Ascension of the last Celestial

As Valerian made his way to the ballroom where the party is supposed to take place, he couldn’t help but think about what Sera said.

’Primordial Origin Aether, huh... I knew my mana is different, but giving it a new name? But there was this feeling...’

Back when Sera declared the name for his mana, something inside him reacted. It was a subtle feeling, maybe recognition?

’It felt like something inside me was happy that it got a name. No, it felt more like Sera was close but not quite right, but just being close to the truth made whatever this is happy.’

While he was lost in thought, he soon reached a massive double door. The door was made out of wood and had silver markings that looked like roots on them. In front of the gates were two elven guards; when they saw Valerian, they moved to the side.

’This must be the entrance to the hall, I should probably take it out.’

With that thought, he sent a small amount of mana to his bound weapon, Twilight. Without delay, the same longsword he got from his parents appeared in his hand, and a sheath that had a similar design as the sword manifested at his left hip. It looked like a ceremonial sword that is more for show than to fight, but Valerian knew there was hardly a weapon out there that was as versatile and deadly as his unassuming sword.

’God, I love this weapon.’

As the gates opened and the ballroom inside was revealed, Valerian noticed something.

’Fuck.’

Everyone was looking at him. Well, it was no wonder, because he was way too late and all the guests are already there drinking wine and talking with fake smiles. So it didn’t help that everyone was expecting the star of tonight, the elven princess, to make her entrance. And the person making it even worse was the servant standing next to the door who, in the loudest voice he could muster up, announced:

"His Highness, Prince Valerian von Astrea of the Solaria Kingdom!"

All the heads in the ballroom turned to the door and began to whisper.

"Prince of the Solaria Kingdom? Didn’t they just have a daughter?"

"Valerian von Astrea? Why is his name von Astrea?"

"I have never heard of that name before."

Valerian didn’t care. He walked through the ballroom like it was beneath him. The clicking of his boots on the marble floor took all the attention. All the eyes of the elven nobles, and the ones that came from different nations to show their support to the elven empire, were glued to him.

His black robes with golden and amethyst ornaments hugged his body like a second skin, while his black mantle with a deep purple inside followed behind him like a living shadow.

His slitted cosmic purple eyes moved across the room, and everyone who met his gaze froze in place by some deeper instinct telling them to bow. His long, pure white hair pulled the gazes from the clothes upwards, but they quickly moved to the pair of onyx horns resting on his head, causing even more confusion among the guests.

"He isn’t human? But did they say he’s the Solaria prince?"

"There is no way he is a legitimate child of the king."

"But why is his face so handsome..." a single noble elven woman said with a flushed face, causing every man around her to look at him with contempt.

Valerian didn’t stop to listen to them or make some grand announcement. He moved quickly but confident to his family, whom he spotted at the end of the room talking with the elven emperor and empress.

When he arrived in front of them, they stopped talking and looked at him.

"I have to say, you do know how to make an entrance, Prince Valerian," Alderon said with a light laugh, which caused the people watching to get even more confused that the elven emperor is laughing while talking to him.

"What can I say? I have to show off my handsomeness. It would be a sin to just be a background character when you look like me," Valerian answered with blatant narcissism that no one would dare to show in front of the emperor.

The emperor had a knowing look on his face and nodded with one hand at his chin. "I know what you are saying. Beautiful people like us just have to be marveled at."

Valerian didn’t expect Alderon to be so... chill? He expected him to be more strict or serious. But this image of the iron emperor he had of him broke apart when he just continued to be so shamelessly narcissistic.

"Other people are just jealous of us, Valerian. They are mad because they can never be as perfect and handsome as us."

He was only stopped when the gates to the ballroom swung open once again, and this time the guests weren’t disappointed about who entered.

"Her Highness, Princess Seraphine Luna Verdantia of the Verdantia Empire!"

As Valerian turned his eyes to the open swinging doors, his breath caught in his throat. His eyes widened and his mouth hung open. Seraphine walked through the doors, and if before, when she and Valerian met for the first time, she looked like a princess, now she looked like the incarnation of beauty.

A soft light shone through the massive stained-glass ceiling of the ballroom, illuminating the hall. Seraphine stood there, looking like the absolute incarnation of beauty. Her long platinum blonde hair was styled in an elegant royal updo with braids, but a few long strands with soft pastel pink tips still framed her face. Her glowing golden eyes radiated a warm, almost divine aura as she looked around.

For her birthday, she wore a beautiful, fully covering royal gown that focused entirely on pure grace. It was made of flowing silk in black, gold, silver, and deep purple, and covered in detailed metal ornaments and embroidered cosmic patterns that looked like stars.

When Valerian saw the color scheme of the dress, he felt his heart warm instinctively. Gold and silver were colors associated with the elven royalty, but black and purple didn’t, and it didn’t require him to be a genius to realize why she chose a dress with these colors.

She saw him walk around in his black, golden, and purple robes, and now she wore a dress with a similar color scheme just out of pure coincidence?

Valerian wasn’t the only one who noticed her choice of color. Both Seraphine’s and Valerian’s parents noticed the similarity between their clothes, and of course, they didn’t forget the scene they walked in on in the garden. So, even if Seraphine and Valerian didn’t say anything, they knew their children, so they obviously realized the feelings between them.

As Seraphine made her way through the hall, her golden eyes locked with Valerian’s cosmic purple ones, and she immediately changed her course in his direction. Only as she was already walking towards him did she notice her parents standing behind him.

When she stood in front of Valerian, she could feel his gaze move up and down her, and she didn’t hate it—the way he was looking at her like he only had eyes for her.

Valerian opened his mouth first to break the silence. "Happy birthday, Sera. I can’t describe how happy I am I got to meet you today."

Seraphine’s heart was beating fast. Aside from using her new nickname in front of all the guests, he also said something that made her head feel light.

’’I can’t describe how happy I am I got to meet you today’. Gosh, why is he so cute...’

Seraphine’s parents, who watched the heartfelt congratulation from the side, also wanted to wish their daughter a happy birthday, but how could they interrupt when she had such a romantic moment!

Valerian stretched out his hand with the palm facing upwards and did a light bow. "Would you give me the honor of a dance, my lady?"

Sera laid her hand on his and answered with a beautiful smile. "I would love to, Val."

Hearing her address him without formalities, Valerian let out a light laugh and led her to the middle of the ballroom.

They moved closer to each other until there was almost no space between them. Sera moved her left hand onto his shoulder, and her right stayed locked with his. Valerian’s right hand moved to her back, resting lightly against the thin fabric of her dress. Standing so close to each other, Valerian could feel the heat of her body and her warm breath on his neck.

Softly, she whispered into his ear, which caused a warm feeling to go to his ears as he noticed just how close she was. "Do you know how to dance? I can lead if you don’t know."

Valerian moved his head to the side, but because of the closeness and her soft whisper, he moved faster than planned. Sera didn’t have the time to move her head away fast enough from his ear. So, when Valerian’s head snapped to her, she could feel something soft and warm lightly brush her lips.

Her golden eyes locked with purple ones, and they were close, way too close.

Standing so close and facing each other, in Valerian’s fast movement, their lips brushed. So, when they were staring into each other’s eyes, their lips were so close that they were lightly touching—not close enough for a kiss, but closer than any friends would get to each other.

They were staring at each other, both frozen by what had just happened, but neither moved away to break the light touch their lips were sharing. But their moment didn’t last any longer, as the music in the hall started and all the couples around them began to dance. The sudden music snapped them out of the trance, and both looked the other way, but their eyes still met occasionally as they moved rapidly to the other and back to the side.

"I know how to dance, don’t worry," Valerian said with a quiet voice, and instead of answering with a teasing remark, Seraphine just nodded, too embarrassed to look at him.

They began their dance, moving in sync with the music and everyone around them. They didn’t talk, but what just happened was all they could think of. And instead of maybe moving away to clear their heads, during the dance, their bodies moved even closer to each other, closing the last gap they had. Now, instead of the image of a prince inviting a princess to a dance, it looked fully like a couple in love enjoying the other one’s presence.

When the dance ended, they stayed close like that for a few seconds after the music finished. When they finally broke, there was now something different between them, something that would never be the same again, and neither was sad about that.