[Gorfard mansion]


    “Oh!? That prince said that?”


    Currently, in one of the VIP rooms standing above the ballroom, Loki was listening to his butler as he described the events that happened.


    Aside from being a little shocked at how the boy imposed himself, he was once again jealous about how his dead nemesis could have such a promising son while he was stuck with some stupid bastard.


    One of the reasons he had so many children was that he dreamed of the day one of his offspring could show superior talent.


    ‘All I got are those garbages.’


    Though Leonard had some talent, it was just not bad in his eyes and far from his target.


    He sighed as he thought about his niece, Lilin, the daughter of his deceased brother and Lilith. Even now, he didn’t understand how such a guy could have such a talented daughter.


    This showed that the genes of the royal families were simply on another level. Thinking so, he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of child he could have if heid with those two women.


    “Your lordship?”


    “Hum, no matter. Where did that woman send the prince?”


    That woman of course was the duchess. A rather useless woman whose sole use had been giving him more clout when he fought for the title of heir back then. Now that she was useless, if it wasn’t to keep a good image in public, she would have already vanished after some ‘ident’.


    “Thedy sent the prince to the same waiting room as the Ares Hignd.”


    “Hum…”


    He twirled his ss full of red wine as he pondered. The fact that the second heir of the Hignd participated in his party was pretty unexpected;


    Of course, he knew that the boy should havee for Sol, but why?


    “I see. Then, you did a good job. Go tell my useless son that he has thirty minutes to prepare himself and entertain the prince.”


    The threat in his tone was unmistakable, the Duke seemed really pissed off with his son.


    Bowing, the butler turned and left the room.


    Now alone, the Duke’s eyes squinted as he watched the back of his ‘loyal’ butler.


    ‘Seem like I need to erase himter.’


    He had absolutely no proof, and it was nothing more than a feeling, but he would rather kill and be proven wrongter rather than trust and be betrayed.


    ----


    Meanwhile, Sol sat with a troubled expression as he faced Ares.


    It had been somewhat of a surprise to see the man here, but once he understood that Ares was, in fact,ing to see him, he rxed his furrowed brows a little.


    Currently, the two of them sat in an extremelyvish room. In some way, this guest room seemed even more luxurious than some of the main rooms in the tower of babel.


    Of course, this didn’t mean that the Gorfard were wealthier.


    From what Sol could see, this ostentatious need to show off one wealth was generally born from a repressed feeling of inferiority.


    As such, this act of showing off was basically like screaming, ‘Look at me! Look how great I am!’


    Generally, the more inferior someone felt when they were low, the more they would show off once they seeded.


    Well, it was also possible that the Duke was someone extremely narcissistic, or perhaps it was a mix of those two.


    Sol thought idly as he sat in the awkward silence. Finally, seemingly unable to take the silence anymore, Ares spoke,


    “Your highness, are you an avid drinker?”


    This was a question so abrupt that Sol could only hold in his urge tough, for fear to discourage the man who had finally gathered his courage.


    Once hisughter was under control, he answered, “Well, it’s really hard to say, though I do not mind drinking, I do not particrly enjoy it either. At least, I did not develop a taste for it.”


    In his past life, he died before being legally old enough to drink, and in this life, after he became legally old enough to drink he found that he had a constitution that stopped him from bing drunk.


    Since he couldn’t get drunk, then what was the use of drinking?


    Ares appeared to be a little embarrassed by his answer but still continued, as he pointed to a bottle of liquor and aplete set.


    “This bottle is one edition extremely limited, with this one being thest one still not open. Would his highness give me the honor to share a drink?”


    ‘Why is he doing all that?’


    Sol could feel a certain plea in his words as if he was short of groveling. Which was something he couldn’t understand. After all, he had already reached an agreeable agreement with Tyr Hignd.


    ‘Or perhaps he wants me to help him get the title of Duke rather than his sister?’


    This was also possible. After all, in nobles'' families, betrayal was asmon as clouds. Though, he didn’t expect something like this from the Hignd siblings. At least they didn’t seem to be the kind to backstab.


    ‘Well, Gerald didn’t seem to be the kind to backstab either.’


    A bitter feeling spread through his heart, as he thought about this situation. Pushing down this feeling, he focused on the situation at hand.


    He didn’t want to jump to a conclusion too fast and it would be unjust to this man.


    What Sol didn’t know was that the more he stayed silent, the more Ares was sure about what his uncle told him, making him even more desperate.


    For him, the Hignd family was paramount to everything. All his life, he had been educated about the importance of the family. Everything he had, everything he was, was thanks to the family. He could never repay his debt.


    That was why, even though he had as much right as Athena for the family, he had never tried to fight her.


    The family needed apetent leader, if he was aspetent or more than Athena, he would have without a doubt fought for power. But, the truth was that he wasn’t.


    Be it in terms of talent, or knowledge, Athena surpassed him. He was stronger than her in singlebat, but the hignd family was first and foremost a family of general. As such, Athena was the perfect leader. Everyone understood this truth and he never fought against it.


    Still, he wanted to do something. He wanted to help. He didn’t want to stay useless.


    Someone once said that the path of hell was paved with good intentions. This quote was perfect to describe the current situation.


    “Why do you wish to drink with me?”


    “To tell the truth, I wish to be closer to you.”


    Silence stretched at those surprising words,


    “I am sorry, but I am straight.”


    Ares tilted a little bit before his eyes widened and his face reddened,


    “Th-this wasn’t what I meant! I-I am also straight! I swear!”


    Augh escaped Sol while Ares kept fumbling around. Wiping a tear from the corner of his eyes, Sol continued, “I know, I know, I was just teasing you.”


    Sol finally released a sigh after this. It was the first time in a long while that he could joke around with a boy his age. Gay jokes were old as hell in his world, but in this one, homosexuality still wasn’t particrly spread.


    He had to admit that it was a feeling that he missed,


    ‘Well, why not try making friends?’


    “Well,” Taking one of the sses on the table, he pushed it toward Ares, “Pour me a drink please.”


    “Y-yes!”


    Understanding that the prince was epting his friendship, he opened the bottle and poured a little bit of the liquor into two sses.


    Taking his ss, the two raised it,


    “Your highness, let’s drink to a new friendship!”


    “To a new friendship.”


    After watching Ares down the ss in one go, Sol slowly brought the ss to his lips, but, just as he was about to drink it...


    -----


    (AN: Well, I know exining jokes areme but hey, I really want to exin this. For those who know the god Loki from myth, they should know that Loki is the father(Sometimes mother) of some pretty crazy powerful monster like Fenrir or Sleipnir. Meanwhile here, my Loki struggles to get talented offspring. Lol, just a little info.)