The ethereal figure made its way down and landed right behind the other imperials, handing Luan the envelope. Gasps could be heard throughout the audience. Joel looked in disbelief as the one that beca Liana’s fiancé was that guy.
Jasmine, on the other hand, inspected Luan closely. He had introduced himself as a skevela, so that ant he was from a ducal household, but still it was within the empire. Why would the Empress decide on him as her only daughter’s fiancé?
Was there more to it that they didn’t know? She would ask her mother and His Holiness on the way back. Her curiosity was piqued.
Luan accepted the envelope with a smile on his face. As he slowly made his way up the stairs, he stood right next to Liana.
He carefully placed his hand around her waist, and with a smug look on his face, he deliberately glanced at Joel.
Caelius stepped forward together with Valessia, and then, as they stood next to Luan and Liana, he glared at Luan, who seed to be enjoying this way too much.
"Please introduce yourself real quick so everyone knows who you are," he said, trying to control his expression.
Liana’s ears turned slightly red by this shaless display from Luan; she would make sure to scold him properly later for this.
Valessia just wore that sa perfect smile on her face as she carefully inspected Luan from top to bottom.
Luan cleared his throat and looked at the audience. "Hello everyone, I am Luan skevela, third son of Drago skevela. And the only person in history to awaken a double sigil," he proudly announced.
Without an ounce of sha, he was clearly just boasting at this point, but at least they now knew his identity.
"Thank you for the introduction; now we will announce what he will be getting from the imperial family," Valessia said, trying to divert the attention from his introduction.
"We have decided to imdiately promote Luan skevela to a marquis and make him the lord of the Velmire territory effective imdiately. But of course they will first need to attend the imperial academy, so they will only be required to start managing it after graduation," she announced.
And the mont Luan heard that, his earlier smug expression completely shifted toward one of disgust. ’Of all the damn territories, why did it have to be that one?!’ He was ready to throw hands, but sadly it was the Empress that announced that if he did that, he would be killed on the spot.
Wiping the disgusted expression from his face, he smiled once more. "Thank you, Your Majesty. We will make sure to manage the territory to the best of our abilities," he thanked her.
Liana just kept the perfect smile plastered on her face, but she would have to tell him sooner or later that it was her fault they got that territory.
Valessia wore a satisfied expression as she nodded at Luan’s words. "That was all. Now everyone, please enjoy the festivities, and David will call for the ones we want to see privately."
Caelius, Valessia, Liana, and Luan then turned around and went back through the large doors, closing them tightly behind them.
Drago and Hana were horrified when they heard the territory their son would need to manage. Glancing at one another, they saw the panic in their eyes.
Then David arrived at the table. "Please follow ," he said.
Drago heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that; this ant he could maybe talk them out of it. And get Luan an easier territory to manage.
Drago, Hana, and her family followed David up the stairs and entered the room Luan had just entered. Once inside, they saw Caelius and Valessia seated on two blood-red thrones, with Luan and Liana seated next to each other on the side.
They all went to their knees. "Thanks for inviting , your majesty," Drago greeted.
"You may rise," Valessia said, with a tender smile.
Caelius also broke his cold persona and smiled at the old comrade standing in front of him. "How has it been?"
"Very good, actually," Drago replied, his eyes darting between Caelius and Luan.
Caelius sighed, "I know what you want to say, and no, that is impossible. He will beco Marquis Velmire. And it was my daughter that proposed this arrangent."
Luan turned his head sharply and looked suspiciously at Liana. "Is that true?" he whispered in her ear.
Liana shyly nodded, staring at the ground. She felt really bad about it, but she really wanted to beco engaged to him. So she had to make sure her parents would agree to it.
Luan just sighed and slouched in his chair. "It’s fine, Mother, Father. If she proposed it, I’m sure we will be able to make it work."
Hana raised an eyebrow. He didn’t look like he believed what he said at all. But there wasn’t much she could do anyway.
That was when her father, Oscar Mirellos, stepped forward. "Excuse , Your Majesty, but you won’t mind if we help support our grandson, right?"
His wife and son nodding along, Hana got teary-eyed hearing her father’s words. She would, of course, also help her son, but they had to manage a large territory already, so they didn’t have that much leeway, but her family was a very rich one.
"Of course, that’s normal," the Emperor replied.
"Thank you," Oscar stated, with a deep bow.
"Now the reason why we wanted you all to co here was to get to know each other a little better; we will be becoming in-laws after all. But it seems you all value family a lot, which reassures imnsely. Because as rulers of such a vast empire, we won’t be able to always help them," Caelius calmly explained.
"That’s right, but no need to worry; if she’s going to marry little Luan, we will make sure to treat her well. If sothing goes wrong, his mother and father, you all, and the Mirellos family will be ready to support them," he boldly declared.
Everyone nodded, smiles on their faces. Luan was trying not to tear up. And Liana looked at her mother and father with a complicated look in her eyes.
They had always been very strict, but it seems she might have misunderstood them at tis; they were, after all, still her parents and loved her greatly, but because of their positions, they couldn’t always show it.
"Thank you, Mom and Dad," she mouthed toward them when she saw they were both watching.
Their eyes widened slightly as they started smiling from ear to ear.
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