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“Oh, is this Marquess of Alskar?” a woman in white satin dress greeted bemusedly; her smile seemed crooked—especially since her eyes did not smile.

“What a glorious young man,” a bald man with moustache boomed a compliment, laughing comically with his deep voice.

“A pleasure to meet you, Marquess of Alskar,” a kind woman joined on the greetings. She looked so young—that was Elliot’s first impression of her. There was barely any wrinkle on her skin. Besides that, Elliot recognized a tattoo near her left ear, barely visible as her hair was styled to cover most of the left side of her face. A tattoo of a sword covered in flame. She was a Pevnost, Elliot recognized instantly. Only an adult Pevnost had that tattoo, as each bloodline had their own tattoos. Elliot recalled that he was supposed to get tattooed too. Maybe, after this he would get his tattoo—a shape of heart with wings.

Elliot nodded politely to all of them and looked back at his Father. Henrique gave a warm smile and said, “Come and have a comfortable sit, my son, we are not going to start this glorious night without you, are we? You are the star of tonight’s show, after all.”

“Yes, Father,” Elliot said, feeling his hands cold and shaky. He floundered towards the unoccupied seat at the end of the table—as expected, the seat was reserved for him. Charlotte walked ahead of him and pulled the chair, bowing politely to Elliot to let him sit. Elliot propped himself on the chair as he looked back to his Father.

“Now, Charlotte, I shall permit you to leave,” Henrique said to Charlotte.

“Excuse me, Your Grace,” Charlotte said politely. She curtsied before scurrying away. It seemed that she was just as uncomfortable as Elliot.

Neither Elliot nor the heads of Praesidio looked back at Charlotte leaving. Everyone’s eyes were fixated to the smiling face of Henrique.

As the door closed, everyone’s polite smile faded away except for Henrique’s smile. Henrique brought up his glass of wine and toasted, “Cheers to the Alskar.”

Everyone—Elliot too, of course—involuntarily raised their glasses and chanted, “Cheers to the Alskar,” and drank their glasses out. They gulped all the liquid at once and put the cup down in sync. Then, Henrique stood up, opening his arms as if to welcome Elliot to the Alskar.

“We are now having a new member here,” he announced. “How does it feel, Young Man?”

“I am so delighted,” Elliot said out of courtesy, trying to form a polite smile though he felt his lips twitched in a way he did not want.

Henrique nodded in agreement. “Now, let’s drink and eat to our heart’s content! Let’s enjoy the night for Elliot Vincent Alskar!”

They started the dinner. All of them chatted with each other. As expected, no one really minded Elliot. It made him uneasy. He wondered, was it always like this? It was uncomfortable, being the youngest and all. Especially since he was not familiar with any of them. It was more like a parents-gathering plus the so-out-of-place Elliot. He felt like he should not be there in the first place.

The Pevnost lady turned to Elliot, finally. She gave a smile. “How does it feel? The ritual, I mean.”

“Um, I’d say... alright? It does feel weird to think that I’m finally an adult now,” Elliot answered, trying his best to sound neutral.

“You know, tomorrow you’re going to get a tattoo. Have you decided where will it be?” another man joined in their conversation. He was a man with black hair and smooth face—no facial hair nor stubbles. He was quite a looker.

“I’m not quite sure yet...” Elliot trailed his voice.

“You have to decide, Young Man. You’re going to be the head of the family, of course you are going to make plenty of decisions,” he said, as if that was the advice Elliot needed.

He rolled up his sleeve to show Elliot a tattoo on his arm. The tattoo was of a scale made out of flame, with white and black fur in each holder. A scale of justice. Elliot realized it was Giustizia’s tattoo. It was a good design—better than Alskar, Elliot thought. If he could choose, to be fair, he would definitely prefer Giustizia tattoo.

Elliot had always adored Giustizia. The family seemed tough, yet cool-headed and wise—and of course, their tattoo had a great design. To tell the truth, an Alskar tattoo—which was a heart with wings—was too cheesy for his liking. He wished he could have a more cool-looking tattoo like Giustizia and Pevnost.

“Well, I shall think about it,” Elliot replied as polite as possible, giving another business smile. He learned that socializing was tiring.

“You better,” replied a Muscle Man. Muscle Man was Elliot’s first impression for the other man. He fit more as a boxing athlete than a duke. Elliot guessed he was a Pevnost, considering at how strong he seemed to be. “A man must act like a man and make a decision for his own good.”

“Steven is right,” the Duke of Pacem agreed—Elliot learned that the previous man was Steven Pevnost, which was curious as to why the Duke of Pacem referred to Duke of Pevnost with his first name. Elliot noticed that he was alone, and the seat next to him was left vacant. Perhaps, Duchess of Pacem could not make it for tonight? Elliot wondered. “There are plenty places you can tattoo yourself on. I heard tattooing on the neck is painful, though.”

“Behind the ear is also painful,” added the Duchess of Giustizia.

“I told you, Elizabeth,” the Duke of Giustizia scoffed, turning his attention to his wife. “You purposefully didn’t want to listen to me, did you?”

Duchess of Giustizia sealed her lips into a funny smile as a reply to her husband’s remarks.

“Tattoo is painful anywhere,” Catarina mediated. She looked like she was not joking, though no one took her words seriously. “But it is what makes us Praesidio,” she continued, giving a motherly smile at Elliot. “You don’t need to be afraid, Elliot. Anywhere is okay, it is your choice to make. You have to be proud of the tattoo, the symbol of Praesidio.”

Elliot could not help but smiled. Catarina had always known how to comfort him. She was his Mother, after all.

“And oh, Elliot,” Henrique chipped in finally, pulling Elliot’s attention to his Father. “Perhaps, you shall not make a tattoo on your back. I wish for a tattoo where it is visible. I do not desire for you to be ashamed as an Alskar.”

“Indeed, Father,” Elliot nodded, understanding the intention of his request. “I was thinking of having one on my upper right arm.”

Henrique looked relieved. The dinner continued with most of them talking to each other, ignoring the fact that Elliot was supposed to be the star of the dinner. However, Elliot did not find it unpleasant. He could not get himself into the conversation, anyway. He only wished for the night to end quickly.

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