novelThe Banquet (5)
| ← Ch.273 | Ch.275 → |
"Desir."
A gentle voice.
Desir looked at the glamorous girl with her platinum blond hair, bold, golden eyes and long, white fingers. He stood there in silence for what felt like an eternity.
"... Adjest."
There was a blooming smile on his face.
It was a funny thing.
They had been apart for only a few days, but it felt much longer."I look forward...'
Adjest gently held Desir's hand. Her gentle touch and warmth was delivered through their hands.
Adjest spoke with a smile on her face.
"I look forward to working with you, Desir."
At that moment, Desir was able to finally understand this situation and what Guiltian meant. So, there was only one thing he could say.
"Let's go back. Everyone's waiting." "Okay."
* * *
"I'm sorry."
It was Adjest's first words when she faced Pram and Romantica. Her platinum blond hair slid down as she lowered her head.
Pram and Romantica looked up at her for a moment. They no longer seemed surprised and must have managed to calm down from when Desir last saw them.
"It's awkward to have a conversation while standing up, so why don't you sit down?"
When Romantica smiled bitterly and beckoned her to a chair, Adjest pulled out a chair and sat on it.
"I want to ask you something." The time has come.
Adjest swallowed hard. She was prepared for any condemnation. However, the following words from Romantica were unexpected."You want champagne or orange juice?"
At that moment, Adjest's eyes grew wide."Um, so..."
"Eh, just drink the champagne. I already brought it here."
Romantica held out a glass to Adjest even before she finished answering, the flowing champagne rippling within its container.
Adjest looked into the glass absentmindedly.
Seeing her like this, Romantica asked once again.
"You're not drinking, Adjest? It's sweeter than it looks and it's tasty. Or do you want the juice..."
"Strange." "What's strange?"
The reactions from Romantica and Pram were completely different from what Adjest was expecting.
"Why are you treating me like normal? I deceived you. How come you aren't questioning me?"
Since they knew that she hid her identity, they should have been upset.
Adjest was ready to accept any criticisms.
However, Pram and Romantica were behaving as usual. Their attitude was how normal people treated their friends that they had not seen for a long time.
"Because Adjest is Adjest."
Pram answered, smiling brightly.
"Regardless of your identity, the fact that Adjest was with us won't change." "B-But..."
"You're such an inflexible princess." Romantica cut Adjest off.
"I'm asking you just to be sure, but did you intentionally hide your identity so that we would be shocked?"
"No, I swear."
Adjest emphatically denied the possibility. There was no way this would have been the case."Then you can just think 'I guess they're pretending like they don't know' and just let it slide." "Weren't you guys surprised?"
"We were. We were really surprised, but that's it. It's not like you were trying to deceive us, and we didn't suffer any damage or anything. So, isn't the problem solved?"
Romantica shrugged her soldiers as if she was saying 'I told you so'."So, there's no need to be so apologetic."
She turned her gaze away as if she was done talking.
Adjest's face lightened up again.
'That's good. '
Desir was pleased.
"Why don't we all have a drink? A toast to Adjest's return." "Sounds good!"
Pram enthusiastically responded to Desir's suggestion and Romantica and Adjest responded by raising their glasses in front of them.
"To the eternal glory of Her Highness, Princess Adjest!" "Cheers!"
They clinked their glasses and drank wine.
Amid the lightened atmosphere, they began diving into lively conversations.
Once again, Romantica's whole body was tinted a shade of bright red. This time, three people couldn't stop laughing.
Just a few months ago, they were attending the Hebrion Academy.
Desir recalled the time when the four of them were having conversations at the party office. It was a pleasant memory.
There were no other times when they were as happy and at ease than that time. 'We managed to protect our everyday life. '
Desir felt as if he was being rewarded at this moment for all the hard work he had put in.
At that moment, it became bright outside. They turned their gaze towards the outside simultaneously.
"What a spectacular view." "Fireworks!"
"Wow. It's beautiful."
Fireworks that were shot up the sky were embroidering the dark, night sky.
The fireworks, each a different color, harmonized beautifully and the garden itself looked like a landscape plucked out of a majestic painting.
"Now that I think about it, the whole capital is celebrating right now, aren't they?" "Yeah. I think their celebration is even larger than Founding Day was."
Desir responded as something suddenly flashed across his mind."Come to think of it, I heard there'll be a chronicle play at this festival."
"Oh, I heard about that as well. I heard they're inviting some famous actors to perform it." Pram responded enthusiastically with claps.
Desir glanced at them, one after the other, before continuing.
"Do you guys remember? We were planning to watch the chronicle play on Founding Day, but we ended up missing out on it."
"You still remember that?"
Not without reason, Romantica was surprised. It had been a relatively insignificant event from almost two years ago after all.
"Well, yeah. I was quite disappointed."
At that time, Desir had to leave in order to attend the ball held by the Imperial Palace.
The scale of the Empire's chronicle play was considerable and extremely impressive that foreigners came to watch as well.
Even though he was able to keep close ties with Guiltian by attending the ball, the fact that he was not able to watch the famous chronicle play remained a disappointing memory for him.
"I think Part Four starts at the Evening Star Plaza?" "No way, Desir, are you..."
Romantica realized what Desir was trying to say.
"Uh-huh, yes way. I think we can watch from Part Four if we hurry a little bit. What do you guys think?"
The four exchanged glances. However, no one raised any objections.
Rather, they were filled with anticipation. The idea of crushing the lingering disappointment they had all buried was an extremely attractive prospect.
"Well, I think we've enjoyed enough banquets to last a lifetime. Let's go do something fun!" There was no need for further persuasion.
When a waiter came to check on them moments later, the four of them had disappeared.
* * *
The Hebrion Academy officially declared its reopening day.
It had been seven months since the academy had been closed, and two weeks since the end of the war.
Hearing this news, the students, who were scattered across various parts of the continent, began gathering one after another. The Hebrion Academy, which had been deadly quiet after all the students left, began to regain its vitality.
However, many of the students were planning to leave the academy shortly after. The graduation ceremony of Kelt, Radoria, and other seniors was going to be held straight away.
It was not just the seniors. Through the trials of war, many of the second-years had far exceeded the level the academy could provide for. Staying would only hinder their growth.
To help those students, Hebrion Academy prepared a graduation examination to measure their new skill levels.
A surprisingly large number of students took the exam, and a majority of the students who undertook Desir's training regime were able to pass.
Of course, Desir took it as well.
Obviously, the academy had nothing left to teach him. Now that he had achieved all his goals, he had no need to stay.
In the graduation examination, Desir took first place in the study of magic and Pram stood unchallenged as the top student in the study of swordsmanship.
Pram, who was on the threshold of reaching King-Class, had risen to the potential Desir witnessed in his previous life. His placing was only natural, especially since Adjest had already graduated.
The graduation ceremony was held not long after the examination."Congratulations, Desir."
"Thank you for everything you've done for me, Professor."
Bridgette came close to him and stroked his head. Her touch was soft and warm, as always. Desir felt like a child every time he was in front of her.
"I'll keep in touch often. I'll invite you to give a lecture when I get a chance." "Any time, Professor."
Desir promised to see her again and bid her farewell.
Ronde approached him immediately after his conversation with her was over. Desir smiled and said,
"Take care of the party for us." "Of course!"
Ronde Fizzlebang looked at Desir and answered with eyes full of envy, the same as when he entered the academy.
Now that the majority of the talented second and third-years had graduated, Ronde had naturally become one of the top students in the academy.
He followed in Desir's footsteps and took on the role of the next leader of the Starling Party."I'll make sure we stay in first place no matter what and pass down your will to all our members!"
"Don't overreact."
Desir sent Fizzlebang off and bumped into Professor Pugman, the head of the aristocratic professors. In the past, Desir had often conflicted with him, but their relationship had mellowed out towards the end of Desir's academy days. When Pugman's eyes landed on Desir, his lips twitched as though he wanted to say something. However, he fell silent, seemingly having given up. Instead, he took off his hat and lowered his head.
"..."
It was the best he could do to pay respect.
Desir giggled.
He had conflicts with the professor countless times, but he had grown greatly over the past years. Desir wasn't petty enough to harbor any ill feelings.
"I look forward to your great leadership in the academy, Professor." With these words, Desir put to rest any unease between them.
His second graduation ceremony was officially over.
Three weeks passed in the blink of an eye.
| ← Ch. 273 | Ch. 275 → |