Chapter 159 - Deadly Tactics

Zaos just found another reason not to go to the party. He said that he had forgotten how to dance, but then his mother forcefully made him remember the basic moves.

"All right, since you are tall for your age, you will have to move your head in order to look your dancing partner in the eye," Lyra said. "Keep your cool and try to smile a little while you still look her in the eye. Most girls like that."

"I am not going to this party to become popular, mom," Zaos said and then sighed. "Like I said, I am not interested in kids."

"It seems you are a late bloomer…" Lyra frowned. "Well, that is also charming in itself. Just try to be respectful no matter what and you will have many invitations in the future."

"Got it, I will be disrespectful to save myself from the hassle of a troublesome future," Zaos said.

"Zaos…" Lyra said.

Zaos sighed… Why was it always so difficult to win an argument with his mom? Was it because he was quick to give up as soon as possible? Considering what she said, those parties were going to be a normal occurrence, and as much as he didn't want to go to them, he couldn't embarrass the name of his family.

Much to Zaos's despair, the day of the party arrived much sooner than he expected. Probably because his life was pretty busy again. Regardless, at least his family rented a carriage, and he could go without having no idea where the party was. Zaos frowned throughout the entire road and only stopped when he recalled how many times Lyra said how much she wanted to see him dancing. Most likely, he will step on the foot of many girls, and then they will eventually leave him alone.

When the carriage finally arrived at the destination, Zaos found himself in front of a pretty large house. Considering that there were many others in the vicinity like that one, Zaos assumed that it was some sort of noble district. Although that was a birthday party and only kids around her age were invited, Zaos still found the girl's parents alongside her in the entrance. 

Although Alessia was two years older, she still was shorter than Zaos quite a bit. It was probably a characteristic from her mother's side since the father was tall but a bit round. Alessia was a pretty girl with curly brown hair that had light brown eyes and an expression of someone who seemed pretty friendly. Thanks to that, Zaos had an easy time smiling at them. He would have a hard time trying to look friendly to an arrogant noble girl.

"Good evening, my lord, my ladies," Zaos said, and then he slightly bowed with his right arm on his left chest. "I thank you for the invitation for this party. My name is Zaos Sielders."

"Oh, we heard about you, young man," Alessia's father said. "I must say that you look even more impressive up close. I thought the rumors about your accomplishments were an exaggeration, but I can see now that isn't the case. You look as imposing as your father."

"Despite that, you still have the nice features of a kind young man," Alessia's mother said. "You must have become popular since you returned."

"Thank you for coming to my party," Alessia said.

"I thank you for your kind words," Zaos said and then entered the mansion since others were approaching and then also had to greet Alessia.

Zaos had a hard time holding back his sigh… as expected. He disliked those social events since things were just way too stiff. Regardless, as soon as he entered the residence, Zaos saw many kids around his age inside. They looked pretty comfortable talking with each other like they have known each other for a long time.

"I guess that don't enlist and end up making more friends than people like me," Zaos thought.

Soon after, Zaos changed his mind because he recognized some faces, they were the kids who once had been squad leaders in the north, and they also were talking with the other kids pretty naturally.

"Well, let's grab some food and then pretend that I am busier eating and I don't have time to dance," Zaos thought.

There was this huge table in the center of the room where all kinds of dishes could be found. The food was mostly intact because the kids were worried that they might pass the wrong impression to the others. At that age, kids were quite self-conscious of their reputations, after all.

After taking the food and then moving to the corner of that massive hall, Zaos felt some eyes on him. They were the eyes of those who had been squad leaders in the North and probably others that enlisted in the other regions. It wouldn't be weird if the former recruits would have heard of him. Regardless, their eyes were the same that Zaos got used to in the previous two years. Although many soldiers congratulated him for his accomplishments, the other squad leaders didn't like him. Not because of that, but because he was the only one in his squad that graduated. Zaos heard some rumors that the others died, and he survived because he had received special treatment and all those accomplishments were basically lies just to make his family become more famous. Although Drannor accomplished as much and also lost many comrades, there wasn't a single bad rumor about him, and the other squad leaders also liked him a lot.

"I guess it is the difference of charisma," Zaos said and then decided to forget about and then think of research since that will help him kill time.

As soon as Zaos decided to kill time thinking about his research, things suddenly got a bit loud when two individuals suddenly joined the party. They were Ameria and Drannor. Drannor was wearing some clothes similar to Zaos. It was basically a bigger version of the clothes they had to use in noble events when they were kids. As for Ameria, she was wearing a blue dress that also had many blue flowers. Those had drawn the attention to themselves, so Zaos decided to hide in the corner even more than before.