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"Um… Senpai?" Yukina asked hesitantly.
"Hmm?" Bokue replied absentmindedly, still elegantly but relentlessly clearing his plate.
"You… remember why we came here, right?"
"Of course."
"Then, don't you think we should at least try to do what we're here to do?"
Inside the luxurious banquet hall, Yukina watched in disbelief as Bokue methodically demolished his plate of food, resisting the urge to bury her face in her hands.
They were supposed to be representing the Fourth Progenitor's faction, here to meet the First Progenitor's envoy. Shouldn't they seek out their host upon arrival? Why did it seem like Bokue was determined to make a personal challenge of how many lamb chops he could eat instead?
Noticing Yukina's increasingly conflicted expression, Bokue paused briefly to swallow, then casually explained:
"No need to be so tense, Yukina. Since we've been invited to a banquet, the polite thing is to fully enjoy the banquet. It'd be rude to let all this good food go to waste."
Well, that was the high-EQ way of putting it, anyway.
Yukina frowned uncertainly. "But… aren't we here to meet the envoy from the First Progenitor?"
"No," Bokue calmly corrected her. "We're here because the First Progenitor invited us to meet with his envoy."
"Huh?"
Yukina tilted her head slightly, momentarily puzzled by Bokue's choice of phrasing. Wasn't that exactly the same thing? They were still here to meet the envoy, weren't they?
Seeing Yukina's puzzled look, Bokue gently explained further:
"If the First Progenitor invited us here specifically to meet his envoy, then the question becomes—who wants to meet whom? Us or him?"
"He… wants to meet us," Yukina answered slowly, realizing the subtle but significant distinction.
"Exactly." Bokue smiled, tossing another fry casually into his mouth. "He's the one who wants to meet us, so he sent the invitation—that's him showing us respect. We accepted his invitation, which is us returning that respect. Since we've already done our part by showing up, the next move is obviously his. He should come greet us directly, rather than us anxiously chasing him down."
"But…" Yukina hesitated, still feeling uncertain.
Just then, Nagisa appeared, returning from a quick tour around the hall with two additional plates of food.
"Here, Yukina-chan, this is yours!"
"Oh… thank you?" Yukina took the offered plate instinctively, looking slightly bewildered.
Nagisa gently patted Yukina's shoulder with a reassuring smile. "It's fine, it's fine! Big Bro said we should just relax and enjoy ourselves, so that's exactly what we'll do. Anyway, Mr. Dimitrie Vatler seems to be someone really important within the Warlord's Empire, right? Even if we run around searching, we might not find him—and even if we ask around, they might not say. Better just to wait until he decides to find us himself."
Caught between Bokue's laid-back logic and Nagisa's cheerful insistence, Yukina finally relaxed slightly, nodding in resigned agreement.
"Well… alright, I suppose."
Quietly, she took a small bite of sushi, deciding it wouldn't hurt to indulge herself a bit after all.
She really was hungry. After all, since that small serving of pasta she'd eaten in the morning, she hadn't had anything else all day—wait, that wasn't entirely true. Technically, she'd had something else—quite a bit of it, in fact—but the nourishing 'liquid diet' earlier definitely hadn't been filling.
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Meanwhile, high above the banquet hall, atop an unlit observation deck overlooking the festivities…
Standing alone in the evening shadows, a tall, elegant figure gazed down at the lavish scene by the brightly-lit pool below. Golden hair shimmered faintly in the moonlight, and deep blue eyes calmly took in the scene of carefree decadence, graceful hands resting casually on the railing.
"How interesting," Dimitrie Vatler mused quietly, almost to himself. "The Fourth Progenitor's representatives don't seem remotely eager to seek me out. What do you make of this, Miss Kirasaka?"
Although he spoke clearly, no one appeared to be around to hear his question—yet after a silent pause, a pair of icy emerald eyes slowly opened from the shadows behind him, a cold female voice answering sharply:
"Don't ask me questions like that, Lord Ardeal. The only thing I can assure you is that Yukina isn't the type to be so casual about her mission. We at the Lion King Organization prioritize duty above all else. If she's neglecting protocol, it's undoubtedly due to that worthless second-generation heir from the Keikain clan."
"Worthless heir…?" Vatler raised an eyebrow slightly, clearly amused rather than offended.
However, his brief question seemed to open some sort of verbal floodgate. The icy woman behind him continued rapidly, voice growing faster and increasingly resentful:
"Yes, exactly! Surveillance of the Fourth Progenitor should have been handled entirely by our Lion King Organization. But then that bratty Kyoto onmyōji somehow convinced the Three Saints to approve his involvement. Now Yukina's stuck babysitting him instead of focusing solely on her task. Honestly, every time I think of her stuck around that pompous brat, I swear it makes me want to—&@#$—"
Her voice spiraled into a nearly incoherent grumble of irritation, clearly losing some grip on her normally composed demeanor.
Vatler merely smiled faintly, apparently accustomed to this outburst. Calmly, he snapped his fingers once, and a male vampire in formal servant's attire immediately appeared beside him, bowing deeply.
"At your service, Lord Ardeal."
"The time has come. Kindly invite our guests to join us up here," Vatler instructed lightly, gaze still fixed upon the celebration below. "I'm sure you know exactly who I mean."
"Yes, my lord."
Without hesitation, the vampire vanished silently from sight.
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Below, in the banquet hall, Bokue and the two girls were still happily enjoying their feast.
Nagisa ate contentedly without reservation, and even Yukina—who'd started out more reserved—was now fully engaged, clearly having succumbed to the delicious temptation.
But at that moment, the vampire servant appeared smoothly amidst the crowd, respectfully bowing slightly to the trio:
"You are the Fourth Progenitor's party, correct? My master awaits you upstairs on the observation deck. He kindly requests your presence."
Yukina immediately perked up, quickly setting her plate aside to straighten her posture.
"Oh—yes, of course. You must mean Dimitrie Vatler. Senpai, Nagisa, let's head up right away and—"
"Don't feel like it."
Bokue's casually dismissive two-word response instantly chilled the lively atmosphere.
The room froze abruptly, as though every guest had simultaneously been paused mid-action by some unseen force. Even the smiling servant straightened slightly, his expression growing subtly tense.
Yet Bokue didn't spare a glance at any of them. He calmly continued eating, savoring a perfectly steamed Australian lobster tail as he spoke clearly:
"If he's the one who sent the invitation, then let him come find me himself."
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