( Moments before the dinner gala )
As per protocol, Max had not been the one to receive the guests at the gate but rather let Asiva who was his prime minister do the honours.
It was only at the dinner gala that he was going to meet and socialise with all the lord's and their representatives.
This was his second major gala dinner, with the first one being the Red Velvet banquet thrown by Vega in his honour, however, this was the first one where the burden of keeping all guests happy was on his shoulders.
For the banquet arrangements he had thrown all responsibilities on Christian Grey which was a big reason he was not worried about the menu or the ambience.
Born as a rich man with a true golden spoon in his mouth, Christian was more of a spoilt noble than most vampire lords.
He had a very refined taste in food and had several connections throughout the universe which made him adept in calling top notch chefs for this special occasion.
The banquet hall's decoration was also handled by Christian as he chose to cover it with Bloodfall clan banners and other accessories which followed the theme of white,red, black just like the clan banner creating a simple yet elegant ambience.
Overall with both Asiva and Anna being satisfied with the preparations Max had absolutely no worries that he would lose face at the banquet today.
What did worry him, however, was the fact that he did not have Vega's ring to conceal his stats at this event and while those uptil tier6 would not be able to see through him due to the Agni-Astra's protection, Julian Caesar would be able to see straight through him.
On this note, Max was helpless and could only send Sebastian to chat with Vega in private and request the man for his family ring once more.
Thankfully, Vega did foresee this situation and had prepared the ring before coming to Dombivli City as he readily handed over the ring to Sebastian alongside a message to Max to beware of Sabitzer and Velter.
***************
( At the gala dinner )
" Vega- I'm sure you must be elated today no? " Julian said with a bitter tone as he greeted Vega with a frown.
It was no secret who the real backing behind Ravan was and who provided him with some troops in the early stages of his campaign as everyone who was attending the gala congratulated Vega in private for getting one more staunch ally for his clan.
" Indeed, the food's exquisite and I get to see your frowning face, I'd say my day is quite good " Vega said with a smile as he took pleasure in Julian's misery.
" Ravan is quite an exceptional warrior Vega, better keep him close, I think prince Lucius has taken a fancy to him " Julian said teasingly as he tried to fan some flames of misunderstanding between Max and Vega, however the sly patriarch of the Titus clan saw right through Julian's childish attempts to cause a rift.
" Well, who says I'm not trying to get close to prince Lucius myself? " Vega said with a smile as Julian scoffed, at this point in time it was no mystery that Vega fancied the throne for himself.
" Greetings, patriarch Vega, patriarch Julian- " Asiva said with a smile as she looked at the two gentlemen and said in a bubbly voice " I hope the two of you are getting along on this beautiful evening "
Vega smiled at Asiva's comments, whereas Julian controlled his annoyance as he said " Of Course dear, also , I sincerely hope that Ravan makes you the mistress of this palace soon, you are a beautiful young lady "
" Why thankyou- " Asiva said bashfully as she blended in perfectly into her role of the hostesses of the evening and acted her part despite her personal feelings.
" Where is Lord Ravan and commander Max Rajput? Why have they not joined the gala dinner yet? " Julian asked as he pretended to look concerned as at that moment Max finally entered the dinner party wearing a lavish white and red robe.
Immediately, he was swarmed by a lot of guests as he greeted them all patiently one at a time and did his best to make everyone feel important.
" Well, as you can see, the lord is here, as for commander Max, he's a elusive human, I think Guildmaster Neatwit might know about his whereabouts more than me " Asiva said replying to Julian's question as she excused herself for the moment.
Julian sighed at the reply as he distanced himself from Vega.
The only reason why a high ranking lord like himself attended this ceremony personally was because of the mission Regus Aurelius assigned him to dig deeper into Ravan's background.
Julian sincerely hoped to uncover all of Ravan's secrets in this visit one of which was his connection to Max Rajput, however, unfortunately it seemed like the mysterious human with an elusive reputation had no intentions of showing up for his friend's coronation ceremony.
" Many congratulations to Lord Ravan for overthrowing the Kingsman clan " Julian eventually said as he shook Max's hand and fake greeted him for the evening.
" Thankyou patriarch Julian, I hope I can be a competent lord as yourself " Max who accepted the compliment replied politely before chatting idly for the next two minutes with Julian talking about nothing in particular.
During these two minutes, Julian repeatedly tried to inspect Max's stat panel and the depth of his powers, however, no matter how hard he tried he could not read any information about Max at all.
Deliberately shaking his hands twice, Julian tried to get a feel for his fingers as he realised that once again he was wearing the Titus clan ring that prevented one from inspecting their stats.
Although he said nothing on the surface, his doubts regarding Ravan's true nature deepened as it was indeed just like Regus Aurelius feared.
Vega Titus was going above and beyond to save this kid's identity, and the reason behind his bizarre behaviour remained unknown.