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“Father.
Mother.”
When Aurelian entered the drawing room, he greeted his parents first.
Only then did he turn his attention to the three people seated nearby.
“Aurelian, let me introduce you.
This is Mr.
Delacour.”
Elaine drew him forward and indicated a gentleman with a neat black mustache and a warm, courteous smile.
“Mr.
Delacour, good evening.”
“And this is Madame Delacour,” Elaine continued, “my closest friend from our school days.
Beside her is her daughter, Fleur, who is also the young lady you are becoming engaged to today.”
She introduced Madame Delacour next, then the girl seated beside her.
Fleur had bright silver hair, clear eyes, and a face that made the word beautiful feel insufficient.
Aurelian greeted both of them with proper courtesy.
“I cannot believe little Aurelian has grown this much in the blink of an eye,” Madame Delacour said with a sigh.
“When you were born, I held you in my arms.
You were only this big.”
She measured the size with her hands.
Aurelian smiled faintly and said nothing.
“All right, Apolline, let us go to the banquet hall first.
We will leave these two young people here for a moment.”
Once the introductions were done, Elaine pulled Madame Delacour toward the door, flashing Aurelian a playful wink as she went.
Mr.
Delacour and Miles exchanged amused looks and followed them.
“Elaine, you are nearly thirty.
Must you still behave like a child?”
Madame Delacour stumbled half a step as Elaine tugged her along and complained helplessly.
Before leaving, she turned back to her daughter.
“Fleur, be kind to Aurelian.”
Then the four adults left the drawing room.
“Master Aurelian, I will go check the dinner preparations.”
Catherine watched them leave, bowed to Aurelian and Fleur, and withdrew as well.
“I did not expect my fiance to be a little brat like you.”
The moment the adults were gone, Fleur’s pleasant smile vanished.
Her expression cooled, and she looked down at Aurelian with open disdain.
“You are only three years older than I am.
What right do you have to call me a brat, little girl?” This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Seeing her attitude, Aurelian abandoned aristocratic restraint and sank lazily into a chair, firing back without hesitation.
“You…”
Fleur flushed with anger.
No one had ever spoken to her like that before.
With her background and appearance, she had always been the center of attention among boys her age.
Aurelian was the first to look at her as if none of that mattered.
“If I am expected to marry someone one day, he should have both talent and dignity.
Not someone who only knows how to lean on his family name.”
“Sorry for being born well,” Aurelian said with a short laugh.
“If you are unhappy, take it up with Madame Delacour.
Break off the engagement.
I will not object.”
He had no idea when he had ever used House Pendragon’s name to bully anyone.
Fleur became even angrier.
Her hands clenched, and she glared at him fiercely.
Aurelian met her stare without backing down.
Then the image before his eyes seemed to ripple.
A soft but forceful power brushed against his mind, trying to push its way in.
“Do not try to use your Veela allure on me.”
Aurelian shook his head and drove the power out, his expression sharpening as he looked at her.
Fleur’s eyes widened, wounded and nearly wet with tears.
“I did not use my Veela blood on you!”
Aurelian frowned as he looked at her trembling mouth and hurt expression.
He could tell she was not lying.
With her pride, she likely would not have bothered to lie about it anyway.
‘Did her emotions set it off without her noticing?’
“I am sorry.
I misunderstood you.”
Seeing Fleur on the edge of tears softened his mood.
His apology came quietly and sincerely.
“I apologize.”
“It is…
it is all right,” Fleur said.
“I lost control of my power.”
His sincere apology eased Fleur’s hurt, and her opinion of him improved a great deal.
“Do you care a great deal about your Veela blood?”
Aurelian kept his voice gentle as he asked.
“Yes.”
Fleur nodded through a sniffle.
“Girls my age call me a monster because of it.
The boys who gather around me only care about how I look.
I still do not have a real friend.”
For reasons she did not fully understand, once her view of Aurelian softened, Fleur found herself telling him the worries she had kept tucked inside.
Aurelian listened, then held out his right hand.
“What?”
Fleur looked at his hand in confusion.
“Then from today on, we are friends.”
He gave her a warm smile.
Fleur’s heart gave a sudden hard beat.
Then she took his hand and nodded firmly.
“Yes.”
With their quarrel set aside, the two of them began talking happily.
It did not take long before Aurelian had Fleur laughing.
“Master Aurelian.”
A little while later, Catherine entered the drawing room again.
Seeing Aurelian and Fleur chatting so easily, she felt a small bite of jealousy.
Then she remembered what Aurelian had said to her earlier, and a smile returned to her face.
“Catherine, is the banquet about to begin?”
Aurelian heard her voice, glanced at the time, and asked.
“Yes.
Lady Pendragon asked me to bring you to the banquet hall.
Since this is your engagement banquet, it cannot begin properly without both of you.”
Catherine bowed.
Aurelian and Fleur followed her out.
“It seems the two of you are getting along quite well.”
Elaine looked delighted when Aurelian and Fleur entered with smiles on their faces.
She had been worried that his resistance to the engagement would make him clash with Fleur.
“Good.
The ceremony is about to begin.”
Miles walked over and led Aurelian and Fleur to the innermost part of the hall.
“Sonorus.”
He drew his wand, pointed it at his throat, and his voice suddenly amplified across the entire banquet hall.
“Thank you all for accepting my invitation and attending the engagement banquet of my son and Mr.
Delacour’s beloved daughter.”
The hall, which had been filled with low conversation, fell quiet at once.
Miles and Mr.
Delacour each gave a formal speech.
When they finished, Aurelian and Fleur were guided forward, and a master of ceremonies stepped up to perform a long, complicated ritual.
At last, Miles announced the beginning of the dinner.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter.