Chapter 293: Obsidian And Champagne
Upon reaching the group, Minister Silas offered a wide, oily smile. "Welcome, Lord Damien, Lady Cece, and...?"
"Lord Edward Weaver, son of Marquess Victor Weaver from the Kingdom of Luminear," Edward introduced himself with the effortless poise of high nobility.
"Our very close friend," Damien interjected. His smile was a sharp, dangerous thing that didn’t even pretend to reach his eyes as he pinned Silas with a look that promised a swift end to any disrespect.
"And my escort for tonight," Cece added sharply. Her cold gaze shifted from Silas to his daughter, making Ruby immediately avert her eyes from Edward the moment they collided with Cece’s.
Silas caught the silent exchange and swallowed hard.
He cleared his throat, forcing a mask of hospitality over his features. "I see. A warm welcome to you, Lord Edward. I trust our humble estate will meet your....exacting standards this evening."
"Thank you," Edward replied simply with a polite but distant smile.
Silas’s calculating eyes scanned the area behind them. With no sign of the Prince, he felt a flicker of unease. Usually, Ivan arrived in tandem with the Silvercrest siblings, which was the very reason Silas had rushed out the moment he heard of their arrival.
The other guests wondered the same, but their thoughts were brought to an abrupt halt as the space behind the trio cleared.
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[Music Recommendation: Sons of Legion - In The Air Tonight]
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In the sudden silence, the distant, rhythmic thunder of horses and heavy wheels echoed once more.
Soon a vast phalanx of knights flooded the entrance.
One by one, heads snapped in their direction, eyes widening as they recognized the royal sigil. These were not mere guards, but the Ignis Blades, the Prince’s personal harbingers of death.
And they were currently forming a lethal perimeter around a single, luxurious black carriage.
Alexander Valehart and Caleb rode on either side of the vessel, their expressions cold and watchful. With military precision, they dismounted in perfect synchronization with the rest of the unit.
The knights took their positions, their gazes raking over the crowd as if daring a single soul to breathe in their direction. Finally, Alex stepped forward, his hand gripping the handle as he opened the door to the black carriage.
Anticipation surged through the crowd; they knew the presence of Alexander Valehart alone signaled only one arrival. Furthermore, no one was permitted to fly the royal flag save for the royals themselves.
A collective breath was held as a pair of crisp, polished black shoes stepped onto the cobblestones. Then, the tall figure emerged from the carriage’s velvet shadows, the man everyone had been waiting for.
The onlookers instantly forgot the allure of Edward and Damien, as their gazes locked onto the jaw-dropping elegance of Prince Ivan Ignia De Ashen.
Standing before them, he looked so devastatingly handsome in his tailored three-piece suit and long black overcoat that it felt as though a god had personally descended to grace the land once more.
Spines straightened instinctively. Women discreetly adjusted their hair and smoothed their gowns, desperate to be the first to catch his eye before he disappeared into the estate and the inevitable swarm of their competitors.
A collective, feverish hunger ignited in the crowd, their eyes practically dripping with a raw, primal need to ensnare the most eligible bachelor on the continent. They stood like starving hounds at the edge of a feast, readying themselves to swarm the moment his boots struck the first marble step.
Minister Silas and his family were no less desperate. They stood poised, drinking in the sheer grandeur of his arrival.
In that moment, Ruby knew that even if her parents had not pushed her to entice the prince, she would have done so of her own accord. This was the kind of man she would willingly fall to her knees for, the kind she would go to any lengths to claim. A delicious, possessive need crept across her skin as the thought of having him entirely to herself took root in her mind. She licked her lips unconsciously, anticipation coiling tight as she waited for him to walk her way.
But just like the lumen before, the prince’s molten red eyes did not spare them even a passing glance. His cold, composed, and impossibly beautiful face revealed not a flicker of emotion.
Still, they did not feel disheartened.
They knew this was simply how Prince Ivan was.
They watched as he straightened, adjusting his heavy overcoat with a crisp motion. The crowd held its breath, muscles tensed as they prepared for him to finally ascend the stairs and enter their world.
But then, to their collective confusion, he turned back toward the carriage and extended his hand.
Damien, Cece, and Edward, who had been watching the scene unfold like a dark comedy bit, their lips to keep from laughing. They saw the bewilderment blooming on the faces of the nobility and revelled in the coming storm.
As the trio’s gaze shifted back to Ivan, they saw his glacial eyes soften instantly. A small, genuine smile tugged at his lips the moment the object of his affection finally reached out to meet him.
In an instant, it felt as though every person present had been struck by a barrage of lightning. A collective, violent shock rippled through the estate, leaving the onlookers rooted to the spot, their eyes wide as they stared.
Before their stunned gazes, the most breathtaking woman they had ever laid eyes on emerged from the velvet darkness of the Prince’s carriage. She stepped gracefully onto the stool, her heels clicking softly before she descended to the cobblestones, her weight supported entirely by Ivan’s steady and possessive hand.
Just as she did, she looked up at him with her beautiful blue eyes and gave him an unbridled smile. To everyone’s shock, the ever-brooding Ice Prince returned it with a dazzling smile of his own before leaning down to press a kiss to her cheek, drawing a lovely blush across her face with his open display of affection.
Yet Eve did not shy away in the slightest. Instead, she revelled in it, fully aware that only moments ago, every woman present had been staring at him with raw hunger.
Alex smiled faintly at his prince and princess before gently closing the carriage door behind Evelyn.
The silence following that kiss is likely deafening. Silas, Maribel, and Ruby are currently standing on the stairs, frozen like statues.
Damien, Cece, and Edward could practically hear the sound of countless dreams shattering at that very moment. A smirk curled on each of their lips as the same thought crossed their minds: ’That is what you get for cooking up nonsense in your head.’
As Ivan straightened, his gaze swept over Evelyn one last time, only to spot a slight fold in the hem of her gown. Then, without warning and in front of every gasping witness, he dropped to one knee. The Crown Prince of Versailles, a man who bowed to no one, reached out to tenderly smooth and adjust the fabric of her skirt with tender care.
At this point, the onlookers’ jaws didn’t just drop....they hit the floor...hard!
A frantic, bewildered question swirled through the shocked crowd:
Is this even the same man?
What had happened to the rumours?
Everyone had whispered that the Lumen Princess was a broken cripple, cast out of the Prince’s life by King Iskara himself. Yet here she stood.....ethereal, untouchable, and perfectly intact.
Though the questions screamed in their minds, the suffocating aura of the Ignis Blades and the Prince’s devotion ensured that not a single soul dared to voice them aloud.
Eve’s eyes softened at Ivan’s heartwarming gesture. When he rose to his full, imposing height after fixing her gown, she looked up at him with a small smile.
"Thank you, darling," she murmured softly.
Ivan, hearing that endearment from Evelyn’s lips for the very first time, felt his pupils dilate before his gaze darkened with a sudden desire. He leaned down, his lips brushing against the shell of her ear as he whispered, "Careful, baby. You’re playing in dangerous waters."
Hidden from the prying eyes of the crowd, his hand traced the curve of her spine, a touch so light it was almost a ghost, yet it ignited a delicious warmth that flooded her veins.
A playful curve touched her lips as she leaned in even closer, her voice a silken thread. "It’s a good thing ’my darling’ taught me how to swim."
Ivan gritted his teeth, his jaw tightening as he fought to maintain his composure. But his little feral cat had already stepped away with effortless grace.
"Shall we head in?" she asked in her honey-coated and beguiling voice as she slowly fanned her lashes at him, stoking the inferno already raging beneath his restraint, and he swallowed hard.
Yet she looked at him with a glimmer of challenge in her eyes, and he knew in that instant that the game was on. His lips twitched at her daring way to dance with the devil, and he found he had no choice but to play his part to the end.
He offered her his arm, and she slipped her delicate one through it. Only then did they glance around, taking in the sea of gaping onlookers who looked as though they had been turned to stone.
Ignoring them, their gazes shifted to the side, where they spotted Damien grinning broadly, with Cece and Edward beside him, both clearly enjoying the show unfolding before them.
