Knock! Knock!

Erza banged on the door of Sato\'s dressing room, "Darling! Hurry up, don\'t be shy, and come out already!" She shouted before she continued slamming on the door.

"I\'m not shy!" Sato exclaimed from inside the room.

A few minutes later, Sato walked out of the room, wearing a black royal outfit that made his red shining eyes pop.

Erza was left speechless when she saw him, she explored his body from head to toe and a single word couldn\'t leave her mouth.

"Erza?"

"Uhm…, it\'s just… you look… handsome." Erza chose her words before she took slow steps toward him.

"... Thank you?" Sato looked to the left to hide the flustered expression on his face.

Erza helped him straighten the collar of his jacket even though she was blushing so much that her ears were beet red.

Both of them avoided eye contact, they both looked away with extremely flustered looks on their faces.

The tension in the room broke when Xanxia sauntered in on them and they both had to move away from each other.

"Oh?..." Xanxia voiced teasingly with a smug look on her face and her left hand placed in front of her mouth.

"Were you two getting steamy in here?" Xianxia continued.

Erza suddenly cleared her throat, "What are you doing here Xianxia, I thought I asked you to wait in the carriage?" She tried to keep herself together.



Xianxia and her sisters had been serving under Erza as her personal maids ever since Sato left Nervek.

Shuna whooshed in too and was immediately astonished when she saw Sato, "Oh my gosh, Lord Sato, you look perfect!" She exaggerated.

"Thanks…" Sato ambled out of the room to avoid any more eyes, but on his way out, he met Luna walking toward him.

Unlike her sisters, she was the only one that wore a maid outfit, which made her look cuter than she already was.

"Lord Sato." Luna called out before she halted.

"Luna?" Sato uttered, looking at the maid outfit on her, "You know you don\'t have to dress like that, right?".

"Eh?" Luna emitted with a shy look on her face before she continued, "D-does it look weird on me? Miss Erza was the one that chose it".

"Of course she did." Sato muttered with a smug look, "You look great, Luna, well, I\'ll see you later." He walked away.

\'Dammit, why do I feel so tense.\' He thought to himself as he walked and headed toward Vlad\'s room.

Erza sighed as she sat on the bed, covering her face to hide the flustered look she had on, "He\'s just too much." She murmured.

"Lady Erza? Are you alright?" Shuna asked, walking toward her.

Erza raised her eyes slightly to look at Shuna, "Have you ever fallen in love before?" She asked.

Shuna suddenly smiled, "Oh? Is this about Master Sato?" She questioned mockingly.

Erza jerked up from the bed and immediately changed her expression to an earnest one, "Enough of that, we should go to the hall before he gets there… I\'ll be the perfect bride, waiting for her husband to win the royal selection with a proud smile on my face".

"The carriage is ready, I only came to call you because Sebastian was getting impatient." Xanxia tucked her hand and rested her back on the wall.

Erza sighed, "Alright fine, let\'s go, he\'s my butler, nothing to do about that." She walked out of the room and Shuna and Luna followed.

Meanwhile, Sato was already inside Vlad\'s room. Even the vampire lord of Trinity was dressed for the auspicious event.

"Lord Elf!" Vald voiced out excitedly as he sat on his chair with a smile on his face after spotting Sato.

"Duke Vald, I see you\'ve been drinking alot." Sato looked to his left to see multiple empty Saké bottles packed to the side of the room.

Vlad replied, "I\'m retired, I believe it\'s time I leave like the old man I truly am, in due time you\'ll take my role as the Duke of this land".

Sato dragged on the chair and pulled it opposite Vlad before he sat down on it, "You truly believe I can win this royal selection".

"And you don\'t think you can?" Vlad asked.

"Well, I don\'t exactly know who I\'ll be going up against, it\'s normal you feel a little…."

"A man who knows his strength but disregards his weakness is a fool, but a man who embraces his weakness and disregards his strength is a bigger fool." Vald spoke, "You\'re strong, do not let yourself believe otherwise".

Sato was a bit surprised at how Vlad was able to say that with a straight face. Sato smiled before he uttered, "If I do win the royal selection, and I become the Duke of Tamron, your people may not accept me".

"That is unavoidable," Vlad continued as he stood to his feet, "Even now, the three races haven\'t fully accepted themselves, if a new race comes to rule over them, they will definitely have a hard time accepting it".

"I initially formed the council to help strengthen the bond between the three races, and it slowly showed its effect," Vald explained, "So do not panic, in due time, they will accept you and you\'ll have the new council behind you".

Sato smiled, "I adore how you have so much faith in your people… I, on the other hand, can\'t help but fear something bad will happen if I leave them to handle things on their own".

"Trust is the first step to building a stable foundation, remove that and all that\'s left is a toxic ground to step on."

"Trust." Sato muttered before he stood up from the chair and extended his hand toward Vald for a hand shake.

"I will win the royal selection and become the Duke of Nervek… this I, Sato Inuhami swear to you." Sato declared with a sure look on his face.





With a smile, Vald shaked him, "I never had a doubt in my mind, Lord of elves".