Chapter 19 - Blood Ball (III)

"She's talking to Sir Alastor."

Roxane heard the girl next to her whispering with a tone of deadly jealousy in her voice. Although it was an almost inaudible whisper, she had heard it perfectly. Her eyes quickly scanned the ballroom and quickly found her brother.

A cold look passed through Roxane's red eyes as she watched her brother chatting comfortably with a fifteen-year-old girl with silver hair and eyes. One of the reasons she knew her brother was comfortable was the simple fact that he was talking to her.

Alastor didn't talk to people if he wasn't comfortable around them.

"Lisanne Vertium, I heard that her brother was disinherited and she is now heir to House Vertium." Roxane heard the girls around her talking and listened attentively. If there was one thing they would know, it was gossip spread throughout Lordran.

"How did this happen?" Another girl asked with a surprised tone. Although the Supernatural Society was very open to many customs, there was one thing that would never change, and that was male favoritism when it came to receiving inheritance.

Even if a woman was more talented than the male heir, she wouldn't become the matriarch simply because she was a woman.

Roxane's own situation was different: as Alastor didn't want to become patriarch, he abdicated the post to her, so she was heir to House Agrece.

"Theron Vertium is famous in Lordran, he's a cowardly playboy who ran away on his first mission, his escape caused the death of an entire small town at the hands of the occultists. It is said that the whole town became a nest of resentful souls. When the Golden Order arrived on the scene, all they saw was a hellish scene." The girl spoke with an obvious disgust in her tone. Something that was shared by all the girls around her. This kind of coward was the most disgusting and despised in Lordran.

Roxane listened to all the murmurs and information from the ladies around her with a calm expression. She also felt contempt for the man called Theron, a coward who would stain his eyes to look at him.

What would the sister of such trash be talking about with her beloved and adorable brother?

Although Alastor was ten years old, Roxane never underestimated the dirty hobbies these nobles secretly possessed. She had heard so many rumors that she already had a very bad impression of Lisanne, whom she had never met in her life.

Roxane moved discreetly away from the crowd of girls and crossed the entire hall, dodging men and women, until she reached her brother's side.

"Yes, mixing absinthe with a little abolate sap can make a mist capable of stunning the target." Roxane listened to her brother speak while the fifteen-year-old girl nodded with sparkling eyes, appreciating Alastor's knowledge.

It was then that Roxane discovered that they were both talking about mystical knowledge and some alchemical matters.

"Brother, I've finally found you." Roxane said, approaching him while facing Lisanne with a gentle, elegant smile.

Lisanne, watching the girl approach, couldn't help but notice the incredible resemblance the twins shared. They were both male and female versions of each other.

"Lady Roxane." Despite her surprise, Lisanne greeted the future Matriarch of House Agrece. She obviously wanted to make friends with one of the few female matriarchs of a Great Noble House.

Something that House Vertium had long ceased to be.

As far as she knew, of the five remaining houses, only House Agrece was truly important, with at least one Special Grade Beyonder every two hundred years, thus remaining in power for a long thousand years.

Compared to her family, apart from the Special Grade Witch who appeared five hundred years ago in the Vertium house, there hadn't been a single Special Grade Beyonder in five hundred years!

They were relegated to a second-class Noble House with no relevance in the high ranks of the Golden Order. This further weakened the family's influence and all their possessions. After all, in a world where your fist determines your power, it's impossible for someone weak to hold many important industries.

"Lady Lisanne, your name has long been famous." As they say, you don't knock someone smiling. Roxane greeted the young woman with all the elegance and grace possible

"Mere exaggerated rumors." Lisanne replied in an amused and pleasant tone, lightening the atmosphere in an instant.

"She's being modest sister, her knowledge of mysticism and other areas is something to be admired." Hearing the modesty in Lisanne's words, he spoke in a very serious and calm voice. In his eyes, Lisanne was indeed being modest; he had seen for himself how much knowledge the young woman possessed.

However, Alastor's compliments only made Roxane narrow her eyes slightly while keeping the smile unchanged on her lips. A dangerous look appeared in her eyes, but disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

Despite this, Lisanne, who had long been used to people's scorn and malicious whispers because of her brother's actions, caught precisely that dangerous look the moment it appeared.

What intrigued Lisanne, she was sure there was no enmity between Roxane and her, so she saw the girl take her brother's arm intimately and whisper a few words in his ear.

The confusion vanished from Lisanne's mind in an instant, and she discovered the reason for the murderous look she had received.

This left the future matriarch of House Vertium speechless. Although she admitted that Alastor really was too handsome, she didn't have any special hobbies like liking younger boys!

 The only attraction she felt for Alastor was wanting to hug him and squeeze those cheeks that were practically screaming to be pinched and molded as she pleased.

Although she didn't dare do such a rude act, she was sure she would die if she dared, whether it would be for Alastor or Roxane, it was hard to know and she didn't want to find out.

"There's no need to worry, Lady Roxane. I prefer taller ones." Lisanne discreetly approached Roxane and spoke in a soft tone without being too direct, but subtle enough for her to understand her intentions.

The last thing her family needed was to make an enemy of Agrece over something as stupid as jealousy. As she had hoped, Roxane's face became friendlier with her words, the deadly look in her eyes fading a lot.

This put Lisanne at ease and she started talking to Roxane too, and to the surprise of the Heiress of House Vertium, Roxane was just as exceptional as her brother, in certain areas such as politics especially, she was far superior.

Even though she was only ten years old, she seemed like a young adult in terms of mentality and perception, which certainly impressed Lisanne.

Suddenly, the music stopped, causing a silence to spread throughout the room, even the murmurs seemed to disappear completely.

All eyes followed the man's footsteps down the stairs. There was doubt and strangeness in the eyes of many guests looking at the man calmly descending the spiral staircase.

That's because it was none other than Rowan Gellert, the Knight of Ruin, one of England's three Special Grade Beyonder and Marshall of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn!

"He shouldn't be in a wheelchair, how can he walk so easily?" Alastor heard Lisanne mutter next to him and couldn't help looking at the Marshall of the Golden Order.

He was a tall man, measuring around 1.90 in height. His long, curly blond hair fell down his back. There was a golden beard around his handsome, mature face. He didn't look at all like a two-hundred-year-old man close to death!

"Welcome, my dear guests, your presence graces me with honor!" Said the Marshall of the Golden Order. His eyes roamed over everyone present. Stopping briefly at two figures, both of whom were Special Grade Beyonder.

Ignoring the cold, deadly eyes he was receiving from his comrades in arms, Rowan continued speaking in an amused, charismatic tone. "I know I may be a bit old, but believe me, my old bones can still hold a few parties."

Laughter echoed through the hall at Rowan's joke, although there were very few of them considering that there were at least five hundred guests at the party. There was a strange atmosphere in the ballroom.

As if oblivious to the atmosphere, Rowan began to greet the guests with a glass of champagne in his hand.

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