Chapter 96: Selection (5)

The blue eyed youth was none other than the winner of the first year tournament from their batch- Sirius Blue!

And apparently, he was a member of the mysterious but undoubtedly powerful Lochtear house.

Members of the Ironcross house were indifferent as always, but for the first time, their eyes betrayed something else- admiration. While the ones from the Crimson house had complicated expressions hidden in their eyes.

They kept walking straight which did not surprise anyone in anyway. After all, the Lochtear family was so powerful and influential that they did not even have to care about who would be the king. Besides, both the candidates were the current Duke Lochtear's nephew and niece.

The four reached the central main table whereupon sat the representatives of the Academy, the Belford couple and that lone youth from the Denver House.

"Greetings, Principal Bell." The handsome and masculine middle aged man, the current head of the Lochtear family, bowed towards the middle aged woman before looking at the long haired Braveheart. "Congratulations on your promotion."

"Greetings, Duke Lochtear." Rastia stood up as well. "Long time no see."

"Thank you. I was just lucky." Braveheart followed and got up on his feet.

Duke Lochtear shook his head. "It's better if we don't so each other frequently. Wartimes and crises is when we meet after all." He looked at the vice principal. "You are bound to be the next tower master sooner or later. It isn't any accident that you were able become the vice principal at such a young age."

"Are you here to take a seat?" Rastia revealed a mischievous smile.

He laughed. "You already know, don't you?"

"Father." A young voice entered his ears, prompting him to turn back.

He looked at the determined blue eyes of his son and nodded.

Sirius nodded back and headed for the staircase while he turned to the two adults beside him. "Let's go."

All three of them turned to the right and headed for the main table where the father daughter duo of the Rumins house were sitting at.

Their actions made the whole audience knit their brows. The prince and the king above, along with the heirs from the Bradley and Crimson house scowled- an invisible force grabbed Reynold's heart and clenched hard. The High king and queen had slight smiles on their faces while the Queen was as nonchalant as before.

Meanwhile, Sirius was already under the umbrella made of leaves and wood. He looked at Maria. Maria felt as if her entire being was exposed naked to his blue, as if her soul was being scanned. She gulped and hurriedly got up from her seat.

He bowed at the occupants of the central seats and sat to the left of Adrian, whose smile had yet to disappear from his devilishly handsome face. Meanwhile the princess's mouth was open wide agape. It had been open since the time the Lochtears turned left and from the way it seemed, it would take a while before she could close them. Maria stood behind her cousin. It was not any sort of dishonour to lose seat to the first heir of the Lochtear house anyway.

The prince gritted his teeth and looked at his fiancée. She nodded before getting up and running down the stairs. In a matter of seconds, she was before her family- at the main table of the left.

The atmosphere was gloomy there. The Bradley house members were almost lifeless. The red haired nobles of the Crimson family were discussing amongst each other with grimaced faces, sweats poured down their body. The ones from the Ironcross household had already gotten over their surprise and were nonchalant.

She whispered something into her father's ears. He listened to her carefully, his eyes scowled tighter every minute. Once it was over, he nodded to her before getting up from his seat.

On the other hand, the Lochtears sat down at giant table on the princess's side. The duo from the Rumins house curled themselves at a corner of the table. Their legs were trembling below the table. Never in their wildest dreams could have they thought that that monster would have these blue eyed monsters joined their sides. Heck! If they knew of this, they wouldn't have even asked for anything from the youth. But alas, their chance of establishing a deeper connection with the son of the Duchess was already lost.

The Lochtears silently sat at the table, their faces were nonchalant but domineering. Soon, a red haired middle aged man, the head of the Duke family of the Southeast- Duke Crimson appeared before them.

"Greetings, Sir Lochtear." He bowed. Despite both of them being Dukes, their was a difference between their status- a major one at that. After all, the Lochtear family housed the 'Archduke'- which was hailed by some as the strongest existence in the Kingdom and one of the strongest in the whole continent.

The middle aged man nodded in return while the other two remained silent.

"This-" he pointed at the table, "belongs to the-"

"Princess's side? Yes, I know." The blue eyed duke was carefree with his answer.

The crimson haired man frowned. "Then, why did-"

"Because I wished to." His answer was direct.

"But-"

"So what if we never took sides in the selection? There's always a first time."

"What did the princess offer you? Prince Reynolds promised to-" He suddenly froze.

The carefree look from Duke Lochtear turned into a glare- almost a death glare. "Do you think we are stuck in poverty like you are!?" His loud voice echoed through the hall, raging across everyone's ears.

Everyone gulped. Probably even a Royal would need to think twice before rebuking a Duke in private, let alone in front of all nobles of the Kingdom.

"N… no…" The red haired duke shook his head.

Despite being of the same levels, he was nothing compared to the might of a Lochtear. And he himself was no ordinary level 8 circler. He was a Duke who was also a top student of the Academy's Griffin class. That showed how strong the true guardians of the Kingdom were.

"I don't even care about the results of this selection." He regained his composure and with that, his tone lowered to his usual carefree one.

The southeastern duke squinted. "Then… why?"

"It's just that…" he smirked as he looked up where the Royals were sitting at.

"Someone happened to caught my interest."