Finishing the formal greetings, Fiora said with a smile, "It's an honour to have a chat with the Prince."
This was said out of genuine respect from her as she was happy to see Lith show her respect and be so respectful.
This was also a common phrase nobles said when they were starting a conversation with someone of a higher status.
Lith, although knew that these were formalities, still felt awkward as Fiora was Dennis's mother. It would've been fine by him if it were any other lady, but his best friend's mother saying something like that didn't click well with him.
However, he had to act according to his status and couldn't bother to ask her to not say such things.
Lith simply smiled and replied, "I am happy that Duchess Fiora feels this way."
Now he was addressing her with her title because saying Mrs. Dracula all the time wasn't appropriate in such formal events.
Being a noble was a hassle because there were too many little things that one needed to take into account. It was something Lith had realized growing up.
Fiora smiled in response as she heard such a swift and respectful reply from Lith.
She didn't say anything further as she was aware that the Prince was here to see his friends and not to have small talk with her.
Lith turned to Ralph's mother and without saying anything, just nodded his head, gesturing to her that he was aware of her presence and would love to talk to her, but not here in this gathering.
Avelyn smiled and nodded back, understanding Lith completely.
Lith then turned to look at Dennis and Ralph and said, "boys, let's go somewhere private. There are too many eyes."
The two nodded their heads and Lith left the area with the two of them.
As they walked away, Cecilia and Aurora were still standing there with agape mouths like fools. They were shocked previously to see the Prince be so respectful but then their shock further intensified as Lith said the word 'boys' and took Dennis and Ralph somewhere private.
Fiora, looking at them, chuckled and walked close towards the two.
She took a sip of wine and said softly, "Close your mouth, you two. People will misunderstand otherwise."
Avelyn at the side giggled as she saw this and the two young girls became embarrassed and felt ashamed for losing their composure and being called out like that.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtHowever, just a second later, Cecilia collected herself and asked Fiora, "What's the relationship between His Highness and Dennis?"
Aurora's ears perked up as she heard that. She wanted to know it too and looked at Fiora.
Looking at the two girls from different clans ask such a question, Fiora smiled. "You do understand that you shouldn't be asking such a question, right?"
"I mean… yeah. But…" Cecilia didn't know how to argue with those words.
It was true. She shouldn't be asking this as what the other clan did and what connections they had, it was none of her business to know. But curiosity was curiosity and took the better of her.
She felt it was worth risking things to get an answer to this question.
Fiora smiled and said to the two, "Me answering you will have its consequences, since it's an evident breach in privacy. Are you two fine with it?"
The two girls froze on their spots. Cecilia, no matter how bold and carefree she was, didn't want to face the repercussions of things and get into trouble with a Duchess. Same was the case with Aurora.
Looking at the two girls pale, Avelyn walked close to Fiora and giggling, said, "Cut them some slack, Fi-chan. Don't torture the poor lasses like that."
'F-F-Fi-chan!?' The two girls thought to themselves in shock.
Since when did Duchess Dracula and the Sin of Lust know each other to be so informal!?
From what the two girls knew, each Duke Clan had a rough idea about the connections of the other four and these two girls were aware of the connections of the Draculas.
But it completely caught them off guard to see the Sin of Lust talk to Duchess Fiora as if she were her close friend.
Fiora covered her mouth and giggled as she watched the further shocked reaction of the two girls. She knew full well what was going on in their minds. She turned to look at Avelyn and winked playfully.
The two ladies, although were old, were still playful and they were just trying to tease the two young girls who were supposedly going to be their future daughter-in-laws.
Although Ralph hadn't shown any interest in Aurora, Avelyn knew that if he met her again a few times, the ship would sail. It was because their personalities resonated together and they were a good match.
As for Fiora, it wasn't a surprise for her to know that Cecilia would become her daughter-in-law because Cecilia didn't hide the fact that she was interested in Dennis. If Dennis didn't make a move, she sure would and their marriage was inevitable.
Fiora stopped giggling and looking at the two girls, said, "His Highness is good friends with the two. There's no other reason."
"What?" Cecilia was surprised to hear that. "How did they become friends? How did I not know about it?"
Fiora chuckled and looking at Cecilia playfully, said, "Dennis never shares things about his private life to anyone. Even me, you know?"
"..." Cecilia was speechless hearing that.
Fiora, Avelyn, Cecilia, and Aurora then began conversing, while in the meantime Lith and his two friends successfully walked past the crowd of nobles in the common area.
Reaching the private courtyard of the City Hall, Lith, Ralph, and Dennis took a seat together.
Dennis slumped back on the chair and said, "Pheww… it was such a pain to dance so formally like that."
"Yes." Ralph couldn't agree more. It was so annoying to dance so much.
"Oh? You two danced?" Lith asked the two, seemingly interested. ????????nr????a????. ????૦m
Dennis shook his hand and said while slumping on the chair, "Don't ask, Your Highness. I was forced against my will by Cecilia and she showed no mercy and made me dance like a puppet."
"Yes, same." Ralph agreed once again. He too was made to dance against his will.
"Huh?" Lith was confused as he heard the response of the two. He faced Ralph and asked, "Why did Cecilia force you to dance? Do you even know her?"
"What?"
"What?"
Ralph and Dennis both instantly turned their heads to look at Lith and asked in surprise.
"What?" Lith couldn't help but ask.
With confusion visible on his face, Dennis asked, "Yeah, what? Why would Cecilia force Ralph to dance?"
This time Lith was confused. He spread his hands and said with visible confusion on his face, "How would I know? I don't even know how Ralph and Cecilia met or became so close with each other."
"WHAT!?" Dennis stood in surprise. He looked at Ralph and asked, "When did you meet Cecilia!? And what the fuck? You guys are close!? How did I not know!?"
Lith nodded from the side. "How did I not know too? When did this happen?" He questioned as well.
"..." Ralph was dumbfounded and truly speechless. Just what the heck was this conversation?
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmHe stared at the two guys with pure amusement and wondered how the convo got to this stage.
It wasn't his fault to think like that. It was a normal thing for such a mess to occur as the trio shared a collective of three brain cells together — two of them being with Ralph himself.
Ralph looked at Lith and Dennis and said, "I don't know what's happening, but I have to clarify, I haven't seen Cecilia before. This banquet was the first time."
"Oh, nice. And in just one meeting, you two danced?" Lith asked.
"What? When did that happen?" Ralph couldn't help but ask.
Dennis was confused as well now. "What are you asking, Your Highness? When did Ralph dance with Cecilia? She was with me the whole time."
"Yeah, what?" Lith was confused now. He looked at Ralph and continued, "If she was dancing with Dennis, when did you get an opportunity to do so?"
"Afxhjshshsjhs!" Dennis jumped between Lith and Ralph and did a small dance by raising his two hands in the air and made a weird sound.
"Stop! Stop! This conversation is too stupid!" He added. "Let's talk about something else."
Lith rubbed his nose and said, "Well, that's okay but… why did you have to dance like that?"
"I don't know!" Dennis exclaimed. "Now let's not talk about it anymore, Kay?"
"Mkay."
"K."
Lith and Ralph nodded.
"Thank you." Dennis said and marched back to his seat and got seated.
He slumped back on the chair and closed his eyes. Feeling mentally exhausted due to the conversation, he said, "What a tough day…"
The conversation finally ended after Dennis sorted it out.
Although the outcome of it was still that Lith and Ralph both had no idea when Ralph danced with Cecilia and when did they meet.
But that was an issue for another day and they left it at the side.
Lith looked at the two and changing the topic, said,
"You two… I have something for you."