"I can tell that everyone here is excited for the upcoming announcent. I am too, haha."
Orson laughed, his voice reverberating through the now-silent venue. No one joined in, not a forced smile, not a single laugh, leaving the atmosphere awkward.
The usual forced laughs and smiles had vanished, replaced by a heavy, somber silence that settled over the room.
Despite all of this, Orson didn't look at all offended.
Instead, he seed to enjoy the situation even more.
"Alright, since no one seems inclined to listen to my ramblings, I'l start by introducing my daughter." Orson's gaze shifted to the long flight of stairs, a smile playing on his lips. “Delilah, please co down. Everyone here wants to see you."
The surroundings fell silent a mont later.
Until—
*Tak*
The soft click of a heel echoed through the venue, drawing every head toward the source of the sound.
A woman soon appeared, her delicate hand brushing the handrail as she descended the stairs in a long black dress adorned with white patterns down the center. Her appearance imdiately brought the breath of several people to a stop, as her appearance sucked the very air of the room.
Not from the imnse pressure coming out of her body, but from her appearance.
With her black hair tied in a bun and her normally indifferent lips curved into an uncharacteristically soft smile, Delilah's presence brought the entire room to a standstill In that mont, it almost felt as though she wasn't human.
AS ff...
She belonged to a completely different dinsion than everyone present.
#Tak* *Tak*
Her heels clicked steadily as she descended the stairs, each step making the hearts in the room beat faster. Eventually, she stopped before Orson, the soft smile lingering on her lips as Orson looked at her with pride.
“What do you think?"
His words brought everyone out of their daze.
But despite that, the silence lingered. No one said a word as Orson’s gaze swept the surroundings.
He assessed the situation, feeling a deep, almost intoxicating sense of control. Yet he knew he couldn't let it drag any longer.
Still, he had set up a special mont for the announcent.
With his gaze sweeping the surroundings, Orson began speaking again.
“Next up, we will be holding a ball."
"What?"
"A ball... But what about the announcent?"
"Are you playing with us?"
His announcent imdiately enticed a few protests. However, Orson ignored them as he continued to speak.
"Before anyone rushes in to curse at , this ball will be extrely important.”
Orson turned his attention towards Delilah.
“The fiancé will be the one who can get her to dance with them."
—
on
imdiately, the room turned rowdy.
With a smile, Orson continued.
"At the mont, the fiancé is running late. I'm not sure where they are. But if any of you can convince my daughter to dance with you, then it wouldn't be impossible to change the current fiancé."
Orson actually knew where Julien was.
In fact, he was already in the venue. Looking at him and seeing his frozen expression, Orson had to try his best to hold his laugh back.
This wasn't sothing that he had arranged.
it was, in fact, sothing that his daughter had proposed. He didn't realize the reason before, but it was starting to beco clearer to him now.
"...Nothing is set in stone until the official announcent. If anyone can convince her, then changes can be applied."
The room grew even more rowdy following the announcent. The faces of several important figures grew solemn, with others staring in Delilah's direction with trembling gazes, their hearts beating out of their chest.
Seeing the current atmosphere, Orson turned his attention towards the end of the room where a band had quietly moved in.
Clap! Clap—! *
Clapping his hands twice, he pointed towards the center of the venue, currently empty, as a quiet and nice tune drifted in the air.
“With that said, shall we begin the ball? And please, don't all rush my daughter at once. Each song allows for only three attempts per person. If anyone can convince her in those three attempts, then you'll be the most likely candidate for her new fiancé. Shall we get started?"
The crowd shifted imdiately at his words, noise spilling into the venue as everyone cast glances toward Delilah, searching for any sign of displeasure. But her soft, lingering smile told them all she consented to the arrangent.
This made the hearts of many explode with excitent.
She ca from an incredibly powerful family, possessed great strength herself, and was breathtakingly beautiful. The dream of many n in the room, she drew an overwhelming number of suitors eager to take their chance.
Da Daaa~**
As a soft tune began to play in the air, and the already established couples began to dance in the middle of the stage, the many eyes of those who wanted to take their chance fell on the Duke as he watched the ball with his hands behind his back.
"..This should make for a good impact, right?"
“
“This is ridiculous," Aoife muttered, staring at Delilah from a distance. The entire situation felt ridiculous to her.
It was obvious to her that the Duke was using this chance for so sort of sche of his own. However, she had to admit that it was effective.
“No, now is not the ti for this."
Aoife's eyes scanned the room until they landed on her brother. Her heart sank at the sight of him carefully polishing his clothes, as if preparing to step forward and approach Delilah.
“Wait, could it be true that he's the fiancé...?'
Acife's heart sank further as she watched her brother advance toward Delilah. She wanted to rush forward and stop him, but she knew doing so would only earn the Duke's resentnt.
In desperation, she settled her gaze over to Leon.
Handso, talented...
“You, go."
"Ah..2"
Leon's eyes widened. What did she just...
“Try to approach the Chancellor. Seduce her if you must. You can't let my brother get to her. If he sohow manages to convince her, then—"
"Stop."
Leon placed his hands over her shoulders, forcing her to stop.
He stared straight at her.
“Calm down. I know that you're panicking, but there's nothing to panic about."
Although Leon said that, he was panicking inside. Wasn't Julien supposed to be Delilah's fiancé? What was going on? Was this arranged by him?
“No, I don't think that this is sothing that Julien would arrange."
If anything, where was Julien?
Leon wanted to look around, but for now, he had to calm Aoife down.
“Just relax. Everything will be fine."
"No, but—"
“Even if we want to stop it, it's already too late."
Leon's gaze fell towards Delilah and the man who stood before her. Aoife's face fell, and the entire venue paused for a short mont as the music continued to linger in the background.
“
“Hello, it's a pleasure to et you."
John smiled in Delilah's direction, trying his best to calm his unevenly beating heart. Despite doing all of this for politically related matters, standing before Delilah, he couldn't help but feel his breath be taken away.
Her beauty was simply overwhelming.
“...Hello."
Delilah replied, her deep obsidian eyes lingering over to him. She didn't say anything and retained her soft smile.
John took a small breath, sporting the best smile he could muster as he lowered his head slightly, extending his hand in her direction.
“It would be my pleasure if you would take this chance to dance with . I know I can't offer much, but I hope to beco a great Emperor soday. One who can help his citizens and end starvation. I had planned to take on such a monuntal task alone, but after seeing you today, I realize I cannot achieve it by myself. I wish... for you to be by my side in such a task."
Lifting his head, John continued, "Your beauty has enamored , and I can't see myself not being with you. Please take my hand, and I'll try my best to make sure you live the fe that you desire."
The venue held its breath following his words.
All eyes turned to Delilah as she gazed at his outstretched hand. One simple motion, just reaching for it, and the deal would be sealed.
Ba... Thump! Ba... Thumpts
John's heart beat rapidly as he continued to stare at her, growing more and more captivated by her.
The tension stretched for what felt like an eternity, every gaze fixed on Delilah. The longer she hesitated, the more it seed that she was leaning toward agreent. Everyone felt this way.
John wasn't just one of the leading candidates for Emperor. He was also handso and carried himself with grace. In the eyes of many, they seed a match made in heaven. John also felt this way, his confidence growing by the second.
“Yes, there's no better partner than . I'm sure.’
His heart pounded louder with every passing second, each beat convinced of her agreent. The tension thickened, and finally, Delilah's hand moved. John's heart skipped a beat.
Yes, yes, y—"
But...
"No, thank you."
Delilah’s words poured cold water over him, his smile freezing on the spot.
"Huh?"
His head flicked up in surprise.
“What? That's... What did you...2"
“I said no," Delilah replied calmly, the smile on her face fading slightly.
The room seed to freeze. Though the music played on, the dancers had stopped, leaving only a tense stillness as all eyes turned to the Prince, who struggled to grasp what was happening.
“No, but... I am the best person. Why... Who could—"
“Sorry, Prince. It looks like you got rejected.”
The Duke stepped in not long after, seeing how the situation was turning, as he patted the Prince on the shoulder.
"For a mont, I almost thought you had it. It's just unfortunate that you're not compatible with my daughter."
“I... see. It's unfortunate.”
The Prince's jaw tightened so hard that the muscles started to show; however, he just barely held himself back as he looked at Delilah one last ti and walked away not long after. Staring at his retreating back, the Duke clapped his hands once more.
“Let's continue with the ball! If there are any more candidates, please step forward!"
The event continued.
After several minutes of inactivity, soone else eventually joined in and asked Delilah for her hand. In the end, he was also rejected.
This continued for the next several minutes, with more and more people getting rejected. Eventually, after witnessing so many rejections, most of the suitors stopped hesitating and began asking for her hand. After all, the worst she could do was say no.
Even the Prince started to feel a bit better after all of the rejections. Fresh chapters posted on N0v3l.Fiɾe
The dance also appeared more fluid, and the event progressed in a natural manner. The tension that had previously lingered not long after had faded, and a more jovial one replaced it.
By now, everyone had given up on being accepted.
And soon, a certain person stepped up.
The mont he appeared, a noticeable shift appeared on Delilah's face. One that was dismissed by everyone present as he stopped before her.
Their eyes t, and Delilah's lips pulled into a soft and genuine smile. (More chapters in Buyers club for TMT)
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