Devouring Dragon Heir-Chapter 63: Ch The banquet - 5

Meanwhile, Julie’s expression was something else entirely.

It was a kaleidoscope of rapidly changing emotions, her angelic face showing flashes of anger, irritation, and then a profound, almost desperate longing.

If only Arthur knew her internal thoughts.

"That bitch mocked my darling! I might as well kill him!" Julie’s inner voice screamed, referring to James Ravenstein’s comment.

"Calm down, Raphael, calm down!" A small, shimmering green spirit, no bigger than a hummingbird, floated frantically around her head, trying to blow off some invisible steam coming out of her, attempting to soothe her rage.

This was Gale, the Spirit of Wind, one of the ten Elder Spirits. no one in the hall not even Klaus could see these spirits floating around her.

"Shut up, Gale! I will kill that bitch! He dared to disrespect him!" Julie’s internal retort was fierce, her anger a pure, unadulterated force.

Aqua, the spirit of water, suddenly appeared beside Gale, shimmering into her short, ethereal form, her blue light calming the air around Julie.

"Calm down, child," Aqua’s soothing mental voice echoed in Julie’s mind.

"How bad of a first impression you might give in front of Klaus if you lose control? Think of him seeing you like this!"

As soon as Aqua spoke, the mention of Klaus’s name acted like a cold shower.

Raphael’s internal fury immediately subsided, her expression returning to the cold, calm, and angelic demeanour it had possessed moments before Klaus’s arrival.

"You are right," Julie acknowledged internally, her thoughts perfectly clear once more.

Her personal desire to make a good impression on Klaus superseded even her righteous anger.

"The boy is as attractive as ever," Pyro, the fire spirit, mentally spoke, a distinct blush in her ethereal voice, her gaze, too, fixed on Klaus.

"Oiii, stay away, you pervert!" Julie internally snapped back at Pyro. Even her own Elder Spirits needed to be kept in line when it came to her husband.

While this inner spiritual drama unfolded within Julie, another group of young scions had gathered in a secluded corner of the hall, their voices low but filled with malicious intent.

James Ravenstein was at the centre of the group, his face still flushed with humiliation from Klaus’s public dismissal.

Surrounding him was his loyal sidekick, Leo, a member of a minor branch family and heir to the iron industries, who closely followed James around, always eager to pump his ego whenever he got the chance.

Several other young masters from different, less prominent families also joined them, their own jealousies and resentments boiling over.

Leo, ever the instigator, voiced the general sentiment. "James, we simply have to teach that brat a lesson and show him who’s the boss here! He can’t just waltz in and disrespect everyone!"

Another young boy chimed in, his voice laced with his own envy.

"Yes, James, Leo is right! Plus, that Arthur brat also needs to learn his place. The two beauties, Elara Crimson and that new girl, Julie, should have been courting you, not paying attention to that pretentious commoner Arthur"

Their own jealousies and perceived slights were projected onto their words, fuelled by their collective insecurity.

James looked at them with a calm, almost calculating expression, having regained some of his composure.

"What do you all suggest?" he asked.

Leo, eager to prove his worth, leaned in conspiratorially.

"The conclave of talents would start soon after the banquet ends. And fortunately, I know the rules for this year’s conclave. They’ve changed slightly. We will use these rules to teach them a lesson, to publicly humiliate both of them, Klaus and Arthur."

He then closed ranks, his voice dropping to a whisper as the group huddled together, formulating their malicious plan.

Their expressions were grim, determined, and filled with a petty desire for revenge.

Unbeknownst to them, however, a shadowy, almost imperceptible black spirit was already spying on them from the dark recesses of the ornate ceiling.

Her form was a mere flicker, a distortion in the ambient light.

Her name was Violet, the Darkness Spirit, and she was one of the Elder Spirits, keenly observing the schemes of mortals.

"hehe, this will be fun"

"are you planning to inform Raphael?" a spirit filled with light called lumina asked violet.

"nah!! that wouldn’t be fun, plus we can test him this way" violet replied

------------------------

The banquet was slowly resuming its polite flow.

Guests continued to mingle, though a palpable undercurrent of tension and curiosity now permeated the air.

Klaus, having performed his public debut, moved through the opulent ballroom. The system as soon as he had entered the room had started ringing in his ears.

The System had immediately flagged Arthur as a "Heaven’s Chosen" .

This information, combined with Klaus’s observation of Arthur’s closeness to Elara Crimson and the beautiful, mute girl, Julie, instantly clicked.

He understood now how his secret, his identity as Gate eater was revealed by him.

Klaus, with his usual pragmatism, decided to act. He subtly extended his consciousness, activating the Omniscient Tracker skill.

A faint surge of mana extended from his fingertips, focusing on Arthur as he placed a tracker on Arthur from a distance.

[Tracking initiated on ’Arthur’. Target located and stable.] The system’s prompt was concise.

He then shifted his focus to Elara. She was also a prominent figure, closely associated with Arthur, and her information could be useful. The same process was repeated.

[Tracking initiated on ’Elara Crimson’. Target located and stable.]

Finally, Klaus’s gaze moved to the beautiful mute girl, Julie. There was something about her that klaus could’nt pinpoint.

However, the moment he attempted to place a tracker an unexpected thing happened.

[ERROR!!]

Klaus’s internal calm fractured slightly. He immediately pulled back his mana, preventing any further attempt.

"System, what is happening?" klaus asked in surprise his tracking skill was SSS ranked and would usually bypass any defences.

[Host, something around her is causing interference. The origin is unknown. It would be prudent not to try this again, as we do not know the nature or strength of the interference.

Further attempts may alert an unknown entity.] The System’s response was devoid of emotion, yet the warning was clear.

The interference was powerful enough to block an SSS-rank tracking skill, a feat that few, if any, beings on this planet should be capable of achieving.

klaus shrugged it off as another powerfull individual having seacrets.

If only Klaus knew what he was supposed to know, that Julie was the Spirit Queen, that the ten Elder Spirits were constantly safeguarding her, their combined might creating a shield impenetrable by mortal, or even semi-divine, means.

His current understanding of the world, vast as it was, did not yet encompass the full scope of cosmic entities and their inherent protections.

"Okay, I guess," Klaus said internally, a flicker of genuine intrigue passing through him. He looked at the trio Arthur, Elara, and Julie for one last time,

a new layer of mystery now surrounding the mute girl in his mind, before smoothly moving towards the food section of the banquet.

Meanwhile, among the trio, Julie was trembling slightly, a tiny, almost imperceptible shiver running through her.

Her internal world was a whirlwind of frantic excitement.

"He looked here! He looked here! He looked at me!

He was trying to track me!

My hubby is here!

He wants to stalk me! " she blabbered inside her mind, her thoughts a chaotic jumble of joy and adrenaline.

The slight sensation of Klaus’s tracking mana had registered, not as an attack, but as a familiar touch, a probe from someone she recognized on a soul level.

Her Elder Spirits had automatically, instinctively, shielded her, but she had felt the source.

Suddenly, Violet, the Darkness Spirit, and Lumina, the Light Spirit, materialized beside Julie, their ethereal forms shimmering faintly.

They had been observing Klaus, Lumina with her inherent curiosity, and Violet with her usual reconnaissance duties.

"Where were you both?" Gale, the Wind Spirit, asked, her voice light but tinged with a hint of suspicion.

On the question, Lumina, the embodiment of innocence, looked away, her luminous form dimming slightly, almost as if embarrassed.

She rarely lied.

Meanwhile, Violet, ever nonchalant, replied with a mental shrug.

"Oh, nowhere in particular. We were just looking around, observing the... local customs." Her tone was flat, expertly hiding what she had heard earlier.

Gale looked at both of them with a speculative gaze, sensing their evasiveness, but she ultimately shrugged it off as something minor, preoccupied with Julie’s agitated state.

Her focus was on her Queen’s emotional turmoil. freёnovelkiss.com

Meanwhile, on the first floor of the hall, elevated above the main ballroom, all the Paragons were currently seated in a more secluded area, engaged in their high-stakes discussions.

William, Magnus, Lady Crimson, Ravenstein’s ancestor (edward’s father) , and several other family patriarchs sat around a large, ornate table, their expressions serious, their conversations low and private, punctuated by the clinking of fine china and the clatter of silverware.

Suddenly, a liveried butler came towards Lord Blackwood.

He leaned in, whispering something urgently into the patriarch’s ear.

Lord Blackwood listened, his expression shifting from a contemplative frown to a faint, approving smile.

He then stood from his feet, his chair scraping softly against the polished floor, drawing the attention of the other paragons.

He cleared his throat, and his voice, amplified by subtle mana enchantments woven into the hall’s architecture, resonated clearly through the entire ballroom below.

"Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed guests!" he announced, his voice booming with pride.

"The moment we have all been waiting for has arrived! It is my distinct honor and privilege to officially welcome and present my youngest daughter,

Rose Blackwood, on this momentous occasion of her coming of age and her recent awakening!" He concluded his short speech with a flourish, gesturing towards the grand staircase.