Chapter 226: Arrival (two)

"Welcome Lord Helio and company."

A maid welcomed us in as the large steel doors opened. 

The girl called me with respect but she couldn't give a single damn about my family? The literal heads of the Romswell family were here and they could handle us with that attitude? 

Talk about being rude! 

The guys with me didn't care though: they were coming in with grins and pride. They probably expected stuff like this. 

We just entered. The boundary was large and so were the gates. 

Maids and butlers rushed to greet us. It was almost like they were expecting us to be early but definitely not this early. 

They were awfully respectful of us. The same couldn't be said about the maid leading us around though.

I had a feeling why. And this girl looked awfully familiar too.

"This place isn't a mansion, that's a damn castle!" I couldn't help but say it. 

It was at least ten times bigger than our mansion- and we hadn't even entered yet. The frigging yard was bigger than Demigrace academy!

And the architecture was rather something too. 

I almost felt jealous for some reason. 

"Yes, it is our pride and joy." The maid said. Strangely, this maid didn't seem like a maid. She had white hair and her attitude clearly suggested she was a Battlesuin: maybe Rin's older sister or something? Why she was dressed as a maid was beyond me. 

"Let's just hope it remains that way," I said in a sarcastic tone.

The maid however didn't say a word, smiled, and just led us inside. 

'Here we go.' I grinned as we marched in. 

Alone, this might have been daunting but I had my family with me and this almost felt like a picnic of sorts. 

If anything went bad, we'd just have to erase it and it'll all go good. 

Yup!

***

The inside was just as marvelous as the outside. Large roof, chandeliers, marble floor, loads of painting on the walls- yeah, these folks were rich alright. 

Uncle's eyes lit up as he stared around. I had a bad feeling about that. 

"Where would the tea party be held?" I asked.

There were plenty of people here and most were just servants but the rest were the Battlesuins and they weren't happy to see us. 

But their uneasiness and visible discomfort only made our grins wider.

"In our garden. It's just up ahead."

Though she said just up ahead, we were climbing up the stairs and I had a feeling this thing ran for five or six stories. Were they literally trying to weaken me with stairs!?

"I hate stairs…" I mumbled. Why couldn't they have a damn elevator, for crying out loud!

And why would they invest in spiral staircases of all things!?

And mom heard that! She just rolled her eyes though. 

For once, I was glad we weren't alone, otherwise she'd have given me a mouthful. 

Anyway… we kept on walking and by half an hour, reached the top floor where the garden was. 

Yeah, the whole floor- the size of a small stadium- was the garden. 

It took us half an hour as Uncle -almost on all the floors- demanded a tour but we had to force him to come with us. The guy was probably going to rob this place, one way or the other.

These guys weren't just rich- they were filthy rich. So, I guess his thinking was only natural. 

"Please have a seat, lady Hyora will be with you shortly."

'This is seriously a garden?'  There was grass beneath our feet and small plants here and there. Flowers of all kinds and snow. The snow was vanishing after falling to the ground, but yeah, snow. 

Cold!

We were basically the only ones here apart from the people who were still decorating the place.

It wasn't even the afternoon yet and the party was supposedly going to be held in the evening- so I guess this was normal.

But really, we were the first ones?

Grandma laughed out loud. "Late as always!"

"No, you're just early." The voice came from behind us. A calm, soothing voice. 

Naturally, we turned around, and yeah, it was Hyora. 

A white dress, matching her snow-white hair and delicate red eyes. She was also wearing a transparent veil of sorts- almost like a bride. 

I hated it, but- yeah, she looked good. Really good. 

"Hyora."

"Serena."

Both women acknowledged each other but now there was a silence. 

I had a very bad feeling about this silence. 

It was almost as though….

Yeah.

Things were about to get ugly and they weren't going to even wait for the party to start. 

A deadly aura and a cold breeze went through the place. 

No wonder they were so eager to come to this party and 'protect' me. These morons were just itching to fight. 

Step* step*

But as things were getting heated, footsteps came from below us. Someone was climbing the stairs. 

It was strange… I'd heard those steps. I distinctly remember them with a specific event.

And yet…

"Oh, Helio. And-" a man had emerged from the stairs and now he was looking at mom. He looked glad but- "It's good to see you guys again." He also looked slightly pained- dark circles beneath his eyes and a pale complexion. "You look great today." And the guy had the nerves to say that too.

Mom didn't bother to reply or even acknowledge his presence.

I didn't care, so I didn't bother with him either. He'd already made his choice.

"Anyway, people." This was getting too boring for me. "What now? I don't see any people around, so I guess we're just going to sit around and wait or something?"

It wasn't because I was feeling cold or anything, okay?

"Or, we could show you around?" Hyora warped to father's side. 

"No, thanks." 

She smiled- a rather nonchalant smile, creepy even. "Now- though you were 'early', I anticipated that and that's why I also invited the rest, early." She smiled. "Let them in." 

And with that, people started pouring in. loads, and loads of people. The stairs behind us had opened up a portal of sorts, to a waiting room maybe. 

'Then why the hell did you people make me climb these damned stairs!'

There were plenty of seats in the garden- but only one table was in the middle. A table for twelve. 

Well, I certainly knew where we were sitting. The seats actually emerged after the people started entering. 'So, someone can use large-scale spatial powers?' 

But one thing was strange. From the group of people who just entered, four girls took the seats at the middle table. And I happen to know all four of them.

'Well, this sure won't end well.'