Alura sat on her young master's lap as she tried to hide her embarrassment.
However, she then remembered her young master's words.
"If you want him dead, do as I say. When the elders get on stage, I want you to look at Henry. Keep looking at him no matter what, even if you feel a sharp pain. When the pain is overwhelming, then you can close your eyes,"
'Would such a method work?'
Alura had her doubts. Her previous plan was to kill Henry before the ceremony; however, with the distance between them, it was impossible, and no doubt, there would be an elder who would subdue her as last time.
Her only option was to kill him after the ceremony.
But in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but wonder if this might actually work.
Deciding she didn't have anything to lose, she looked at Henry intently. He either ignored her or was trying to avoid her, but she still looked at him. Even when the elders came into the ceremony room and started the process, she didn't take her eyes off Henry. Then a sharp pain pierced her head. While she was surprised, she still didn't take her eyes off of him. This continued until the pain grew to the point she had no choice but to close her eyes.
***
Victor sat in his chair while he observed the ceremony room.
It was just like he had remembered a few years ago when he had his ceremony. Like any young heir, he was nervous back then, too. Then he achieved one of the greatest results in the family. Finding a seat, he sat down while looking at the young heirs who were nervous.
He quickly found his son, causing him to furrow his eyebrows.
From a young age, Aaron was considered talented. Not only that, he was also very polite and was educated in the manner of a noble.
Yet why was his son acting like a total pervert now?
'Did the maid actually seduce him?'
Before Toby became Aaron's butler, he had a female servant. Usually, heirs would be given a servant of the opposite gender. That was so that they could learn to control their desires and increase their resistance to temptation.
However, after only a month, Aaron tried to sleep with his maid.
Thankfully, his older son Noah was there to stop them in time. He knew that it was a scheme from one of his sons, but couldn't prove it. As a result, he had to get himself a butler from one of the family servants so that they couldn't try anything else.
This was one of the reasons why he was annoyed when Aaron revealed that Toby had been removed as his butler. That being said, Aaron wasn't exactly a fool, so he must've had a good reason for it.
But now?
He wasn't so sure.
"Like father, like son," hearing David's mutter, Victor's eye twitched.
"Oi watch it."
However, David shook his head.
Hearing the doors open behind him, every elder in the room turned to see who it was. However, they all immediately got up.
Entering the room was a man. He looked to be in his later years, around 60 or 70. White streaks were in his blonde hair however, there wasn't a single wrinkle on his face.
Beside the old man was a beautiful woman. Despite being in her late 150s, she looked to be in her early twenties. However, right now she was a sickly pale. On top of that there were dark bags under her eyes.
All of the elders quickly stood up, "We greet the patriarch."
The old man slightly raised his hand before he found a seat next to the woman.
The people who had just entered were the patriarch and his wife. And they were also Victor's and David's parents. Gabriel and Elizabeth Van Bismarck.
'She looks more sickly than last time,' Victor observed.
Once they sat down, so did everyone else.
Victor then turned his gaze back to the ceremony room, where the door was opened again.
When the door was opened again, it revealed elders dressed in orange robes with gold patterns on them. They all held a staff of some sort as they walked, which also had gold patterns and an orange stone.
Ignoring everyone in the room, they headed toward the giant crystal, which now had a bunch of big gemstones around it. Once they got close, they made a circle surrounding the orb. Then they began to chant.
While it wasn't a part of the awakening ritual itself, it was a matter of tradition and thankfulness.
After they finished chanting, a golden beam was projected to the top of the crystal. Soon, the crystal started to glow and pulsate before thin, almost imperceptible threads started to connect to each of the heirs. The process took a minute, which Victor found odd.
Then a small burst of energy pulsed in the room, causing some of the people in the hall to start foaming at their mouths.
However, the rest of the heirs and some of the servants had their eyes closed. This went on for a bit, causing Victor to frown.
Usually, the heirs would wake up 5 seconds after the pulse of energy however, it had already been 1 minute, causing some of the elders to frown as well. But when Victor was about to check, a loud scream pierced the hall.
Looking, he saw one of the heirs shocked as the boy next to her fell into her lap, blood spilled from every part of his oraphasis.
He then found Aaron and let out a sigh of relief
'Looks like that servant girl survived too,'
"No!" Looking at the person who shouted, Victor recognized him somewhat.
Was his name Len? Rollix? He forgot, but he did know he was the leader of the assassin's hall. He watched as he quickly ran out of the room.
Looking back at the heirs, Victor realized that around 75% of the participants survived, which was an excellent result compared to the past few years.
"Haha, I knew my boy would survive." David cheered
Ignoring him, Victor got up. "Let's head to the examination hall."
As Elders, it was their job to record and assign tasks to the heirs depending on their results. However, Victor was more curious about his son's result.