As Alea called him, he stopped and turned to look at her.
"Is something the matter, sis?" Lith asked calmly.
He addressed Alea as sis because it was awkward when he first called her 'Miss Alea' and got looks from everyone in the room.
Alea walked towards him and holding both his hands, said, "Let's hangout some more… don't go."
Alea had seen Lith for the first time and she was curious and interested to know how her little cousin was. She wanted to play with him and have fun because she didn't have any relatives other than her aunts and two cousins.
The ladies smiled in response as Alea cutely asked Lith to hangout with her.
"Do you have urgent work?" Lucy walked close to Lith and asked.
"You could say so." Lith answered. "Ralph and Dennis are attending the banquet and I haven't met them yet. We are the host and can't leave guests unattended, right?"
"Oh." Lucy understood the matter.
Lith nodded and turned to look at Alea. He bowed slightly and said, "I apologise for not being able to stay for long."
Alea's smile turned upside down into a sad one and she said, "It's okay."
She was excited to know more about him but could understand where he was getting at.
Although she understood, it still couldn't help her mood get uplifted.
"There, there, my dear." Agalea patted Alea's head and said with a chuckle. "You're going to meet him later anyway."
Lith nodded. "We'll see each other later for sure."
Alea's mood was starting to lift as she heard. She nodded her head and said, waving her hand, "meet me soon."
Lith smiled and nodded again.
He took his leave from the room after saying farewell to everyone one last time and finally went to meet Ralph and Dennis.
The ball was continuing in full swing and a happy atmosphere was there in the City Hall.
Youngsters went away from the main stage and the elders took the spot and continued to dance slowly on the soothing music that was playing.
Lith made his way to the common area where everyone was and his looks and aura attracted quite a crowd.
Even without him knowing, from just the way he walked with his calm look was enough to exude an aura of regality. One didn't even need to guess that he was royalty as it was very much evident.
Many wanted to walk close to Lith and talk to him but felt greatly insecure to do so. The elders were away and it was mostly the youngsters around the common area.
The lads of different houses unknowingly awoke an inferiority complex within them as they looked at Lith and as for the lasses, they felt they weren't worthy to even approach him.
There were a few hot noble ladies, both single and with their husbands, taking a break from the dance and standing at the sides. They got attracted to Lith as well but sadly, they knew they couldn't approach Lith because it would be weird.
Not because it would cause problems to their husbands, but because people would think ill of them and their reputation would be ruined for approaching someone much younger than them.
Lith felt lots of hungry and thirsty gazes on him. He had a feeling that if given a chance, the ladies, be it young, single, or married, would pounce on him immediately to take a bite out of him.
But he ignored the gazes and continued to walk in the direction of Ralph and Dennis.
As he neared them…
He saw them have some company, which surprised him.
He wasn't surprised to see Dennis with Cecilia, but Ralph with a green-haired girl.
'Did he finally get himself a girl?' Lith thought to himself as he moved towards them.
As Lith walked close to them, Ralph and Dennis noticed him and so did Cecilia and Aurora.
Avelyn and Fiora, who were standing close to their children, were amused to see the Vampire Prince himself make an appearance here in the common area.
They stopped gossiping together and waited quietly to meet him.
While these two ladies waited, Cecilia and Aurora both thought to themselves:
'The Prince…'
Both were shocked to see the Prince himself walk towards them. They had no idea why he was approaching them and their mind was in chaos as they struggled to think of what they should do in this situation.
Both were young girls and although Cecilia had seen Lith before, it was at the time when he had just awoken his core. Now from the looks of it as Lith walked close to her, he looked anything but a kid.
Aurora was shocked and panicking too but she tried to remain calm and covered her nervousness.
Lith, having no idea what was going in the minds of the two girls, finally reached them.
As soon as he did and stood before Ralph and Dennis…
"Greetings, Your Highness!"
The two girls immediately bowed a full ninety degrees and said in unison, afraid that they may somehow offend the Prince if they didn't show their respect properly.
Dennis from the side smirked as he watched Cecilia become fidgety and nervous. He could easily make out from her tone how her condition was.
As for Ralph, he had no opinion of the two bowing. It was common courtesy, he felt.
Lith, looking at the two girls, felt slightly awkward. This surely didn't feel right and too forced. It was as if he was oppressing the two and made them force to do such greetings.
But being used to such cases, Lith was calm and didn't show the fact that he felt weird from the greeting.
He simply said, "greetings," and made his way past them, towards Dennis and Ralph who were behind the two.
The girls, watching the Prince go past them, got up and heaved a sigh of relief, thinking he was gone.
But just then…
"Sup boys. Enjoying yourselves?"
'Huh!?' The two girls were surprised to hear such words and immediately got up and turned to look behind them.
But the scene they saw shocked them once again and they were left stunned and speechless.
"Ah, Your Highness, the banquet is amazing as it could be. But do you know—"
Crack!
"OW!"
Ralph hit Dennis's ribs from the side via his elbows as he saw him turn into a gossipy and informal person the moment he saw Lith.
He then put a palm on his chest and bowed slightly, gesturing to Dennis to do the same while doing so.
"Greetings." Ralph said calmly.
"Ah… My apologies. Greetings, Your Highness." Dennis realized his blunder and bowed.
He forgot for a second that he was in public and not private. This was a formal event and he should be more formal.
Normally he would've cursed Ralph and hit him back but this time, he was thankful to Ralph for reminding him of the etiquettes.
Lith flashed a small smile watching the two and said, "Greetings."
Fiora and Avelyn made their way to the front as they saw their children greet Lith.
"Greetings, Your Highness."
"Greetings, Your Highness the Vampire Prince."
Fiora and Avelyn both bowed and said out of courtesy.
Lith was from the host family and they knew they had to be courteous and respectful.
Even if Avelyn was an authority and at a high position in the Demon Society, she still had to follow some etiquettes at such formal gatherings.
Lith felt slightly weird having the mothers of his two best friends greet him like that. But he knew he would need to get used to it.
"Greetings, Mrs. Dracula and Ms. Asmodeus." Lith formally addressed the and didn't take their first names.
Fiora was surprised to have herself be called so respectfully. She really wasn't expecting it and in her mind she felt the Prince would address her as 'Fiora'.
When Lucy had met her, she had called her Fiora and she was expecting the same from Lith. But this was beyond her imaginations and she felt strange amusement from it and was happy.
As for Avelyn, she had no such thoughts. She had met Lith before and he had called her 'Aunt'. This time he addressed her formally and it was only the rightful thing to do as they were in a formal gathering and he was the authority here, not her.
Dennis and Ralph didn't feel anything about their mothers' interaction with Lith, but the same couldn't be said about the two girls standing a bit away from them with an agape mouth, completely in shock.