Chapter 5: Engagement Gala

Back at the palace, the expected narrative was that the disgraced Fifth Prince would be locking himself in his room, weeping over lost succession rights and his stolen fiancée. Instead, Adonis moved a soft velvet armchair into the royal gardens. Every single afternoon, he sat under a white ash tree, relaxing and sipping imported tea.

But he wasn’t alone.

It was story-time after all.

"And then the young master said to the villainess: ’You may have the world, but I have the stars in your eyes’ which made the ice cold villainess finally break."

A crowd of breathless sighs sounded in the courtyard.

Surrounding Adonis were no less than twenty palace maids. Some were kneeling to fan him, others were pouring his tea, and several were just staring at his face with glazed, infatuated expressions. Thanks to his transmigrated knowledge, Adonis was casually reciting the plot of a top-tier modern romance webnovel, and the maids were utterly hooked.

[Palace Maid Favorability: 99% (MAX)]

[Current Status: The maids have formed a secret fan club. Palace chores are being completed at 300% speed just to secure sitting time near the Host.]

Far up on the grand balcony overlooking the gardens, King Falsbane stood clutching the stone railing. His face was boiling with veins-popping anger.

For the past three days, the King had noticed a severe problem. The attractive maids he usually ordered to his bedchambers were suddenly making up every excuse in the book to avoid him. One claimed she had a "sudden allergy to silk" and another literally faked an ankle injury, only for the King to see her sprinting toward Adonis’s servant quarters five minutes later.

"That brat..."

The King growled with tightened knuckles.

"He’s stripped of his title! He’s a trash Enchanter! Why is he still acting like he owns the palace?!"

The Grand Chamberlain bowed nervously behind him.

"Your Majesty... the Third Prince’s engagement gala with Lady Mariella is scheduled for tonight. Perhaps a public display of his brothers’ superiority will finally break his nonchalant attitude."

The King’s eyes flashed maliciously. The gala hadn’t even happened yet, but he was already excited to embarrass his son beyond compare.

"Right. Tell the Third Prince to spare no expense. I want Adonis crushed in front of the entire nobility tonight."

Night fell, and the Grand Ballroom of Falsbane glittered like a sea of diamonds and wine.

Many high-profile noble families had arrived.

At the center of attention stood the Third Prince Leander, looking smug in his golden armor, with Mariella clinging tightly to his arm, looking like a proud peacock.

Mariella pressed closer to him as she looked around.

"Will Adonis be attending tonight?"

Leander raised a brow and looked down at her.

"Why is that important?"

The beautiful Duke’s daughter slowly looked away.

"No reason..."

She kept her attractive tone nonchalant.

Leander gave her a small frown.

"Forget about him. He’s a talentless, spoiled brat that always wants to be the center of attention."

Mariella gave a small smile and said nothing. She could see the slight fear in his face... the fear of losing her, maybe. For a lady like her, it was a disgusting thing to see in a man. She despised weakness, but at the same time, she loved that her new fiancée was so scared of losing her. His insecurity was more frequent than the breaths he took.

’He must be like this because he shared a roof with Adonis. A man that beautiful should be the light of the nation, yet somehow he isn’t. I’m quite disappointed in him... he’s a failure, and even now Leander is still scared he’ll lose perfection like me to a nobody like him.’

There was a heavy smile of pride on her face.

Third Prince Leander tightly grabbed Mariella closer to him by her waist. He raised his glass high to the crowd.

"Today, we celebrate not only the awakening of my class, but also my union with Mariella Soron of the Duchy of Soron, one of the four Magic Nations alliance!"

The crowd erupted into cheers and flattering toasts.

"They’re a match made in heaven!"

"The Third Prince is truly, TRULY the future light of our Great Falsbane Kingdom!"

"Compared to that charlatan Fifth Prince who deceived us with his looks, the Third Prince is a true asset!"

Leander soaked in the praise, then looked at Mariella. She was smiling politely, though her eyes occasionally strayed toward the entrance of the hall, as if searching for someone.

King Falsbane sat on the upper dais of the ballroom with three of his four royal wives surrounding him.

He looked around in annoyance.

"Hmm, where’s Minerva?"

Just in time, the elegantly fat Grand Chamberlain Hershant shouted from the top of the stairs.

"People of Falsbane, announcing the arrival of Fourth Royal Consort Minerva and... and..."

The middle-aged official paused, glancing nervously at the King, who already seemed very excited to see his fourth and youngest wife.

Hershant took a deep breath.

"And... Fifth Prince Adonis!"

The loud chatter in the hall instantly died down. The favored Fourth Queen arriving with the infamous Fifth Prince who barely had a royal status? Every single head turned toward the entrance.

Queen Minerva walked with a graceful posture that had every noble’s eyes glued to her. She was dressed in a high-collared black lace dress that sensually highlighted her staggering curves and buxom chest.

Fourth Prince Bradley saw this and turned boiling red.

"MO-, MOTHER—?!"

While others saw the striking beauty of his mother, all he saw was that bastard Adonis, who was linking arms with her like they were some kind of couple.

Adonis didn’t mind the stares he got from several young noblewomen in the crowd, nor the vicious glare from his father. He leaned sideways and whispered to Minerva—

"Did you really need to make a scene like this?"

Minerva kept their arms linked, walking forward with her small chin held high.

"Hmph. I ordered you to come see me in the afternoon and you failed to do so. While this isn’t a suitable punishment for being so disobedient, you are sentenced to this nonetheless."

Adonis sighed. "Sure." (ᵕ—_—)

Third Prince Leander’s smile instantly vanished, and the glass in his hand almost cracked under his grip. In any other situation, Mariella might have asked him why he was acting like this, but her eyes were currently locked onto Adonis and Minerva.

’That old woman is awfully close with him...’ Mariella thought, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. She had known Adonis since they were kids. Even if they didn’t meet all the time, she was very certain Queen Minerva didn’t care about any of her stepsons.

King Falsbane’s face darkened instantly.

"Adonis, you insolent child! You dare show your face late to your brother’s celebration?!"

He glared down at his son’s arm, which was linked with the soft, slender arm of his queen consort.

"Minerva..."

The Fourth Queen smiled sweetly up at the King. She pulled Adonis closer until his arm was lodged right between her hot, lilac-scented breasts.

"My my, surely there’s nothing wrong in trying to bond with my stepson, right? With everything that’s happened, I’m just trying to be a mother to him. Is that wrong?"

Looking at the way his son’s arm was lodged between those massive breasts he hadn’t touched in years, the King felt a sudden rush of heat go to his head, making his cheeks turn red.

He cleared his throat loudly.

"Fine, fine... come have a seat."

The other queen consorts gave the King a pouty look.

He was always so easy with Minerva.

When Minerva took her seat on the upper dais, the king glared back down at his son.

"And you..."

Adonis walked straight to the center of the hall. He offered a lazy bow and smiled smoothly.

"Father, forgive me for being delayed... I was choosing a proper gift for my Third Brother and my former fiancée."

Mariella looked down at Adonis and felt her heart inexplicably skip a beat. She was covered in a little bit of sticky sweat, her face was a little flushed, and she was panting.

She was a woman who demanded that the entire world revolve around her, but Adonis barely ever paying any attention to her always gave her a certain depraved kind of pleasure.

’I dressed so beautifully, and he hasn’t even tried to look at me once... he even called me a former fiancée...’

She didn’t even notice when her slightly sweaty inner thighs squeezed tightly together. She bit her lower lip, holding back the sudden sweetness rushing between her legs.

[Ding! Ignoring Mariella has turned her on.]

Adonis raised a brow inwardly. "Wha...?"

[Notice! In the original story, the Host was childhood friends with Mariella. Because of your arrogant personality, you always treated her terribly, causing her to develop a deep humiliation kink. It is highly probable she dumped you hoping you would insult her, spit on her, and call her a whore to satisfy her desires.]

[Spit on her physica—]

’Yeah, I think I got it.’

Adonis’s lips curved into a subtle smile.

’Well... that gives me an idea.’