Chapter 45 - 42 - Socializing II

Chapter 45: Chapter 42 - Socializing II

Flynn and Aiden kept their mana sense fully activated from the moment they had stepped into the reception hall.

So far, they had yet to spot anything but they both knew, a gigantic explosion which was going to claim the lives of many young people here was going to happen today.

One thing was certain though, the explosion will not be caused by magic as the hall was equipped with state of the art mana sensors to release a blaring alarm if a dangerous magic was about to be activated.

Also, the hall guards made sure to search everyone for any form of dangerous weapons before they could be permitted to enter the hall and not even the big families or even the Royal Family was exempted from this search. Simply put, the halls were very secure.

"Haaaa..."

Flynn sighed, still with the bored look on his face as he watched everyone dancing, eating, conversing, laughing and socializing, totally unaware of the impending deaths that was looming over their heads.

Flynn's bored look suddenly changed into one of interest as he raised his hands and took a plate containing pastries from one of the waitresses who walked past their table.

The waitress was surprised by how quickly his hands grabbed the plate but she quickly regained her professional composure and kept on doing her job as she moved on to the next group of young nobles who were also sitting at another table.

"I will never understand your fascination with sweets" Aiden said, his hands stretching to take a macaron but Flynn slapped his hands away with so much speed and precision.

"Hands off punk! They're mine. Grab yours!" Flynn snapped at his brother, a bit of disdain present in his voice and his eyes showing his greed and inability to share.

"Ehhhh..." Aiden was slightly shocked by his brother's swift rejection to share his pastries but Flynn, as if contemplating, decided to give him the pink-colored macaron he had originally wanted to reach for.

"Damn bro! You're a stingy one aren't you?" Aiden replied to his brother's gesture as he took a bite out of the macaron.

Flynn just shrugged off Aiden's comment and continued stuffing his mouth.

"Yuck! Yep! Sweets really aren't my thing" Aiden commented while placing the half eaten macaron on the plate in front of him.

"Um, i-if y-you don't mind, w-would you like to d-dance with me?"

'Huh?' Aiden thought as he raised his head to see a small petite girl who could be described as cute.

She had black haired bangs covering most of her forehead while the rest flowed down her back but it did nothing to hide her beautiful big blue eyes.

She was nervously fidgeting while holding the hem of her cream-colored dress with one hand and the other hand outstretched to request for Aiden's hand to the dancefloor.

Her eyes were tightened, as if she had expected Aiden to reject her request, and she was right, as Aiden gave her an answer.

"I'm sorry but I can't honor that request" Aiden said as he got up while slightly bowing politely.

The girl's heart sunk at this but the next few words from Aiden really surprised her.

"I'm quite... No, I'm very horrible at dancing" Aiden said with a small chuckle as if to mock himself but he still continued.

"However, I can promise you that when I get better at it, I will request for your hand, Miss?" Aiden asked in an effort to know the name of the young lady before him.

The young lady who still seemed to be processing the words became even more puzzled by Aiden's next words but after regaining her composure, suddenly blurted out her name.

"Maya! It's Maya Arendelle!"

"Well then Miss. Arendelle, I look forward to our next social gathering" Aiden said with a charming smile while politely bowing once more.

Maya's face went beet red and her heartbeat increased rapidly as she stared at the dangerously handsome face before her.

She then swiftly scurried along and ran off into the crowd which had been staring at them and their interaction from the moment she went out to ask for Aiden's hand to the dancefloor.

"Did I say something wrong?" Aiden said while lightly scratching the side of his face with a confused look.

The crowd of onlookers which had been staring at Aiden and Maya suddenly erupted after his last comment as they began to speak in hushed but excited tones, especially the females.

"Did you guys hear that! He promised to ask for her hand at the next social event!"

"He might've just been doing it to help her save face"

"But then he didn't need to promise her that he would look for her at the next gathering. He definitely meant it!"

"Maybe we should try our luck too!"

"Yeah! Let's do it!"

"Lady Killer!" Flynn said to his brother with a playful smile.

"You... You really should look at yourself in the mirror every now and then" Aiden replied with a slight frown.

"That aside though... Did you feel it just now?" Flynn responded, the playful smile replaced by a serious look on his face.

"Yeah... the door just got sealed by an invisible barrier... A mana equipment or magic spell maybe?"

Aiden had noticed a guy that was seemingly their age dressed formally and wearing a three-piece black suit quietly move over to the door and secretly erect what seemed to be a barrier that was invisible to the naked eye.

Flynn and Aiden would probably never have noticed if their mana sense hadn't been switched on and even then, the barrier seemed to not even exist anymore because as soon as they spotted it, it completely disappeared as if it was never there, even with their mana sense still on.

"I've already locked onto the guy who did it. Can you break the barrier though?" Flynn inquired

"Yeah. Should be a piece of cake"

As Aiden was about to sit down, he noticed that a bunch of ladies from different families were flocking towards him.

They all then began to ask for his hand to the dancefloor, something which he politely declined and told them he had already been requested for and until that was fulfilled, he wouldn't be able to accept anyone else's dance request.

Flynn just watched the entire scene unfold before him with amusement.

His gaze then travelled over to the dancefloor and his eyes locked on to Lucas's who was currently dancing to a waltz with Amelia who had her back turned to him.

As if trying to mock Flynn, Lucas gave him a condescending look to show that he now had Amelia instead of him but Flynn instead gave him a thumbs up with the same bored look his face had now returned to.

Lucas unfortunately, had no way to react to this and his face contorted into a frown to which Flynn chuckled at.

"Finally! I responded to all of them the best way I could!" Aiden said while slumping into his chair.

"Must've been fun huh?" Flynn commented.

"Very. You should try it out sometime" Aiden sarcastically replied.

"Thanks but I'll pass" Flynn said as he popped another tart into his mouth.

"Aiden and Flynn Belmont! It is so nice to finally meet you after such a long time. Quite the entrance you made today, eh?"

Adrian Adencia walked towards Flynn and Aiden's table with outstretched arms and a charismatic smile on his face.

'Why do people keep coming over!' Flynn inwardly complained but he kept a smile on the outside while responding to Adrian.

"It's a pleasure to meet you again your highness" both Aiden and Flynn got up from their seats while bowing their heads slightly.

"Oh not this again! This is a hall for people our age to freely mingle with one another! Please, drop the pleasantries"

"Alright then. I have to ask though Adrian, why are you here exactly?" Aiden inquired.

"Oh can't a person just come over for a greeting" Adrian said with a coy smile but Flynn and Aiden kept giving him squinting looks.

Adrian who seemed undisturbed by their looks then spoke up.

"It's just that the Belmont's rarely attend any events so it was a genuine surprise to see you both. I had to at least give my greetings" n-.o-/V--e((l-(b/)1--n

'I guess he's just laying some groundwork and doing his job as future king' Aiden thought to himself.

"Well, I hope to see you at more events in the future!" Adrian waved and said as he walked off to greet the young heirs of other families.

"It's really rare to see a person our age without ulterior motives at events like these..." Flynn said after Adrian left.

"Yeah... It really is..." Aiden responded.

"Speaking of ulterior motives, why the heck is Caroline Roseblade sashaying towards us?" Flynn asked with a bit of confusion in his voice.

"What?!" Aiden exclaimed, his head turning around to spot Caroline who was dressed in a red velvet gown which was hugging all her assets in the right places and had a slit on one side that showed of her lower thigh, walking towards their table just like Flynn said.

Caroline never interacted with Aiden once throughout the entirety of the story in the novel. Not even once!

Even though she was mentioned several times, it was only to describe how much of a sly and crafty vixen she was.

She was someone who was known to allure men who purposely came after her with perverted intentions, use them as a means to achieve her goals and eventually discard them like they never even existed in the first place.

"Oh come on! I haven't even done anything yet and another butterfly effect is already rearing its ugly head!" Aiden said, frustration evident in his voice.

"Well, we did say we would deal with it as we went on" Flynn said while shrugging his shoulders.

"Guess you'll just have to deal with it this time bro. Godspeed!" Flynn continued.

"What do you mean 'you'? I thought you said you'd always have my back! What about the bro code you punk!"

"Good day to both of you" Caroline said with an alluring smile upon reaching their table after which she followed up with a request.

"Do you mind if I sit down here?" She asked while pointing to the chair just beside Aiden.

"No. I don't mind. Please, have a seat" Aiden politely replied, his face now completely devoid of all emotions.

"Thank you!"

Caroline then proceeded to turn her chair around slightly while still smiling alluringly but this time, she had her sights set solely on Aiden.

Aiden who maintained his composure, just looked at her even as she stared at him seductively without any change in his facial expression but inwardly, Aiden cussed.

'Well shit!'