"So, Leon, you prepared for the first dance...?"

"What Dance...?"

"What do you mean by what dance...?" asked the Duchess in a shocked expression. He had been attending her birthday since they were kids and had always danced with her.

"I... Dance with whom...?" Hearing the word dance, James was irritated beyond measures. First, he had to attend this huge ass party and now dance. Just when he was trying to accept this world, it started throwing punches at him. He couldn't even hold a conversation with a newcomer, let alone dance. It was impossible. Also, he did not know how to dance either.

"Dance with the princess & you are the one who will ask for the first dance."

"No... No... No..."

"What No"

"I... can't dance. I don't know how to dance."

"Oh. You know how to dance. I am sure." replied Adeline with a smug look on her face. It was one of the many instances where she could mess with him.

"No, you don't, and seriously, I don't even know how to dance." said James. He would not dance at any cost. The most he could do was shake his head at the drop of EDM tunes, not shake his whole body in classical songs. And how did those guys even dance? Who was playing hour long music without getting tired?

"You will dance with her. That's final." Replied the Duke in a decisive tone. He couldn't let his son tarnish his families's image even more. And in his point of view, it was all just a joke, as he had danced many times with her.

"But I can't"

"You will. The end."

James opened and closed his mouth like a fish trying to say something, but in the end, no words came out. He couldn't argue with these people, but couldn't just accept the fact that he had to dance. It would be more embarrassing than him abandoning his own party.

"Listen Leon, I have told you this many times & I will say it once more. Elizabeth has to be the future duchess and you have to be the duke. It's final. There is no going back. Make her your wife at any cost. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Good."

To this day, James never knew why the whole family was forcing Leonhart to get the princess's hand. It was just not right to force someone to marry a stranger with no feelings. It would do more harm than any good. But what better he could do without agreeing on this stupid charade?

***

Leonhart was walking down a vast corridor, with other family members and some guards trailing behind. They arrived in the emperor's palace yesterday evening and the night and today's whole was spent doing nothing as the party was in evening.

James was forced to wear a not so comfortable dress of black colour which had the insignia of the Esper duchy engraved on it on the left side near the heart. This dress was the definition of the luxury as it was made of pure silk and cotton which was rare. Still, it was not pleasant to wear and Adel told him it was custom tailored, ordered by him, so it was his fault.

But despite everything, this whole silence part was nerve-wracking. They were all walking in the same direction but except Adel, all of them had a stern expression. Even the guards were not in a good mood. It seemed something big was about to go down.

Soon they reached the huge ass door, and it finally opened, revealing an enormous hall which was beautifully decorated with flower and God knows how many things. A massive chandelier made up of glass hung from the ceiling, a plethora of foods were displayed on the tables, people wearing waiter uniforms were serving drinks and the whole damned place was filled with nobles.

Some were happy seeing the family, some were not, but many of them greeted them nonetheless. James had no idea who was who, so he just nodded at everyone's sweet words and praises. Many nobles also introduced their daughter to him, who were blushing for unknown reason. Was he that handsome?

Apart from that, nothing major happened like how James was expecting. One or two people came towards him with a large grin plastered on their faces, but when he grinned, they just left, saying nothing. That was weird, but it was fine for the most part, as he was also not interested in talking to anyone. So Leon blend in the crowd, placing himself in some corner, where he was totally safe, or so he thought.

Soon all the noise died down as someone from some corner began shouting the names of the coming guests or the hosts of the party. And with that two people wearing extravagant clothes entered to hall from another gate. One was a man in his forties with slight red-grey mixed hair with golden colored eyes and another was a beautiful lady with silky black hair and obsidian black eyes, whose facial featured looked much alike the princess.

From the initial into James could conclude that the guy was the so-called Emperor with a too long name & the lady was the Empress also with a too long name. Then they took their respective seats and the announcer guy again continued shouting. This time the Princess for whom this grand part was hosted arrived, wearing a blue colored classic royal ball gown with a touch of glam. Her silky black hair was restricted by a small exquisite hairpin and a small crown with a magnificent red stone was bestowed upon her.

Her beauty mesmerised everyone present in the hall, including James. It seemed like she was fairy directly descended from heaven. Behind her, the prince entered the room also wearing extravagant clothing, but nobody was mesmerised by his handsomeness, so let's move on.

With the princesse's arrival, the party finally began. Many people went towards her congratulating on her birthday and giving gifts but James was not interested in those, so he once again blended with the crowd. He thought about grabbing something to eat, but saw nobody eating anything. They only drank the wine & the best thing was, they weren't even drinking, just standing there chatting holding the glass.

So, with no way to do anything, James just stood beside the food, doing nothing. Then after sometime, he couldn't hold back and went away. No, he didn't pick any pieces, cause there was no plate. Pretty pathetic, right...? I know.

As the princess was busy with the gifts and loads of congratulations, with a forced smile on her face, James made his way towards the enormous balcony. The hall was in second stair, so the balcony was overlooking the garden. Also, another fact to be noted was that not even a single soul was present there, so it was all for him to enjoy, and certainly there was nothing he could enjoy except eating the air.

He had eaten nothing since noon, and the hunger was slowly building up. James couldn't go back, as the dance thing would begin at any moment. So he stood there doing nothing, but the dance never began. He waited a couple of minutes but nothing happened, so once again he made his way inside the hall.

Upon arriving in the hall, a very peculiar scene greeted him. There was no laughter, no chitchat. Every one present there had a serious expression & were looking in a certain direction where the man called Emperor was standing on what you might call a podium thing where his temporary throne was and below him, 4 individuals were kneeling. Not understanding what was going on, James just stood there, blankly staring at the scene.

Then some words escaped the mouth of the golden eyed man, which shunned the entire crowd.

"Here before all the noble society, I, Adalbert Isolde Von Elysium, emperor of this proud Empire, declares these four as the most suitable to be my daughter's fiancee. They have shown their capabilities and have proved their worth and have added much benefits to our empire than others. So if any of them will be able to win her heart then, I will be happy to accept him as my son-in-law."

Hearing the words, everyone gasped in shock as it was a new thing for the emperor to do and there was one key person missing from the members kneeling.

"If anyone has any problems with my decision, then place voice them." Added the Emperor.

Then the whole attention shifted towards a lone individual with black hair and blue eyes who was standing there with a dumbfounded expression plastered on his face. And it was none other than James himself who had no idea about anything happening at this point.

He was hungry and wanted to eat something, but now everyone was staring at him, including the princess, as if expecting him to do something. It was getting nerve wracking with each passing moment. Just what was he supposed to do...? Fight with the most powerful person in the entire empire. For what...?

Seeing that no one opposed his decision, Adalbert spoke once again with a smile. He was beyond satisfied with this development. All of his worries proved to be nothing.

"Well then, Gentlemen you can ask her to be your dance partner, only if she wants to. And please enjoy the party."

And suddenly the heavy atmosphere disappeared and was replaced with the old cheerful one. Amongst the kneeling four, first one to get up was a youth with snow like white hair and violet eyes. As the emperor and the empress got busy with talking to others after dropping the bomb, the princess was left alone & this was the perfect chance for him to show how caring he was.

"Milady... If you will." asked the youth with violet eyes, extending his left towards the princess who was sitting. He was asking her for the first dance on her birthday, which would be quite honourable for him only if she agreed.

"No, thank you Lord Theo..." Replied Elizabeth with a forced smile. Her mood did a full swing after her father's not so good declaration. The biggest thing was he didn't even ask for her opinion on this matter. He did whatever he wanted, took decisions on behalf of her.

"I insist milady."

"I too insist.. Lord."

"Yes... I will ask after some time..." Seeing the princess's unwillingness, Theo paused his quest for now, as it would pose other problems, but he didn't abandon it. Getting in the emperor's grace was the hardest part and apart from that, other things were smooth sailing. His confident also got a significant boost as it seemed he had defeated his one of the worst enemies. His other counterpart didn't even get the chance to say anything.