The cold night wind beyond the terrace cut across Leon's face like a knife, yet it was nothing compared to the icy humiliation and searing anger in his heart. The lights, music, and laughter of the ballroom drifted through the heavy glass doors, muffled and distant, like sounds from another world. He leaned against the cold stone railing and gasped for breath. Eleanor's venomous taunts, the disdainful looks of those around him, and Victor's icy warning echoed through his mind like ghosts.
"Useless..." "Brooch..." "Pocket money..." "That place..."
Every word branded itself onto his soul. He clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms. The sharp sting of pain did nothing to suppress the despair threatening to swallow him whole. He had lost, and lost completely. He hadn't just lost face tonight; he'd lost the last scrap of his pitiful self-respect. In their eyes, Leon von Hohenzollern was a complete joke, a useless man who relied on his family's protection and couldn't even come up with a decent gift for his fiancée!
What should he do? Hide away until the party ended? And then, tomorrow, detailed reports of every disgraceful thing he'd done tonight would become the hottest topic in every salon in the Imperial Capital? He could already imagine the smug look on Eleanor Soros's face!
No! Absolutely not!
A near-mad stubbornness, mixed with searing humiliation and resentment, surged from the deepest part of his heart like lava! He couldn't just admit defeat! He had to do something, even if it only saved him the tiniest bit of face—even if what he did was foolish and risky!
His gaze instinctively fell on his bare wrist—where he'd been wearing that dull gray bracelet. A wildly audacious thought, a gamble with everything he had, split through his jumbled thoughts like lightning!
That bracelet!
The bracelet that even Elisa couldn't see through, which held mysterious astral energy and resonated with his soul!
Though it looked utterly unimpressive now, and might be fraught with unknown dangers, the very fact that it was "unknown" gave it value! A value beyond measure, far greater than that of the gemstones and tomes with fixed prices!
A mad plan took shape in Leon's mind: he would claim the bracelet was a Hohenzollern family heirloom! A secret treasure passed down since ancient times, imbued with mysterious power and kept hidden from all but the family's core members! He hadn't given it to her earlier because it was too precious, and could only be presented at a crucial moment! And tonight, at Elisa's Coming-of-Age Ceremony, was the perfect occasion!
The idea was so absurd, so risky, that if he were found out, the consequences would be unthinkable! The Hohenzollern Family would never acknowledge that they possessed this "family heirloom." Aunt Margaret might see through him, and he might even attract the attention of someone who truly knew its worth!
But Leon had been pushed to the edge of a cliff. His reason had long since been drowned by humiliation. He needed to take a gamble! A gamble that pitted lies and the unknown against the shame of reality! Even if it only bought him a moment of astonishment, even if it merely threw Eleanor off her rhythm, he was willing to try!
"I'm in!" A near-mad resolve flashed in Leon's eyes. He quickly straightened his rumpled collar, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and forced himself to calm down. He needed a story convincing enough to impress them, yet plausible enough to withstand brief scrutiny.
He quickly recalled the legends about the Hohenzollern Family of the Northern Frontier: ancient, tied to the stars, ice and snow, and great bears... He had it!
He took a deep breath, forcing a heavy expression onto his face, one that blended exhaustion and humiliation with the air of a man who had finally made up his mind. Then he turned, pushed open the glass door separating the warm world from the cold, and walked back into the noisy ballroom.
His return immediately caught the eyes of several people who had been keeping an eye on him. Eleanor Soros, in particular, was chatting and laughing with a few companions. When she saw Leon return, undisguised mockery flashed in her green eyes, as if to say, "Look, the stray dog's back."
Leon paid no attention to the stares. He headed straight for Elisa, who was standing by the edge of the dance floor, speaking quietly with an older archmage. His steps no longer faltered as they had before. Instead, they carried the unyielding determination of a man with his back to the wall.
His unusual behavior drew the attention of more and more people. Whispers rose around them again.
"Huh? What's he up to now?"
"Still not giving up?"
"Does he have another gift?"
"Hmph. What could he possibly bring out? Don't tell me it's more junk to humiliate himself with."
Elisa also noticed Leon approaching. A faint hint of puzzlement crossed her violet eyes. She ended her conversation with the mage and watched him in silence.
Leon stopped in front of Elisa beneath the curious, puzzled, and mocking gazes of everyone around them. He first bowed deeply to her, lower than he had at any point before, then spoke in a hoarse voice weighed down by a peculiar gravity:
"Miss Elisa, please forgive my earlier... lapse in judgment and haste."
He lifted his head and looked straight into Elisa's calm violet eyes, as if seeking courage from them. "Although I chose that brooch with care, as a small token of my feelings, it... truly isn't worthy of such an important occasion. Nor does it adequately express the esteem the Hohenzollern Family holds for you and for this engagement."
Everyone present was stunned. Was he... admitting he'd been wrong? Or was this some kind of retreat before a counterattack?
Eleanor gave a scoffing laugh, ready to enjoy whatever came next.
Leon changed tack, his voice growing deeper, taking on the bleak quality of a northerner's voice, like wind and snow. "Our Hohenzollern Family has guarded the Northern Frontier for generations, living alongside ice, snow, and stars. The family has passed down a keepsake from generation to generation, one that may not be shown lightly except in times of family peril or at the wedding or coming-of-age ceremony of a direct descendant."
As he spoke, he slowly reached toward a snug inner pocket in his formal coat (he pretended to take it from there, though he'd prepared it in advance). Everyone's eyes focused on his hand.
He carefully took out a small object wrapped in aged, slightly faded black hide that glimmered with a strange sheen. The hide looked ancient, its edges worn in places.
Leon held the little bundle in both hands with utmost reverence, as if he were presenting a peerless treasure. He glanced around at the guests leaning in to listen, then returned his gaze to Elisa and spoke in a near-chanting voice steeped in ancient lore:
"According to our family's ancient records, this object was forged by the first ancestor of the Hohenzollern Family. Atop the far northern Eternal Frost Holy Mountain, on a night when the stars fell, he received a divine revelation. Using the core of a meteorite from beyond the heavens, he combined it with the essence of ten thousand years of Northern Frontier ice, and the painstaking work of three generations. Its name is the 'Oath of Starfrost.'"
"The Oath of Starfrost?" A low wave of astonishment rippled through the crowd! The name alone brimmed with age and mystery! A meteorite from beyond the heavens? Ten thousand years of ice? A divine revelation? Together, those words raised the object to the level of legend, far surpassing the "precious" or "useful" qualities claimed for any of the gifts presented earlier!
Even Elisa's violet eyes now clearly betrayed undisguised surprise and curiosity. Aunt Margaret had appeared nearby at some point, and her icy blue eyes were fixed sharply on the hide-wrapped bundle in Leon's hands, her brows slightly furrowed.
Leon's heart pounded, but he struggled to maintain a solemn, reverent expression. He continued his fabrication, forcing his faint impressions of the bracelet together with the Hohenzollern family legends in his mind. "This is no ordinary magical artifact. It neither amplifies magic nor offers protection. What it holds is the path of the stars, the stillness of ice and snow, and... a covenant with time. Only those deeply connected to Hohenzollern blood, whose character it recognizes, can faintly sense its presence and gain... insight into fate and origins."
His words were vague and enigmatic, just the sort of thing people imagined when they heard "family heirloom"—powerful, mysterious, choosing its own bearer, its purpose impossible to describe.
"However," Leon continued, his tone turning somber, "because it is tied to our ancestors' secrets and the fate of the family, and because its power is so profound, only those of steadfast mind can wield it. The family has strictly forbidden it from being brought into the world except in the direst circumstances. Even I had only heard its name before coming of age. I had never seen it."
He looked at Elisa, his eyes now utterly "sincere," with even a hint of "resolute determination." "But tonight is your Coming-of-Age Ceremony. You and I are to be joined in marriage and share the future of our two families. After much consideration, I decided that only this object could truly represent my sincerity, and the Hohenzollern Family's greatest recognition of you and its hopes for you. Its value lies not in its form, but in its meaning—in this 'oath' that has endured through ages and connects the destinies and beliefs of our two families!"
He took a deep breath. As everyone held theirs, he slowly and exceedingly carefully peeled back the layers of the old black hide.
When the last layer of hide was removed, the entire ballroom fell silent.
There was no dazzling radiance, no powerful wave of energy. Lying in Leon's palm was still the same dull gray, utterly unimpressive, even somewhat crude silver-white metal bracelet. Beneath the brilliant ballroom lights, it looked so plain, even... shabby.
"Pfft—" In the silence, someone let out a tiny snicker, then immediately stifled it.
Eleanor Soros's eyes widened. Then her face twisted with disbelief and mockery. She nearly burst out laughing, but given the occasion, she could only press her fan tightly against her lips, her shoulders shaking violently.
Even Victor Windsor frowned, his eyes full of suspicion and confusion. This thing was a family heirloom? What a joke!
But as the ballroom hung in this eerie silence, with laughter on the verge of breaking out, a sudden change took place!
Elisa had been quietly watching the bracelet. Suddenly, an unprecedented light blazed in her violet eyes! She wasn't looking at it with her eyes, but observing it through her extraordinarily keen magical perception!
She saw it clearly! Beneath its unremarkable exterior, silvery specks of light flowed slowly within the bracelet like a miniature galaxy, radiating an ancient, profound aura! The energy was extremely subdued, but its level and nature were unlike those of any magical object she had ever seen! It was even... more ancient than the aura of the Eldest Princess's ancient meditation scroll, and closer to... the source?
At the same time, Aunt Margaret, standing not far away, also saw a flash of intense shock in her icy blue eyes! Her strength far surpassed Elisa's, and her senses were keener! She not only detected that strange astral energy, but also faintly sensed something inside the bracelet: a seal so complex that even she couldn't fully understand it... or perhaps some kind of dormant fragment of "consciousness"?
"This... this is..." Elisa took a small step forward without thinking. Her violet eyes stayed fixed on the bracelet, her face filled with stunned disbelief. She even forgot her manners and reached out to touch it.
Leon's heart nearly leapt out of his chest! He'd guessed right! Elisa and Aunt Margaret's reactions proved that the bracelet really was extraordinary!
He suppressed his excitement, held the bracelet out a little farther, and spoke in an even more solemn tone. "Elisa, please accept it. The Oath of Starfrost has chosen you. Perhaps it is the will of fate."
At last, Elisa's fingers touched the bracelet's cold surface, gently and with a slight tremble.
The instant her fingertips met the bracelet—
"Hum..."
A faint vibration rang out, so quiet it should have been barely audible, yet it seemed to echo directly in everyone's soul! At the same time, the dull gray bracelet suddenly glimmered with a faint, cool, pure light like moonlight! The tiny silver specks seemed to awaken and began to flow faster, faintly forming a clearer, more intricate phantom of a star chart. It vanished in an instant, but everyone who saw it—even the nobles with no knowledge of magic—felt a strange stirring within them!
The entire ballroom fell utterly silent! You could have heard a pin drop!
Everyone stared, stunned, at the bracelet in Leon's hand, which had suddenly come "alive," and at the shock and fascination Elisa could no longer conceal!
So the family heirloom... was real?!
The mocking smile on Eleanor Soros's face froze completely, replaced by utter astonishment and... a hint of indescribable envy? How could that useless man possibly have something like this?!
As Leon felt the stunned silence around him and saw how complicated everyone's gazes had become, a wave of almost fainting relief and giddy triumph washed over him.
He'd won the gamble! At least for now!
Meeting Elisa's gaze, full of shock and curiosity, he slowly placed the bracelet in her open palm. Summoning the last of his strength to maintain his outward composure, he said solemnly:
"By the stars, I swear by the frost. This is yours now."
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