CHAPTER 237: THE DUKES

Quin looked at her after she said that, he held himself together, "The reason why there is a banquet today is mostly to announce the first golden set after ours." He spoke, his words reached her ears and her eyes widened in shock, she stared at him.

She knew that they wanted to do something like awarding certain people, but hearing that a new group of kids would be carrying the name that they had carried, and that brought them pain, it hit different.

"And you are allowing this?" She asked. He dropped his head, saying not a single word for a few seconds, then he looked up at her.

"Theirs will be better than ours, I’ll make sure of it," he said.

"Tsk. And what is the first rank like, is he the one you call the Chosen of Lumis? The one supposed to defeat the Demon Lord?

I find that concept dumb, and I’m sure that he won’t be able to bear the weight you have all placed on him," she said.

"Well, the first rank isn’t the hero candidate, instead it is a student, a different one," Quin replied.

"Hmmm? A student capable of being ahead of your hero?" She asked.

"Indeed, and he reminds me of myself. There is also a chance that this kid will surpass me one day. And not only him, a few others in his golden set seem to have that potential," Quin said.

She shook her head, "If you have kids that might grow to be as strong as you, what makes you think that what happened with us will not happen again?

I’m done with this, Quin. Goodbye." She said. She turned away, without a word, she ripped open space and went through, leaving him there.

He stared at the space as it closed, and when it closed, he turned away.

[....]

Back at the banquet, Riven and Noel had finally separated, the Valkyries also left them, watching from a distance.

Riven walked through the hall with his head down, he had dodged everyone that wanted to talk to him, he didn’t want to do any talking, just wanted to be alone.

And after half an hour, the next set of announcements were made.

"The Duke of the Runeblade house and his wife."

The announcement was loud, everyone turned to look at them. Mia’s father walked in, hands locked with his wife.

They walked gracefully, making their way down the stairs. He put on a dark purple suit with black accents, while his wife was in a beautiful purple gown that went well with her jet-black hair.

Riven watched as they came down, then his eyes ran through the entire hall and spotted Mia. She was nervous as she looked at her father and mother from the crowd.

Riven could tell easily, their presence made her uneasy.

’Mia is a strong spirit. For her to be uneasy, she must be really scared of her parents,’ Riven thought.

After his discussion with Liana, he finally understood that most of the Duke houses and higher nobles had a more complex family structure.

After her parents came down, they were immediately swarmed with a ton of people talking to them.

He spotted Mia making her way toward them, each step slow and calculated, as if she would be punished if she made one mistake.

She stood before them and she bowed, head low. Her father and mother looked at her closely, as if monitoring her form. She stayed there for three seconds before her father spoke.

"Seems you are well, Mia. It is nice to see you." His voice was calm, definitely not someone to be scared of, but only someone that knew the truth would know how to react.

She stood straight and responded, "Likewise, Father, Mother, you both look well." Her tone and voice were respectful, every word pronounced properly.

Her mother gave her a sharp look, "I hear you are in the top ten," she said, her voice sounding like praise.

"Yes, Mother," Mia replied.

"But not top three." She said, her tone changed into a cold one.

Mia immediately dropped her head. Everyone that was around them immediately shifted away, whatever was happening, they didn’t want to be part of it.

Riven didn’t like what was happening, so he walked towards them.

"Hello, good evening," Riven spoke, giving a bow, hand on his chest and one on his back.

Mia’s father and mother turned to look at him, wondering who would come and talk to them when they were talking to their daughter.

"Who are you?" The Duke asked.

Mia watched in horror, she wanted to speak, but the words hung at the back of her throat, she was unable to speak at all.

"My name is Riven Von Grave," he responded.

"Hmmm? So you are the Riven. I have heard of you, but never seen your face," the Duke said.

"Haha, Duke Runeblade, surely you jest. I am your daughter’s fiancé, there is no way you do not know my face," Riven said.

Mia, along with her parents, were taken aback by what he said, but Riven simply had a smile on his face.

Her father stepped out close, as if he was about to do something, but another announcement came.

"Duke Valemont and his wife."

Everyone turned to see Lana’s father, in all black, his wife was in a beautiful blood-red gown, with a cold expression that said it all.

From up there, she laid eyes on Riven and her expression immediately turned colder than it was.

Riven let out a soft smile, he still remembered her very well, their visit still remained in his mind.

They got down from the stairs and walked toward Riven and the Runeblades.

The Duke looked at Riven, "Riven, it’s nice to see you after all this while," he said with a smile. Riven bowed in respect, "It’s been a while, Duke Runeblade," he replied. Then he got straight up, he looked behind them and spotted Liana headed their way.