I was looking at myself in the mirror while adjusting the little bow tie that old man Blake had given me. I turned sideways to get an overall look of myself. I was wearing little black trousers and black shirt. There was a silver chain that came down from my left shoulder and was tucked in the middle partition. It went well with the blue pendant-like artifact I was wearing. From my right shoulder, a half cape hung down to my back. Its insides were blue while its outside was black. Studded with this all black attire, I thought I looked quite presentable for the occasion. After all, it was custom made and went really well with my odd, different coloured eyes.

Squeak.

I heard my door open and noticed Sirius hopping towards me. He was wearing the same attire, except his half cape was golden on the insides. The gold colour really accentuated his greenish orange eyes.

“Hello there, fair young man! You are looking very good today!”

“Well so do you, Young Master of the Frye Family.” I replied with a slight bow. We were to act ‘gentlemanly’ as old man Blake had put it. And so, we had been playing this little game ever since the morning, of being lord-like and sweet little gentlemen.

It's not like I am enjoying this little game. I am just going along with Sirius. Yeah, that’s it.

“We shall compence to move now. It is a long journey., fellow brothren.”

I giggled at his attempts to sound a bit more cultured and mature. I gestured to him to come along as I left my room.

“We shall commence, Sirius. And we are using the gates, fellow brethren. So we will reach there quite quickly, in just a moment actually.”

“Gates!! It will be my first time using Gates. Have you ever travelled through one, Mehr?”

“......This will be my first time travelling through the Gates as well.”

Unless you count the time when Sir Ghost literally sent me through space, without a Gate.

“I guess it will be enjoyable though. What do you say, Sirius?”

“Of course brother, HAHAHA.”

“Don’t laugh like an evil man there. There will be many people who will judge us. All we have to do is just smile and wave.”

While we were chattering like little kids, we reached the main hall of the palace. Old man Blake was directing all the servants to prepare the gifts properly. The gifts or rather, a small hill of expensive things, sat in the middle of the room with its own pride.

The old man noticed us coming and reverted back to the same, always smiling, genial toned butler.

“Oh, how lovely do both of you look!” the old man said as he came close to us and adjusted Sirius’ bow tie.

“This will be the first time both of you will be introduced to the social circles of Ruvonne. There will be many others of your age you will meet today. So, be proper like the young men you are.”

We are not even six, old man.

“Will His Majesty, The King, also come? Will I be able to meet him?”

Sirius’s question was quite normal for any child to ask, and yet, old man Blake’s eyes changed subtly. The same monotonous expression was nowhere to be seen and I could feel a trace amount of contempt in his eyes.

“Yes, Young Master. His Majesty will also be there.”

Is he showing contempt to Sirius? No. Towards the king then? But he was a former Royal Knight, wasn’t he? Did something happen in the past?

While I couldn’t be sure of the exact circumstances, I had a feeling this occasion might be a bit more fun than I had previously imagined.

The chatter and the noise made by the working servants had stopped abruptly. I turned my head to look around and noticed that all of them were bowing deeply while facing towards the stairs. I looked towards the stairs and saw the Lord and the Lady of this palace descending down.

Lord Erwin was wearing a red jacket with golden dragons embroidered in the seams. He was wearing a full cape of black colour, whose insides were golden with the sigil of the House Frye embroidered in red. The sigil, by the way, was a dragon being pierced by a giant sword and falling from heaven.

Talk about subtlety, huh. Isn’t this family a bit too much into dragons and swords?

Lady Maria, on the other hand, was wearing a light green coloured gown, with very light flower petals covering on it. The gown extended behind her and flowed as if perpetual breeze moved around her. She looked absolutely beautiful with her open hair that reached her shoulders, and her cold eyes that would make any man attracted towards her.

“Rise.” Lord Erwin’s booming voice reverberated through the hall. All the servants raised their heads and stood straight. Old man Blake came forward from the side and bowed slightly before standing straight and started speaking.

“The presents for the Forde House are ready. The servants will bring them in after we go through the Gate. Only the present for the lady of the day is remaining.”

“Don’t worry, Ser Blake.” Lady Maria spoke with a gentle tone that I had now grown accustomed to. I saw her wave her hand and the mana around her hand disappeared and appeared back in a moment. And with the mana, one more thing appeared in her hand. A flower- white lily to be exact.

“I have handled the issue of the main present.”

Lady Maria spoke as she showed off the little flower that did not look any different than other flowers. Sirius and I looked at each other, confusion visible in both of our eyes. I gestured to Sirius to ask about the flower but he moved his head side by side.

“I’ll teach you how to whistle if you ask.” I whispered so that only Sirius could hear me properly. I could see his change of expression as he contemplated what to do. I nudged him with my elbow, but sadly we were too late to take any action.

The Lord and the Lady were already standing before the Gate that was installed in the sidewall of the main hall. This was the first time it was being open, at the very least, my first time seeing it operable.

Lord Erwin and Lady Maria stood at the front, while old man Blake stood behind them while holding our hand. Lady Maria held her hand forward and touched the giant mirror embedded in the wall.

Everything around me got dark and it felt like the space around me was rotating at a high speed. I turned to look around to see if the other people were still here, but I couldn’t see anyone. It felt like I had been thrown into the vast desert of darkness where not even sand existed.

As the dread had started building up in my heart, my eyes became clear as the light entered into them. The noises around us were clear and I could see the couple standing in front of me and the old man and Sirius standing to my right. I heaved a sigh of relief as I heard Lady Maria say,

“We’re here.”