Abyssal Awakening

Third, garden exit. A place where you can enter the Zenia garden to get a breath of fresh air.

And finally, the guard entrance. It\'s the location where the guards will come pouring in once the accident happens.

Copying the attitude and actions of the Maids around her, Alice stood guard by the southern entrance.

Since the guards, Melissa and Michale have been with Zenia for a while, Erick wasn\'t worried about their actions during this party. Each of them was taught the basics of etiquette amongst the nobles but Alice?

Her background was still a secret to Erick.

\'Was she part of a noble family in the past?\' He thought to himself before turning his attention away for now.

Honestly, if it wasn\'t for the death of Jyn and Rita, he wouldn\'t have even brought Alice into the Inverted World and a contract wouldn\'t have changed that. But without Jyn and Rita, the southern entrance is left unchecked while Selen is forced to take on two jobs.

It\'s a temporary measure but Alice\'s presence allowed him to continue on with the plan.

A few of the staff were wondering about the appearance of new butlers and maids but Erick sorted that issue out with a handwritten notice by the Lord of the house and a seal. An item granted to him by Luthor himself to avoid troubles within the Inverted World.

Who would dare question a notice written and signed by the Lord of the House?

As such, Alice and the others weren\'t questioned about their presence.

###

\'There\'s quite a few big names here aren\'t there?\' Alyss asked while glancing at the guests of the house.

\'Nightingale, Carman, Bellian and the Palmer family just to name a few.\'

Before the incident that was about to occur and the shift in how the Zenia family acted, they held quite an amicable relationship with most of the noble houses of Extalia. Most of the houses in the party had ties with Abyss Blood and the Zenias acted as a middleman to distribute the goods.

Of course, the Zenia had discoveries of their own but compared to their current reputation as the single best family to do with Abyss Blood, it was negligible.

\'It is the birthday of their \'treasured\' daughter after all. Plus this is a big event.\' Alice shrugged.

Rather than hosting a celebration for the birthday every year, the Zenia\'s celebrated the fifth, tenth and sixteenth publicly while the yearly celebrations were left for close friends and family.

Fifth to introduce the child as a member of the family, tenth to welcome them to the society and sixteenth to congratulate them for their coming of age.

Most of the families follow this tradition not just the Zenia\'s.

For Alice, the only daughter of Luthor Zenia, the next time she\'ll be seen \'publicly\' after today would be on her sixteenth birthday. Thus a lot of people have gathered today to congratulate Luthor and to form connections for the future.

[It\'s rather different compared to Ayr.] Cayla muttered while observing the celebration.

\'How so?\' Alice asked curiously.

[As you know, most of the Ayrians are humans who used to be beasts. Thus we do not know our birthday. Instead of a yearly celebration, we host a festival every half a cycle called Day of Rebirth. It\'s to celebrate everyone who\'s managed to follow Velouria\'s law and achieve a human form.

[Aside from the Anniversary of the creation of Ayr, the Day of Rebirth is the biggest festival in the city. Oh how I wish you could\'ve seen the spectacle.] Cayla reminisced with a happy smile on her face.

[Though these days neither Allura nor Kaden or anyone else for that matter celebrate this day anymore. Doing so would just draw attention to the remnants of Ayr. Those that survive have followed the change in traditions and switched to celebrating once per year on a day we choose to be our \'birthdays\' in an attempt to blend in.] She shrugged with a somewhat bitter expression.

Seeing this, Alice thought for a moment before opening her mouth.

\'Do you think Allura and Kaden would be offended if I was to… Well, you know. Celebrate a private Day of Rebirth with them?\'

[!!!] Pausing in surprise, Cayla chuckled before shaking her head.

[Of course not. I think both of them would be pleasantly surprised about it.]

\'Then you need to tell me what I need to do to prepare for this Day of Rebirth once we sorted out some things here.\' Alice nodded with a smile as she focused her attention back to the Inverted World as more and more nobles began to enter the banquet hall.

Selen, Alice and Melissa began to attract quite a bit of attention as both Selen and Melissa were good looking women.

As for Alice, her appearance was more \'toned down\' compared to the other two but was still considered a beauty nonetheless.

Melissa joked around with some of the young Lords who were talking to her while Selen kept herself \'professional\' and stoic as per usual.

As for Alice…

"Sorry but I\'m not interested~" Alice tried to keep up her act as Kale but the young lords of noble houses kept pestering her.

"Aw don\'t be like that. Just a meal is all I ask." One of them offered while Alice\'s smile twitched.

Trying to reject his offer for a second time, she let out an annoyed sigh as it didn\'t seem like he was going to listen to her.

In the end, she resorted to drastic measures.

"Yiya~ Young lord if you pester so much even I\'ll be swayed." Alice sighed as the young man widened his eyes in happiness.

Grabbing his hand, she leaned against his ear and opened her mouth.

"But young lord… I\'m not sure if you can handle me~" She whispered, causing him to shiver before clearing his throat.

"I-I\'m sure I\'ll meet your expectations."

"No no~ I don\'t mean it that way, my Lord. Perhaps you didn\'t realise but please, look down." Alice let out a soft chuckle as he nodded and glanced down.

But when he did, his pupils shrank as his body shivered in fear.

A monster bulge beneath that skirt.

Colour drained from his face as he apologised and immediately ran away.

"Idiot~" Alice stuck out her tongue as it was a simple illusion but quite effective in getting people to leave her alone.

\'Maybe I should use this trick more often.\' Alice contemplated while Alyss let out a scoff.

\'And what will you do if they\'re into it?\'

Hearing this, Alice paused for a moment as her smile twitched.

\'Surely not… Right?\'

\'Well, you never know.\'

Shivering at the thought, Alice decided to not use this trick again for the sake of her own mental sanity. Unfortunately, her mind works in wonderous ways and a quick mention caused a vivid scene to assault Alice\'s mind in an instant before she could drive it away.

\'ARGGG!!! Stupid b*tch can you not drag me into your fantasies!?!?\' Alyss shouted in a panic. As they were residing within Alice\'s mental space, such a vivid scene was revealed to both her and Cayla.

Cayla simply hid her face with an awkward cough, not wanting to judge her master.

\'It\'s a misunderstanding!\'

###

While Alice was trying to convince Cayla and Alyss regarding the misunderstanding, she continued to serve the guests.

A few curious gazes were scanning towards her. More specifically, towards her skirt but no one took the initiative to talk to her which Alice was grateful for. It allowed her to focus her mind on the guards around the banquet hall along with the northern entrance where her father would appear soon.

Suddenly, a horn sounded as all of the guards slammed their staff into the ground, silencing the banquet hall.

"Lord Zenia is entering!" One of the butlers shouted as the doors swung open.

From the door, Luthor Zenia stepped out. The Lord of the Zenia family.

Unlike the aged old man that Alice was familiar with over the years, the Luthor here seemed far younger with fewer wrinkles around his face. His eyes were calm, relaxed and warm with no sign of stress.

If it wasn\'t for his appearance, Alice would doubt if this was her father at all.

"First of all, I would like to thank everyone for attending this party. It brings me great joy to have all of you celebrate such an important time for me. As a father, I watch my daughter grow with each year. Her laughter, her joys.

"But it is at events like this do I truly get the chance to reflect back on what\'s happened in the passing years. Five years. That\'s how long it\'s been since the last public celebration that I\'ve held for my daughter. But I\'ll keep my words brief as I am not the main character for today\'s event." Luthor let out a chuckle as Alice clenched her fist until it bled.

A sizzling sound could be heard as her wounds tried to mend itself but her nails were in the way.

All of this warmth yet he was brutal enough to experiment on his daughter for ten whole years.

\'What a load of sh*t…\' Alice thought to herself as Luthor continued to give his welcoming speech. Nearing the end, he raised his glass of wine.

"So please welcome my wife, my sons and most of all, my dear beloved daughter!"

The first to step through the door caused Alice to pause. A woman whom she had very little memories of, a woman whose voice brought her a sense of heartache.

Her mother, Sienna Zenia.