Chapter 284 - Dining At Twilight Palace
Under Leon's lead, the group of four left the palace and made their way to Aurelia Mountain Road. Before departing, Leon did not forget to retrieve his black spear and stored it away.
The two maids were ecstatic to be able to tag along, despite knowing it was their task to accompany the elven princess.
They had a chance to enjoy some high-end food from Aurelia Mountain Road, depending on the prince's generosity and elven princess.
Since Leon only knew the general direction, he asked some random nobles along the way for directions. As a result, they managed to arrive at Aurelia Mountain Road directly without passing Lost Isle Alley.
"So, this is the famous Aurelia Mountain Road?" The palace maids had their eyes wide open. "It's even more lavish than the palace!"
"Heh, of course, it is. This place is where the wealthiest in the kingdom gather."
While Faelyn and the two palace maids admired the luxuriousness of the place, a different voice spoke to them. Turning to look, it was a young noble.
"It must be your first time here, right? If you do not mind, please allow me to show you around." The young noble offered, but his bright eyes were glued to the elven princess.
Leon was speechless. As expected of the place where the profligate sons of powerful nobles and aristocrats gather. They did not arrive for long, yet Faelyn's beauty had already attracted someone over.
"There's no need. We only came here to eat."
"That's even better! Allow me to treat you all to dinner!" The young noble said enthusiastically.
Leon was even more speechless, while Faelyn's brows were furrowed. If this young noble treated them, then how was she going to treat Leon?
Just Faelyn was about to say something, Leon subtly gestured for her not to speak, before he said with a smile, "Sure. Since someone is willing to treat us, we should give him face and accept his offer."
"It would be my honor to treat you and all these lovely ladies here. Where would you all like to eat?" The young noble conducted himself like a gentleman, but he was screaming with excitement inside.
'An elf! This person must be the elven princess, one of the two envoys that arrived the other day. The other two lovely ladies must be palace maids assigned by the king to attend the elven princess! What luck! I can win the elven princess's heart; my status will shoot through the roof!'
The young nobles were filled with ideas on how to get close to Princess Faelyn. As for Leon? He was utterly disregarded by the young noble. He was not interested in men.
The young noble was too blinded by the elven princess's beauty to notice that Leon was the group leader. If he had at least spared Leon some thought, he would have noticed that Leon's status could not possibly be ordinary.
"Where is the best place to dine in around here? Leon said coolly. He had a few thoughts of his own.
He had noticed that the palace maids had shining eyes when the young noble offered to shout them all. Since someone was happy to take all the aggro, why would he complain?
"The best place to dine would be the Twilight Palace. How about I bring you all over there now?" The young noble suggested.
Receiving Leon's silent gesture, Faelyn nodded with a single word, "Sure."
"Great!"
The young noble was filled with energy after hearing Faelyn's voice and took the lead. Leon and Faelyn followed behind the young noble while the palace maids followed them.
"What are you doing, Leon? If you let him treat us, how will I be able to treat you?" Faelyn whispered.
"That's true, but do you have any human currency on you? How will you pay?"
"Will that not take elven currency?"
"No."
Faelyn was stumped by the revelation and became abashed.
"There's always a next time."
...
A beautiful flower would shine like a diamond, wherever it goes. Countless eyes were attracted to the elven princess before they subsequently squinted their eyes to study the rest of the group.
"That's an elf, right? How can elves be so beautiful? She must be royalty, right?
"I heard there were two envoys that recently arrived. Supposedly, one of them was an elven princess. This person must be that elven princess they mentioned."
"Is that news reliable? How did they find out?"
The other young nobles in the area did not immediately approach the group but discuss amongst themselves.
"Apparently, the elven princess's appearance caused a stir in the Upper District. Quite a few young nobles flocked over to befriend the elven princess, even some older nobles also tried their luck but had their asses kicked and sent packing by the general marquis. I got my news from one of them."
"I see, but now the general marquis is not here, and the other envoy is also not here. This could be our lucky chance to approach the elven princess. Who are those other people?"
"The one strutting in front looks like the second son of Earl Walter of the Donahue family, Nelson Donahue."
"Nelson Donahue? Ah, I think you're right. He's a regular around here. There aren't many Earls and Marquises that have a second son. Quite the pity, I must say. He is completely suppressed by his elder brother for heirship but never mind that. The other two ladies seem to be palace maids, but what about that other guy? Any idea who he is?"
"He could be the fable prince, but I'm not sure. Let's follow them first and see after.
…
Twilight Palace.
"Good day, esteemed customers. Will you be dining in or—"
"All five of us will be dining in today. Please give us one of your VIP lounges." The young noble cut off the receptionist.
"Right this way, esteemed customers." The receptionist lady was not offended and smiled sweetly as she led them to one of the spare VIP lounges, a private dining room. Dealing with experienced customers saved her the trouble of explaining.
"When you are ready to order, just inform this gentleman here." The receptionist lady handed each of them a menu and showed them the waiter attending them before making her exit humbly.
Returning to the entrance, she was stunned by the crowd of young nobles flooding in.
"Hello, esteemed customers… Will you be dining in—"
"We are just looking around. Right, which room did that group five enter?" One of the young nobles hurriedly said.
The receptionist's expression became dark. It was clear that this group of profligate young nobles and master were here to cause trouble, making things difficult for her.
VIP lounges were VIP lounges for a reason. It is for their customers to enjoy their meals in peace without being disturbed. She would be breaking the rules if she led this group there.
Just when the receptionist didn't know what to do, a familiar voice made her relaxed.
"What are you all doing? Are you trying to disturb my family's business?"
"Oh, if it isn't, Young Master Conrad. We are not here to disturb your business. We just want to meet someone dining in one of your VIP lounges." Another young master explained.
"Oh? Why don't you tell me who that person is then? Surely, for someone to attract all of you here, that person must either have an extraordinary status or is an extraordinary beauty!"
"Hahaha! You've guessed it! It's the elven princess that arrived yesterday, someone with both status and beauty."
"Hahaha… I see." Conrad laughed lightly while rubbing his chin before he said indifferently, "Get out."
The young nobles and masters who were initially full of smiles froze and soon wrinkled their brows into frowns.
"I'm afraid that's not appropriate, no? Are you sure you want to send us all away and hog the elven princess to yourself?"
The threat in the young noble's tone was clear. If Conrad offended all of them, even if his family owns the top restaurant in Aurelia Mountain Road, his family could still become bankrupt if all their families join forces to suppress his family's business.
Conrad frowned as he weighed his choices.
…
Inside the VIP lounge.
"Wow! These prices are freaking expensive! Are you sure we are food and not gold?" The maid's eyes were bulging when they looked at the menu.
"Is this really expensive?" Faelyn asked Leon. She was not familiar with the prices.
"Expensive, really expensive! Let's just say 5,000 Craws is more than enough to buy yourself a decent meal elsewhere, but each dish on this menu is at least 50,000 Craws or higher. Wouldn't you also think this is expensive?" Leon explained
Faelyn's jaw dropped as she nodded.
"Are you really treating us?" Leon asked carefully.
"Of course! A gentleman does not go back on his word." Nelson said warmly, but he looked at Leon like he was looking at a plebian that has not seen the world.
"Alright then!" Leon burst into a fit of laughter and called the waiter. "Waiter, I want this, this, and this!"
In a short instance, Leon ordered seven dishes.
Faelyn was shocked.
"Are you sure you will be able to finish them all?"
"I'm not sure, but this is a rare opportunity. I won't get a chance to dine at a high-end restaurant like this often. Since someone is willing to treat us, we should go all out. Otherwise, it would be seen as us looking down on the person treating us! Isn't that right?" Leon said shamelessly, pretending to be overwhelmed by the rare opportunity.
"Yeah…"
Nelson's lips twitched, but he kept a warm smile like it was nothing, but in fact, he was already starting to feel regret deep inside.
The Prince and Queen blackmailed so much money out of so many nobles. What rare opportunity? The royal family was so wealthy! Who are you trying to fool?!
The two maids giggled when they heard the prince's words, but they did not expose him.
Faelyn, on the other hand, had bought entirely into Leon's lies. Perhaps, the Crawford royal family was not all that well off?
"Err.. really? Is that how it is? You, humans, have such weird customs."
Despite saying that, Faelyn still ordered three dishes of her own, while the maids ordered two each. In total, there were 15 dishes ordered, before the waiter left with the list.
The total reached a staggering 820,000 Craws, enough to make Nelson's heart bleed and cause hatred to form against Leon.
"Right, I don't think we've introduced ourselves yet. I am the second of Earl Walter, Nelson Donahue." Nelson said as he finally paid interest to Leon, wanting to find out his enemy's identity. "And you—"
His words were interrupted by a knock on the door to their VIP lounge.