this evening his younger brother, Lance, was sober and tried to persuade the older sibling to slow down with the drinking, and it soon turned into an argument. Apparently this was nothing new, because almost no one payed attention to the quarrel, instead being busy with their own thing.

Kris Ironfist was discussing a hypothetical administrative problem with Edward, Ian Foxson meditated right next to the stage, while Cecil Ironfist and Helen Newman were both massaging Mark Hardwood's shoulders who sat on the ground not far from Ian.

Lee knew both sons of generals were long time rivals, but the difference in the way they prepared for their fight was amusing.

While one tried to calm his mind by meditation, the other did the same, except it was done by the four hands belonging to the two beauties. It was remarkable, though, that Mark's shoulders were wide enough for both Cecil and Helen to have room to work on, but his well built body was probably the reason while he needed the two of them.

Not only the venue, the whole Newman's estate was busy as an anthill. There were so many servants that no one even noticed a kid strolling around. Except for the couple occasions when another absent minded servant tripped over him, of course.

This was the first time Lee had the opportunity to explore a noble's estate, but he was reluctant to enter any of the main buildings. There was one, not far from the venue that caught his eye though.

The single story house was obviously recently constructed, and had several burning torches planted around it, illuminating the windowless walls. From what Lee could tell, there was only one entrance, a door on the far side, and guided by curiosity, he sneaked over to take a peek.

If not for the regular sized doors and the high quality building materials, one could've taken it for a warehouse. And since there were no rooms and only a large hall inside, it technically was. It didn't house any goods, heaps of clothing or boxes of stored wares, though.

There were also no people inside, but in the middle of the hall Lee saw three oversized candles burning, and, placed in a circular formation, a bunch of at three foot wide and a foot deep glass basins, filled with transparent liquid, probably water.

Staring at the strange exhibit, Lee felt his hair stand on end. If the hall had an altar, it surely would've been a gathering spot where some crazy sect sacrificed chickens, goats, or even people. And under the weak lighting the dark corners of the hall accentuated the feeling, creating an illusion of unnatural dangers hidden within.

Lee quickly closed the door behind him, and rushed back to the venue. Although he didn't believe in ghosts, the place crept him out and he much more preferred to sit next to the drunken Drevin, under the bright light and surrounded by the strongest people in the empire.

He was fortunate enough to return to the table at the right time, because the moment he sat down, the strongest of all, the emperor, arrived, side by side with his red-eyed daughter.

When the arrival of his majesty was announced, the place instantly fell silent, and everyone rose to their feet - the event had officially began.

Victoria didn't go over to the table where the members of the youngest generation sat, though. Under the respectful gazes of the present, she followed her father to the main table, and sat next to him.

There was a brief moment of awkwardness in the air when no one said a word, and the crowd continued to stand, apparently waiting for His Majesty's instructions, but as it turns out the protocol for the New Year's celebratory event was different than usual.

"Thank you, Your Imperial Majesty, for gracing my humble home with your presence!" Minister Newman's voice turned the heads of the present towards the stage, "With your permission I would like to welcome everyone! Since many of you have the same question on your minds, I'll won't keep you in suspense. Indeed, the rumors you've heard are true! Approximately half a month ago the imperial naval force managed to corner and kill the largest waletaur ever sighted and the beautiful decorations you see around you are the proof of it!"

Ignoring the beautiful part, Lee was curious how many lives did the hunt cost and how many sailors, and maybe even ships, were crushed by humongous teeth used as stage decorations. And while most people had the same line of thought, he heard Drevin snort next to him. For some reason the Newman's heir wasn't happy at all.