The Royal Banquet (2)

\\ I looked over to see someone holding a glass of champagne right in front of me, as if they wanted me to reach out to it. And that "someone" was none other than Ambassador Lockhart.

I paused. HUH? //

***

What was he doing, giving me a glass of champagne? I took a step back, uneasy by the unexpected surprise and said:

"Oh my~ I did not see you there, Mister,"

Ambassador Lockhart a pair of thick beautiful eyelashes which blinked at me, he gave me a sweet smile and said:

"No apologies, I am at fault," he says as he casually waved his hands back up and down. I inspected him a little more. He seemed to be about my age, around closer by a few years or so. But he was a head taller than me too.

This time he wore an expensive suit, which seemed to be made out of luxurious materials that you couldn't find in Emperiza that easily. Truly, a higher class nobility from Kyria. An ambassador actually.

But every time around him, there was a mysterious aura. He had enticing gray-brown eyes. Every detail about him made me curious as to know who he really was.

"...your dance... I believe this is the first time I am seeing it, may you tell me it's name?" Lockhart said with a beautiful smile. I blinked twice to get out of my daze and blankly responded:

"Huh? You don't know the Vienesse Waltz?"

"The Vienesse Waltz? I think I have heard about it before," he said looking at the waltz dancing on the ballroom.

"It's part of a genre in Ballroom Dance. Its practical measure is around 3/4 beats or 6/8 beats depending on the speed. It's different from the Waltz because of the fast timings, and speed of the natural turns," I say as I followed his gaze down to see people "attempting" to dance the Viennese Waltz.

"You know a lot, and surely had a lot of training," he said, still staring at the people smiling and joyously dancing.

"They don't have the waltz in your place?-" I paused realizing that I had misspoke too much information. He had a small smile:

"Hmm... seems so~so, we have slow dances like the Slow Waltz or the Foxtrot, I am not so deeply accompanied by any of the dances,"

"..." I didn't say anything much. I had this sensation of 'Keep away, he's dangerous' vibe from him all along. But I kept staring down at the glass of champagne he was holding. Yum... I bit my lips and heard my father calling:

"Rose! Here!"

I saw a tiny flash of my father in the crowd as I rushed towards him, not sparing another glance towards the mysterious aura around that Ambassador.

***

"Today is a very exciting day for us to all announce a very important decision," the Emperor announced pulling his hands up. I gulped in blocks of air. This is it. My golden ticket.

People gasped and hung around the crowd.

"..." I traded a glance at my father who was staring at the Emperor still. I sighed.

"Tonight, I will be announcing my son, the Crown Prince Ares of this Empire's engagement... to Lady Bellrose Elise von Crest, the daughter of the Crest Dukedom,"