Endless Evolution: Last Star

'His smirk... It appeared for a reason, that's for sure.'

Reinal pondered, his gaze running from Franz to Nelya and Rosalind.

He didn't know why, but he could feel a powerful, barely noticeable yet eerie aura emanating from their group, wanting to engulf every soul like a nightmare flame.

Just thinking about who could possess such an aura gave Reinal goosebumps and a lump caught in his throat.

'Is it Franz? Could it be that his servant is hiding something? No... they're not strong enough to make a difference. Then what the hell is it about? I don't like this!' Reinal pondered while gritting his teeth.

"Bride and groom?" Mariel uttered with a slight smile, ''Oh, don't worry, they will appear soon, then the marriage ceremony will begin immediately. We want all attention to be focused solely on them."

Franz nodded deeply without saying anything more.

They dispersed, talking to the other guests from time to time. Some they knew and others just made small talk with smiles upon their faces.

Silvana watching from the sidelines shook her head.

'Damn, everyone's smiling, laughing and joking, even though many of them hate each other or are seeing for the first time, but they act like everyone here is a good old friend.' Silvana put her hand to her side with a slight frown.

Tap.

Suddenly, someone was behind her, fingers traveling quickly over her ribs, actively tickling her.

Silvana's face flushed, then she unconsciously laughed because of her body's natural reaction.

"Stop it! Fuck! Hahaha!" Silvana laughed as she tried to hold onto her tray, but there was no mercy for her.

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The tray flew off her hands as her eyes went wide with fright since she realized that this was sure to draw a lot of attention. Dozens of people would hear the sound of shattering glasses.

But, before anything meaningful could happen, a shadow appeared in front of Silvana, catching the tray just in time.

"Hey, you need to be more careful." Gladius looked at her disapprovingly, "As a longtime waiter, it's embarrassing for me to watch your non-professionalism."

Silvana clenched her fists tightly, her face red with embarrassment and anger.

'Shit! You're lucky we can't draw attention, or I'd remove that smirk from your face!'

Gladius let out a short laugh before glancing to the side, holding out his hand for Silvana to notice as well.

"Oh, looks like something might be happening now."

"Mhm?" Silvana turned around.

They weren't the only ones looking in that direction, many of the guests watched as Nelya and Zarot moved towards each other, the people standing in their way split apart realizing the importance of this encounter.

Step.

Nelya took the last step, standing in front of Zarot, who was taller than her, yet her gaze was calm and collected.

There wasn't any particular emotion on Zarot's face either, they looked like two nobles that occasionally meet at different events.

"I don't know what you think of me." Nelya started first, "But, I don't believe we have anything to talk about. What you did is on your conscience."

Nelya's eyes stared at Zarot, she was confident in her words, even though deep inside, she was afraid that something like this might happen again someday.

In response, Zarot only slowly reached his hand forward, their glasses clashed slightly, and he took a deep sip.

"I hope you have a good time this evening, my runaway concubine..." Zarot said coldly, turning around and heading to his group.

Besides Zarot and Istrid, there were other members of the Marzo Family here, and the same was true for Mariel with Reinal, who were not the only ones from the Rouzet Family present at this wedding.

However, not all of them were Phantoms or as important to the evening as Zarot, Mariel, and the others.

Moreover, they were not all members of the Marzo and Rouzet Families.

Anyone who was not familiar with the nobility and especially with the Twelve Branches would be confused that a single family could have so many members. After all, on average, families had three to five people: mother, father, and one to three children. It was rare for a family to have more kids than that.

It seemed that in such a case, the noble women were supposed to constantly give birth, nonstop, but... there was far more than one man and one woman in noble families, especially in the Twelve Branches.

The system worked the same way as in the clans.

The head of the family, its husbands or wives, and all their children born with the participation of the head were members of the main branch. Franz was in this situation because he was the direct son of the head of the Balo Family, well, the same was true for Nelya.

The head of the family also had brothers and sisters, all of whom were family members, as well as their future wives/husbands and their children. However, they were all from side branches.

It seemed there should be strong differences in status between the main and side branches, but this was not quite the case.

The higher the status of a nobleman was, the weaker the influence of whether he was from the main or side branch.

The most significant differences were between the Hallow Nobles from different branches.

Nelya's status was higher than another Hallow Noble from her family because she was from the main branch. However, any Light Noble had a higher status than her, and it didn't matter main or side branch.

Among the Light Nobles, almost no one paid attention to who came from which branch. After all, any Light Noble could become the family head, since all Light Nobles were Phantoms, and among Phantoms, only one thing truly mattered: power.

Thus, another Light Noble equal to Franz in strength would have the same rights within the family as Franz. Sure, more attention and honors would be given to Franz at official events, but it was all formalities.

Sip.

Franz took a sip, watching the members of the Marzo and Rouzet Families chatting to each other.

'If you're a Light Noble, then a lot of things stop mattering because you're not a Light Noble in the first place, but a Phantom.'

Franz pondered before glancing aside at the lone figure standing far away from the nobles of its family.

'Artificial and Natural Phantoms... There is indeed a difference between these two. But, in the end, everything goes to the winner. The most important thing is how strong you are, isn't it?'

Then, Franz's gaze focused on Istrid, who was chewing on her snacks with a bored look, waiting for something worthy of her attention to happen.

She was one of the clearest examples that there was no abyss between Artificial and Natural Phantoms, just a gap that could be surpassed.

Any Phantom could be a truly powerful being, just like monsters...

...

Time waited for no one, the sun was approaching the horizon, soon to disappear for the blue moon to take its place.

Tap.

A fingertip touched the NEP when the time appeared on the screen: 6:30 PM.

"Oh... Did I wait..." Adam muttered in a shaky voice before slowly standing up and heading towards the store's exit.

His next destination was Rouzet Family Palace.