The Duke nodded to me and then left. Finally, the family everyone was waiting for entered the room. Everyone bowed when the say the King, Queen, and Prince William. Why do they have to wait to be last? Isn't that a little presumptuous?

Queen Luna approached me with a smile, "Happy birthday Seri. You look... Beautiful today."

The King snickered, "Beautiful? She looks like she is going to eat someone."

I flipped my hair, "Fufu. Don't I look nice? I figured no one would dare bully me if I looked like this."

The Queen elbowed William, "Well Prince William? Doesn't she look nice?"

He blushed slightly and looked away, "She looks like a spider queen..."

First a snake charmer, and now a spider queen? Does this world really despise fierce women so much?

The Queen gave him a stern look, "William." She then pushed him forward, "William is giving himself to you as a present this year."

William blushed in a panic, "MOTHER!"

The King chuckled, "Wife... We've talked about this. You can't keep trying to sell the Prince to Seri. He's not an object."

She sighed, "One day it will work."

No. No it won't.

They turned to leave and Dante followed after them. He bent down and kissed my hand. He gave me a tantalizing smile, "You look beautiful today."

I heard my heart thump in my ears as I blushed head to toe. My father growled next to us and started cracking his fists with a ferocious aura around him. Dante nonchalantly dropped my hand and quickly shuffled away to avoid my fathers wrath.

Now that I was finished greeting my guests, I looked at my mother. "Mother, can I go now?"

My mother gave me a stern look, "Seri. Remember. Today you have become an adult, so you must act like it. No more fooling around and you must always act honorable. Do you understand?"

"Mother... I'm always honorable. I am the most moral and upright individual around!"

She frowned, "I am your mother. You can't lie to me."

I stuck out my tongue and hustled away. My mother went to shout, but my father stopped her. He smiled, "Honey... Just let Seri have her fun today. You know she's been looking forward to her 16th birthday for a while."

My mother sighed and felt her head, "But husband, I fear what happens when Seri has fun..."

I noticed Artie waving from a room and I sneakily made my way over. Before I walked in, I saw Oliver. I waved him over to me, "Oliver. Do big sister a favor. Find Daddy and tell him that Seri says it's later now. Then get the bottle from him and bring it over to that room. Whatever you do, don't let mother see. Can you do that?"

Oliver saluted, "I can do that Sister!"

I chuckled, "Good boy."

When I snuck into the room, I was surprised to see everyone sitting around the table with one gift in front of them. Artie ushered me to the seat at the head of the table and sat me down. Artie spoke, "Alright Seri. We are going to give you a gift one by one, then at the end you will tell us who wins."

I nodded, "Seems simple. Although I don't quite understand why you all want to compete against each other, I also won't complain."

Artie nodded, "We will go in alphabetical order. Here's mine first."

I took it and opened it quickly. I pulled out a large teddy bear with a bow tie and glasses. The adorable soft velvety bear kind of reminded me of Artie. William scoffed, "Seri hates these kinds of things."

Artie spoke quickly, "I sewed this myself! I made it with extra love."

I hugged it to my chest and screeched, "I LOVE IT! It's so adorable! And it's the perfect size to cuddle! Thank you Artie!"

He had a smug smirk, "I knew you would."

William was stunned by this, "What?! But I thought you hated girly things?!"

Millie answered for me, "If they are hand made, Seri will treasure it." Millie shook her head, "Prince William, you should know that Seri likes authenticity and hand made items more than anything."

William sat back and clicked his tongue in irritation. I looked at Dante with a smile, "Alright Dante, you're next."

Dante pushed over his gift. I quickly unwrapped it. There was a black dress with intricate embroidery that made it look something a female Dracula would wear. Looking closer, you could tell it was light weight and a breathable material. Furthermore, the lower part of the dress looked like a skirt, but it was actually pants. It was quite ingenious.

As I pulled it out to look at it, something fell to the ground. I bent down to look at what had fallen and noticed it was a book with an extremely erotic title. I shrieked in quickly hid the book under the dress. Dante snickered as I blushed.

Mary looked at me in curiosity, "What is it?"

I shouted, " NOTHING! DANTE LOSES!"

Dante just shrugged as if he expected this result. Everyone glanced at each other in curiosity. I spoke quickly, "NEXT!"

Lucius didn't care and pushed his gift out, "Mines next! I just know I will win this contest. My gift will show you just how incredible and amazing I am."

I opened the gift and my face fell instantly. I held out a portrait of Lucius who was mounting a white horse with a heroic expression. While it was a really nice painting, the fact that it was Lucius in the painting made it hideous. I looked up, "I changed my mind. Lucius loses."

Lucius looked destroyed by this verdict. William clicked his tongue, "I can't believe it was actually his portrait."

Mary pushed out her gift, "Mine's next."

I took it and opened it up. It was a bracelet made from small cookies. I licked my lips.

Mary smiled proudly and showed her wrist that had an identical one, "Now we match. It's like a wedding bracelet! I even made the jewelry to look like cookies because I know- WAIT! SERI! DON'T EAT IT!"

During her explanation, I had taken a bite of the bracelet. I chewed on it and forced myself to swallow it. I stuck my tongue out, "Gah! Mary... That bracelet tastes terrible."

Mary slammed her head against the table and started sobbing. Artie rubbed her back as she cried. William looked at me in concern, "Will you be alright? I don't think... I don't think that was edible..."

I shrugged. I am immortal, so I should be fine... Right?

I looked to Mathias, "I think you are next."

Mathias placed his gift in front of me and nodded timidly. I opened it and pulled out a fancy looking wine glass. Mathias explained, "This wine glass is an antique. It's over 300 years old and was first created during the reign of King..."

Mathias continued to give the entire and complete history lesson behind this one wine glass. My brain instantly shut off as he talked. Everyone else was also starting to fall asleep. Once Mathias finished he looked around to see everyone except Dante sleeping. He clapped his hands loudly and I jumped up in a panic.

"I"M UP!" I shook my head, "Uh... Next?"

Millie pushed out her gift, "Here is my gift Seri."

I opened it up and pulled out a pair of black leather shoes, "Shoes?"

She smiled, "Not just any shoes." She pressed a button on the heel of the shoe and suddenly a knife came shooting out. "Now if you are ever in trouble, you will always have a knife on you."

I hugged her in excitement, "Ah! This is awesome!!! Thanks Millie!"

I'm a bit concerned as to why Millie gifted me such a thing... But I won't complain!

William pushed his gift over, "I'm last."

I opened his gift and pulled out a perfume bottle. I felt a bit disappointed, "Ah, I don't really care for perfume much, but thank you."

He rolled his eyes, "Just smell it." I sprayed it and suddenly the room was filled with a chocolate scent. My eyes lit up from the delicious smell. He smirked, "Mary's father helped me create it, but it was my idea. I knew you liked chocolate, so I thought you would love to smell it whenever you wanted."

I sprayed it into my mouth. I started gagging, "BAH! GROSS TASTE! GROSS TASTE!"

He shouted, "STOP TRYING TO EAT EVERYTHING!!"

I gagged on the taste as Artie spoke, "So, Seri? Who won?"

I sat back and gave my final scoring, "First place goes to Millie. Because I seriously can't wait to use this."

Millie cheered, "Yes! I won! Now you all have to pay up."

They all groaned as they forked over their money. Millie giggled as she counted it. Wait. Did they bet on this?

I continued, "Second place goes to William because while the gift is amazing, it doesn't taste good. Third place goes to Artie because this bear is super adorable. In fourth place is Mathias, because his history lesson was too much for my brain. Fifth place is Mary because her bracelet also didn't taste very good. Sixth place is Dante for reasons I won't mention. In last place is Lucius because why the hell would I want his portrait?"

Maybe for target practice?

Lucius wanted to cry, "You didn't have to rank everyone!!!"

Just then, the door opened and Oliver strolled in carrying a bottle almost half his size. He handed it to me proudly, "Here sister! I hid it from mommy just like you said! Daddy said to go easy because he doesn't want you to anger mommy."

I took it from him and ruffled his hair, "Good boy. Sister is very proud."

Everyone looked at me with criticizing looks. I placed the bottle on the table ignoring their looks. I smirked, "So who is going to drink with me?"

Lucius's face lit up, "Is that from your fathers company?! Oh, I'm definitely drinking."

William glared at me, "Drinking is such an immoral thing."

I smiled at him, "I can't believe I asked. How inconsiderate of me." William nodded thinking he had won. I looked at Oliver, "Could you be a doll and bring enough cups for everyone?"

He saluted, "Right away."

As Oliver went to grab cups, William looked at me in disbelief, "Everyone?! Seri!"

I stuck my tongue out, "Don't be a stick in the mud."

Oliver returned and put the cups out. I nodded to him, "Thanks Oliver. Now go back to the party and cover for me."

He smiled, "Right away! You can count on me sister!"

As he rushed away, William scoffed, "I'm not going to drink."

I giggled, "Fufu. Do you think I'm giving you a choice? PoonPoon."

PoonPoon emerged from under my dress and hopped to the door holding a key. He locked the door from the inside then returned back under my dress.

Millie sighed, "Oh, Seri... I thought you stopped hiding him in your dress..."

I shrugged, "I can't hide him in my hair. Now! Everyone drink!"

I poured the glasses and handed it out to everyone. Even though the glasses weren't meant for whiskey, it wasn't going to stop me from enjoying it. The smoky smell from the whiskey seeped into my nose. I took a deep breath and licked my lips.

Millie, Mary, and Artie looked at the glass with uncertainty. William had a firm look, "I'm not drinking."

I stuck out my tongue, "Why? Because you're a chicken?"

"I"M NOT A CHICKEN!" He shouted defiantly.

I nodded, "A chicken prince."

Lucius smirked, "There there Prince William. I will make sure to tell everyone that you refused to drink because you were too chicken."

William's face turned red, "I-I'M NOT CHICKEN! FINE! I will drink."

I clapped in excitement. Artie looked at the drink feeling a bit nervous, "I'm not too sure about this..."

Lucius patted his back, "Don't worry. I will take care of you. I can handle my alcohol quite well."

Dante held out the glass and gave me a small smirk, "To Seri."

Everyone reluctantly held out their glass. I held mine out with an arrogant expression, "Cheers." Everyone drank from their cup.

Mary instantly spat it out.

Artie made a disagreeable face before forcing himself to swallow.

Millie swallowed effortlessly, but made a disgusted face.

Mathias felt dizzy after swallowing and held his spinning head.

Lucius drank a gulp effortlessly.

Dante drank without a change in facial expression.

William forced himself to swallow and started coughing violently.

Now it should be known that whiskey should be drank slowly. Once you take a swig, you should hold the mouthful of liquid at the back of your tongue. Then, you swallow. That way you can get the full flavor and essence of the drink.

However, I didn't do that at all.

I downed the entire cup in one sitting. I licked my lips as I shivered from the long awaited taste. I sighed, "I had to wait 11 years, but it was worth it."

I looked up and noticed everyone staring at me slack jawed. Lucius blinked, "S-Seri. This is whiskey. You have to drink slowly."

I smirked at him, "What's wrong? I thought you could drink, but you can't even keep up with me?"

Lucius downed the rest of his drink and slammed it on the table, "I can keep up! Hell! I bet I can drink more than you can!"

"You're on!"