W1.A1-24: In Line to Meet a Royal

Celine looked at the passing scene through the window.

The night sky was lacking the moon, but the bright stars had lit up the sky. A calm breeze came through the window, brushing against her silky black hair.

The scenario was one of complete tranquility, but Celine didn't have the mood to enjoy it.

Although she had bravely come forward to deal with the situation, it didn't mean that she was sure of her success.

On the contrary, she had already prepared herself to face many troubles, especially since the person she had to deal with was that vile Vilet.

Had someone asked Celine the number one cause of her family's present difficulty, she would surely have given Vilet's name first.

As she was lost in her thoughts, an hour soon passed. The carriage suddenly began to slow down, making her come out of her thoughts.

She looked out of the window and saw the mansion where the banquet was held.

Soon, the carriage arrived in front of the entrance, and the driver called out to inform her of their arrival.

A staff member there opened the door before greeting Celine politely.

Celine disembarked from the vehicle and saw a large crowd gathered at the entrance.

One by one, the carriages coming from the town dropped people off before going back to resume their task.

Seeing the flow of people going inside the mansion, Celine could only follow along.

As she walked through the brightly lit hallway, she was amazed by the detailed and tasteful decorations on the venue.

No one could have imagined that a simple town such as theirs would one day hold a grand event like this.

Of course, Celine would have preferred that the organizer be someone other than Vilet.

Shaking off her useless thoughts, Celine looked around the hall she had just entered.

The brightly lit and exquisite chandeliers bathed the whole venue in brightness equal to the day, minus the heat.

Many waiters and servers could be seen going around the place, distributing delicious looking appetizers and snacks.

The people who had come here all belonged to certain levels of society; hence, every arrangement was done in accordance with that.

Celine was not interested, though. She only wanted to meet Vilet and possibly have a meeting with that royal too.

Of course, she was not here to beg for mercy or make a request.

No. She had come here to propose a deal that would end this problem once and for all. And although it would damage her family's already battered finances, it was better than losing everything at a later date.

At the moment, she was standing in a corner and thinking about scenarios that she might have to deal with later on.

She was wearing a mask that hid her flawless features, but the sight of her attractive figure still attracted a lot of attention. Some were of admiration, while others contained lust and greed. But Celine paid them no heed, as she was more than capable of protecting herself should anything try to mess with her.

Just as she was thinking of ways to arrange for a meeting with Vilet, who was nowhere to be found, a sudden commotion suddenly appeared in the front.

There, she saw a person dressed in a butler's uniform arriving at the center of the hall.

Clap! Clap!

Clapping his hands, the butler attracted the attention of the people present to himself before he apologized, "My master has sent his apology as, due to a special request, he was unable to attend this event with you all." Taking a brief pause, he continued, "But he has instructed me to tell you that everyone doesn't need to worry as he and our special guest had already discussed a way to satify you all."

Seeing that everyone was paying their full attention, the butler seemed satisfied as he said, "Now, all of you can form your group based on the similarity of your requests and proposals."

"Then you may send a representative to visit my master and our special guest in his chamber."

The guests began to whisper as they discussed the viability of the method. Soon, echoes of agreement began to sound as most of the people agreed with the suggestion.

Thus, in this manner, the butler arranged them to form a line based system to visit the chamber one at a time.

Had they been at any other place, the guests would have probably flipped the tables at the prospect of standing in line like that.

But they didn't do so here. Most of those present knew the real identity of the "special guest" mentioned by the butler.

That was also why they didn't dare show any dissatisfaction with him. Instead, they all directed their hatred towards the cunning Vilet.

Most of those who came to the event were quite jealous of Vilet for having had a lucky encounter with a member of royalty.

Now, riding on his coattails, the damned Vilet was also trying to ride on their heads. But there was nothing they could do.

While the attendees' heads were filled with various thoughts, the line ahead of them continued to shrink.

Celine was also standing in line. It was entirely composed of women. At the beginning of the queue formation, she was smart enough to stand near the front. As a result, she was basically among the top ten who were going to meet with Vilet and the royal guest first.

As she waited, the line continued to move forward.

The line at the back was still quite long, as besides those that were actually invited, some were shameless enough to come without any kind of invitation. But clearly, these people preferred the connection with a member of royalty over their own reputation.

Celine looked on as only one more person remained ahead of her. Suddenly, she noticed something. Or rather, she just realized that the guests who had gone in earlier had not come out yet.

Some of the others present also seemed to have noticed the same thing as they began to discuss it in low voices.

But they were only curious; the thought of it being something dangerous never even crossed their minds. After all, all those present at the scene represented a faction or an organization that was deeply involved with the kingdom's system.

Not even a royal could afford to mess with so many of them.

They guessed that people who had gone earlier were having another discussion among themselves to increase their benefits through mutual cooperation. The thought was enough to rile the rest up as they eagerly began to wait for their turn.

Just like that, a few more minutes passed.

As Celine was lost in thoughts, she suddenly heard someone calling out to her. It was the butler who was telling her to go forward, as her turn had come.

Celine stepped forward and entered a dimly lit hallway. After walking on it for around a minute, she finally saw a room at the end.

The door was open, but she could only see the light coming from within.

Taking a deep breath to calm her chaotic thoughts, Celine decisively stepped forward.