Chapter 28. End of year banquet

“Ken! Are you ready for the banquet? I can’t wait to see you dressed properly! Hurry up!” Genesis shouted excitedly for Ken to come out of his dorm as she waited with Lovetta, Emma and Indra for Ken to get ready.

After a nice shower, Ken got out the formal suit he bought from the capital when he visited to get Emma during his break from her former boss. White undershirt, black blazer with golden embroidery and black pants with a black bow-tie, the formal suit he bought was nothing special or extravagant like those that the nobles and royals wore, but when he saw how out of place he and Lovetta looked, even when he couldn’t have cared less about what others thought about him, with the financial ability, he felt that it was the right thing to do and dress the part since he is now part of the most prestigious academy in the world.

“KEN! We need to go get married right now!” Genesis screamed as she saw the young man standing in front of her.

Dressed in his brand-new suit with his jet-black hair styled and slicked back. His dark brown eyes and handsome features showed through more without being covered by his untamed hair. Not only was Genesis taken aback by how Ken looked, but it also made the rest of the girls' hearts skip a beat to see him dressed properly and looking so good, matching his normal confidence.

Since Emma worked many extra shifts during the week, she was officially done with work for the school year and already got her last paycheck and was able to join the group for the banquet.

Dressed in the formal gown Ken bought for her and Lovetta, while the material was not that high of quality, and nothing compared to the fancy ones like the one Genesis wore. The milky white dress went well with her overall look. Since a third of her hair was pure white while the other two thirds golden blonde, the white part of her hair got braided together while the blonde part was left in a wave. Light makeup that made her sky blue and forest green heterochromia eyes stand out even more, Emma looked even more beautiful today just like the rest of the girls.

Likewise, even though Lovetta never dressed up before or had any makeup done. Since Ken did buy her a formal dress for the occasion, just like for Emma, Genesis volunteered to help with getting their makeup and hair done. While naturally, Lovetta’s hair is wild and bushy and pretty much untamable. It would seem that Genesis somehow managed to wash and brush it into a more styled look and tied a bunch of her hair into two big fluffy ponytails due to the sheer amount of hair she had. Luckily, since every girl was already absolutely beautiful, it made Genesis’s job easy as all of them only required light makeup to show off their already attractive features. With her hair done and light makeup on, Lovetta looked gorgeous with the dress showing her tall and fit figure and her bright yellow eyes contrast sharply against the dark dress.

Indra looked quite impressive as well, dressed in a blue dress that matched her blue hair which was done in a wavy way like the ocean waves. What she lacked in stature was more than made up for by her cuteness.

As Ken looked at the girls, he couldn’t help but feel the urges swirling up and it was difficult for him to keep acting normally. After taking a few deep breaths, Ken was able to calm himself down and complimented the girls on their looks. As he surveyed the girls, he realized that both Genesis and Lovetta are still wearing the cheap gemstone necklace he got them half a year ago.

“Why are you two still wearing those things?”

“What do you mean? I have been wearing it every day.” Lovetta asked in confusion.

“All four of us have been Ken. You really think we would not wear the only gift we have gotten from you?” Genesis added.

“I want a necklace too!” Emma replied jealously.

“Once I get rich, I will get you all something much nicer.” Ken promised as the group happily made their way to the dining hall for the banquet.

Dressed much nicer than half a year ago, Ken and the girls not only looked like they belong at the banquet because they finally dressed the part, with how beautiful the girls are and he himself being a tall handsome young man, the group had many head turns not unlike the looks those top nobles and royals would get.

After waiting in the buffet line and grabbing trays full of food, Ken and the girls happily went to the second floor and enjoyed their food while watching the crowds gathering on the base floor eager to get noticed by those in the elite group while facing the reality that they most likely are just waiting in vain.

Unlike half a year ago where no one would think about approaching Ken, through the courses of the evening, many first-year commoners swung by to chat and sat around with Ken and the girls, and it was the most fun filled and interactive night Ken had ever experienced.

As Ken and the girls enjoyed their chats with the other first years, Clare and Alice showed up together with treys full of food that wasn’t offered at the regular buffet and Ken was not hesitant to share the exotic foods with those others that stared in amazement at the expensive ingredients.

“Ken, you need to let your hair grow longer and have it cover your whole face and never dress up ever again!” Alice complained.

“Geez, why are you so mean to me Alice? I know I’m no noble or anything but don’t have to be so rude when all I am trying to do is to fit in.”

“That’s the whole point Ken! You need to stop trying to fit in.” Clare added.

“Since when did the two of you get all buddy buddy? I did nothing to deserve this type of harassment for simply dressing up for the banquet!” Ken complained.

Turns out, since Alice told her dad that Clare is a friend, her father Drake and his brother, king Draven got Alice to introduce the Yelwraek during the banquet and the Vespera seemed to have hit it off rather well with the Yelwraek royal family. Clare and Alice were able to take advantage of the situation and sneak off to come and see Ken.

“If you are really going to pretend that you don’t understand and play dumb with me then I will give it to you straight. STOP looking so damn handsome! You will end up attracting all the girls! Leave some of the girls for those other guys!” Alice moaned.

"NEVER! I am taking all the girls for myself!” Ken retorted while laughing at the silliness at Alice’s comment.

After a few more minutes of chatting, Clare and Alice bid their farewell and left the group to be back with the elite party, so their family don’t get suspicious of their disappearance. As Ken watched the pair disappear from view and reappear downstairs into the crowd, he noticed Ryder walking out of the dining hall into the garden.

Seeing his childhood hero stepping out from the elite group, Ken impulsively got up and decided to go and try his luck and see if he could run into his hero for a quick chat. With a large group of first year gathered around and having a great time chatting, when Ken made some excuse to step away, Genesis, Lovetta and Emma had to just watch him go and couldn’t follow along due to the gathered crowd.

Stepping into the garden during the mid-December night, Ken realized that if he was already home, it would have been so cold that none of the girls would have been able to wear such thin dresses. But here on the tropical island, even during the middle of December, the weather was mild and not cold at all so even for those dressed thinly, they won’t have to worry about getting sick from the weather.

As Ken walked around the dimly lit garden in hopes of running into Ryder for a quick chat, instead of locating his childhood hero, Ken saw a beautiful girl sitting all by herself staring into the moon looking so stunningly gorgeous yet her expressions so despairing.

“Hey Cecilla, what you are doing out here all by yourself and looking all sad.” Ken asked casually as he sat down on the bench next to the beautiful elf he met once before.

“Where are your manners? It's princess Cecilla to you. If my sister wasn’t so head over heels in love with you, I would have got you expelled for being so disrespectful.” Cecilla snapped back after seeing it was Ken who had approached her.

“Well, Clare did say something about you two being rivals, I guess she meant both of you are easily agitated with a fake princessy persona.”

“Now you are just asking for me to get you expelled.”

“What do you mean? Didn’t you already say that because Clare loves me you won’t do anything? I thought that meant we could just be open and honest and not have to put up a fake front.” Ken replied calmly.

Turning towards the young man in disbelief, Cecilla was at a loss for words how this commoner could so casually speak to her like they are of equals, yet she had countless royals and nobles from lesser kingdoms worship the ground she had walked on.

“Well, I guess at least you look better than I thought. You should dress better and get a stylist to get your hair done so you don’t look the way you did during the tournament interview.” Cecilla offered while taking a closer look at Ken.

“You better not let Clare hear you make such a blasphemous remark. She was freaking out when she saw my regal look and told me to start dressing like a hobo, so I don’t end up having all the girls falling in love with me.”

“REGAL!” Cecilla repeated, burst out laughing.

“Fine, that was a lie, but you didn’t have to laugh that hard, did you? But she did suggest that I should keep a low profile and not attract any more girls.” Ken replied, glad to see his remark was able to cheer up the elf princess.

“My father ordered me to marry Xandrian Nafluica because he is the son of a duke and felt this marriage would create a stronger tie with the Nafluica and be beneficial for Yelwraek.” Cecilla said suddenly.

“Sorry. I definitely don’t envy the sort of things you royals have to deal with.” Ken replied, not sure how he could comfort the girl.

“When I approached Xandrian and his father earlier at the banquet and told him of the marriage proposal, he turned me down immediately.”

“I always knew Xandrian was an idiot but didn’t think he would be this stupid.”

“He said only Clare is worthy and told me to get out of his face because I’m a worthless substitute. He didn’t even look at me like I was an actual person, and I couldn’t even be a simple pawn for my father. How much of a failure am I to not even be able to offer up myself in a marriage.” Cecilla said quietly with a small chuckle.

“If I was Xandrian, I would be giggling like a little kid to get such a beautiful wife for free. What an idiot.” Ken commented again, trying to offer the gloomy elf girl some comfort.

“Clare is the only Yelwraek so far to be selected by the academy and Xandrian is right. My father wanted her to be his bride, but when she refused and since Clare has the highest potential, my father simply offered me up as the worthless substitute.”

“This academy is seriously overrated, just tell your father that even someone like me got selected! How much of a prestige can it even be!”

“Right… Just shows you that even a random human orphan has more potential than me.”

“Now you are being unfair! At least I got Clare to fall in love with me when that Xandrian couldn’t even get her to look at him twice. I would say my potential is top tier.” Ken replied proudly.

“Between me and Clare, who would you pick?” Cecilla asked unexpectedly.

“Obviously I would take both of you. That's why Xandrian is so dumb. Why pick between two gorgeous girls when he could have just tried to have both. But of course, he’s never getting Clare since she is mine.” Ken answered confidently.

“You better keep your promise. If my dad let me off the hook from marrying Xandrian, I am expecting at least a proper proposal befitting for a princess.”

“Umm... I think you got the wrong idea? How did our conversation go from where it was to us getting married?” Ken asked in confusion.

“You said you would take me! And not even a minute later, you are now backing out of your promise?” Cecilla snapped back, staring right at Ken waiting for his confirmation.

“I was speaking hypothetically and answering your question! We don’t even know each other!” Ken replied in bewilderment, not sure when the conversation took a left turn.

“I know you well enough! Clare won’t shut up about you all break long. We were best friends growing up and always liked and competed over the same thing and after talking to you, I’m sure you will do just fine as my husband. I really hope my father will let me off the hook now that Xandrian rejected me so I could marry you instead.” Cecilla got up and walked back into the dining hall without another word but in a much better mood while leaving Ken sitting alone not sure if the elf princess was playing an elaborate joke on him or if she was being serious.

After sitting alone for a few more minutes gathering his thoughts and completely forgetting why he was even out here in the first place, Ken walked back to the dining hall to join his group before the girls got more worried.

“Where did you go Ken? You were gone for so long!” Genesis asked while Lovetta and Emma nodded in agreement.

“Not too sure what happened. Saw Clare’s sister in the garden and had a quick chat. She either wants to be my wife or is trying to make a fool out of me and I honestly don’t know which one it was.” Ken answered while still not sure what just took place.

His ambiguous answer only caused more confusion and Ken ended up spending the rest of the evening trying to explain what exactly happened in the garden.

As the evening went along, eventually, the crowd began to thin, and more individuals started leaving the dining hall to either head back home or to sleep. With more people wishing them goodnight and a good break, the group hanging out with Ken also grew smaller and eventually everyone decided it was time to head back to the dorm and call it a night.

Saying their goodnight to Ken, the girls headed back to their room while Ken laid in bed waiting for Alice to show up and collect the blood he spent all month draining and saving for her. Since Clare did not bid him farewell, Ken was pretty certain the elf princess would also show up and he’s got some questions for her.

As he predicted, Alice showed up not soon after but to his surprise, she showed up with Clare.

“And you two pretended you aren’t best friends.” Ken smirked.

“You know exactly why we came together. No make out session for you! Must be disappointed aren’t you, Ken?” Clare asked jokingly.

“What do you mean? Aren't you the one who’s disappointed? I can make out with Lovetta all I want when I go visit her home tomorrow and with Genesis and Emma when I go home while you won’t get to see me for a whole month.”

Before Ken could say another word to tease her, Clare was all over him and kissed him passionately while Alice watched in disgust.

“Geez Clare, you are the one who wanted to come together so no one tries to make out with him and now I have to watch you put your tongue all over my man.” Alice complained.

“Behave yourself, okay? You better come visit me next semester for my birthday when I get permission for you to enter the kingdom.” Clare demanded after the two got pulled apart by Alice, tired of watching the two kiss any longer.

Not willing to lose to Clare, Alice likewise kissed Ken aggressively before Clare got agitated and got in between the two to separate them.

“Love you both and will miss both of you greatly but Clare, what is up with your sister Cecilla? She was acting super strange when I ran into her. Not sure if she was joking with me or wanted to marry me.”

“Since when did you attract another Yelwraek? Clare!” Alice demanded.

“What do you mean Cecilla wants to marry you? You have only met her, like what, twice?”

“That’s why I am confused! Anyways, go ask her what’s up and both of you take care!” Ken replied while hugging both girls closely.

After wishing him an early happy birthday and Alice dropping another sack full of gold coins off for all the blood she drank, the two finally said their farewell, and Ken went to sleep drained but also excited to be visiting Lovetta’s home.