Slow, ambient music played in the ballroom as Lucien and Selene danced in the middle.
They didn't bother with others' opinions about them, and they were lost in their own world.
"You promised me an interesting gift tonight, Lucien." She leaned onto him and whispered.
Lucien's body shivered slightly as he felt tickling in his ears. "Of course, you can look forward to that."
Selene was let down slightly, still being kept in the dark about it.
Lucien noticed the expressions and whispered back, "Trust me, m'lady, the wait would be worth it."
As they continued their conversation, the other couples in the ballroom also started joining them in the dance, inspired by the connection between the main couple.
The three queens were sitting down in their own designated chairs, a step down from the main dais.
The first and the third queens were eyeing the King, hoping he'd ask them for a dance, but Maria couldn't care less.
Out of the three queens, she was the only one who had the worst relationship with the king.
But the king looked down on everyone with no emotion on his face.
He had no plans to do anything but the bare minimum here in the coming-of-age ceremony.
Another woman, sitting another step below the queens, had her eyes towards the throne, but her gaze wasn't on the king, but rather towards the first prince.
She was Edric's betrothed, Grace Harken, and their relationship was still quite wobbly.
She also wanted to join the ballroom floor with Edric, but he had specifically told her not to do anything at this event.
She knew that the brothers didn't like each other, but seeing her friends join their husbands and fiancés dance there, she couldn't help but want it.
Truth be told, she was quite jealous of the chemistry she witnessed between Selene and Lucien.
Sigh!
Just like that, the main couple left the floor after three rounds of dance, and the dances went on for hours, as people joined and left the stage constantly.
Lucien joined his brother and stood back on the other side of his father's throne, while Selena stepped up and joined Grace.
Selene wanted to greet her and be friends with her, but as expected, Grace was told by Edric to do only the bare minimum.
…
After a few hours, the hall calmed down as soon as the King showed a little sign of movement.
Every eye immediately traced back to the King as he slowly stood up.
"In the eyes of the Kingdom and our allies," the King declared in his deep, dominant voice, his voice reverberating through the halls, "I hereby announce the betrothal of my son, Lucien Callastre, to Selena Vossberg."
"May their union bind our lands in peace and strength for generations to come."
Polite claps filled the halls, people nodded as they realized this was going to be a bigger trade opportunity.
Selene climbed the stairs, Lucien stepped down, and when they met in the middle, they held hands and politely bowed in front of everyone.
Flash! Flash! Flash!
Another wave of camera flashes shone like thunder.
'In this age of love marriages, he isn't even hiding that it's a political one in front of cameras.' Lucien knew that millions of people would be watching this and probably criticising it.
…
With the King's speech coming to an end, other events of the banquet continued.
Lucien was hungry, but the members of the Royal family weren't allowed to eat with others right now.
'Who added this rule?' He clicked his tongue, watching others gobble down world-class food.
But thankfully for him, he wasn't suffering alone.
He noticed that Selene was also sneaking a few glances, and since she was a quasi-royalty now, she wasn't allowed to eat with others either.
…
Hours passed, and midnight was fast approaching.
The banquet had come to an end, and people were leaving slowly.
Except for a few people, everyone left shortly.
Only the members of the Royal family and Paragons were there to discuss something with the king.
Arthur was there too, and so was Selene.
It was finally time for the last event of the day:
The Baptismal Awakening.
A sacred ceremony used to awaken everyone in the modern world, having a success rate of over 90%.
One just had to crush a spirit core, be it a spirit's or a spirited beast's, and mix it inside a holy liquid mixture available on the market under government subsidies.
Then, the person who was going to awaken had to dip their entire body in the pool and absorb the spirit energy through their orifices.
Once the energy kickstarts the dormant core present inside every human, they awaken and become an official Exalt.
The reason why people waited 18 years to awaken was so that their bodies could handle this assault of energy in their bodies, otherwise, they risk losing control and turning into mindless, spirited beasts.
The floor of the hall slowly opened up, revealing a massive pool of milky white liquid.
A few old priests, donned in white and gold robes, slowly entered the hall.
The one in the front was carrying a red pillow, with a small shiny ball of crystal emitting an ethereal glow.
It was a spirit core.
Most people who weren't rich enough could only afford a simple spirit beast core for awakening, but this was the Callastre family.
The spirit core was personally hunted by a high-ranking official of the Vanguard Federation in the Limbo.
Edric told Lucien to go change, not daring to say anything disrespectful in front of their fathers.
Lucien nodded and went inside for a minute.
Meanwhile, the priest picked up the spirit core under the gazes of multiple powerhouses, careful not to drop it, and dipped his hands into the pool.
He crushed the spirit core inside the liquid and immediately pulled his hands out, careful not to let it touch him.
The milky white liquid started bubbling, as fluorescent lights emitted from the popping bubbles of colorful gases.
The pool would be ready in a few seconds.
Lucien also entered the hall back in a simple white shirt and trousers made up of pure cotton.
It was almost see-through, but it was dense enough in the right places.
Lucien slowly walked down the dais, exchanging meaningful looks with his mother, who was probably very anxious right now.
He also winked once at Selene, making her widen her eyes.
A few more people raised their eyebrows seeing this gesture, but it wasn't anything too out of the ordinary for this womanizer to do something like this.
But Selene understood the meaning behind this wink.
Lucien was going to pull a massive stunt here.
Her heartbeat quickened, but she couldn't help anything.
She just watched Lucien as he slowly passed her and stood in front of the pool.
It was finally time.
Lucien took a deep breath and…
Crack!
Gulp!