Chapter 73: The High Ball has been ruined
And like that, the Duke stormed off, leaving Maniel standing in the middle of stunned nobles.
Maniel, coming to himself, cleared his throat, and began asking around. Asking what had happened.
"It was a man with Blue hair. He was a man unlike any other I’ve seen."
"He was handsome."
"Probably good in bed."
"His mana felt infinite..."
"It all happened in a second."
"The speed... I couldn’t track it."
"He took your daughter."
They were all saying the same thing.
Maniel sighed, giving up on asking. He would thoroughly research what had happened on a later date.
He turned, giving a solemn order:
"Somebody clean that place up."
He paused.
"Flanol."
A man leaped from high above, landing on the ground next to Maniel with a thud. He went down on one knee.
"Give your order, My Lord."
"Find my daughter."
"Which one?"
"The useless one."
In the next moment, the man leaped away.
Maniel’s frozen pathways melted, the cold disappearing immediately.
So the blue-haired man was above the 8th-circle.
And he had stormed off with his daughter.
His daughter.
A maniacal smile surfaced on Maniel’s lips.
"It seems she has some use, after all," he whispered. "If a 9th-circle is under my palm..."
He could rule the world.
While walking, Mikel walked up to the old man, and joined him.
"Father," the young man, with their signature silver eyes, had white, rusty hair that fell on a quite handsome, but bothered face. He was dressed regally, as Maniel had commanded earlier. "Father, I–"
"Where were you?"
"I... I was out with Rineva, father. She said she had something to show me."
Maniel raised a brow.
"The young lady you’re courting?"
Mikel nodded.
"She gave me a gift," he smiled. "A loveable one. I’ll show you later."
"I doubt that you spent that much time with her just receiving a gift."
Mikel blushed. But remained silent.
"Either way, it doesn’t matter anymore. Inform the servants to start clean up, tell your mother that I’ll be coming."
Mikel paused.
"Father... what about the ball?"
Maniel chuckled.
"I’ve discovered something more valuable than this ball, Mikel.
The High Ball has been ruined. But I’d say it all happened for a reason."
’I’ll have to inform the court that a Duke, of all people, have found out about our organization.’
Mikel nodded, repeating:
"The High Ball has been ruined."
And so it was.
***
Oblivious to all the chaos occuring in the Silvester Estate, the source of said chaos was strolling through the streets of Rindell.
The golden glow of the setting sun showered on Maxwell, illuminating the bright, pleasant smile on his lips. His blue eyes had a pleased, satisfied twinkling to them. And Frilo, the grandmaster rank spirit, circled his blue hair, letting out soft flute-like sounds.
Maxwell chuckled as he understood Frilo’s words through their soul-link.
"Yes. It is the start of something beautiful."
Max’s gaze quickly flashed through the streets. There was a strange warmth in the air. The warmth pleased Maxwell, settling his heart.
The streets were less crowded than they’d been in the morning. Oh, but carriages were still present. Just fewer, with less passersby on foot, probably heading home from work or wherever they spent their day.
Frilo hovered just in front of Maxwell’s blue eyes, chirping out inaudible words.
The tiny blue human-like spirit was smiling, wings flapping.
Maxwell was quite pleased that Frilo’s smile wasn’t a mischievous one this time.
He laughed.
"Of course," he whispered, not wanting to attract any eyes that would think him mad for speaking to himself. "Of course, of course, of course. I have found what I was looking for. What I regressed for. That’s exactly what I wrote in the letter to Vin, telling him to send to Gislow."
Saying the old man’s name, Frilo’s wide blue eyes mellowed for a second. But it let out a rhythmic sound.
"Yeah, he will soon pass on." Maxwell nodded, smile fading. "He was a good man."
Silence stretched between them, but Frilo suddenly waved its arms, chirping.
Max’s smile returned.
"The thing I was looking for?" Max chuckled. "Surely you know, Frilo!"
Maxwell paused on the road, staring left and right, an awkward expression on his face. No one heard him scream to himself in amusement right?
Currently, he was on his way to Forina Inn.
After checking to make sure no one heard him, he breathed out a sigh of relief, causing Frilo to laugh out loud, holding its belly as it lay on the air, swinging its tiny legs in laughter.
Max frowned slightly.
"As I was saying... you know."
Frilo, gathering itself, quit its laughter, nodding incessantly.
"I should explain?" Max’s eyes twitched. "Really?"
Spirit kept nodding.
Maxwell sighed.
"Fine, fine." He waved a hand in defeat. "What I was looking for, somewhere along the line, during my descent into the Cerulean stream of time and my brief conversation with Him, I discovered that... no, of course I’m not going to say HIS name out loud. The being known as the *** king doesn’t yet exist in this era or time. I’ll just be attracting his timeless gaze from beyond this era. And trust me, I’ve had my fill with gazes from higher beings." Maxwell suddenly gazed upward, at the warm, drifting clouds smeared golden by the setting sun.
"Those seven have been gazing at me ever since I stepped into this timeline." Maxwell shrugged. "I’m good at ignoring it, though." He brought his focus to the city, walking carefully. "Ah, as I was saying. In that cerulean stream, I discovered that throughout my painfully long life, I lacked... something. Of course, except from Rita. The pain of losing her and living without her was different, more poignant. But there was a hole in my heart. A hole that boundless power couldn’t fill. A hole too large. Too, too... large.
"I discovered that even while chasing after Rita, I was chasing after the substance to fill that hole too. And now that I’ve found Rita, suddenly, miraculously, that hole has been fixed... I have found peace. That was what I was chasing after. And it seems Rita is my peace."
