Chapter 495: Tina’s 16th Birthday – Fear?
The rest of the walk to the head table was done in silence, both among the Darr Kingdom group, and among the people of the Rockwell Kingdom watching them.
Lucas’ words had given everyone a lot to think about.
In both the Darr and Rockwell Kingdom, the moment someone mentioned the other nation, the normal response was either fear or hostility.
Considering the constant tensions and the bad blood between the two kingdoms, this was perfectly reasonable; however, at what point had it become so ingrained in them that things would forever be this way?
No one could answer that question, not precisely anyways, and even if they could, most wouldn’t even care. As far as those who had lost loved ones, watched their homes burn, or tasted pain and death at the other side’s hand, the enemy was and always would be the enemy. It was like saying water was wet, a truism of the most fundamental kind.
However, to a few, including Talia and her son Landon, these few words from Celestina Balfour’s First Disciple had been quite thought provoking.
Both of them were far too young to have actually fought in a major conflict with the Rockwell Kingdom, so while they had the perception of the latter as an enemy, it wasn’t personal in any way, just something they had been taught to believe.
In any case, arriving at the head table, Lucas found 3 women who were clearly waiting for him and Talia’s group.
Understanding what had to be done, Lucas stepped to the side and cleared his throat, "Ahem, allow me to introduce, Their Royal Majesties First Queen Marianne Campbell and Third Queen Cynthia Morgan, and Her Royal Highness Princess Christina Rockwell."
The three royals in attendance from the Rockwell Kingdom’s side nodded in greeting, while Princess Talia and Prince Landon did the same. No one bowed or saluted as they were all technically ’equals’; such was the proper etiquette when one royal met another from a nation whose strength was roughly on par with their own.
Christina, as the star of tonight’s event, then stepped forward and smiled in a friendly manner, "Welcome, honoured guests from the Darr Kingdom. It pleases me greatly to have such esteemed foreign dignitaries in attendance at my 16th birthday celebration."
"As my Master has said, please feel free to relax and enjoy the banquet. I believe you will find the Rockwell Kingdom’s hospitality to be most exquisite," the young girl, now turned young woman, followed up before gesturing to a nearby table which had clearly been rushed over and set up only seconds ago, "I invite the Crown Princess, Young Prince, and your fellow Spirit Realm Cultivators to dine together with me at the head table, while your younger generation’s rising stars may sit here, in these distinguished seats."
"Your offer is most gracious, Princess Christina, we will gladly accept," Talia replied, using a polite tone of speech appropriate for a formal court setting.
While carefully observing this whole procedure, Lucas was actually quite surprised.
There was a total of 17 individuals from the Darr Kingdom. Talia was a Martial Adept, an impressive feat considering she was barely more than 100 years old, while 4 others were Low-Rank Spirit Initiates.
The other 12 were Juniors in the Sea Establishment and Core Formation Realm, with the number of young men and young women being equal at 6.
Talia and her Spirit Initiate subordinates maintained an appropriate level of dignity and didn’t gawk around, but the juniors from the Darr Kingdom clearly didn’t have the same level of discipline and all had their eyes glued to Christina.
For the young women, their gazes were filled with envy.
The Darr Kingdom had a higher average temperature than the Rockwell Kingdom, so their style of dress was also a bit less conservative, but the difference wasn’t really that great, especially when it came to formalwear.
It seemed that fashion trends from the Empire and Large-Size Nations had thoroughly pervaded the mid and small-sized nations, even if the actual style of clothing didn’t make as much sense to wear in those countries.
Celestina’s dress had also been a huge shock to the Darr Kingdom group, but they had been too concerned about defending themselves from her at the time to care much about that.
Christina, however, they could openly stare at and admire, and for the young women and girls, just like their cohorts from the Rockwell Kingdom, they all wished to have such a dress for themselves.
As for the young men... well, their response was even simpler to understand, especially considering they were practically drooling.
It didn’t matter that she was the princess of an enemy nation, beautiful was beautiful.
The only exception was Prince Landon, who still looked stunned by Christina, but obviously not in the same way as all his fellow countrymen.
In fact, if Lucas wasn’t mistaken, the predominant emotion Landon was feeling at that moment was wariness, maybe even fear.
Could he be sensing Tina’s true strength? Lucas wondered to himself, as this seemed like the only reasonable explanation for why the first thing a young man seeing an extremely pretty girl who was around his age and ’weaker’ than himself would feel afraid.
However, that didn’t make any sense.
The last aid convoy that came from the Vast Ocean Trading Company had not only brought a lot of supplies for Lucas and Eris’ new prosthetic arm, it had also contained a High-Rank Grade 3 Mirage Pendent, a Spirit Tool specifically designed to disguise a person’s cultivation and life aura.
With this Spirit Tool hanging around her neck, anyone below the Peak-Rank Soul Elite Realm would only be able to perceive Christina as a Sixth Step Core Formation Realm Practitioner, rather than the Fourth Step Sea Establishment Practitioner she was.
That said, Lucas was well aware that there were all kinds of anomalies in this world. Their friend, Danika, for example, possessed extraordinary physical strength, far beyond what her current cultivation suggested should be possible.
If someone with incredible strength could exist, who was to say that someone with ridiculously sharp senses and instincts couldn’t?
Mere seconds later, Landon schooled his expression, returning it to its usual calm, but whether that meant he had dismissed his instincts or was just hiding his reaction, Lucas had no way to know.
Either way, it seemed he and his Junior Sister would need to tread far more carefully tonight than they originally intended.