Deymon drank a soup while watching Enrico from afar, anger in his eyes. Upon noticing Jago handing the coins to Caelan, a smile appeared on his face. He was quite satisfied, after all, he had paid the thief to try to rob Jago and had also helped with the plan involving the coins.
"What are you doing here, Deymon? Didn't I ask us to have a meeting today?"
Deymon clenched his teeth upon seeing Elowyn approach. She clearly was not happy that she had needed to look for him throughout the festival. To tell the truth, Elowyn had never understood why that event existed, since, to her, it was a huge waste of time. However, her father had explained that he needed to allow the citizens to enjoy the festival, because that way, they would be satisfied with their king.
"I was already going. I was just enjoying a pleasant moment."
"Pleasant? Deymon, let me ask you something. You didn't ally yourself with that guy, did you?"
The person Elowyn was referring to was Jago. She did not know his real name or appearance, because when he had appeared before her, he had been completely covered by a cloak and had proposed an alliance. Elowyn immediately refused.
Upon seeing his essence, she knew that she would be betrayed by that man someday. His essence was not merely dark; within that darkness were several marks that moved like snakes ready to bite their prey.
"I haven't met him."
"You dare lie to me?"
"Tsk."
Deymon knew that he could not lie to Elowyn. He did not know exactly how it worked, but, from what they had told him, it was probably some Unique Skill that remained a secret from people outside the royal family.
"Deymon, the only reason I don't discard you is because I need your power. So be quiet."
"I understand. I won't meet with him."
Elowyn observed his essence for a few moments and, seeing that he was not lying, turned around. She had no way of trusting Deymon, but she needed his power to pass through the Royal Dungeon, the place where all the descendants of the family needed to go through in order to prepare themselves to assume their responsibilities.
'It's the only dungeon so far that hasn't disappeared on the continent and possesses several items for a descendant to choose from, and for that, I need a power capable of corrupting the barrier.'
Elowyn gestured for Deymon to follow her. To her, Deymon was someone unstable and difficult to control. If it were not for his power, she would not have recruited him in the first place, but she remained calm because she did not trust him in the slightest and intended to kill him as soon as she had the opportunity.
Deymon, in turn, thought exactly the same way, only in regard to her. As soon as he obtained enough power, he would eliminate both Enrico and Elowyn, and, for that, allying himself with Jago was his best option.
'Well, I didn't lie. So I'm safe.'
As Jago had said, the two would not meet again for a long time. In this way, Deymon managed to get past Elowyn's ability without revealing his true alliance.
"I won!"
"Damn it, I lost again!"
The voices made Elowyn and Deymon look back. Enrico had his fist clenched and raised above his waist, displaying a confident pose after winning, while Kai slammed both fists against the ground, clearly wanting a rematch. Elowyn's eyes trembled upon noticing Kai's light, but she calmed down when she saw it being swallowed by a void when Enrico helped the boy stand up.
Her gaze left that place where Kai and Enrico were.
"Let's go. Everyone is waiting for our discussion for the fight between the classes. We'll come back later with the others."
Just as her father had said, Elowyn would let her subordinates have fun so that they would remain satisfied and obedient, even though she considered those things idiotic and pointless.
'This is the best decision if I want to become Queen without any problems.'
Before continuing to follow her, Deymon looked at Enrico one last time and smiled, wishing that the day Jago had promised would come soon.
"Damn, you're too good with the bow. Can you teach me?"
"I wasn't going to lose to someone who depends on a Unique Skill."
"Unique Skill?"
Enrico stopped upon realizing that Kai did not know that he had awakened a Unique Skill. Everyone should realize it as soon as they awakened one, but that idiot apparently had not even noticed.
'Better explain it to him.'
Enrico placed his hand on his shoulder and decided to properly explain how it worked.
Meanwhile, the girls were quite satisfied with their presents. Valença had received a bracelet, Seraphina a teddy bear, Rina a purple brooch, Yumeha a Magatama-shaped necklace, and Serenya a pair of golden earrings. Surprisingly enough, they were things they actually liked, and because of that, they were satisfied. They would certainly be even happier if Enrico had not won presents for the boys as well.
"How did he know that I wanted a new brush?"
Giulio raised the brush that Enrico had given him. Elian had received a wind magic stone, while Liam squeezed Giulio's shoulder using the glove he had received, clearly satisfied with the present.
"He's a good friend."
Even Sílvia and Camila, who had arrived later, received presents. Caelan appeared shortly afterward and raised an eyebrow upon seeing everyone like that. When he asked what had happened, they explained that Enrico was giving away all the rewards he won from the target archery game.
Wanting to get something as well, Caelan approached Enrico, who had just finished explaining the Unique Skill to Kai.
"That's incredible, but how do you know?"
"Don't ask questions."
"All right."
Seeing his companion with the same idiot title as him. Enrico already knew why he was coming toward him.
"You don't need to ask. I'll win your prize now."
"Oh, you're a beautiful friend."
After Caelan received a new prize, the one who appeared right afterward was Aoi, who was walking calmly through the festival even after being scolded by Angela. Rina showed her friend her present and, upon noticing that, she approached Enrico, making him think that she also wanted a present.
"Enrico."
"Yes?"
"Win that for me."
She pointed at a ring on the table, while the stall owner was practically crying upon seeing his store being emptied by Enrico and Kai. The boy simply shrugged, picked up what would be his last arrow at the owner's request, and fired another shot. After hitting the target, he took the prize.
"Here."
When he was about to hand the ring to Aoi, she did something that made the five girls tremble. Aoi placed the ring directly on the ring finger of her left hand, as if she were marrying him at that moment.
Rina immediately approached.
"What are you doing, Aoi?"
Aoi looked at her seriously, as if she were about to say something truly important.
Enrico remained quite confused, especially because Aoi was the hardest girl for him to understand, even when he thought about the original story. She mainly appeared during battles alongside Rina, spoke little, and almost everything that had been revealed about her was related to her family's abilities.
"Rina... You know that my mother said I have to be one hundred percent certain if I'm going to choose someone to be my husband."
"But you said there were things missing in him for him to completely be your type."
"Hehe, There were only a few things missing for me to be sure, and now, after spending time with all of you and him, I'm sure that nothing is missing anymore."
Aoi turned toward Enrico and moved her mask aside slightly. Then, she pulled him closer and kissed him on the cheek.
Yumeha stopped where she was, staring at Aoi as if she had just encountered the most shameless girl she had ever seen in her lives.
She gripped the staff and began preparing her summoning, while Serenya, Valença, and even Seraphina also seemed ready to attack.
"I don't know how it's going to be sharing him with Yumeha... But now I have to share him with Aoi too? I hope everything works out."
Everyone looked at Rina after hearing those words and began asking what that meant. Well, almost everyone. Yumeha was already ready to charge forward, but Enrico calmed her down by stroking her head.
"Calm down."
Yumeha remained irritated, but ended up staying beside him.
While Aoi adjusted her mask again, Enrico noticed that she was trembling a little. Already imagining the reason for her nervousness, he decided to reassure her, especially because he knew that she had chosen him according to her family's rules.
"I saw your lips, Aoi."
Aoi froze in place and looked at Enrico. Rina and Yumeha were also surprised, because that should not have been possible. Aoi's family's curse made it impossible for anyone to see any part of her face.
But Enrico had seen them.