If Alan and Lucian's entry was as a ripple of curiosity, Julia's was something else.
The heavy oak doors serving as entrance to the ballroom slid open with a low hum, just like when the emperor arrived, every head turned to the door.
She was different from her usual carefree self, she seemed and looked different, like Alan had seen a few times, her face was impassive, she carried herself with a distinctive air.
Her beauty was breathtaking, the pale porcelain contrasted with the wine tint of her lips, her features were enhanced with layers of carefully applied makeup, she looked stunning, so much so that for a small moment Alan was caught in a trance.
Not to mention her gown of light gold, with touches of dark crimson trailing along various parts of her dress, and the small crown placed atop her head.
Standing at a height of five foot ten inches, she was already on the taller side for a woman, reaching just past Alan's nose, her taller frame only emphasised her body's charm.
However, it seemed not everyone shared his sentiment, Alan raised a brow, looking around the ballroom, many of the nobles narrowed their eyes in silent judgement when looking at Julia.
"The hell...?" Alan was so confused and taken aback by such a reaction that he unknowingly slipped out a curse.
"It's because of her eyes." Iris answered his puzzlement.
"Her eyes?' Alan frowned, not understanding.
"What do you think when you see her eyes?" Iris asked, without turning to look at him.
"They are pretty?"
"...What did you think when you first saw her eyes?" Iris changed the question with some hesitation.
"Ah." Alan understood, the moment he saw Julia's eyes, he thought she was a demon for a split second.
"It's been like that her whole life." Iris continued, staring at Julia in the distance. "People never treated her kindly due to the colour of her eyes, always isolating her, there was even a rumour the late empress consort had an affair."
"What, really?" Alan already knew, about fourteen years ago the empress had already passed away, for reasons never disclosed to the public.
Speaking about such absurd rumours, especially about former royalty, would lead to your head rolling on the floor.
"The other prince and princesses are even worse..." Iris paused. "That's why she retreated to that garden of hers in the first place."
"Hmm." Alan took in the new information, having a slightly better understanding of Julia's dislike of the royal castle.
The two of them stopped whispering, returning to just silently spectating, looking around, Alan indeed noticed the gazes of the nobles looking at Julia were not kind, some were openly frowning.
"Wow, this pisses me off more than I thought..." Alan mumbled with a scowl, he couldn't believe they were just treating the princess of the continent like this, more importantly he didn't understand why the emperor was just allowing it to happen.
Julia kept walking unbothered, as if the looks didn't affect her, or rather, she was used to such an environment.
The ends of her gown pulled across the floor, in the silence of the ballroom, only the whisper of her trailing silk reached the ears of everyone.
She could feel the gazes of Draxel and Alaric, the two grand dukes in particular casting a different gaze from the others, seemingly inspecting and examining her, still she refused to turn in their direction.
Julia caught sight of Alan, Iris and Lucian standing near a marble pillar, unlike the others, the three of them were silently encouraging her, Alan was smiling softly with his thumb out, Iris looked serious, and Lucian seemed lost in his own world, but it was better than nothing.
For a brief moment her impassive mask cracked, a small tug played on the corner of her lips before finally allowing a faint smile.
After a while, she finally stood before the emperor, the silence stretched even further with obvious tension between the two.
"Julia Von Valenheart." Cassian broke the hush, speaking in a plain tone. "Congratulations on your age of coming."
"..." Julia didn't respond.
"As per tradition." The emperor stood up, rising from his throne, before stepping down the stairs, approaching Julia. "Accept my gift."
He stretched his arm forward, in his hands was an ornate dagger.
"It's an artifact called mirror blade." The emperor explained. "The dagger creates duplicates once thrown, it'll serve you greatly in your life."
Julia took the dagger with one hand, without kneeling or bestowing any proper respect to the man in front of him, and inspected the artifact.
Even from a small glance, the quality of the artifact was obvious, it was a high-end artifact, possibly a priceless item.
Without speaking much, Cassian waved his hand in the air, acting as a signal to something.
Thud
The doors to the ballroom opened once more, this time what came in wasn't a person, it was a luxurious cake bigger than any man, carried by four men.
The four servants placed in front of Julia, the mountain of sweets looked diabetic even from a distance.
"Now my daughter." The emperor acknowledged Julia as his daughter for the first time. "Enjoy the banquet."
Clap
The orchestra appeared suddenly, a group of men and women all playing a harmony of different instruments, filling the air with delightful music, the atmosphere relaxed quickly, and servants brought in tables filled with all sorts of meals.
The entire ballroom became noisy once more, with the chatter of nobles, all conversing in a better environment.
Julia smiled, actually smiled this time, staring at the cake in front of her, she raised her hand towards the mountain of sugar.
Crackle
And blasted the cake with a bolt of crimson lightning.
Psst
The orchestra abruptly halted as the ballroom suddenly rained pieces of cakes everywhere, some small, some large, and more importantly, splattering against the faces of the nobles.
"Kyaaa!" Then came the gasps and screams, everyone panicking over their clothes and the mess.
"What kind of ceremony is this?" Alan grinned and snatched a piece of cake, quickly devouring it in a good mood, it was nice to see the arrogant ones suddenly lose their act.
Arlo looked like he was going to faint, while the emperor simply smiled, as if expecting something like this to happen, he raised a hand, ordering the guards to stop anyone from leaving.
"Thank you all for coming!" Julia grinned, raising her hand, she gripped the crown placed on her hair and tossed it to the ground, she also removed the gems attached to her blonde hair.
"Whew, that feels better." Julia wiped her face, then threw up her arms. "Alright everyone, I've got great news to tell!"
Despite the great chaos, everyone still looked at Julia with confused expressions.
"I'm going to the emperor!"
"..."
Now everyone just fell silent, a complete lack of activity took hold of the place, unsure as to where to even start.
"...Was this the message you mentioned earlier?" Alan whispered to Iris.
"Yes..." Even Iris seemed a little embarrassed by Julia's sudden declaration.
"She thought this was the best time to do this...?" Alan was perplexed but shrugged, shoving some more cake in his mouth, he didn't care it was entertaining.
All nobles remained frozen and unresponsive, still not fully recovered from the chunks of cake attached to their bodies or Julia's declaration.
The emperor's lips curled in amusement, he opened his mouth to say something, but just before the sentence left his mouth, a different sound echoed through the stillness of the ballroom.
Clap Clap Clap
The sound was slow, rhythmic and impossibly loud.
The emperor froze, and the two grand dukes also stopped any movements.
Alan frowned for a moment, who the hell could possibly be clapping right now? He turned his head to look at the source of the noise.
And similarly halted, he broke out in a cold sweat, as pure terror gripped his heart, staring forward with trembling, wide eyes.
In the centre of the ballroom, the air simply... distorted, a moment before, the space was empty with no sign of life, now a figure stood there, someone Alan had seen once before.
He wore the same dark robes that didn't seem to belong in the current era, his eyes a swirling mass of chaotic orange, staring at Julia in amusement with his lips curled into a comical grin.
"Ziray..." Alan whispered his name in pure horror, just like the day Alan first met him, he didn't sense the man's presence, not in the slightest.
"Oh, bravo! Ten out of ten, princess!" Ziray laughed, clutching his stomach. "Oh dear... my apologies for suddenly appearing, I couldn't exactly find the best timing, you see."
Julia didn't respond, she glared with wariness dripping from every bit of her eyes.
"Oh dear, no need to be so tense." Ziray waved his hands in a disarming manner, a gentle smile playing along his lips.
From behind him, guards approached, holding weapons in their arms, circulating mana throughout their bodies, prepared to engage in combat, the emperor's eyes flew open in alarm, he hurriedly tried to stop the guards, but it was too late.
"Oh dear..." Ziray noticed, he turned his head over his shoulder, glancing back at the guards with an easy smile.
BZZZZZT
Words weren't enough to describe what followed, a pressure so unreal pressed down over the very space itself, trapping every single human in place.
Alan clenched his jaws, blood dripping from his mouth, the force of the pressure was infinitely greater than what he felt from the emperor.
"Fuck..." All he could do was mutter a small curse, he barely even heard his own word.
And the guards from before?
SPLAT
Reduced to nothing, absolutely nothing remained where they once stood, crimson blood painted the place red, from the ground to the walls, all the way to the ceiling.
The blood splattered against some of the nearby nobles, but no one screamed or dared to utter a noise, not because they didn't want to but because they physically couldn't, the pressure holding them in place stopped even the slightest sound from escaping.
Ignoring the looks of despair Ziray begun pacing around, moving past the crowd of frozen people.
"I'll keep it short, because I don't wish to speak much." Ziray continued, his voice dropping to a chilling tone, he stopped in front of a terrified duke, casually plucking a piece of grape from the man's plate, and tossed it into the air. "I came, just like I said would."
Opposed to every other being in the ballroom, the emperor seemed fine, as if the pressure didn't affect him, along with him, the two grand dukes were also calm.
"Consider this the price of your actions." Ziray bit down on the grape, pointing a finger at the emperor, then brought his two hands together.
Clap
Once singular applaud resounded.
...And nothing happened.
Pzt
The pressure holding everyone down vanished like it was never there, collective sighs broke out through the crowd, some fell to the ground in exhaustion.
When Alan looked again, Ziray was no longer there, he disappeared without trace, Alan rubbed his face for a moment...
Rumble
Alan froze mid movement, turning his head to the ground below.
Rumble
The ground shook, many people missed it, but some didn't, Alan, Iris, Lucian and Julia looked at each other, already having an understanding... and they sure hoped they were wrong.
Rumble Rumble
The trembling of the floor increased to the point no one could dismiss it.
RUMBLE
The flooring in the centre of the ballroom fractured, thin lines of ruptured concrete spread across the ground in a cobweb pattern.
Then.
BOOM
An enormous pitch black tentacle, burst through the ground.