Chapter 160: [160] The Ball (1)

“Bullshit, utter bullshit.” Pieter stared at his hall, a look of disgust on his face as his workers went around preparing the place for the coming ball.

“My lord, you know that this is important. If we do not quell the rumours, then it may grow into something greater than our control.” Cornelius said in a calm tone.

Pieter lowered his voice to a sharp whisper. “Are you to tell me that while my wife suffers from an unknown illness, throwing a ball to satisfy the people takes precedence?”

Cornelius nodded. “Except you want them to protest, my lord.”

Pieter let out a dragged out sigh. “Sometimes I wonder if being a Baron is really for me, I would put the responsibility on my son already if he had even half a decent head on his shoulders.”

“God knows that fool will crash everything my forefathers built on his first day in office…”

Cornelius smiled. “He is young my lord, he will grow. I still remember how much of a rascal you were as a kid—”

“Uhum!” The Baron cleared his throat, interrupting him.

Cornelius held back the urge to laugh.

“And where is my son at such an hour?”

Cornelius glanced around to make sure no one was listening in before speaking.

“He went to see his fiancée, Doris.”

Pieter sighed. “So he went to see my brother then.”

“I’m afraid so my lord…”

Pieter stared straight ahead, not particularly looking at anything, then he shook his head.

He had warned his son about that old snake countless times. The only reason he even permitted his engagement to Doris was because he could not fault the daughter for the sins of her father.

It was also his way of honoring his father’s original bloodline.

“What about the task I gave you? Have you noticed any funny movements on his end?”

Pieter knew his brother perfectly well, that old serpent was the type of person to capitalize on this sort of situation.

Cornelius shook his head. “I investigated him thoroughly, it seems he has finally given up on his schemes…”

“Is that so… these are strange days indeed.”

While Pieter was staring ahead, the doors to the ball room opened and a woman walked in, her eyes scanning the place.

The moment she saw him, her face brightened up with a smile that made Pieter’s heart tingle with both grief and joy.

“Cassandra…”

She was the spitting image of her mother, some would even say she was more beautiful.

A genius from birth and with an excellent intuition when it came to business.

’If only her personality wasn’t so twisted, maybe she would be Baron instead!’

Pieter wiped an invisible tear off his eyes.

A son who is a complete idiot, and a daughter who would sooner sell the barony than rule it.

’I must have been a sinner in my past life, yes, that must be it.’

She walked up to him and gave him a hug, then bowed slightly at Cornelius in greeting.

“What are you doing dad? If you keep staring into space, new rumours will only be birthed.” She joked.

“Let an old man think.” He sighed.

“Considering that you came to find me yourself…” Cornelius smiled. “You want something don’t you?”

Cassandra giggled. “You don’t have to expose me like that, dad!”

“But since you asked….”

<•••>

It was the long anticipated night, the day Eliron was to put on his dancing shoes, create art on the dance floor, eat till his belly popped, sneak a meeting with the Baron or maybe even kidnapped him, who knows? The night was young!

Eliron got out of the toilet, nearly shivering as the cold wind bit into his skin.

“This is truly poor service!”

How come an inn they paid out of their own pockets for didn’t have hot water, but his home in a remote village did??

’And why is it so damn cold this evening?!’

Ash quickly shut the window and closed the curtains. “I apologize, I should have shut the windows, I forgot how sensitive you were to the cold…”

“Sensitive? I’m not sensitive.” Eliron shot him a glare.

“Ah, I apologize, my lord…”

They had both taken their baths and now only had towels wrapped around their waists.

Just as expected, Ash was built like a barbarian, but in a good way…

While Eliron and him met eye to eye when it came to height, Ash had a broader build and larger muscles.

Eliron was not far behind, as his muscles were more toned, and even better looking…

What? Of course he wasn’t being biased!

Eliron glanced at him. “Put on a shirt, Ash, we have places to be.”

“Hmm?”

Eliron walked to the other side of the room where his bed was laid, and stared at the clothes arranged on it.

A brand new, pristine black suit, a top hat and golden cufflinks.

It was a work of art Artie had gotten him, a designer brand actually…

Somehow, she had made ’friends’ with the top fashion designer in the barony.

“Let’s get ready!”

It took both him and Ash roughly about five minutes to put on their clothes, after which Eliron tied up his hair in a pony tail, placing the top hat neatly atop it.

“I’ll go get the girls…” Ash said, about to leave the room when Eliron held his shoulder, stopping him.

“Ash…” Eliron shook his head. “It seems you know little about women…”

Ash blinked, clearly confused. “What do you mean, my lord?”

“Women are a different breed, you can’t just expect them to be ready at the same time you get dressed…”

“Oh, I see! Your wisdom is beyond your age my lord.”

Eliron smiled. “I know, I know…”

In his past life, one of his friends had a girlfriend and he would often complain about how long it took her to get dressed.

Eliron was not about to waste his time going up to their room when they were not even done curling their hair, or whatever they did with their time.

They ended up waiting about thirty more minutes, before leaving their room and walking up to the girls’ room which was right next to theirs.

Knock Knock!

“Let’s go, we’re going to be late…” Eliron said dryly.

Thud!

There was a loud rummaging sound, after which a voice vibrated through the door.

“Huh?! What are you talking about, we aren’t done dressing!” Yennefer shouted.

Eliron’s face fell.

Even Ash seemed shocked. “It seems you were right my lord, shall we wait another—”

“What the hell do you mean you aren’t ready yet? It’s been over thirty minutes!”

“Come back in thirty!” Yennefer yelled back, just before a golden shield appeared right in front of the door.

Eliron stared at it in disbelief…

“Shall we get a drink downstairs while we wait?” Ash asked.

He sighed. “Sure…”

Downstairs in the inn’s restaurant, Eliron was seated comfortably, sipping on a cup of fruit juice when the sound of footsteps reached his ears.

“Finally…”

He stood up, adjusted his clothes and finished his drink before looking at the stairs—

Thwack!

The moment he laid eyes on the two girls, the cup slipped out of his hand and crashed into the table, his eyes unable to look anywhere else.

’So this is the game you want to play Artie?’

Eliron had to admit…

She had more than won this round.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep