The beginning

"Now... let's begin."

With those words, it was if statues had come back to life. Everyone in the hall started moving at once. There were tables set up with food and places for everyone to sit, but nobody cared about that right now.

Well...

Nobody, but Rain that is. He was hungry and he wanted to see if the kingdom's chefs could fit his taste. He was a picky eater.

*Spoiler*

Rain spent his time at the food tables shedding imaginary tears at the unimaginable imagination of what chefs can do in a cultivation world. Just put meat over a fire, you fucks!!! A hamburger. That has to exist somewhere in this world, right?

*Spoiler End*

The king sat on his throne, not talking to anyone, though no one approached him even if they wanted to. They waited for the stars to disperse into the crowd in order to get a chance to talk to them and make them aware of their existence. They couldn't get too close to the throne, so this was necessary.

Mo Enlai made the first move. He walked with a proud expression on his face towards the dukes and their children and refused any other advances as if they were below him. He simply wanted to show off his status. However, any pretty girl who approached him, he invited to come along with him and any girl who crossed his path. All the girls who were hoping to talk to the first prince, namely the dukes children who thought they might have a chance, did their best to fade away as they couldn't refuse Enlai if he asked them to sit with them.

Taking the distraction that his brother provided, Fang chose to approach some adults with high status and make conversation. This caused most adults to drift his way along with the dukes daughters who hoped to get in his favor. The concubines daughters also drifted that direction as three groups were formed and three individuals were isolated.

First was Enlai, surrounded by girls of lower status who wanted to be in his good graces and any high status girls who were unlucky enough to be in his eye line.

The adults and high status daughters who greeted and chatted with Fang.

And finally, the boys who stood captivated by the Thorn Princess.

[A/N: Cliche name, but whatever.]

The boys waited for their chance, as she walked towards them. She clearly knew her responsibilities and, though her smile might have become a bit strained for a second there, she maintained her perfect facade.

The three individuals who were isolated were pretty obvious. Rain had gone to go eat and was currently observing the room and each important individual with a bored expression on his face. There was nothing unexpected currently, though the novels he had read in his past life had certainly helped with his expectations.

His expression was similar to the Ice queen's. They both looked indifferent, although hers was colder and harsh and his was more bored and lazy. The queen seemed to not care about what was happening in the room, unlike the king and Rain who were clearly keeping an eye on the important players.

Yes, the king was the third isolated individual. Like the queen, he kept his aura unapproachable as he watched from atop his throne.

This was only the precursor. Things needed to thin out and everybody needed to meet everyone else.

It was going to be a long night.

...

Rain stood with his back leaned against a wall. Currently, the groups of people were more interchanged and it became more children with children and adults with adults. The three Mo family children were done with introducing themselves to the adults and their underli- *cough* peers. The adults, having done their duty, had no job left to do and had started talking politics and such with one another, entrusting their kids with an ever-important mission.

Rain looked around, before meeting eyes with an individual, one he had come to a conclusion was sort of a kindred soul.

The queen.

She had been watching him for a little while now.

Over the course of the night, they had both gotten bored. Rain had stopped observing the festivities in favor of finding out if the chefs were capable of making anything edible and without sauce and she had gotten bored of just staring into space. As such, she had naturally taken notice of the unnaturally handsome child who gave zero fucks about the world. Originally, she had thought he was the type of rebel character who wanted to stand out from the pack and was about to look back at the night sky when she noticed his eyes.

Rain's eyes. They were a bit unique as black wasn't a natural eye color. However, they were natural. Black and soulless, giving him an almost permanent bored look. This fit well with Rain's almost permanent boredom. Most would come to love the people that raised them during the time that they were together and want to protect them. However, even in his past life with good parents who provided for him, the best Rain could do was forced gratitude. At least in this life he enjoyed the company of his mother and sister. That put them above others, but that was as far as it extended.

In his past life, it took Rain a lot of trials and tribulations to figure out why people did what they did and why he was different. In the end, he accepted who he was and he accepted who they were. Nothing more.

However, back to the concept of eyes, Mo An saw herself in the eyes of the child who stood observing the food and glancing at the festivities. Naturally, Rain did not fail to notice her gaze and, after glancing a few times at her, he entered a bit of a staring contest. They both watched each other, their eyes empty of intention. An could see the maturity and indifference oozing off of him, something she didn't expect to see in a child, and Rain was impressed by her in general. He admired her strength and her lack of haughty pride.

The lack of existence of this haughty pride and something that would only further Rain's opinion of her was the action she took.

She made a decision and began to move.