To say the party was extravagant to the point of arrogance would have been an understatement.
Food, servants, decorations, and more filled the ballroom as everyone rushed to prepare for the evening.
Aiden and the others sat out in the garden, waiting for the disaster to begin.
Jax wore a long, trimmed coat that ran down to the end of his tail.
Aiden's suit had a lot of light blue worked into it, along with a strange decorative piece on one shoulder that he did not know the name of.
The ladies, however, looked like they were being shown off.
Thalia's dress was a deep gray, with strings spiraling from different points and wrapping around her ankles and wrists like the lines of a puppet.
Liora wore a deep blue dress that ended at her knees, with a scarf of feathers wrapped around her neck.
Selene, however, took the proverbial cake.
Regal and refined, she looked like she actually understood how to hold herself in such a dress.
It was an elegant deep green, with streaks of color used as accents to emphasize her figure.
If not for the nervous mess written across her face, Aiden would have assumed she was a noble who had simply arrived early.
He had brewed several extra energy potions to help her hide her arm for the entirety of the party. Even now, she had three more vials tucked into a small pouch tied to her thigh.
From what Aiden had heard, Kaelen was also being fitted for a white suit.
But they had not seen him in the last few days.
Some might have said that was for the best.
Aiden found it made him nervous.
Regardless, they sat in the garden.
Small snacks and cups of tea had been placed in front of them while Kaelen's eight siblings stood nearby.
The duke and duchess looked over them, making sure their clothes were perfect, while servants rushed past to prepare the ballroom.
The first guests were supposed to arrive in about an hour, so everyone was handling last-minute preparations.
"I can't believe how this suit is designed," Jax complained quietly, shifting in his seat. "The feeling on my butt is so weird."
He had been more vocal about it earlier.
Unfortunately for him, everyone but Jax was wearing a corset and getting their organs crushed to look better.
They had shut him up quickly.
"Says you," Thalia grumbled, adjusting the string loops on her wrists. "The strings look nice, but every time I move, I can't help feeling like something is crawling on my arm when they brush against me."
In general, everyone was nervous.
The hour seemed to pass in moments.
Aiden's biggest worry was Kaelen doing something at the party.
For that reason, even as noble families began to arrive, Aiden kept Kaelen in the corner of his eye.
For the most part, Kaelen stood beside his parents, a small polite smile on his face as he shook hands and laughed in that fake way people did at parties of this scale.
Despite Aiden's attempts to stay focused, he was surprised by how many people approached them.
Most were curious about adventuring.
Jax was more than happy to go into detail, describing and embellishing their adventures with no shame whatsoever.
Liora, a bit to Aiden's surprise, was approached by several noblemen.
She seemed to have finally broken out of the funk she had been in for a while and happily led the conversations herself.
Thalia stood off to the side, using her strings to make a set of wooden puppets she had finished carving move around.
Several noble children, including Kaelen's youngest siblings, gathered around her to watch.
That left Aiden and Selene standing to the side.
Aiden was watching Kaelen, waiting for whatever he might attempt.
Selene stood beside him, looking around nervously.
Will kept scowling and telling people off from inside Aiden's head, which kept pulling Aiden's attention away in confusion.
Dude, what are you doing?
Aiden thought the question while shifting his stance and looking back toward Kaelen.
"Well, I can't exactly talk," Will said, crossing his arms. "But why aren't you doing anything? They can actually see what you do."
Aiden looked around in confusion.
Then he realized what Will meant.
People around them were staring at Selene.
Some were men looking at her with surprise and shock.
Others were looking at Aiden like he was an obstacle.
Aiden glanced back at Selene.
She looked uncomfortable.
Like she wanted to leave.
He tapped his earlobe to signal that he wanted to whisper something to her, then leaned in.
"You okay?" he asked quietly. "If you want, we can step onto the balcony and get away from them."
Selene squeezed his arm.
Pain shot up through Aiden from the strength of her grip, but he forced himself not to react.
She gave him a small nod.
The two made their way through the party and out onto one of the empty balconies.
As soon as they were outside, Selene visibly slumped and leaned against the railing, taking in a deep breath of cold air.
"T-Thanks," Selene said. "I was starting to get a b-bit overwhelmed in there."
Aiden moved to her side and leaned back against the railing as well.
"Of course. Have you seen anyone you know?"
He asked mostly out of curiosity.
Selene shook her head.
"N-No. The Drakemire family lives right on the border between the main monster territories and the mainland, s-so most other families avoided the territory."
Aiden nodded along.
Inside, the music changed.
The conversations went silent.
Everyone in the party dropped into a bow.
Taking the signal quickly, Aiden and Selene bowed as well.
"Now arriving," a booming voice announced, "the third princess of the Misagen royal family, Ariana Misagen."
The bowing nobles looked up to watch the procession.
The princess walked in wearing a dress decorated with details from all kinds of plants. Leaves and other floral accents stuck out at various places, making her look less like she was wearing a dress and more like she had stepped out of an enchanted garden.
Behind her walked a pair of white fox fullblood beastkin, seemingly her personal servants.
Further behind them came a large elven man with a scar running across his face.
In many ways, he resembled Duke Therindor.
Princess Ariana made her way forward to where the duke, duchess, and Kaelen all stood in a bow.
"My dear fiancé," the princess said, her voice light and potent, "I am truly blessed to see you returned to me, even after all this time."
Kaelen looked up from his bow and gave her a smile that could have made almost anyone swoon.
He seemed to have ditched his hiding amulet.
"My lady," Kaelen said, kissing the back of the princess's hand, "it is by the grace of the gods that I may once again be allowed in your presence."
He looked up at her with an expression of joy that would have been convincing.
Had they not seen his breakdown earlier.
The princess beamed down at Kaelen before holding out her arms.
"I have been told those who returned my darling husband to me are in attendance. Please, step forward."
Aiden hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should crawl forward or stand.
Then he saw Selene stand and begin making her way over.
So he stood and followed.
They made their way forward and kneeled beside Kaelen as if they were all still friends with him.
The princess looked down at them with a polite smile.
"I thank you all for returning my husband to me, and I have prepared adequate rewards for each of you. Please follow me to the garden, where they are located."
They all stood.
As Kaelen rose, he bumped Aiden's shoulder.
Aiden almost slugged him in the face.
Only the fact that the princess would absolutely not let that happen stopped him.
As they silently left the party, Aiden noticed some people watching them with jealousy.
Others looked at them with curiosity.
But the ones that worried him were the people looking at him with pity.
"My lady," Kaelen said smoothly as they walked, "I want to thank you for your generosity toward my friends. However, we have already discussed the bounty and the reward within."
Aiden and the others glanced at each other in confusion.
Kaelen continued.
"Due to our time apart from my unfortunate kidnapping, we have agreed that the money should go toward a beautiful honeymoon for the two of us, so we can make up for so much lost time."
"Oh, that sack of shit!"
Will roared in Aiden's head.
Every member of the party tensed.
Their muscles primed, ready to attack Kaelen.
Only the rational part of their minds stopped them, the part that understood attacking him here would be a death sentence.
Kaelen glanced over at Aiden and Selene.
Then he gave them a vindictive smile, like he had just gotten back at them for wronging him.
The princess nodded along.
She said nothing.
They slowly approached the princess's carriage.
As they did, a strange feeling passed over them.
Aiden looked around in confusion.
He could not say why he sensed it.
Maybe it was because he had recently been near people who radiated danger, like Red and Indigo.
But something prickled along his skin.
Danger.
Aiden grabbed Selene.
"DOWN!"
He yanked Selene with him as Thalia's strings shot out, grabbing Liora and pulling her out of the way.
Steel whistled through the air.
Kaelen, who had stayed standing, wobbled for a moment.
Then he fell backward.
His head toppled forward separately.
Blood spurted from the stump of his neck and quickly began to form a puddle.
Now behind the princess, several distortions in the air revealed themselves to be figures in ornate and expensive armors, in one of their hands a bloodied blade was being whipped.
Everyone slowly turned to where Kaelen lay.
Bits of blood had splattered onto Aiden's face.
His hearing did not seem to work properly.
Everything sounded distant.
Muffled.
He turned back to the princess.
She stared down at Kaelen coldly.
"You embarrassed me in the highest fashion, and I spared your family," Princess Ariana said. "I gave you one hundred years to return on your own despite knowing where you were, and you ignored me."
Her voice remained calm.
That made it worse.
"Even now, when I offered a reward, tired of waiting, you could not help but attempt to twist it."
She looked down at Kaelen's body and placed a heel down on the body, the point digging into the flesh and drawing blood from the rapidly draining body.
"This death is the least you could expect from me."
Everyone looked up at the princess with one shared thought running through their heads.
Does she care if there are witnesses or not?