Vergil's OneShots (DMC Fanfiction)

Daughter of House Sparda - Part Three

[Daughter of House Sparda –Part Three]

"She's here." The whispers might as well have been a shout, given how obvious they were when Acela stepped into the room. She spied many instances of men being given suggestive elbow jabs with gestures towards her direction as she walked into the room proper, but pointedly ignored them as she kept her head up and her walk graceful as she had been taught.

Small conversations continued while Acela claimed her seat in the waiting room, arranging her dress around her knees absent-mindedly just to seem busy so that nobody would think to try to approach her. That trick seemed to hold the excited crowd back for a few minutes, and Acela was made aware of many beginning to walk in her direction, champagne flutes ready in their hands with the clear intention of being the first ones to offer her a drink.

Acela sighed loudly, unafraid of letting the entire waiting room full of next-generation nobles hear her frustration and irritation at the oncoming crowd. She pretended to still be busy arranging her dress, and took the chance while everyone's eyes were still on her to flash the sight of a dagger resting in its holder strapped to her slender leg underneath the folds of her dress.

It was her unspoken warning: she was armed, and she was not afraid of using it on anyone who got on her wrong side.

"Lady Sparda, you look beautiful as always." Young Lord Link Vestia was the fastest, bravest and honestly the most powerful one (following Acela) in terms of family name to approach her at her seat.

"Lord Vestia." She greeted, not intending to return the compliment. Because the kingdom only had two ducal houses, Vestia and Sparda had had the misfortune of having to sit close to each other and mingle with each other in many social events. This, paired with the unmasked desire of the Vestia family to have one of their sons marry Acela to combine the power of their families, was a complete turn-off for Acela. Unfortunately, Link Vestia had either not gotten the memo of her displeasure or had chosen to ignore it completely since he often still approached her with his intentions clearly written on his face.

Acela guessed that the only good thing that came out of his fervent chasing was the fact that Link Vestia was not shy to abuse his family name and power in order to shove and threaten his competitors out of the way to gain her attention. In a way, his interference did indeed save her from many more approaching men vying for her affections.

"I hope you enjoyed your winter." The young man of her age attempted to start a casual conversation while equally casually handing over a flute of champagne.

"I did." Acela made no move to receive the flute, smiling politely back at the young man. Unfortunately, this was already not the first time they had gone through this same dance. Link Vestia was certainly very capable at forgetting the past and seemed to be expecting the results to change despite acting the exact same way that he had during the night of the King's birthday.

Well, maybe not the exact same way. The young man seemed to be learning from his previous mistake as he maintained his smile at her refusal to accept the champagne, and instead drank the entire flute in one go as if it somehow showed off how charming he was being. In a casual move, he set the empty glass on the tray of a passing waiter, a glow of red dotting his cheek.

"Have you found yourself an escort into the hall later?" He asked, stepping closer to stand by the side of her chair in a bid to be closer to her since he had been talking while looking down at her while she sat without her trying to offer him a seat in her immediate range. "I was made aware that your brothers are busy with securing the area for the ball, and our fathers will be entering with the royal family."

"I haven't found myself an escort because I don't need one." Acela answered with the same polite smile, sure to raise her voice a little louder so that she could be heard by all eavesdropping ears. "There's something about entering a place and having everyone start talking about me that I quite like."