I took a deep breath and stepped forward.

Gathered on the floor below us, three hundred wealthy nobles and their families stared at me intently. It honestly made me uncomfortable, as I felt them examining every inch of my body. If I was given the chance, I'd happily choose fighting shallows over this overwhelming pressure.

The three of us made our way down the stairs to join the crowd as a band began playing in the corner.

As soon as we reached the bottom, a flood of colors swarmed me, as dozens of rich nobles wearing overly fancy and colorful dresses surrounded me. They all threw greetings and birthday wishes, and I shook hands so many times that my palms began to hurt. Was this the curiosity of Kimaron's upper crust? They were all so eager to speak with me, throwing so many questions and compliments that I could barely answer them all.

"Now, now, let us not crush the boy. Give the child some breathing space!" A stern voice commanded.

I looked towards its source to see, standing between the emperor and his brother, the owner of the authoritative voice.

A tall, blue-haired woman, with fair skin and sharp features stepped forward. She was wearing a white dress with gold accents that ran down its length and held a long fan in one hand. The crowd of nobles parted to give way to her, and the lady stopped in front of me and smiled.

"Happy birthday, child. You look well."

She bowed gently, and I did the same. I knew immediately who she was from the way she spoke, and from how even the proud aristocrats parted before her; I knew immediately who she was from the bright-blue hair and the long pointy years she boasted; I knew immediately who she was from the aura of dignity she carried herself with, and the way how even time seemed to slow in her presence.

I knew immediately that this woman before me was Lady Teresa Erein-Lammen, former elven princess, and now the arch-duchess of Karr. A phony brat using my good name.

"My name is Teresa Von Karr. It is my undeniable pleasure to meet you." She smiled.

We meet again, you parasitic leech. I ignored my desire to punch her in the gut and instead decided to return a greeting.

"Thank you, Lady Teresa. It is an honor to greet you."

"Hmm, how polite! You have been raised well. Would you like to spea-"

"Although I'm sure everyone here is waiting for an opportunity to greet my nephew, I think it'd be best if we continued with the agenda, and allowed him to interact more with those closer to his age." The emperor butted in, and the crowd around me began dispersing to their tables. Even Teresa reluctantly decided to not finish her sentence and walked in the direction of Mother.

"Don't mind them, Mesgen. They are simply curious beings. And you are something anyone would deem interesting." The Emperor whispered as he walked off towards his seat.

When Mother was organizing the seating arrangements, she took into consideration my lack of friends, so had the bright idea to have the noble children around my age be placed together in a cluster of four tables.

So I found myself seated at a table of mostly younger children that just didn't bother to shut up. They were polite and respectful, more so than I was at that age, but I still found their company to be annoying at best.

There were nineteen other children at table 6 with me, all of them being nine or ten years old, and all were focusing their judgemental kiddy eyes on me the whole damn night.

"Lost in thought?" The girl seated on my right asked me. I looked up to meet her pink eyes staring inquisitively at mine. She had grey hair that fell to her shoulders and wore a matching silver dress. I had never met this person before, but a light streak of red hair tucked behind her left ear told me this was my cousin.

"I'm Hayley Van Kim, but your can call me Harp. We're cousins from our dad's sides. It's nice to meet you." I realized she had definitely had way too much sugar as she introduced herself with a powerful handshake.

Of course, the Kimaron name is only given to the emperor. Everyone else uses Kim. But that doesn't change the fact that she's the emperor's daughter. Should I be respectful?

"Oh, I'm pleased to meet you," I responded politely.

"No need to be so formal. You're the oldest brother. Many happy returns of the day by the way!" She smiled. This child also has the mark of lord Vulcan. So the birthmark is inherited... but then why does Emperor Harman have it? From what I know, the previous empress didn't have it, and neither did her husband.

"Let me introduce you to the others." Hayley - or Harp as she insisted - seemed to be a people-person. She knew everyone at the table and introduced me to all of them excitedly. Most of them behaved well, and I also acted polite, partaking in their gossip despite it being super boring

Throughout dinner and for the rest of the night, they dragged me along, introducing me to all the gathered nobles and their children. I suspect that my mother had asked Harp to do this because of how often the two would exchange glances.

But I didn't really mind. My goal was to 'awaken' before the banquet ended, and this was a suitable way to kill time while making my family happy.

At around nine o'clock, with an hour left until the celebrations ended, I found myself in the garden. Like sheep following a shepherd, the young nobles had all still gathered around me, not bothering to hide the fact that they were trying to get close.

I'm sure that everyone's parents had asked them to become friends with me. Like a pack of ravenous wolves, they knew that I had little to no interactions with the outside world, and they all planned to use my naivety to get into a better position with Father. Of course, this would only have worked if I was a child - which I wasn't. A flawless plan to take over any kid's inherent desire to make friends and socialize. It was a victimless sin.

I guess this place ain't any better than it was back then, I sighed as I sat on a swing in the hedge maze

"You seem tired." A boy that seemed my age approached me, holding two glasses of water in his hands. He offered me one nervously, and I accepted it, taking a large swig.

He was bone-thin, very short, and seemed rather fidgety for his age. I'm sure he was also pushed to be friends with me by his parents, but he obviously didn't seem like one to take the initiative.

He's just like Gamon whenever he saw a pretty lady (not that I was any better), I reminisced warmly, God I miss that kid. Should I help this dude out be playing along?

"What's your name?" I asked politely, making sure to smile. He seemed shocked by my attitude and lit up a bit.

"I'm Daniel, from the Icarun County. Nice to meet you, sir."

"Well, Daniel, there's no need to be so tense. I happen to be called Mesgen. Pleased to meet you too." I reached out my hand.

"Thank you sir." Daniel hesitantly shook it, surprised at how I was acting.

"You can call me by my name, you know."  I was puzzled as he looked down.

"No, sir, I cannot dare to address you in such a way."

Is he not an aristocrat? His clothes aren't as fine as mine but are certainly not those of a commoner. Could he be a son of a concubine? I've heard that Count Icarun was far from an honorable person and that he had over ten children despite only two being legitimate.

"Don't bother speaking to a half-wit like him," A stern voice called from behind me, confirming my suspicions, "He's a servant."