[center][img]https://i.ibb.co/gMrQxwfn/Chat-GPT-Image-Feb-8-2026-08-49-16-AM.png[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/V0PfMhsf/8531-FC85-1297-4-C7-A-9-B65-C29409-E6-F295.webp[/img] [sub][color=DDB775]Mention:[/color][@Chrys] Amira [@Oso] Cassius [@SilverSpring] Violet [@Potter] Elena [@Tae] Mina [@samreaper] Kazumin [/sub] [img]https://i.imgur.com/sPIxd99.png[/img][/center] [color=lightgray][color=4C93C2]Count Calbert Damien[/color] waited until Edin’s attention was no longer claimed before approaching with [color=teal]Countess Liliane[/color] at his side. If the Count had taken offense to being cut off moments before, Edin saw no trace of it. Lesser nobles carried humiliation so obviously. Calbert did not. Calbert understood restraint and the value of approaching a king properly. That was why Edin liked him. There were few noblemen left in Caesonia who could be trusted to do more than preen or pray loudly when matters turned difficult. Calbert Damien was not one of them. He was useful and reliable when something unpleasant needed doing. And as Edin's eyes fell on the man, he could not help but notice how luscious and thick his hair was. Calbert bowed perfectly as always. [color=4C93C2]“Your Majesty,”[/color] Calbert greeted smoothly. [color=4C93C2]“Countess Damien and I wished to offer our gratitude for the evening. It is no small thing to give the kingdom light when so many would rather stare into the dark.”[/color] Liliane curtsied beside him gracefully. [color=008080]“The ballroom is beautiful, Your Majesty,”[/color] she said warmly. [color=008080]“It is a comfort to see the court gathered beneath your roof tonight. Caesonia needed this.”[/color] Edin regarded them both with a faint nod. Liliane had chosen her words well. [color=DDB775]“You are kind to say so, Countess.”[/color] Calbert’s smile softened. [color=4C93C2]“Kindness has its uses, Majesty, but I prefer accuracy. There are moments when uncertainty breeds poor judgment in lesser men. I am relieved Caesonia does not suffer from that weakness at its center.”[/color] The compliment found its mark. Edin did not smile broadly, but his expression eased. [color=DDB775]“Thank you, Count Damien.”[/color] Calbert inclined his head, accepting the acknowledgment without appearing hungry for it. Then his gaze moved briefly over the ballroom as he continued,[color=4C93C2]“Still, Majesty, I would be remiss if I did not ask after the matter of protection.”[/color] His tone remained calm. Edin already knew where this was going. He exhaled through his nose. Calbert continued smoothly, as if he had not noticed. But of course he had. [color=4C93C2]“Given recent disturbances, and the unfortunate habit certain names have developed of appearing near them, I had hoped the additional precautions I requested were not considered excessive.”[/color] Edin lifted two fingers in a subtle motion toward the far side of the ballroom. Calbert followed the indication without turning his head too obviously. Two guards stood near the columns, their attention fixed not on the exits, nor the crowd, but on [color=B22222]Violet[/color] and [color=B0C4DE]Cassius[/color]. [color=DDB775]“Your daughter and son are being watched,”[/color] Edin said. [color=DDB775]“Discreetly. As requested.”[/color] Calbert’s face did not change, but Edin saw the satisfaction pass behind his eyes. [color=DDB775]“Countess Damien will be watched after as well,”[/color] Edin added, his gaze flicking to Liliane. [color=DDB775]“If trouble finds this ballroom, it will not find your family unattended.”[/color] Liliane dipped her head. [color=008080]“You honor us, Your Majesty.”[/color] Calbert placed a hand over his heart as he declared with utmost sincerity, [color=4C93C2]“You have my thanks. As a father, as a husband, and as your servant.”[/color] [i]Servant.[/i] Edin liked that. Then Calbert smiled again. [color=4C93C2]“Tonight, everyone sees that the Crown has not retreated. That matters more than many in this room are clever enough to understand.”[/color] Edin watched him for a long moment. Finally, his chin lifted. [color=DDB775]“The Damiens have always understood the value of order.”[/color] [color=4C93C2]“The Damiens understand the value of survival,”[/color] Calbert corrected gently, and with a grin as they made their way back into the thick of it. Calbert and Liliane had scarcely withdrawn before the next name was called. Edin had watched them go, pleased despite himself. Then the herald announced the next arrival, and Edin’s attention shifted to the next entry: [color=#fff4b1]Elena Pawonska[/color]. There was beauty there, certainly, but not the sort properly arranged for a ballroom. [i] She was wearing trousers for one thing.[/i] And Edin HATED a woman in pants! Edin’s gaze then lowered briefly to her hands... [i]Not soft enough.[/i] And when she greeted him, there was no delicate fluttering, no sweetness, no eager attempt to dazzle him... She gave him respect, but not worship. Her curtsy was correct. Her words were correct. Her smile was pleasant enough to pass. Her face was beautiful...[i] But the pants[/i]. [color=DDB775]“Good evening, [color=#fff4b1]Lady Pawonska[/color],”[/color] he replied, his voice composed despite the grimace on his face as his eyes had fixated on those stupid trousers of hers. His eyes held hers a moment longer. She was a dead ringer for the other [color=D2B48C]brunette[/color] that [color=00AEEF]Amira[/color] was talking to currently. It took him a moment to recall the Pawonskas of the Varian Kingdom. The Pawonskas were peculiar, that was for certain. Edin knew enough about them to distrust the family, though Sven was a rather wonderful presence whenever he did come to Caesonia. [color=DDB775]“Enjoy the ball,”[/color] he added, dismissing her with a slight lift of his hand. Next were the Blackwoods. Edin received [color=792A31]Sebastian Blackwood[/color] with a smile, though his attention did not remain on the man for long. His gaze moved instead to the young woman beside him, taking in the midnight blue silk, the lowered neckline, the gold roses. [color=758173]Mina Blackwood[/color] was beautiful, certainly. Beautiful enough to make a man forgive a great deal for an evening. But not enough to make a queen. Disgusting rumors clung to her too thickly for that. Edin had heard enough of [color=758173]Lady Blackwood[/color] and had thought the very same of her ever since the first ball... And it was a pity, really. There was something eager in her tonight, and Edin could imagine taking pleasure in such eagerness if the night allowed it. [color=DDB775]“Count [color=792A31]Blackwood[/color],”[/color] Edin replied with a faint nod. [color=DDB775]“Lady [color=758173]Mina[/color]. You honor us with your presence tonight.”[/color] His eyes lingered on [color=758173]Mina[/color] a moment longer before he let them pass onward, already sorting her into the proper place in his mind. The herald had barely finished before Edin’s gaze found [color=D0B4EC]Charlotte Vikena[/color]. For a moment, he did not see the girl at all. That midnight gown... [i]He knew that dress[/i]. He had bought it years ago for [color=a38ddf]Emina[/color], when the two of them had a bargain that no one in this room was meant to remember. And now [color=D0B4EC]Charlotte[/color] wore it as if it were her own, and she entered as if she wanted the room to look. Edin’s expression did not change, but something inside him stirred unpleasantly. He had never taken [color=D0B4EC]Lady Charlotte[/color] for ambitious. Strange, certainly. Fragile in the way the Vikenas always became fragile. Perhaps the rumors were right, and [color=a38ddf]Emina[/color]’s death had loosened something in her. Or perhaps [color=FA8072]Lorenzo[/color]'s madness had truly left its mark on her. Had she chosen it by accident, or had she come wearing that particular dress on purpose? Edin wondered if she had come here with her heart set on the crown, using such a dress in his moment of mourning to manipulate his loneliness and become his queen. But she never approached him. Instead, [color=D0B4EC]Charlotte[/color]’s gaze found the [color=B0C4DE]Damien[/color] bastard, and she immediately went his way. So not a queen, then. Only a foolish girl in a dead woman’s dress, playing at power. Or perhaps she hoped to seduce him because grief and madness had made her reckless. The papers had already whispered enough about her fragile nerves after the last ball. No matter. Edin was here to find a queen. And if the crown required virtue, loneliness required far less. Perhaps he would simply select a few promising distractions and invite them to dinner. Then Mr. Kazoo, the Skip Meister arrived, and Edin almost leaned out of his seat as his gaze found his favorite performer. Then [color=#32CD32]Kazumin Nagasa[/color] began to move. At first, Edin tried to watch with the detached patience of a king indulging a fool. The hat, the sunflowers, the strange little bounce in his step, all of it should have been absurd. Yet within moments, the room changed. Faces that had been stiff with grief turned toward him. Someone laughed. Then another. The boy was not merely dancing.[i] He was relieving the room.[/i] He had taken all the tension Edin had been trying to bury beneath chandeliers, wine, and gold, and somehow skipped straight through it with a big hat and a smile bright enough to offend sorrow itself. The nobles watched because they could not help it. A sound rumbled from Edin’s chest that hadn't been heard in days: Laughter. It came out deep and ugly at first, then louder, bellowing through the space around the throne as his hand struck the armrest with sudden delight. [color=DDB775]“Ha!”[/color] he barked, eyes brightening. [color=DDB775]“There he is!”[/color] [color=DDB775][i]Genius,[/i][/color] Edin thought. [color=DDB775][i]Absolute, ridiculous genius.[/i][/color] Even the mention of [color=a187be]Alibeth[/color] did not sour the effect enough to ruin it. The prayer was bold, perhaps even foolish, but it allowed grief to exist without challenging the throne. By the Gods, the boy had done it again. A smile spread across the King’s face before he could stop it, broad and delighted and entirely lacking dignity.[color=DDB775]“Mr. Nagasa!”[/color] Edin’s voice boomed once the young man finished before him. [color=DDB775]“You absurd little creature! You have brought a much-needed light into a difficult evening.”[/color] He leaned back against the throne, studying the sunflowers bobbing on the boy’s hat as though they were jewels in a crown. Joy, true joy, was harder to summon on command. Somehow, this strange puppet boy had done it with his feet. Edin’s smile lingered. Perhaps he had been right the first time. Perhaps [color=#32CD32]Kazumin Nagasa[/color] was not merely amusing. [i]Perhaps he was necessary.[/i] [/color]