The servants moved like poisoned ants, scrubbing every inch of marble until it was shinier than the Patriarch's ego. Kael's betrothed was not just any guest: she was a Blossom, a family powerful enough for the Medici to tolerate... but never respect.
Outside the mansion, on the cobblestone streets, a colossal Snail Shell Elephant waited for the door to be opened.
On the back of the Snail-Shell Elephant was not a simple tamer's chair, but a complete home: a rustic but elegant house, embedded in a gigantic snail shell.
This magical animal was being escorted by winged serpents and great treasure toads that croaked loudly.
They did not travel on horses or their derivatives, such as three-horned blue horses and steel-muscled horses. The environment was extremely hostile and dangerous, so most intelligent races lived in the mountains.
The guards guarding the entrance to the mansion opened the massive gates, allowing the Snail-Shell Elephant, the crawling Winged Serpents, and the Treasure Toads, which gave little hops, to enter.
...
In a large, luxurious room, Kael sat cross-legged and eyes closed, oblivious to all the commotion going on outside.
His expression showed no nervousness or emotion; it was one of total indifference, as if the meeting with his fiancée was of no importance.
"Young master, can I get you some wine?" asked Lydia, who stood behind him, trying to change the tense atmosphere there.
Kael opened his eyes without responding. He got up from the furniture, walked over to the window, and saw the snail-shelled elephant, the winged snakes, and the treasure toads. From there, he watched as his mother greeted the two members of the Blossom family, who had left the house on the elephant's back.
"They finally arrived," he muttered. He moved away from the window and sat back down on the piece of furniture, waiting for the guests to arrive in the room.
A few minutes later, the door to the room slowly opened. Six women entered: two dressed as maids, one in gentleman's attire, and three in noble dresses.
They were Alessia Medici, Sophie, Aella, Evelyn Blossom, and Agnes Blossom.
Kael directed his indifferent gaze towards two of them: Evelyn and Agnes.
Evelyn was his fiancée. She had long blonde hair, blue eyes, and a face with almost no imperfections, which made her a beauty despite her young age. She wore a purple dress.
As for Agnes, her appearance was similar to Evelyn's, but with a much more mature and elegant air, which made her such a dazzling woman that she could make any man fall with just her presence.
Kael looked at Evelyn again. Her face was still a masterpiece: perfect symmetry, eyes as blue as the sky before a storm. Beauty that once would have been enough for him to surrender his allegiance.
But now, she was nothing more than a tightly wrapped pile of flesh.
He remembered the past with the cruel clarity of a man who had awakened: the naive admiration, the first love, the betrayal. Evelyn had not only left him for his fourth brother, but she had also used him. She had molded him with sweet words, as one trains a dog.
In the past, he'd believed she loved him...
Heh, how naive he'd been.
He looked at her without emotion. No anger, no desire. Kael pushed his thoughts away, waiting for his mother to introduce the two women.
His mother smiled with that naturalness that only someone with years of lies could achieve. Kael watched her without saying anything.
She introduced, "This is my son, Kael Medici. Son, this is Evelyn, your fiancée, and Agnes Blossom, her mother."
Kael rose from the furniture and took Evelyn's hand, kissing it as he looked into her blue eyes:
"A pleasure, Miss Evelyn."
The young woman's face flushed brightly at this greeting. She did not feel any kind of desire in Kael's gesture. Evelyn lowered her head, hiding her embarrassment, and whispered something that was not well understood.
Kael ignored her and did the same to Agnes, sitting back down on the furniture next to his mother, who looked at him with an amused smile.
"How... polite your son, Alessia. Though I would expect a little more warmth in greeting your future wife," Agnes spoke with a sharp smile.
Alessia laughed softly, fiddling with the edge of the fan, "Don't make a big deal of it. It's the first time they've met, and my son is not a very affectionate person."
"Then allow me to be warm," Kael interjected, looking at them with a smile. "How glad you have arrived healthy! The mountains are full of beasts. What an honor to have the most exquisite flowers of the Blossom garden in our home."
His eyes, once lacking luster, now sparkled with excitement.
Agnes, noticing the quick change in Kael, sketched a subtly satisfied smile.
"Fufu~ But how nice.... You're quite deft with words, dear Kael."
Kael simply smiled, without saying another word, he had already satisfied Agnes' discomfort with this act.
"Agnes, how did your journey from Giron Mountain to the Kiran go? I heard that the different beasts have been more active during these three months," Alessia asked, since, as it was the first time they met, she didn't know much about each other.
Although Kael did know about them, he had no intention of talking so as not to arouse suspicion from his mother and the servants, who might report him to his father.
"The trip was pretty uneventful, we were only attacked by a few groups of iron-fanged wolves and black blood crows. They seemed to have entered the mating stage, so they weren't very active," Agnes said without going into too much detail about their trip.
Alessia, with a smile, gave Agnes a look that she immediately understood and said:
"Agnes, my dear! We must let the young people get to know each other more deeply. Son, don't you want to show Evelyn the gardens? o They say our... night butterflies are unique."
"Of course, mother. Come, fiancée. I'll show you where I used to get lost as a child...," Kael offered Evelyn his arm with a smile.
Having recovered from her blush, Evelyn took Kael's arm, and the two left the large room and went to the South Lawn.
...
As they walked through the garden, Kael picked up a black-colored flower, much like black mallow, and explained a bit:
"The flowers in this garden are... special. They do not wither for the winter, nor do they succumb to pests. They survive."
"How... peculiar. In my family's garden, the flowers are very fragile, but dangerous." Evelyn leaned curiously, looking at the black flowers, but occasionally glancing at Kael's face, which had a soft smile.
Kael, noticing the look, smiled coldly inwardly. He wasn't going to believe this fake act of coyness from Evelyn.
He was doing all this simply to keep up appearances and have the backing of the Blossom family. Although before returning to the past, he had suffered enough at the hands of this woman.
He wasn't about to let his feelings get in the way and waste such a good chess piece for a simple revenge, which would only bring him more trouble than good.
"Young Kael, where are your brothers? I have not seen them," Evelyn asked curiously.
"They are not at Kiran Mountain at the moment," he replied. "By the way, how long are they planning to stay here?"
His gaze bore into Evelyn's eyes, intense and piercing.
She looked down, a faint blush tingeing her cheeks under that attention.
"We will stay for a month. We must replenish supplies and... my mother wishes to explore this territory," she explained. "Will you accompany us?"
Kael shook his head. He couldn't leave the manor, at least not until after the Awakening Ceremony.
As they continued to talk, they walked through the garden, where various butterflies were perched on the flowers: Night Butterflies, Moonlight Butterflies, and many other species.
...
Night had fallen, and the dark sky, black as a wolf's mouth, was full of stars. The moon, round and grayish white, was covered with freely moving clouds.
The breeze swayed the branches of the trees on the mountain, lulling wild bushes. In the air mingled the songs of crickets, the hooting of owls, and the distant howls of wolves.
Inside the guest room, the mood was less serene.
"Daughter, what did you think of your fiancé?" asked Agnes curiously, though her voice hid something else.
Evelyn pursed her lips in a cold, almost disgusted gesture.
"I don't like it at all."
But her fingers played with a strand of hair, tangling it, loosening it, tangling it again.
"Although... I suppose, compared to the others, it doesn't make me nauseous. Besides, his face is... ordinary," she said in a dry voice, as if she wanted to convince someone other than her mother.
But when she thought about the intensity of his gaze, how he had taken her arm with a newfound firmness, something warm and nagging ran up her neck.
She hated him for making her hesitate.
Agnes raised an eyebrow in surprise. She noticed all the changes in her daughter, and a small chuckle appeared on her face.
"So the rumors that reached our territory were exaggerated," she muttered to herself, a calculating gleam in her eye. "Interesting."
"But, mother," Evelyn crossed her arms. "Why should I marry him? They say the fourth young master of this clan is more beautiful and has better backing- why choose the son of a commoner?"
Agnes sighed. She found it hard to believe that Evelyn didn't see Kael's potential. She remembered how the young man, barely fourteen, had intervened: with precise words, he had disarmed the conflict before it escalated.
It was not the cunning that a teenager should have, but someone with years of experience.
"If I were twenty years younger," Agnes said dryly. "Perhaps I would have preferred to marry him rather than your father."
"What...?" Evelyn looked at her mother, incredulous. "Why did you prefer him...and not my father?"
Agnes didn't answer. Instead, she pinned her gaze on the moon peeking through the clouds, as if therein lay the answer she didn't want to give.