The celebration banquet in the main hall of the Erthland Imperial Palace proceeded very festively and was filled with extraordinary grandeur. Hundreds of candles perched on hanging crystal chandeliers illuminated every corner of the room, reflecting golden light that danced on the rows of clinking wine glasses and the sparkling jewelry of the honored guests.
The strains of string and wind instruments played live by the palace musicians in the corner of the room drifted with a soft and soothing rhythm. That melodic strain became the perfect background for the bustling political conversations, power lobbying, and pleasant laughter among the nobles present that afternoon.
The round tables decorated with white silk tablecloths were filled with various appetizing dishes. The aroma of spiced roast beef, thick cream soup, roasted ostrich, and warm wheat bread mingled with the scent of expensive perfumes from the hundreds of invited guests.
The neatly uniformed palace servants passed back and forth with endless rhythmic steps, carrying silver trays filled with sweet desserts and pitchers of high-quality wine to ensure the nobles' glasses were never empty.
At another table, Calian sat calmly and with authority. However, behind his silent demeanor that seemed as if he was enjoying the strains of the string instruments along with the guests, the youth's pair of purple eyes did not stop working at all.
He observed every movement, change in body language, and interaction formed by all the nobles in that hall.
The purple-haired youth was not merely looking; he was deciphering the meaning behind the nobles' smiles. He sorted out who was just seeking favor, who harbored envy toward his mother's throne, and who was hiding dirty secrets behind their luxurious cloaks.
Right now, Calian was mapping the hidden factions within the empire, looking for loopholes from every face that had smiled respectfully at him a few moments ago in the throne room.
Wolvin, who sat right next to Calian, was very aware that his husband was currently conducting a secret observation. The instincts and five senses of the Night Wolf youth were on a level far exceeding the capabilities of the normal human race.
Wolvin was concentrating his focus and sharpening his hearing. He separated the sounds of clinking knives and forks, crisp laughter, and instrument melodies to secretly eavesdrop on various low conversations in the corners of the hall.
He was very aware that soon he and his husband would shed blood. The two of them had an absolute mission to kill and destroy the nobles involved in the non human race trade network.
But for now, the Night Wolf youth merely cut the meat on his silver plate and ate his food very elegantly like a pure noble descendant born and raised in the palace environment. No one in that room would have guessed that the slender hand currently holding the silver fork was a hand that could take the lives of dozens of people in just the blink of an eye.
It is only a matter of time before this hand grasps a dagger again. thought Wolvin calmly, slowly chewing a piece of roast beef that tasted very delicious and tender on his tongue.
The focus of Wolvin's hearing suddenly locked onto a round table located a bit further to the southwest of their table's position. There, were two male nobles talking with a tone of voice deliberately lowered so as not to be heard by the guests at the table next to them.
"That beastfolk... how could he be the one to become the prince's spouse?" whispered an arrogant-faced male noble wearing a silk cloak lined with gold threads to the colleague sitting next to him. His tone of voice was full of sentiment and disgust covered by a fake smile as he raised his wine glass. "A lowly race like him shouldn't be worthy of being amidst a grand imperial family like this. This is truly an insult to our honorable blue-blooded lineage."
"I agree with you." whispered the noble who was his interlocutor, a well-built and burly man who was cutting the meat on his plate with rough movements. "If only he wasn't the spouse of the crown prince, I would definitely be happy to catch him, subdue him, and make him my pet in my residence. Or even better, I would just sell him to the slave trade market. The selling price of a beastfolk from a fighter clan who is still young and has a cute face like him would definitely be exceptionally high there."
"You are right!" replied the first noble while snorting softly and sipping his red wine. "He is just a beastfolk who happens to be very lucky because the prince might be interested in wild things right now. Someday later, that young prince will definitely realize his grand status and will eventually get bored and just throw him away."
Without those two nobles realizing it, the quiet conversation that should have been covered by the bustling sound of laughter and music in the hall could be heard by Wolvin's wolf ears very clearly, word for word.
He did not show any emotional reaction at all. His facial expression remained flat and calm. His hands kept moving cutting the meat on his plate with a constant rhythm.
The Night Wolf youth then slightly tilted his body toward Calian, pretending to take a silk napkin located near his husband's arm.
"Darling, the two men to your southwest are talking about selling slaves." whispered Wolvin with a very low and flat tone while straightening his body again to enjoy his food, as if he was merely commenting on the delicious taste of the soup in his bowl. "And they just said that I am just a lowly beastfolk who happens to be lucky to become a member of the imperial family."
Hearing his spouse's words, Calian's initially calm gaze instantly turned very cold and deadly. He placed his fork and knife on the table slowly, then activated the power of his stasis magic until the flow of time in that spacious room came to a halt instantly.
In a fraction of a second, all colors, movements, and sounds inside that grand hall seemed swallowed by absolute silence.
Everyone stopped moving. The sound of the string instrument notes drifting from the corner of the room was suddenly cut off mid-note. The crisp laughter and chatter of the nobles vanished without a trace leaving silence. A drop of meat sauce that had just fallen from a palace servant's spoon appeared to hang stiffly motionless in mid-air. The flames on the hundreds of candles on the hanging crystal chandeliers stopped swaying, freezing completely.
Everyone in that hall had transformed into lifeless three-dimensional statues, not excepting Wolvin who was still in a sitting position beside him while holding a fork.