Demonic Lycan's Royal Consort

Chapter 13: Banquet

She reappeared again in the city lord mansion of Blackcourt City. As she walked into the hallway, she could feel the maids’ and guards’ surreptitious eyes whispering to the partner beside them. Her sharp, eagle-like eyes caught their prying eyes, which made them hurriedly lower their head or scurry away in fright.

The news was sure very vast, to the point even this remote mansion had received it in less than a day. Irene’s eyes narrowed, finding the clown’s performance boring.

She teleported to her study room and took a seat.

“My Lord, Stefan Ferner brought news about the banquet. They will hold it tomorrow night.” Rufus suddenly appeared in front of her.

She raised her eyebrows. There was quite some information in Rufus’ words. The little vampire man didn’t inform her of such an important matter right away.

It should be a banquet specifically set for her to celebrate her awakening. If she failed to appear, the ending was predictable, right?

“My Lord, do you want to...?” Rufus subconsciously clenched his fist, indignation painted on his stern face.

Irene shook her head. “Don’t be rash. I know you have been here longer than me, but this Astral Continent is not simple either. Haste makes waste.”

Rufus immediately bowed and admitted his mistake — the example of a capable subordinate who will learn and correct his mistake.

She waved her hand. After that, she moved quickly, her hand scribbled something on a piece of paper. “Go investigate.”

Rufus took the paper from her hand, then disappeared from the study room.

Irene gave an approving look. It seemed that he hadn’t been slacking off during his stay when he was on this continent.

The ability he revealed to the vampire race was only a part of it. In fact, Rufus was extremely skilled in concealment and, thus, very suitable for assassination. However, his combat skill was also not bad.

It was proven that Stefan wanted her to make a joke of herself. Until less than half an hour left until the banquet time, he still didn’t send anyone to inform her.

The guards and maids were under his control and regard Irene as a mere vase, an empty title holder. Stefan had been acting as a lord in this place for a long time too, and of course, they didn’t dare to disobey his orders.

With a slight sneer, Irene got up from her seat. She passed the tall mirror, glancing at it briefly, and then walked out. She was dressed in her usual attire, a dark long dress with an intricate design and a lifelike rose attached to the shoulder. This time, her aura was vastly different.

She radiated off a noble charm belonging to royalty, and there was a faint suppression from the awakened bloodline. The sharp eyes were even more uncomfortable to look at, as if they pierced the eyes of the guards and maids who received her gaze.

However, a moment later, the guards and maids seemed to be awakened from their stupor. They realized Irene was going somewhere, probably to the banquet. If Stefan knew that someone had leaked the news, his anger would be devastating.

“The princess...” a maid mumbled. But who would dare to stop the princess, anyway? They regarded her as an incompetent vase, unsuitable to be a leader. However, the royal title was still there.

In a short time, under the eyes of many people, Irene arrived at the palace. They seemed to be curious about her reaction. Probably waiting to see her head down, embarrassed, right?

When she arrived at the banquet hall, it was already closed. The guards noticed her arrival, looked at each other, then opened the giant door again. The announcement of her name reverberated in the banquet hall, causing many eyes to turn to the entrance.

She walked through the red carpet, attracting many eyes. The shape of her face was similar to Queen Adrienne’s, inheriting her beauty. However, although the queen was often indifferent, she was generous and warm. Meanwhile, Irene’s face was as cold as her temperament, like a thousand years of blocks of ice. She was so hard to approach that she didn’t have any lady-in-waiting or personal guards until today.

She walked to the front of the throne, then curtsied to the king and queens.

It seemed that everyone was already here. She even saw Stefan in the crowd. His eyes were contemptuous, as if mocking her late entry. It meant that she was blatantly disrespecting the king, the supreme ruler of the vampire race.

“Sit down.” The king motioned to the seat below Queen Lamia, right between Edmund and Kairos. Above her was an empty seat belonging to the late Queen Adrienne.

Irene gracefully sat down. Then, the king announced, “Banquet begins.”

During the banquet, many pairs of eyes were discreetly or openly looking at her or were trying to guess the king’s attitude.

He didn’t question the reason she was late, but they could tell that something seemed to be on the king’s mind. Was he trying to hide his anger as the princess humiliated the royal family? The red blood was enough, but the combination of this incident had smeared her name further.

These faint whispers could even travel to her ears. The most fervent was the table of Celosia and other noble ladies.

“The princess looked so cold today, it’s such a pity.”

“She arrived late, probably she was crying the whole night.”

There was suppressed smile and mockery on their faces. Celosia looked at the rapt discussion with a confident smile.

She was tricked by Irene yesterday. She met Stelian, but he was busy. Therefore, his attitude toward her wasn’t good, and his mood seemed to worsen after she mentioned Irene’s name.

The hostility aimed at the royal princess made her satisfied, and when she looked at the king’s complexion, which wasn’t as happy as when he received the prince’s awakening in the past, she somehow felt emboldened.

As everyone was talking among themselves in their seats, or standing in groups, Celosia suddenly spoke. “Princess Irene, we all have been waiting for you to arrive at the banquet. Now that you are here, I will use this glass of veri to congratulate you on your awakening.”

Veri was a kind of drink for the vampire race, similar to wine, but made of blood.

As Celosia spoke, she didn’t notice that Irene’s expression was the same as yesterday when she tricked her. Like a cat teasing a mouse, but unwilling to devour it.

“Oh, I apologize for making everyone wait.” Her tone was soft, her face held an apologetic smile. “The mansion is remote and information couldn’t be transferred so quickly.”

What a wonderful actor! At the seat below Queen Alvira, Stelian’s eyes rested on her, glinting with a trace of anger. His lips curled up mockingly. He just discovered that yesterday, she was using him to provoke Celosia. So, it was for today’s purpose.

Celosia may look graceful and lovely, like a true noble lady, but few people knew she was actually very reckless and aggressive. It was just that this entire time; she was the woman with the highest status besides the queens. Her noble status ensured a spot that she was married to one of the princes. There was only one of her and five princes; her arrogance was naturally high. That was, until Irene, whose status was higher than her, came.

After Irene spoke, abruptly, her eyes rested on Stefan, who then froze on the spot at her sharp gaze.

Earlier, when Celosia spoke with such an underlying sarcasm, he already had a premonition; things weren’t looking good.

Edmund, who sat beside her, had a confused look on his face. “Really? Stefan should already be informed, right?”

“Lord Stefan has been informed?” She had a surprised look on her face.

“But he didn’t tell me.” She shook her head, putting on the same confused face just like Edmund's earlier. “Or maybe he forgot.”

She sounded generous, very forgiving. However, her next words could make anyone choke. “That’s very normal though.”

The two sang along, complementing each other. They looked more like a pair of actual siblings. There was already a lot of information from the conversation between the two.

Some were gloating, some were solemn, and some enjoyed the free drama presented in front of them.

“It seems that Miss Ferner should ask his uncle first.” It was Kairos who finally spoke.

Meanwhile, Celosia’s face had already turned red from embarrassment. She sat back down in her seat, her head lowered, unwilling to face everyone’s eyes, which now were directed at her.

Her words may sound like there was nothing wrong with them, even sounding casual and polite, but now her purpose had been ruthlessly exposed in front of the public.

Stefan’s blood felt like it was flowing backward. He didn’t expect that things would backfire like this. He hurriedly stood up and kneeled down in front of the king, admitting his mistake.

“Your Majesty... this servant beg for mercy. Please give punishment for not taking care of Her Highness properly.” He didn’t have any arrogance left, beseeching the king to punish him himself.

It was a smart move. Otherwise, if he had insisted on his innocence by spewing out nonsense at a such piece of blatant evidence, he would be punished more severely. Even Duke Ferner wouldn’t let him off, not to mention there was still Stelian. This way, his punishment should be lighter.

Irene’s face was indifferent, unruffled by the scene in front of her. However, it still surprised her how this man could actually bend and stretch according to the situation. No wonder that with the size of his brain, he could survive until today.

After this incident, the way people looked at Irene would imperceptibly change. Even though she was weak, she still had some wits. Who knew whether she had been late on purpose and then threw the dirty water at Stefan?

In the end, Stefan was stripped of his title. He would continue to serve her, but he would no longer be noble. That was also how the banquet ended with its minor episode of the drama.