Engagement

|Gary|

I looked around, surprised to find that everyone was staring at us.

'Looks like I went too far,' I thought as I clicked my tongue.

It seemed like everyone was mesmerised by our dance.

Everyone's mouths were wide open, including Lancelot and Rachel's.

'Were we that good?' I wondered internally before releasing the Princess from my embrace.

Her emotionless white face blushed red from the intimate contact, which would only cause more misunderstandings about our relationship.

What I did in the dance was illogical. An action that shouldn't have occurred under the influence of the Monarch's Indifference.

Thus, this means that the Princess was someone who manages to pass through my Monarch's Indifference and cause me to make an emotional move.

'This is dangerous,' I thought while internally frowning. If my theory was right, then Kathyln is dangerous for me.

'Is it the connection I draw between her and Amanda?' I theorised. For some reason, my body was reacting like I was meeting Amanda.

My mind kept on comparing the two of them, and this allowed my emotions to slip past Monarch's Indifference.

Unlike what some may believe, the F-rank skill wasn't perfectly dousing my emotions.

Emotions are simply chemical releases in the brain, and this skill was not destroying these chemicals. Rather, it was suppressing the effect these chemicals have on the mind.

Simply put, this skill was killing the feelings but not the emotions.

However, when a very powerful emotion is felt that causes a lot of chemical release, this skill is unable to suppress its effect or the feeling it creates.

This is why the illusion in the Death Talon Dungeon worked on me and why I made the illogical decision to speed up the dance with Kathyln.

The emotions are too strong to be suppressed, causing me to feel through Monarch's Indifference.

I, of course, did have feelings. I was able to feel after I learned the power of aether and could manually toggle the skill.

However, despite that, my feelings still never pervaded past my logic. My logic dictated I was to never make an idiotic or impulsive move no matter what.

Some may say that this was a bad thing, however, this is how I lived. I wanted to protect my family but I didn't want to dwell on dull things like feelings.

They were simply a hindrance.

However, my mind began having second thoughts after my dance with Kathyln. She stirred up the same emotions in me as Amanda, and my brain unconsciously began to think that perhaps it wasn't too bad to be feeling your emotions.

'What troublesome feelings,' I thought to myself as I tried to douse them with Monarch's Indifference. It was effective to a certain extent, and I felt my mind clear once again.

The nobles erupted into applause and cheers, snapping me out of my thoughts. The sound of clapping filled the grand ballroom, echoing off the high ceilings and marble floors.

Of course, it wasn't anything too crazy as the nobles remained dignified. However, I could tell that this applause was beyond just simple courtesy and carried some genuine appreciation.

'Were we truly that brilliant?' I wondered before taking Kathyln's hand and getting out on the dance floor.

Discreetly turning my head back, I saw the royal couple with shocked expressions on their face. The Queen was covering her face with a lucent fan, however, I could make out her surprise and amusement as our dance.

'She is a great friend of my mother's right?' I thought, 'Those two have been pushing hard for the engagement between the Princess and me.'

Honestly speaking, an engagement with the Princess wasn't bad. I would get a lot of political power as the king of Sapin in the future, and it would provide stability.

However, my heart refused to move from Amanda. I was stuck there and didn't want to move on to another woman even though I was in another world.

"That was truly amazing, Gary!" Lancelot said as he approached me. His eyes were gleaming, causing me to internally wince as I met them.

"Truly breathtaking!" Rachel added, "I didn't know the two of you were so good at dancing!"

The four of us chatted till we neared the end of the event. Kathyln separated from us once again, a troubled expression on her face causing my heart to clench.

I gritted my teeth while ignoring her expression.

Various nobles flocked to me like sheep, subtly inquiring me about my relationship with the Princess.

I avoided the questions professionally, only revealing as much as was necessary. The more experienced nobles quickly caught on to what I was doing and dispersed unhappily.

'Being a noble is tiring,' I commented internally.

Suddenly, the King and Queen once again appeared on the giant stage.

The King was the same as I saw him a decade ago, just older. He had deep red hair with some grey mixed in. His back was completely straight with broad shoulders. His eyes were sharp and give him an eye-catching presence. He was wearing a red robe lined with white fur around the collar and had a cane that shined brighter than any silver I had previously seen. However, his face was already getting wrinkles, showing his great age.

The queen was many years older than my mother, once again making me wonder how they managed to become such close friends. She was the same as before, her facial features reminded me of an ice sculpture; refined, elegant, noble and with no flaws, but also cold and devoid of emotion. Kathyln seemed to have taken her facial features and details after her, which I was grateful for. She was wearing a shimmering silvery-white dress that complimented her dark blue hair that draped over her shoulders like a well-kept tapestry.

Unlike her husband, she looked much younger, almost as if time was too insignificant to affect her.

For some reason, my heart felt glad that Kathyln looked like her mother and would retain her youth decades into adulthood.

'Why would I care about such a useless thing?' I wondered before my attention was snapped back to the royal couple.

By their side, Prince Curtis and Princess Kathyln were also there.

"I would once again like to thank all the nobles who accepted the invitation and came to celebrate my precious daughter's birthday," the King began, "I have one final announcement that I would like to make."

Everyone's breath paused as they waited for what Blaine had to say. A smile manifested on his face as his lips visibly curled up, "I would like to announce the engagement between the Grand Dukedom of Whiteborn and the Glayder Royal Family. Gary Whiteborn is going to be engaged to Princes Kathyln Glayder! I am sure that everyone saw the love and affection the two of them have for each other through the dance they performed for us. Let us all raise a glass to the soon-to-be newlyweds and wish them all the best on their journey together. Long live the Sapin kingdom!"

All the nobles cheered, raising their glasses of alcohol while I groaned internally.

My mind was divided into two sides. On one side, I wanted to marry Kathyln and become the King of Sapin, on the other hand, I didn't want to move on from Amanda and cause her to be forgotten.

'As I thought, emotions are too annoying,' I thought as my parents came into view.

_______________________________

|Gary|

"What is the meaning of this?" I queried my parents while following them through the Palace. My question was open-ended, but there was little doubt in my mind that my father understood what I was asking.

"I would like to pose the same question to you," he responded without breaking his stride, "What were you thinking when you conducted that serene dance with the Princess."

"That, I—" I struggled to explain myself before being cut off by my father.

"It does not matter anyway," he said, "What matters is the result. Your intimate dance caused quite a stir among the nobles, leading them to question the nature of your relationship. The King made the best move in the situation presented. And, I didn't think you would protest so vehemently. Regardless, this engagement cannot be broken now, at least now for a few years."

I gnashed my teeth in annoyance, causing my mother to throw me a concerned look. Activating Monarch's Indifference with more aether, I tried to wash away these emotions but once again failed to do so effectively.

Soon, we found ourselves in front of a jaded white and gold door. Two powerful guards were standing in front, their aura matching that of Mother.

They were wearing a black uniforms with red lines flowing throw the dark fabric. Helmets covered their faces and they stood ramrod straight, unflinching when the three of us stopped in front of the door.

'Are these the legendary Crimson Knights?' I thought to myself before the Knights opened the door and let us in.

Crimson Knights were the highest order of Knights. Their might was at the greatest level, however, as one may expect, their numbers were very low.

This is why they were rarely ever used. The fact that two Crimson Knights were guarding this door showed the importance of the beings in the room as well as the amount of precaution taken by the king against us.

'It feels somewhat good to see how scared the King is of the Whiteborn Family.'

We entered the room, finding the four royals seated comfortably on the couches. Suddenly, I activated aevum and paused time.

'Who?' I thought as I looked behind the sofas. Melded in the shadows of the walls, there were two beings I could barely sense.

Sweat dripped down my neck from the strain of freezing time for such powerful creatures. Their power was beyond that of my father, however, they didn't seem to be hostile.

Rather, they seemed to be protecting the royalty.

Unpausing time, I fixed my expression before greeting the royalty alongside my parents.

We began making small talk while I continued to think about the two beings guarding the royalty from the shadows.

'Are they the legendary white stage mages?' I thought, 'But there weren't meant to be any. It doesn't make sense for only the Sapin royal family to have such powerful mages, and two of them. Thus, could it be that every royal family has two white stage mages? And they guard them from the shadows? But why do they obey the royal family when they could topple them with ease?'

A whole lot of questions with few answers bubbled into my mind.

Quickly, the topic changed to the engagement between Kathyln and me.

"Just so everyone is on the same page, we are all in agreement of their engagement?" the Queen said as all the adults nodded.

"I agree, however, I do not want to force Gary into marrying someone he doesn't want to. I think they should spend some time together," my mother replied.

"I think the same, Liza." the queen said as the two males seem to have taken a step back from the discussion, "I discussed with my husband and decided that we should let these two decide whether they wish to stay engaged after spending time together in Xyrus Academy."

For some reason, my heart thumped from my mother's words. 'Was I looking forward to a life in an academy with Kathyln?' I thought, 'It has been so long since I went to school after all.'

"I agree," I said simultaneously with Kathyln.

"The two of you should spend some time together right now," the queen said as she smiled. We both nodded and exited the room.

"Where do you wish to go, Gary?" Kathyln asked me.

"Kindly lead me to the tea room," I responded before following her.

Unbeknownst to me at the time, the decision I made might have been the pinnacle of both triumph and regret in my life.