23 The Diamond Prince

The beast stood there, which put him eye to eye with the curly haired young boy whose fiery, burning gaze poured shivers onto him, and whose mouth frothed with fury giving him the feeling of how annoyed and angry Ziggy was on their sudden meeting. To make the situation worse, another woman's hands were pressing tightly on his arms, owning him when in fact he already gave himself to the boy's best friend.

Darryl was looking placid and unruffled yet unknown to everyone's eyes, his veins were flooded with a series of complex and different emotions. He was annoyed, angry, excited and curious.

'If this boy is here, could it also be possible that the girl he longed for is also here?'

That thought suddenly gave him chills, like a pail of cold water was poured down to him in surprise. If she was here, would her heart not break apart seeing him with somebody else?

He searched the crowd in panic, family to family, to look for any signs of her. There was none, yet he was desperate. Before he gave up and withdrew his eyes from the crowd he caught a glimpse of another familiar silhouette that only increased his interest. Just beside Senior Hans Montarini stood a young handsome boy looking sharp and dashing in his black tuxedo. His long hair was dark as the shadows of twilight highlighting his chiseled clear face and roman nose. It was Huzey.

The beast's eyes stopped on Huzey and the latter repaid his stares with intensity. They exchanged gazes for a couple of minutes. The crowd whose eyes were on the Lagdameo heir suddenly turned frantic when they noticed the two boy's meaningful stares toward each othe and it made them gossip under their breaths.

As much as everyone knew the Lagdameo heir, the Montarini heir was also quite popular.

He is an art prodigy who painted the La Glamorosa, one of most expensive art collection pieces of all time. The Montarini family are artists who own most of the art museums and art schools in this country. Aside from that they own the biggest diamond mining corporation which dubbed Huzey Montarini as the Diamond Prince. But unlike the Lagdameo heir whose personality and social ability is exceptional, the Diamond Prince on the other hand is quite aloof and mysterious, which made him too hard to make friends with.

Now, two prominent heirs were exchanging complicated stares and the crowd was dying to know the meaning of those stares. Even the adults and the elders who were present caught such demeanor, but before everyone could open their mouth to ask, the diamond prince turned his head lightly, a sign of saying "no" or "none". He was directing such a sign to the Lagdameo heir.

Everyone's interest surged to the highest peak instantly by such a gesture.

The beast understood what Huzey meant. She's not here. His hopes dropped and frustration engulfed him in an instant but his heart refused to believe. Yesterday while he was thinking about his dilemma with his father, there was a part of him that wanted to let her go and continue to pursue his dream. But today, when the thought of seeing her again filled him, his plans of forgetting her was an impossible proposition. He was just so full of her that it was impossible to forget even her fragrance. His frustration suddenly rose up and  his emotions were getting uncontrollable again just like the way he was when she was around.

"Dee, you know Ziggorio Montreal and the Diamond Prince, right? They were also in the conference representing Rivendell Academy" Collet broke the intensifying silence. She was aware of the tension and the rising curiosity of the crowd. It needed to end in her favor knowing that the boy's commotion was certainly not because of her.

The crowd turned frenzy again, so these heirs knew each other? Zhanglou Montreal who was still standing in front of the Chan household turned to his son, his actions were obviously seeking for confirmation. Even Senior Montarini did the same to his grandchild but Huzey refused to react even a single hint of concern.

"If you are asking if we are friends dad, certainly not" Ziggy replied in sarcasm trying to shame Collet and the beast. Ziggy, who was not conscious about the elite's titles and norms, was acting rudely. Being gallant in front of the person who just betrayed his best friend and the woman whom he chose to betray over her was the least of his concern, no matter from which family they came from.

Collet's spoiled as she became agitated at Ziggy's words but somehow she was glad he did not spill everything off. She had enough of that girl's drama the last time around. She cannot lose to her again specially that she wasn't even around.

Zhanglou who heard enough from his son turned his head toward the Chan's to start conversing, but even before he could make a word, he heard his son speak again.

"However, he dated a friend of mine during the conference so we were introduced to each other. But we are still not friends, an acquaintance probably is the right word" Ziggy sneered. He knew the value of the Lagdameo heir even before he met him. He wanted that value to abate even a little for his best friend.

His father who was a bit shocked by the revelation did nothing but just to glare at his own son. The boy's words didn't escape the crowd's attention. Now the gossiping intensifies. Who did the Lagdameo heir dated aside from the CGC's heir?

Collet's face turned pale in an instant. Even the Chan household reactions were in a serious mess.

'What is happening? Is this another plot against them by the Lagdameo's?' Martin Chan thought instantly.

Zhanglou, witty enough to feel the threatening disaster that his son created, tried to remedy it as he called his son's attention. "Certainly, it's nothing serious. The Lagdameo heir is quite attractive. Girls would do anything to lure such boy to date"

Every adult who was present in the memorial agreed to Zhanglou's words and even started to laugh about the idea. Of course, the boy was young and gorgeous. It was normal for girls to pursue him. Too bad the Chan household was already labeling him today, making him unavailable for others to lay a claim.

Even Manuelle, who was already agitated by what was happening, calmed down a bit. Montreal's were indeed entertaining. Zhanglou seemed to have turned an injurious revelation into something funny in favor of his ace card. This was the reason why undisciplined children shouldn't be brought to business events, they were prone to making solid scrapes. He thought as he pondered upon Zhanglou's son.

"Do you think a Lagdameo heir is something you can lure upon? Guess not. Also I agree that we can't blame him, the girl was quite a catch even the Diamond Prince favors her" Ziggy declared trying to shut down his father's remedy attempt.

Zhanglou, who had just recently recovered from his son's mess, became serious in an instant. So was everybody else. The Lagdameo and Chan household were in shock. What was the Montreal boy doing?

However, everybody took the boy's words as an innocent declaration. Zigorrio Montreal was not less famous than any of his siblings, he was even the most adored Montreal offspring. Certainly, a person whose popularity is more than that of a celebrity and who has a great number of followers cannot be reckless with his words. Thus, the boy must be speaking the truth.

A girl that has been favored by the diamond prince and chased by the Lagdameo heir? What kind of girl can she be? Was there any girl in this country more worthy of any attention than the CGC's heir? From what family did she come from?

All the families present in the crowd hoped it could be one of their daughters. Being such an important person can attract many business deals.

Zhanglou stared at his son, who could not be helped. As much as he wanted to scold him for making such a scandal he cannot blame him. Ziggy who was used to the media's spotlight since he was young and knew how scandals and rumors can make and break a person. But he said those words boldly and without any reservation. Being the darling of the media, he already gained his reputation as one of the most influential teens in this country. Thus his words, even how young he is cannot be taken lightly. This son of his though childish and happy-go-lucky is as precious as any heirs around. In fact, he was one of the valued Montreal grandchild, being the most intelligent of them all.

Zhanglou thought of a way to cast the blame for his child's innocent revelation. If these rumors were true, then Ziggorio cannot be blamed for it. Thus, the Chan's and Lagdameo's should take the blame for themselves.

"If the Diamond Prince and my son are insisting on it then it could be true. Isn't it young master Dee?" Zhanglou asked, looking calm and poised. Unknown to everyone, he was making a trap against the Lagdameo heir to take the blame.

He knew that his son and the Diamond Prince were quite close to each other, so the Diamond Prince would take his son's side leaving the Lagdameo heir alone. That would weaken his denial attempt,  in case he planned on doing so. He didn't want to do this yet, there was no choice left. Also, in this kind of scandal, it was best to address it to the person for whom they were cast.

Everybody in the crowd stood still waiting for the Beast to answer. Manuelle stood there trying to control his raging fury, same with Martin who looked very vulnerable, not knowing what to do. How could a simple conversation turn everything upside down?

Looks like the stock market's chart is going to explode drastically any minute from now.