Before Celestine finished considering if she wanted to jump across the table and strangle Altair, a knock came from outside the nook. Since there was no door the person knocked on the rim of the doorway.

Hadrian quickly stifled his laughter and straightened his posture before asking, "Who is it?"

A deep voice came from the other side, "It's Trax."

Celestine straightened up and put her hands on her lap while Hadrian said, "You may enter."

The drape was lifted to the side to reveal a red headed adolescent about the same height as Hadrian who looked fierce while expressionless. His eyes fell on Hadrian as soon as he entered a large smile crept onto his face as he said, "Hadrian it's been a long time. Sorry all the greetings took so long." He had yet to see Celestine or Altair in the room and was just paying attention to Hadrian so far.

The youth was Trax Lothan, heir to the Lothan family. He was good friends with Hadrian and Celestine. He was busy greeting all of the offspring of the noble families and had finally finished just recently with Joshua's group being the last. From here on, no more nobles would be accepted into the party as the festivities had to happen at some point and late entrants would throw off what was planned so they had to put a time limit.

Trax had deliberately made Hadrian and his sister the last ones he had to greet so that he would have an excuse to go and find them once he had talked with everyone else.

"Don't forget that I'm here too," Celestine said while putting on a hurt expression. She wasn't actually hurt but she was trying to get Trax to notice that it wasn't just them. Even though they were alone away from prying eyes it was still better for him to greet Altair properly since it was their first time meeting each other.

Trax turned to look at Celestine and abruptly stopped when he noticed Altair in sitting ahead of him. His abdomen started to burn brightly but he kept it from his face. He immediately straightened up and wiped the emotion from his face as he humbly stated, "Oh, pardon me. I have made a fool of myself without knowing that you were here." He recovered quickly as he bowed to Celestine while saying, "I did not know that you were here Celestine." He took Celestine's hand, lifted it up to his face and kissed the back of her hand. "Please forgive me for ignoring you." He knew she was here but this was how he knew he could brush this off in the face of a girl he had never seen before.

Celestine gave him a knowing smile as she knew what he was doing. She then haughtily said, "You are forgiven. Don't do it again!"

Trax then turned to address Altair and bowed deeply and respectfully to her, "I apologize for not noticing you here as well, Miss." As he tried to straighten up further he added, "I am Trax Lothan, heir to the Lothan family." He extended his arm in a sweeping motion to show Altair to speak while asking, "And might I have the pleasure of knowing who you are?"

Altair stood up and curtsied with practiced movements as she said, "It is a pleasure to meet you, son of the Lothan house. I am called Aria Marnithok." She then immediately sat back down in the position she was in before and gave no hints that she would move from there.

A strange light passed through Trax's eyes at this information. He then moved to grab Altair's hand as he did with Celestine's while saying; "I hope you'll forgive me for not noticing you earlier."

Before his hand could grab Altair's hand she moved it away from and said, "Please do not touch me without my permission." Her action went against noble etiquette but she didn't care. She was used to the maids and her adoptive mother touching her but she didn't like it. She actually hated it even though she was resigned to her situation somewhat. There was no way she was going to let this Human touch her though. She didn't like what she saw in his eyes and she had decided immediately that she would do what she could to avoid him in the future.

Altair had practiced receiving and giving apologizes before at the Marnithok mansion. There was a huge difference in what she practiced there and her current situation though. At the mansion she had only ever done the practice with the maids because it would be improper for her to do so with men. As a result she didn't feel more bothered with it than when they forcibly changed her clothes but that was because of her history with getting manhandled by people in the recent years.

This situation was with a stranger she had just met and a Human as well who looked sinister to her. That was why she refused to let him touch her even though doing so could cost her the test.

Her reaction did not bother Trax. He quickly withdrew away from her with practiced movement and moved to sit next to Hadrian. As soon as he sat down he kicked his feet up onto the table and leaned back into the seat and sighed in relief.

While Trax wasn't bothered with how Altair had reacted it did spark an idea in Celestine. She might just be able to catch a show if she used what she just saw to her advantage!

Hadrian smirked at Trax when he relaxed and said, "Already discarding pleasantries just like that?"

Trax gave him a similar smirk, "Can't be helped. She clearly won't forgive me and I'm tired from greeting everyone." He looked at Altair with a neutral expression and added, "Besides, if she's hanging out with you two I'm sure she expects something like this to some extent." He then tilted his head back and closed his eyes, "The festivities are going to begin soon I'd like to get some kind of rest before it begins."

Altair's eye twitched almost imperceptibly at how fast Trax changed. Just a moment ago and he was seeking forgiveness and suddenly he's as casual as anyone could get. It seemed that these nobles were all just actors who did nothing but act a play whenever they were in public.

Hadrian nudged Trax lightly, "So, what's the plan for tonight?" He didn't know what the Lothan party had in mind for entertainment but since Trax had escaped here he knew that it would soon start.

Trax tilted his head towards Hadrian and slightly opened his eyes, "You know I can't tell you that. All I can tell you is that I will purposely lose early so I can relax." He sighed heavily as he suddenly leaned forward, "I really hate these gatherings. Drains the life out of me for days."

Hadrian smiled wryly, "That's why you have to save up your energy beforehand. Why haven't you figured that out yet?"

Hadrian and Celestine suddenly burst into laughter at some hidden joke amongst the three of them. Trax tried to sink deeper into his seat as he mumbled, "I told you that was an accident.."

The whole conversation only further alienated Altair from the group. She didn't mind as she knew this was just how things were. Even though she acted like a noble now it was only to further the deal she had with the Marnithok family. Even then this part of it would only last for a certain amount of time before she would be free from it.

A loud pair of beeps came from Trax and it caused him to sigh loudly as he looked at his communicator. When he saw what was displayed he sighed again, louder than before. He then stood to his feet and complained, "Barely get two minutes off my feet and it's off again." He looked at Hadrian and added, "It's time. The guards will be around to round everyone up. I hope you two can at least enjoy it in my stead."

Celestine remembered the promise she made to Sarah as she suddenly asked, "Trax I was told to keep Aria out of the festivities so how do I get her excluded from the grouping?"

Trax gave her a flat look before he bluntly stated, "Impossible. They announced the start of it in the main room and that everyone had two minutes to leave the room before they would be gathered together. That time has already passed so now there's no way she can get out of it."

"Y-You aren't serious, are you?" Celestine hesitantly asked as her face paled. She didn't want to believe that she broke an agreement that was made with someone she feared. She didn't know what Sarah would do with all the information she had on Celestine. It was obvious to her that she couldn't let a woman like her who had so much control get more power over her.

Hadrian and Trax gave her strange looks. They didn't know about Sarah's conditions for Altair to be here. Hadrian figured that Altair would be fine with how skilled she was despite how she looked right now and Trax wouldn't bother lying about something like this.

Trax shook his head decisively and stated, "There is no way any longer." He looked towards Altair and asked, "Is there some reason she cannot participate? There are children younger than her that are going too so I don't see a reason why." Sure Altair looked innocent and frail but the fire in her eyes couldn't be ignored. Trax had easily seen that and knew that she was probably capable for the age he thought she was. Besides what the Lothan family had prepared was suitable for anyone over the age of six years old. It would be a valuable experience for them going forward due to the resources it took to do such an event and the nature of the event as well.

"You've seen how skilled she is," Hadrian added. "Why does she need to be prevented from participating?" He couldn't figure out a reason. Altair was a monster in combat even though the way she fought was absurd. Once she grew some more and learned the military combat style she was likely to be a complete beast that could rival Helena.

Celestine frowned at Hadrian, "She's still injured from last time and I agreed to her mother that I wouldn't let her participate." She then looked worried as she thought more on it and added, "It was even said in front of THE Helena you know! When I meet her again how am I supposed to look at her when the first impression she has of me is a failure?!"

Hadrian and Trax's eyes opened wide as they both asked, "You met Helena?"

Celestine's expression turned even worse as she cried, "You're missing the point here!"