Chapter 329: For me to decide...
Axel could only clutch his forehead in pain and frustration, ’Goddamn it. If only I knew that the bastard had taken the thing away from Lumina. When Sophia beat that bastard up, I would have retrieved the necklace from him.’
’Lucien, you fucking bastard.’
After silently cursing in his mind for a while more, he left the balcony, and no one was there. Vyra and Lumina had long left the place. With a sigh, he slowly made his way back to the ballroom. The feast had begun during the break time. There were two sessions of the dance. After the first dance, everyone would eat. Then afterward, there would be another dance.
Well, it might sound weird for there to be another dance right after eating. But they weren’t normal humans. They were all Seekers; their bodies didn’t need any rest or extra power to process the food like normal humans. Axel saw his friends sitting at the same table, now eating elegantly, except for one person, Heinz.
The man was eating like a ravenous beast, with no manners whatsoever, and using his hands directly.
Sophia was nowhere to be seen, just like Vyra and Lumina. He felt a bit bad for his friend, since Vyra had to look after the crying Lumina; as such, Vyra wasn’t able to dance with Heinz. His friend was no doubt upset about that as well. Since Heinz was looking forward to it, ultimately, it was all his fault.
Many of the students noticed his arrival; most of the male students were looking at him with an extreme amount of jealousy. Axel could not help but interpret his current situation in a different light.
It was almost as if he had suddenly become the boyfriend of a popular female idol singer who had countless male fans due to her unmatched beauty. This idol was always single and unreachable to any man. The male fans now all felt betrayed by the news of her having a boyfriend. Usually, she would be boycotted by all the male fans except for the fact that in this scenario, no one had the gall to snitch on either Sophia or him.
{Note - you’ll only get this reference if you know about the culture of Korean idols. lol}
Taking an extra chair from another table, he sat beside Heinz, who was eating like a dog. Heinz gave him a furious look but Axel ignored him, the waiters brought food for him in just a minute. Mirroring his friend, he also started eating with his bare hands, not giving a shit about any dining etiquette.
Heinz’s hardened expression eased a bit, seeing his friend doing the same thing as him. They both started eating one dish after another without stopping. Meanwhile, Jaden, Enrick, and Thorian stared at the scene with visible disgust at the barbaric way they were eating.
Jaden, being the closest to the two, felt some of the fragments of food latch onto his face; his mouth twitched uncontrollably, unable to do anything. Jaden eventually stated through gritted teeth,
"Must you two act like fucking barbarians and in front of everyone at that?"
Axel paused and looked at him from the corner of his eye, but Heinz did not stop. He already heard that nonsense multiple times before Axel even stepped in. Axel asked the three of them,
"Tell me? Did you guys ever eat with your own hands?"
All of them scowled in unison, "Of course not" x3
"Then how can you judge something you have never tried?" Axel rebuked calmly.
"All for what? for reputation? to maintain a noble decorum?"
"If you’re referring to the tradition of presenting yourself to others by abiding by some specific rules. And those ’others’ are all lower in status than you. Then doesn’t that mean you’re actively trying to appeal to those lower in status than yourself?"
"But in that case, what’s even the point of having a higher status, higher power? If you don’t even have the freedom to experience everything. To live your life by some dogshit rules that were established by someone you probably never even heard of thousands and thousands of years ago?"
"What’s the point of any power or riches, if it can’t even grant you the freedom to break out of the molds of society?" Axel questioned in genuine curiosity. Maybe these questions weren’t only directed towards the three noble and royal heirs in front of him. But also to himself.
Even Heinz stopped eating for a moment and stared at his friend with a strange glint in his eyes. Thorian was about to throw another counter-statement, but Axel stopped him before he could say anything,
"I don’t want to argue with any of you. You can consider it if you think what I said is valid; if not, disregard it. Let me eat in peace."
Even the ever-analytical and perceptive Jaden did not say a word. Understanding the intent Axel was trying to convey, not to others but maybe more so to himself. Or perhaps there was an even more profound mystery and turmoil to it, which he was unaware of.
With some reluctance, Jaden put away the dining cutlery, cleaned his hands using his mana, and for the first time in his life, used his hands and dug into the food. The two princes of Blackvale and Samartan Great Kingdom watched in disbelief at Jaden. This stubborn bastard actually listened to Axel’s advice?
Eventually, their curiosity won them over, and they dug into the food with their hands as well. As such, an impossible sight was seen by the whole of the academy. The top-ranking students were eating with their own hands like barbarians. Even Jaden, Thorian, and Enrick, after a while, started to eat in the same barbaric manner, mirroring both Axel and Heinz, in an uncaring way, ignoring the disgusted gazes thrown by everyone else and simply enjoying the food wholeheartedly with no bullshit rules attached.
{Note - It’s a south asian culture to eat with your own hands, in case you guys didn’t know.}
***
Vyra saw as Lumina rushed out of the balcony, lingering tears still evident in her eyes. Lumina ran away, ignoring her. Vyra hesitated between giving Axel Nomrad an earful or pursuing Lumina. In the end, she chose to follow Lumina, but she had already gone quite far ahead of her. Though she was quite athletic for being an archer, she wasn’t able to catch up to her in time, for some unknown reason.
As she exited the building, Lumina was nowhere to be seen. She sighed in frustration. For a moment, she was annoyed; if not for the fact that the princess was just too softhearted, she would have let her be alone for a while so that she could calm down. As she was lost in mental deliberation, a dark shadow loomed behind her, and a sense of dread spread through her out of nowhere.
Vyra instantly became alert. She slowly turned backwards, cautiously, but ready to attack at a moment’s notice, but she instantly froze as she saw a pair of cold red eyes. She shuddered, unknowingly staggering backwards. But she soon recollected herself, as the figure in front of her almost pulled in the light from the surrounding area, making the darkness grow more abundant by just her presence alone.
Vyra asked in extreme caution, her senses still sending danger signals continuously, "Miss Valkyrie, why are you here?"
Sophia chuckled, seeing her wary look. She asked, "Where’s Lumina? Wasn’t she just with you?"
Vyra controlled her urge to throw a snarky comment for what she did at the ballroom just a while ago, but the fear she felt stopped her from being anything but respectful, "May I ask why? I apologize, but I don’t think she is in her right mind to talk to you at the moment."
In just a fraction of a second after she finished her sentence... out of nowhere, an icy and dark hand grabbed her throat from behind and lifted Vyra upwards; she felt like death itself had grabbed her throat. The valkyrie who was right in front of her just now was nowhere to be seen, of course not, it was Sophia who grabbed her throat.
Her usual ethereal voice, which could melt the heart of anyone, turned as sharp as a dagger as she stated,
"Whether Lumina can talk to me or not is for me to decide. That is none of your concern, Vyra Vanelis."