Tyrant of the Ruined Sun-Chapter 187: Night of the Masquerade 6

A light chuckle escaped me then, already having lost count of how many times I had done so today alone, a pleasant phenomenon I haven’t experienced in centuries; not since that accursed day I lost her, but now returned to me since re-emergence into my days; as I then delivered a gentle peck to her temple, earning me an almost imperceptible smile from her lips.

"Just don’t go overboard. Nizam seems to genuinely care for the girl." I whispered in her ear.

"I know." She replied with a nod and a slowly extending smile.

"I will head off now, sire." Darius then noted, straightening his clothes one last time, as he advanced with two guards flanking him.

"We’re not entering too, brother?" Cyrus asked a moment after the Grand Vizier left, confused by this, since we always entered together in the past.

"Not yet." I answered. "But we will, once tonight’s stars have been saturated to the point of near profusion of attention, under the hideous glare of the uncontested scrutiny of tonight’s spotlight."

Cyrus merely nodded in response, probably not fully understanding the insinuation behind my words, but still grasping it well enough to interpret that not all will be as it seems this ball, and so he heightened his vigilance, readying himself for the harrowing and boring, but ultimately necessary strife of political intrigue.

Much to my appreciation, as he continued to slowly yet steadily refine his diplomatic muscles, gradually shedding away his childish disposition, in favour of an adult’s pragmatism.

A brief few minutes then passed in relative silence, before the signal we had agreed upon reached us from Darius, prompting us to finally enter the hall just as the room was about to enter into a fever pitch of gossip from the entrance of my brother and his new bride, all but cementing the fact that many had already expected after Tianlan’s excessive show earlier this day, when he arrived at my wing.

And my arrival again did as was intended, by relieving my brother and the princess from everyone’s fixed stares, now that it was no longer going to provide anymore benefit, bar inconveniencing the two, and then redirecting them towards myself and Eve; someone none of them had ever seen before, and seemingly different from their preconceived notion that I would enter the hall today with that same masked brown haired woman I had danced with yesterday, and they have been trying to discover the identity of for the last twenty four hours; though they did note that similarly to the woman of yesterday, this one too wore a strange mask with no eyeholes.

Oh how stunned they would be, if they knew she was indeed the one they had been searching for for the past day, and a new face they would have to worry about; not that I would ever relieve them of that anxiety inducing plight.

And while I was descending the stairs with Eve by my side, I, as usual, swiftly swept my eyes across the glamorous hall before me, surveying it for any new or returning faces, as well as the groups these faces now thrived in, which very quickly led me to a few discoveries.

The first was, as expected, where the master and heir of the east stood, which was right next to my brother and Ziyi, further showcasing our newfound bond; yet oddly enough Darius was not present among them at that moment, greatly perplexing me, as he should have been, which only further escalated my confusion when I could not find him in the hall either, which could only mean one thing, and that is that he was currently on one of the occupied terraces, speaking in private of something of great importance.

Meaning the only questions that remained now were, who was the one important enough to make him abandon his post like this and what were they discussing?

The second thing I noticed then was the returned figure of the Frozen King, together along with his three daughters and wife, yet interestingly enough not his beloved son, which many interpreted, under the unseen guiding hands of Darius and Isaac, that it was an attempt to give more time for the previous rumours to die down, or to perhaps buy him more time to find a way for his family to sweep the mater under the rug without much more havoc wrought, thus by avoiding humiliation on an international scale; which in all honesty only piled more shame and mockery upon the previously existing chagrin, as some began considering him an overconfident, spoiled child, who wanted to pathetically dodge the consequence of his actions by way of simply hiding until it all simply vanishes, or by relying on his family, and not himself.

A misconceptions I obviously did not share, but was more than happy to continue propagating.

The third was the continued absence of the lord of west and his wife, reminding of the mysteries surrounding Octavian, especially that odd aura of his that always imbued in me a sense of forbearance that was difficult to fully describe.

And lastly, the final thing to catch my eye by complete accident was Yara, Eve’s closest confident, and for the time being, her sole subordinate; who was no longer dressed in the costume gown I had seen her don last night, but was now replaced with a maid’s uniform, as she pretended to be a servant of the Astrapi Kingdom, carefully roaming the hall with a tray in hand.

"Clever." I whispered to Eve as we took the descended the final step of the stairs, and began making our way to my brother’s side.

"I got the idea from your Shade Corps members you brought with you in the guise of mere servants." She explained with a subtle shrug. "It was also the best way to gather information for as many groups as possible. No one bothers paying too much attention to the servants after all."

I chuckled at her nonchalant demeanour, for I knew her well enough to gage the true weight of satisfaction she felt on the matter, before I then asked "But how did you manage to get her stationed in the hall? Even I couldn’t have my men infiltrate the hall, as all of them were personally assigned and verified by King Aegeaon himself?"

"I have my ways." She replied with a proud edge to her voice now, with an undoubtedly pleased grin hiding behind her mask.

I neither said nor reacted in reply, as we had already reached our destination, with the gathered men bowing to me, saying in salute "We welcome the Ruinous Dragon."

I nod in reply to the bowing men, before turning to the only to not bow before me, and say in greeting "Lord Tianlan. Prince Weixiao."

"Lord Alexander." They both replied, one with a simple nod and the other with a deeper bow, before he, along with all the others rose their heads back up again.

"My lords." Eve then politely curtsied to them, and they all returned her greeting as well; which was a bit of a comedic struggle for the men for a moment there, as they didn’t know what level of greeting they should afford her back, as they had no idea who she was; but eventually seeing Nizam unreservedly bowing to her in full honours, and the fact she walked with me with such an evident lack of discomfort, they deemed her a mysterious powerful figure, which was the most dangerous kind, and afforded her the highest level of greeting they could bestow anyone who was not an emperor, as they bowed to her as though they would any member of one of the ruling families of one of the great empires of the world.

"Good work brother." Meanwhile I whispered in Nizam’s ear, as I firmly patted his shoulder, much to his glee, as he offered me a slight bow in gratitude.

Eve then rose from her greeting form, and looked towards Ziyi with a gentle smile, and asked "Pardon me princess, but would you mind accompanying me for a moment?"

Her words brought utter bewilderment to those who heard them, as it was not the type of request one would typically ask of one holding such a prestigious position as the princess of the Yue Dynasty.

All of course, but me; who merely smirked behind my mask, as I knew that she did not want to waste time and quickly judge the merit of her younger sister, an entirely fresh concept to her, for unlike me who was the eldest among my siblings, when not counting the existence of my half-siblings of course, while she has always been the youngest.

And though Ziyi was equally shocked by the request of this mysterious woman, she still nodded her head in acceptance any way, for both having already come to the realization that she was someone to be both wary of, and for the fact that neither Nizam nor I, people she assumed knew of her true identity, did not show any shock to the matter when she asked such a blatantly odd, bordering on rude, request.

"Any problems?" Once they were gone, I asked, looking back to Tianlan, who this entire time had been silently scrutinizing my companion’s faceless mask, before he then for a brief, passing moment kept staring at her back as she led his daughter away.

"Nothing so far, but I don’t expect it to remain as such for too long. Especially so when your Grand Vizier returns." He answered me a second later, his eyes refocusing on me as he demanded clarification "Who was that woman?"

To which I calmly answered "She’s my empress." Leaving both Weixiao and Tianlan in utter shock at my words, which earned them a stifled giggle from an amused Cyrus.

"And speaking of Darius, where is he?" I then questioned, returning us to the more prevalent topic at hand, and breaking them from their momentary stupor.

"He was with us a moment ago, but just after he gave the signal to you, he received a letter, delivered to him by some maid, and after he read it, he immediately took his leave." Tianlan again answered, his attitude exuding a exorbitant sense of serenity and peace, as though there was no longer any troubles in the world that would trouble him, his usual demeanour he portrayed before people, yet his eyes were anything but, as they stared at me, radiating the urgent sense of unease he purposefully wanted me to understand, clearly showcasing his disquiet on the occurred events.

"Did any guards go with him?" I gravely asked with a voice could hear, and masked behind a jovial smile, participating in Tianlan’s play of two men, soon to be family, enjoying a casual talk with one another.

"That general you stole from the Luminous Empire did." He answered, to which I nodded in renewed confidence, knowing that no harm would befall my precious Grand Vizier with Leonid close by.

"Anything else of interest?" I asked again, calmly scanning my eyes around us at that moment.

"Indeed." He replied, as he lightly gestured towards the Luminous Empire’s side.