Saving The Villainous Monster From The Male Lead-Chapter 56 - 55: The Banquet

"My Lady—" Alastor spoke again, making Eleanore flinch, thinking what else he would say. She just didn’t want to give more wind to Caelestis’ anger. "—Do you remember your promise from that day?"

"What promise?" Eleanore knocked hard on her brain, but couldn’t remember the promise she had made.

"Why? Of course, the promise of attending the party as my partner." He smiled again.

"When did that happen?" She wondered.

"It happened."

"Elle!" Stella whispered in her ears, making her flinch again. "What are you waiting for? Go." She said, but Eleanore didn’t move, so she took it upon herself to help the couple. "Catch, Crown prince." She slightly pushed Eleanore, making her lose balance and fall off the carriage.

Caelestis almost moved from his place to catch her, but Alastor had already safely caught her in his arms.

Eleanore lifted her chin to look at the crown prince’s face, that was so close she couldn’t breathe. There was no space left between their bodies and Eleanore could feel the warm air shooting on her, as his breathing also quickened. She could not feel the heat from his hand due to the glove he was wearing, yet her body still turned hot and her face flushed up in red.

"Are you alright, my lady?" He asked in a voice that sounded like a whisper.

Eleanore pushed the hands on his chest, to get out of his embrace, but he instead tightened his grasp from around her waist. "Your highness, there are many eyes here." She says, but Alastor only smiles back.

His eyes were searching for something in her crimson gaze. He ignored her words for a while until Caelestis called him. "Your highness."

Alastor sighed and loosened his grip after properly helping her stand back on her feet. He then extended his forearm for her to lock her arm in. Eleanore hesitated and turned towards Stella, who encouraged her by her energetic smile. Encouraged by her friend, she took a deep breath before, locking her arms into his.

"Shall we?" He asked to which Eleanore simply nodded.

Caelestis looked at this sweet scene and somehow, out of nowhere anger boiled into his veins. He was not even aware, when his jaw clenched tightly, his teeth started to grit and his nails started to dig into his palm, when he clenched them into a fist. It just happened. He continued to look at their backs as they entered the royal palace, until Stella called him out.

"Grand duke, are you not going to escort me?" She asked with a poker face.

Stella held out her hand, which Caelestis caught and helped her down. Willingly, she locked her arm around his. "What’s wrong? Are you jealous, Grand duke?" She asked.

Caelestis turned to look at her, his eyes still filled furry, but it soon vanished in thin air. Instead, a gentle smile replaced it. "No! I have what I want." He said, making Stella want to puke. He is a great liar, she knew.

When Eleanore entered the same ballroom from last time. Instead of ignoring her, Everyone’s gaze shifted to them. For a while, Eleanore thought that they were looking at the crown prince but she was wrong. They were looking at her with eyes filled in envy.

"Turns out even the star of a social circle can get nervous." Alastor whispered.

"I am a human too." Eleanore argued.

Alastor laughed as he directed her to the king and queen of Seraphine. They had already arrived at the banquet and had taken their seats. Eleanore bowed to their royal majesties, while Alastor simply placed his palm on his chest as a greeting.

"Good Evening, Your Majesties." Eleanore said.

"I heard my son likes you, Lady Eleanore?" The queen spoke up, shocking Eleanore.

She moved her gaze to Alastor, who was equally surprised and blushing at the same time. Since when? She asked herself and got no answer in return. Eleanore wanted to look into this man’s eyes and figure out what was going on in his mind, but she couldn’t since the King and The queen hadn’t accepted her greeting yet.

Alastor coughed, reminding his parents to accept the greeting.

"Ah! Yes." The king took the hint quickly. "You may rise."

Immediately on rising up, Eleanore turned her gaze to Alastor, asking for answers. Her question was not answered by Alastor, since he didn’t look her way. He just couldn’t show his red face to his crush.

"Lady Eleanore?" The queen called her, bringing her attention back to the queen’s question.

"Your Majesty." Eleanore started. "I am not aware of any such thing." She answered her question, glaring back at Alastor.

The queen turned to his son. Somewhat disappointed in him. "Your highness, have you not revealed your feelings to the lady yet?" The queen asked.

"No, Your Majesty." He answered in embarrassment.

"I am disappointed in you son." The king in his heavy voice shook his head. "When I was your age, I had chased after your mother for years, until she finally had to surrender to my love." The king turned to his queen.

"Oh my! Your Majesty." The queen felt shy and embarrassed.

They were still in love. A love so pure, that even after so many years it still remains red and would not wither until death parts them. It could be sensed from this far.

Eleanore never knew that the King had chased the Queen for years and she certainly had no idea that they had a love marriage. Normally, the royal family is forced to have a political marriage and from the time she arrived in this novel, she believed it was a political marriage.

"I was going to propose today but you ruined it, mother." Alastor said, attracting Eleanore’s attention back to him.

Her facial expression clearly screamed, "What The Hell Is Happening?" But Alastor chose to ignore it.

"Oh my! I apologise." The queen’s expression turned into a concerned one. "I think you should leave now. There are others waiting to greet us." She said, to ward them off.

"Yes." Saying this Alastor caught Eleanore’s hand and started to pull her out of that atmosphere, unwilling to embarrass himself anymore. But what he feared happened again.

"All the best, my son. Win the Lady." She cheered her son, but instead of thanking the courtesy, Alastor’s feet started to quicken, almost dragging Eleanore as far from his parents as he could.

Once they were far away from his parents, to the farthest corner, he stopped. Then he turned to Eleanore. "I apologise for what happened." He said huffing from breathlessness.

"What was that?" When Eleanore asked that question the greeting ceremony had already come to an end, it was time for the star of the day to appear and give a speech.

Alastor sighed, finding it a waste to run till here. "We must go to the centre of the stage." He said.

Eleanore, stunned by that, turned to him, still having difficulty in breathing. "What? What do we mean by we?" She asked.

"It means you, my lady and me. Since you are my partner today. You must stand there to support me." He replied with his usual soft smile.

Eleanore was not ready for that yet. She still had questions, which he had yet to answer and now. He is asking her to stand in the centre of the ballroom with him. The crown prince. What would everyone think? No!

"No." Eleanore was about to refuse him, but he grabbed her wrist in a flash and locked it around his arm.

"We don’t have time." Alastor said, as he saw his father walking to the centre of the dance floor, with his usual wine glass and golden spoon, to grab everyone’s attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen." He began, after ringing the two utensils together. He started with another one of his speeches, as Alastor and Eleanore made their way to the centre.

Eleanore wanted to refuse him, but she couldn’t open her mouth. For according to the etiquette, when the King speaks, everyone must remain quiet and listen to him, without moving from their places. It was enough that they were moving through the crowd to get to the centre, and she didn’t want to add another defiance to it. So, she remained quiet.

They reached near the King and stood a little far from him, waiting for his speech to end. When they arrived there, a few eyes turned to them, looking for answers. The spoilt lady of Sinclair family had attended the party with the crown prince instead of the grand duke Lancaster. Perhaps, the rumours about her getting over with the grand duke was true.

But the fact that the new hunt of her is the crown prince, left everyone in astonishment. Moreover, they couldn’t believe that the crown prince had easily fallen into the trap of the hunter.

"Now, I would like to invite the crown prince to say a few words for his dear subjects." The king said.